er of it, and a tune for the quickstep was to be
played; but it must be played with such moderation that the men could
keep step to it with ease.

An army that needed admonitions like these could still awaken
enthusiasm from spectators. The austere commander in chief looked very
handsome as he passed; the slim, eager-eyed French major general rode
at his side; every window shone with curious and admiring eyes and the
sidewalks were crowded with applauding citizens. The men could not
help catching the spirit of the occasion; each soldier stuck a sprig
of green in his hat to make up as far as possible for the lack of fine
uniforms and military brilliancy.

They were on their way to the place which was to be the scene of the
battle of Brandywine, one of the most disastrous defeats of the
Revolution. At the head of Chesapeake Bay the English had landed a
large and finely equipped army, and from that point they threatened
Philadelphia. Washington, with an inferior and poorly furnished force,
placed his army in form to receive the attack at the Birmingham
meetinghouse near Chad's Ford on Brandywine Creek, a point about
fifty miles south of Philadelphia.

Lafayette accompanied General Washington to the battle. His rank of
major general gave him no command. Practically, he was a volunteer.
But when he saw that the American troops were in danger of defeat
before the superior English force, he asked to be allowed to go to the
front. He plunged into the midst of the panic that followed the
failure of the American line to stand up before the galling fire of
the well-trained British soldiers. The retreat was rapidly becoming a
panic. At this point Lafayette sprang from his horse and rushed in
among the soldiers; by starting forward in the very face of the enemy
and calling the disorganized men to follow, he did all in his power to
induce the men to form and make a stand. It was impossible. The odds
were too great against the Americans. Lafayette and the other generals
waited until the British were within twenty yards of them before they
retired.

But at the height of the confusion, when Lafayette was too excited to
notice it, a musket ball struck his left leg just below the knee. Of
this he was unconscious until one of the generals called his attention
to the fact that blood was running over the top of his boot. Lafayette
was helped to remount his horse by his faithful aid, Major de Gimat,
and insisted on remaining with the tro