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acrossthewavesoftime · 3 years

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6, 11, 13, and 14 for the historical figures ask :)

Thanks for the ask! :)

6) Do you think that you and your favorite historical figure would be friends or enemies? Why?

Assuming I'd travel back in time and meet him in, say, the late 1770s or early 1780s, I think I would stand a chance at befriending him as I am not a fellow naval officer, or in any way, shape or form affiliated with the 4th Earl of Sandwich.

He appears to have been a very warm, approachable person outside of his profession.

11) What is your favorite portrayal of them in an artwork such as a painting or photograph?

Talking visual art, I really like the James Northcote-portrait that I analysed in this post.There are two other portraits of him, one of which shows him wearing his own hair instead of a wig, which I found quite interesting, but is otherwise quite dark as for the background, a burning enemy ship at night was chosen. Don't know if he was going for the "tough guy not looking at the explosion behind him"-mood or if he was aiming for a cozy (naval) campfire-vibe, but it just doesn't work either way for me. I prefer the Northcote-portrait as it seems to be a more genuine representation of him, by which I don't exclusively mean the fact that the artist managed to reproduce his face in a way that causes the portrait to recognisably depict the sitter, but particularly through the little, barely-there details such as the wig, sleeves and anchor that on a closer look may 'tell' us so much more about him.

13) Who is your favorite historical figure’s bestie? Who is their arch-nemesis?

For "bestie", the answer has to be his fellow naval captain John Simcoe, John Graves' dad. John very likely played cupid and introduced Samuel to his first wife, and later made him godfather of his baby son. When John died aboard his ship, Samuel took the business of being a godfather very seriously. That said, the argument could also be made that his wife was his closest friend as well, but since John died a decade before he met Margaret, I wanted to name both.

For "arch-nemesis", a couple of names come to mind: in Boston, he really, really did not get along with General Gage, and one of the latter's associates in the town, Benjamin Hallowell. The Gage-Graves rivalry was well-reported at the time, and also included their respective wives taking a stand to support their husbands.

The Earl of Sandwich was a former friend (or at least Samuel thought they had been friends) who washed his hands off Samuel very quickly when supporting the latter (if you can call not granting him any of the resources he routinely asked for call "support" at all) was no longer opportune. Samuel wasn't too pleased about the betrayal (naturally) and while Sandwich probably wasn't a super-villain-esque arch-nemesis, he felt that he had been let down by a person he had formerly trusted.

14) Did your favorite historical figure have any favorite past times or hobbies? If so, what were they?

Hands down the kids that weren't his, particularly when he had increasingly more time to do so following his recall from the North American Station in 1776. When the newly-wed Simcoes moved out, the empty nest was so strong, the Graves' invited the teenage daughter of a friend to stay with them for a 'holiday' only a couple of weeks later.

There are however also mentions of parties in Bath with his wife (the two apparently loved to host). He also appears to have been no stranger to the theatre, though given his wife preferred more serious topics, they probably didn't go to see comedies by Garrick or Sheridan (particularly not the latter, Margaret Graves hated his plays). While he doesn't seem to have been very musical, or musically interested, two of the three portraits of him were made by painters from the circle of Joshua Reynolds, so there's room to assume he had an opinion on contemporary visual art.

Thanks again for the asks, hope you have a nice day! :)

#ask response #msrandonstuff #samuel graves

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hurting-fictional-people · 3 years

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Betrayal Story - part 7 (whumptober day 3: insults)

a bit of a different flavor of whump for today! it's time to mess a little with Liam's mind ;) also, pls excuse that I'm a day late for day 3 of whumptober, I failed at editing this last night lol

tagging @thelazywitchphotographer @swift-perseides @whump-it-like-its-hot @sunflower1000 @msrandonstuff @fromtheo-withlove @boxofblood @lionhxartx @sometouchofmadness @paleassprince @livingforthewhump @1becky1 @shameful-indulgence @whatwhumpcomments @tropes-for-my-md-daydreams @starnight-whump @writingbackwards @noodlesandkareokee @mylifeisonthebookshelf @nightwhumpee @nomadghost @firewheeesky @kittysselfships @jadeocean46910 @painsandconfusion @ladygwennn

CW: whumper fucking with whumpee's mind, as in twisting facts (and downright lying), insulting him, and pretty much convincing him he's worthless. mention of past wounds and tortures, blackmail, self-loathing, whumper pov at the end

Part 1 here, continued from here

Liam takes short, slow steps as he is conducted through the hallways, trying not to bend over each time he moves and pain pulsates from his stomach and his arms to his whole body.

