No. 210.
Mr. Washburne to Mr. Fish.
Legation of
the United States,
Paris, December 10, 1874.
(Received December 26.)
No. 1069.]
Sir: Referring to your two dispatches, Nos. 651 and
652, touching the matter of the restoration of the watch to the family of
General Lafayette, I have the honor to state that on the reception of the
first dispatch I addressed a communication to the Duke Decazes, as I have
heretofore stated, in relation to the matter, and to ask him for a list of
the heirs of the general. You will find herewith a copy of the Duke
Decazes’s answer, and of the list of the heirs as transmitted to me by him,
and which gives interesting information. On the receipt of your No. 652, I
immediately notified Mr. Oscar de Lafayette—who is the oldest male member of
the family—that I had received the watch, and was prepared to present it to
him at such time and place as should be agreeable
[Page 450]
to him. In response to my letter, he called at my
house on Sunday afternoon last, and after stating how profoundly he was
touched by the action of the Government and Congress, he said it would be
very agreeable to him to come to my house to receive the watch on the
following Wednesday, at half-past ten in the morning. He said also that he
would be glad to bring with him certain members of the Lafayette family, who
would like to be present on the occasion. Accordingly, at that hour
yesterday Mr. Oscar de Lafayette, accompanied by the Count de Rémusat,
deputy, and late minister of foreign affairs; his son, Mr. Paul de Rémusat,
deputy; Mr. de Lasteyrie, deputy, and his son; and Mr. de Beaumont, came to
my house for the purpose of receiving the interesting souvenir. In their
presence and in the presence of Mr. Hoffman, secretary of this legation, and
of Mr. Henry Vignaud, I carried out your instructions, and presented to Mr.
de Lafayette the watch in question, after having addressed him in French
some words of explanation, a copy of which I inclose herewith. Mr. Oscar de
Lafayette made a brief and touching response, which I also inclose.
The journals of Paris have all alluded to this incident, which has created
the most favorable impression.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No.
1069.—Translation.]
DUKE DECAZES TO
MR. WASHBURNE.
Versailles, December,
1874.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor herewith to send
yon, in compliance with the desire expessed by yon, a statement of the
names and addresses of the Lafayette family, together with their degrees
of relationship to the general. I thought I could not do better, in
order to obtain this information, than to address Mr. O. de Lafayette, a
deputy in the National Assembly, and, in transmitting it to me, he has
begged me to express the gratitude felt by the Lafayette family in
consequence of the adoption of the resolution by the Congress of the
United States which you were pleased to bring to my notice.
Accept the assurances, &c.
- DECAZES.
- Mr. Washburne,
Minister of the United States.
[Inclosure in 1 in No.
1069.—Translation.]
THE MEMBERS OF THE LAFAYETTE FAMILY.
General Lafayette left one son, George de Lafayette, and two daughters,
Madame de Latour-Maubourg and Madame de Lasteyrie.
All of the above are now deceased.
Mr. George de Lafayette left five children, all of whom are now living,
viz:
Mr. Oscar de Lafayette, No. 90 rue du Bac, Paris.
Mr. Edmond de Lafayette, No. 72 rue de Rome, Paris.
Madame Adolphe Périer, now a widow, No. 42 rue Barbet de Jouy, Paris.
Madame Buveaux de Pusy, (widow,) No. 42 rue Barbet de Jouy, Paris.
Madame Gustave de-Beaumont, (widow,) rue Barbet de Jouy.
Madame de Latour-Maubourg left two daughters, viz:
The Baroness de Brigode, No. 42 rue de Grenelle Saint Germain.
The Baroness de Pennon, Maison Vernon, Turin, Italy.
Madame de Lasteyrie left four children, viz:
Mr. Jules de Lasteyrie, deputy, No. 1 rue Beaujou, Paris.
Madame de Rémusat, No. 24 avenue Gabrielle, Paris.
Madame de Corcelles, Colonna Palace, Rome.
Madame Charles d’Assailly, No. 12 rue Lascazes, Paris.
[Page 451]
[Inclosure 2 in No.
1069.—Translation.]
MR. WASHBURNE’S REMARKS ON PRESENTATION OF LAFAYETTE’S WATCH.
