During the American retreat Lafayette showed his usual valor, jumping into the fray to rally his men. Shot in the left calf, he didn't grasp the severity of the wound until his boot was soaked with blood and he had to be lifted off the battlefield. Possibly with some exaggeration, he claimed years later that Washington told the surgeon, 'Take care of him as if he were my son, for I love him the same.' If true, this was an extraordinary statement, given how briefly Washington had known Lafayette. It would confirm that the young French nobleman had touched him in some special way, and it again speaks to Washington's unseen emotional depths. He was always impressed by Lafayette's bravery, his eagerness to return to service. 'When [Washington] learned I wanted to rejoin the army too soon,' Lafayette told his wife, 'he wrote the warmest of letters, urging me to concentrate on getting well first.'
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, pg. 304
