cut off our right wing;
march to his assistance with all your force."

So saying he galloped off. Colonel Willett remembered that he was
exceedingly well mounted, though plainly dressed, and "very sedate in
his air for a Frenchman."

A number of situations arose soon after this in which Lafayette found
himself of great use. The French fleet under Count d'Estaing appeared
near Delaware Bay and sailed up the coast. Washington was at White
Plains. The British held New York. It was thought that the French
fleet could accomplish much by going to Newport and there cooperating
with the land forces. Lafayette was given a detachment and commanded
to proceed to Providence where he was to stand ready to give all
possible aid.

But he was doomed to still another disappointment. The French fleet
arrived off Point Judith near Newport; visits of ceremony were
exchanged by the French and American generals; preparations were made;
but through misunderstandings, the plans never worked out to an
actual engagement. Before anything was accomplished, a severe storm
overtook the fleet, and it withdrew to Boston for necessary repairs.

During this trying time, Lafayette was a trusted resource to
Washington, who devoutly wished to reconcile all differences and to
bring peace out of dissension. For this Lafayette had peculiar
qualities, as he understood the character of both the French and the
Americans, and believed absolutely in the good intentions of the
officers on both sides. Twice he rode to Boston and back again to help
in settling some difficulty, making on one of those occasions a
journey of seventy miles, at night, in six and a half hours--a feat
paralleled only by Sheridan's famous ride to Winchester.

But the fleet sailed away, bearing many disappointments with it,
though much good had been done by its coming; it meant that the
American cause had received definite encouragement from France.

It was now October of 1778 and autumn weather was closing the campaign
of the year. The sending of the French fleet to our shores had been
virtually a declaration that a state of war existed between France and
England, and the thought that this might develop into an actual war in
which Lafayette, after his practical experience and training in the
Continental army, could take part and win glory, inclined him strongly
at this point to return to his native land. Permission was given to
him to do this. The proper farewells, official and privat