Mr. Oscar de Lafayette: You are perhaps aware
that during the journey which General Lafayette, your illustrious
grandfather, made in the United States in 1825, a watch was stolen from
him which had been presented to him by General Washington.
All the efforts that were made at the time to recover the watch proved
unavailing. By a remarkable accident, however, it fell into the hands of
Mr. John R. Ward, of Austin, Texas. That gentleman, having seen it in a
pawnbroker’s shop in Louisville, Ky., purchased it on account of the
inscription on the case, without having any idea of its historical
value.
The Louisville Courier Journal shortly afterward published a statement of
the facts which were then known with regard to this watch. This
statement having met the eye of General John B. Rodgers, of South Rock
Island, Tennessee, that officer informed Mr. Ward that he had commanded
the escort of honor assigned to General Lafayette on the occasion of his
journey to Nashville in 1825, and that this watch, together with a
saddle known as the “Martha Washington saddle,” had been stolen at that
time from General Lafayette. He added that it had been impossible to
find any trace of the lost articles, although the governor of Tennessee
had offered a reward to any one who should find them.
The existence of this curious and interesting souvenir having come to the
knowledge of my Government, Congress, which had not forgotten that
General de Lafayette had rendered such services to the sacred cause of
national independence, that his memory would ever be cherished by the
American people, passed a joint resolution, having the force of law, on
the 22d of June, 1874, ordering the purchase of the watch and its
restoration to the family of the Marquis de Lafayette.
In pursuance of this resolution of Congress, Mr. Hamilton Fish, the
American Secretary of State, has sent this precious souvenir to me,
instructing me to present it, in the name of the Government of the
United States, to the eldest of General de Lafayette’s male descendants,
as the representative of the whole family.
It belongs to you, sir, as such, to receive this relic, and in placing it
in your hands I perform a most pleasing duty.
The history of the watch is contained in the inscription, touching in its
simplicity, which is engraved upon its case:
“G. Washington to Gilbert Mottier de Lafayette, Lord Cornwallis’
Capitulation, Yorktown, Oct. 17th, 1781.”
These few words call to mind that great event, which will never be
effaced from the history of the United States, by which the
revolutionary war was closed, and which secured to my country, together
with its independence, the inestimable blessings of a free government
and of constitutional liberty.
In performing the agreeable task which is to-day incumbent upon me, I am,
sir, but the interpreter of the feelings of the Government and people of
the United States toward yourself personally, and toward all the
descendants of General Lafayette. We earnestly hope, sir, that happiness
and prosperity may ever attend those who bear your honored name; and we
entertain the same hope for France, who is the ally of the United
States, who is their traditional friend, and whose glory is so dear to
us.
[Inclosure 3 in No.
1069.—Translation.]
MR. OSCAR DE LAFAYETTE’S RESPONSE TO
MR. WASHBURNE.
Mr. Minister: The descendants of General
Lafayette gratefully receive the precious relic which you present to
them in behalf of the United States. They are deeply touched by the
unanimous vote of Congress, and by the care which must have been taken
by the executive branch of your Government, in the first place, to
discover, and afterward to transmit to them, the gift of Washington to
their grandfather. They thank you personally for the kind words spoken
by you on presenting this national gift. This watch (we know it now)
bears its date sincere and certain, that of the surrender of Yorktown,
which was postponed until the day after the victory. It was the gift of
the General-in-Chief to his lieutenant, the legacy of the Father of his
Country to his adopted son. Yon remind us that in that glorious military
action (the last one of the great struggle for the independence of the
United States) the French and American armies were united; they were
both happy and proud to be commanded by Washington.
Mr. Minister, the people of the United States have, on numerous
occasions, manifested their affection for him whose name we bear; but
when, after the lapse of a century, in spite of time and events, we hear
the same sentiments expressed, with the
[Page 452]
same force and the same ardor, our hearts thrill
with gratitude. Be pleased, Mr. Minister, to transmit the expression of
this feeling to those whom you represent.
Be the interpreter of the Lafayette family to the American nation, to
Congress, to the Government of the United States; and, since you express
your best wishes for the happiness and prosperity of France, permit us
to offer the expression of our admiration and love for the Republic of
the United States, our second country.