Every time he’s been taken out of the room Jonah keeps him in, it was to be hurt. Even if the guards are patiently walking with him this time, Liam can’t help but wonder what pain is stored for him today.

Not that there’s any way to avoid that, no matter how much he wishes to curl up in a corner and beg to be let go. If he stops, Liam knows he’ll just be dragged wherever they are taking him. So he keeps moving, even when he feels more and more unsteady with each step he takes.

They stop a lot sooner than he is prepared for, in front of a wide wooden door. One of the guards knocks, and doesn't even wait for an answer before pushing it open and gently yet firmly pushing Liam inside.

Jonah greets him in an office-like room, smiling big as he gets up from his chair.

“Hey there, Liam. I’m glad to see you standing.”

Liam looks around, searching for where he’ll be restrained and tortured next, but there are only bookshelves, a wide window, and the ugly desk behind which Jonah stands. No promise of pain, only a smiling CEO staring at him like Liam is here for a business meeting instead of a talk with the man keeping him captive.

The absurdity of the situation is so startling that Liam finds himself at a loss for words, only a frown pulling his eyebrows together as a response.

“Want to sit down?” Jonah offers politely, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. Liam glances at it, but his gaze slides farther. “Oh, you haven’t been out much lately, have you?”

Still staring at the window and the sun beyond, Liam grits his teeth together. “It’s hard to get vitamin D when you are busy being kidnapped.”

Jonah chuckles, and if Liam wasn’t already swaying on his feet from standing for too long with his newly open wound and not-at-all-healed burns, he would’ve at least glared at the man. As it is, Liam stumbles to the chair and falls heavily on it, holding his side and swallowing down a whimper.

“Oh, I was told you reopened that,” Jonah comments, sitting down on his chair and placing his elbows on the table. With faux concern washing over his face, he rests his chin on his hand. “Again. You really should be more careful.”

He can’t do this. After weeks locked up, Liam simply can’t play this game.

“Why am I here? And what are you going to do to me?”

Jonah cocks his head to the side. “What do you mean what I’m going to do to you?”

“Are you just going to keep me in a forgotten room to hurt and heal, and hurt some more?” Liam asks, raising his eyebrows. There’s still fear running through his bloodstream, but looking at the cold amusement in Jonah’s eyes, suddenly all Liam feels is rage. “Do you ever plan to let me the fuck go?”

“Is that how you spend your free time? Wondering what’ll be your fate now that you’re mine?” Jonah smirks.

Liam’s hands are shaking. The one holding his wound and the one clutching the edge of the chair quiver, just like his legs do, and Liam isn’t sure why or when it started.

“Why am I here, Jonah?”

“Because I’m in a good mood.”

It isn’t what he meant and they both know it. Liam sighs and darts his eyes around the room instead of screaming out his frustration like he wants to.

“And because I have a proposition for you.”

He looks back at Jonah then, holding his gaze with a flutter of hope in his chest he barely dares to acknowledge.

“What proposition?”

“Tell me all you know about Chase Raymond, and I’ll let you ask something of me.”

Liam narrows his eyes and shifts slowly on the chair.

“Let me go and I’ll tell you anything you want.”

“Wow, didn’t even stutter, huh?” Jonah raises his eyebrows. Liam doesn’t tell him that he has no clue if his words are real or not. He knows what the answer will be, though. “But no. Ask for something else, dear.”

“A cell phone.”

“For you to call the police? Oh, yeah, of course. I’ll also give you footage of everything I did to you so far, just for funsies.”

Liam clenches his jaw and glares at him. The man simply sits back and crosses his legs.

“Liam, Chase destroyed the one thing that could’ve made you known,” Jonah utters, watching his every reaction to the words. “You had found out something big, from what I’m told. Some hidden government shit, right? Something that could have put a young journalist such as yourself on the map, in case you had had the chance to reveal it. And Chase used you to ruin it all, gave in all kinds of information on you to the very thing you were trying to expose.”

“Trust me,” Liam hisses. “I haven't forgotten any of that.”

“Then why do you hesitate to do the same to him?”

He tries to muffle it, but the answer is already being shouted by his heart, already making his lips quiver even when he straightens his back and looks away.

Because once he held me and told me I was the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen, and I believed him. Because Chase’s smile looks like a shooting star – so very rare, and so dazzling I always wonder if I should make a wish. Because that wish would be to go back in time and never meet him, so it wouldn’t hurt so much to lose him. Because I still dream about him. Because I want to make him hurt like I did, but the idea of hurting him makes me want to cry.

