of the letter from Arnold was an exchange of prisoners, a
matter that interested him extremely, as he well knew that Lafayette
could hardly have pleased the American people better than by
presenting Benedict Arnold to them a prisoner. We know that Arnold's
mind dwelt on this aspect of his sad situation from the fact that he
once quizzed a captured American to find out what the Americans would
do with him if they took him prisoner. The soldier audaciously replied
that they would "cut off the leg that had been wounded in the
country's service and hang the rest of him!" Lafayette's action in
regard to the letter from Arnold was very gratifying to Washington; he
said that in nothing had Lafayette pleased him more than in refusing
to hold communication with Benedict Arnold.

Soon after this Arnold was transferred to New York, and Cornwallis
came forward with reenforcements, declaring that he would now "proceed
to dislodge Lafayette from Richmond." The struggle between the young
French officer (not yet twenty-four years old) in his first attempt
at carrying on an independent campaign, and the veteran British
commander with years of service behind him, was now taken up with more
spirit than ever before. It was the crisis of the Revolution. If the
Continental army could only hold out a little longer, it might be
possible, by adroit advance and diplomatic retreat, to avoid unequal
battles until the foe was worn out or until some favorable opportunity
should arise for a direct attack. Cornwallis, of course, despised his
exhausted enemy. A letter from him was intercepted and brought into
the American camp; in the letter he said, "The Boy cannot escape me!"
Lafayette's face must have been set in very grim lines when he read
that letter.

Technically, Lafayette had been taking orders from General Greene whose
command was in the south and included Virginia. But on the 18th of May,
Lafayette was ordered to take the entire command in Virginia and to send
all reports directly to General Washington. "The Boy's" letters to
Colonel Hamilton show that he fully recognized the gravity of affairs,
the responsibility of his position, and the dangers of his own
over-enthusiastic spirit. The British command of the adjacent waters, the
superiority of their cavalry, and the great disproportion in the forces
of the two armies, gave the enemy such advantages that Lafayette dared
not venture to engage the British. The British generals thoroughly
un