"Lafayette, We Are Here"
Monday, August 10, 2020
On July 4, 1917, Paris, France, was in the throes of World War I. The first American troops had just landed in the country nine days earlier; America had until then remained neutral in that war, though it had been supplying materiel to the Allies for some time.
And so, on America's Independence Day, a commemoration was held at the tomb of a French hero, the Marquis de Lafayette. There, an American general, Charles E. Stanton, said:
"America has joined forces with the Allied Powers, and what we have of blood and treasure are yours. ... And here and now, in the presence of the illustrious dead, we pledge our hearts and our honor in carrying this war to a successful issue. Lafayette, we are here."
Why would an American general of the 20th century make such a personal statement to a French nobleman who had died in 1834?
To discover the answer, we must take a brief look at Lafayette's biography.
He was born in 1757 into a military family; his father died fighting the British a month before young Lafayette turned two years old, leaving his title to the toddler. He grew up with his paternal grandmother, but moved to Paris at age 11, where he was sent to school to train as a musketeer; by age 12 he was an orphan with a large inheritance. Before age 14, he was commissioned as an officer in the Musketeers.
When the French king backed the Americans at the outbreak of their war with Great Britain, Lafayette was ready to sign up. But the French backed down when the British heard of the plan and threatened war. So Lafayette--against his government's wishes--bought a ship with his own money and, after several delays, sailed to America with a number of French officers.
There he joined George Washington's staff, and took charge of a number of other renegade French officers who had arrived--and who spoke less English than he. He returned to France and came back to America with 6,000 men. Although he was later to play a major role in the French Revolution, it was for his aid to the American cause that he was commemorated in General Stanton's remarks on that summer day in 1917.