“Because I’m not like him,” Liam answers quietly instead. “I won’t betray someone for selfish reasons.”

“Yeah, you certainly aren’t like him,” Jonah scoffs, and Liam’s gaze shoots back up.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You lost your job. You failed on the one thing you tried to do because let’s be real, you were stupid.” He raises one eyebrow, daring Liam to deny it. “You fell for the guy who was sent to find out what you knew. You were naïve enough to think Chase would fall in love with you, kid. You actually, genuinely, thought you could leak info about the government and just get away with it? Are you really that dumb, Liam?”

Liam holds his breath and Jonah’s gaze, but he cannot convince his mouth to move to defend himself.

“Chase has a life, a job, a purpose. Why on earth would he fall for a kid barely out of college, dreaming of impossible achievements?”

A lump forms in his throat, and suddenly Liam can barely stand to look into the man’s eyes. His feet tap tap tap on the floor, and he breathes in tandem with it – too fast, just as out of control as everything else.

“So what you’re saying is that he was right to trick me into trusting him,” Liam grits out, firmly ignoring how shaky his voice sounds. “You are saying that I was the wrong one for falling for a highly trained agent sent by the fucking government specifically to entrance me? That he is right for defending the people who have lied to an entire nation?”

“I’m saying he was doing his job and you were on his way. Of course he betrayed you, why wouldn’t he? You are no one.”

Liam closes his eyes, fighting to even out his pounding heart.

“Did you bring me here just to insult me?”

“I brought you here to offer you the deal, as I already said,” Jonah says. “I’m just amazed at how highly you think of yourself.”

“How h– what do you want from me?” Liam snaps, flinching at the mock pity he finds in the man's gaze when he looks at him again. It starts as anger, but under Jonah’s gaze and the weight of weeks of loneliness and despair, suddenly Liam can barely breathe as hate and despise and regret fill him to the brim, then boil over. “Do you want me to say how much I hate myself for falling for him? Is that what you want, you psycho? For me to say that yes, I fucking know Chase has no reason to love me and that I hate that he can still hurt me? That maybe I deserve all of this for being so stupid to think he would actually care and–”

It gets caught in his throat. The words that have rotten inside of him ever since Chase told Liam who he really was and took his heart away with him. Liam chokes on hatred and loss, and shuts his eyes in a futile attempt to forget that there’s a man basking in his pain on the other side of the desk.

“Wow, that’s some real self-loathing huh?” Jonah snickers, and if his wound wasn’t hurting as much as his heart, Liam would have–

Done nothing.

Even if nothing hurt, what could he do? Scream? Cry? He’s already done all that. He can't fight, can't defend himself.

There’s nothing he can do to escape this.

“So, the real reason you don’t want to tell me about him is that you're still in love,” the man smiles, blinking innocently at Liam’s hitching breaths.

“Fuck you,” he spits, forcing a deep breath through gritted teeth. “If this is all you want from me, I’d rather go back to my room.”

“I told you what I want, Liam. Tell me something about him, and I’ll let you go back.”

“After all this you really think I’m going to tell you shit?” he snorts, shaking his head. “Yeah, right.”

“Say what, you tell me one of Chase’s biggest fears and I’ll let you call your parents. They at least are trying to find you, unlike a certain highly trained agent.”

“Why are you so hung up on him, anyway?” He is staring at Jonah’s smirk, at the blond hair falling on his temples, at how unsettling his eyes are, how unnerving it is that they haven’t moved from Liam’s face since he’s come inside. But all he hears, even with his heart bleeding and the cracks in his soul aching, is the promise of talking to his family.

Liam looks down at his hands, blinking wildly to keep unwanted tears at bay at the thought. At how much he just wants to go home.

“Chase is part of the team that’s keeping too close of an eye on my business,” Jonah explains. “I’m just setting up precautions in case he comes too close again since now I know his little ex isn’t as important to him as I had hoped.”

“Then why am I still here?” Liam blurts, rubbing his eyes when a tear slips, hoping he was fast enough to hide it.

“Because you’re cute,” Jonah mocks, and Liam groans in frustration. “And Chase probably, somewhere deep inside, feels guilty for knowing you’re here because of him – we both know that in the end, he isn’t a bad person. I mean, he hasn’t called or tried to see you, but I bet he feels bad. Well, I guess you know him better than I do, so tell me: do you think he cares?”

“I don’t give one shit.”

Lie lie lie lie.

“Well, then start talking.”

Liam sighs, leaning forward on his knees, holding his breath when the movement sends daggers of pain through his whole body.

“I don’t know what you want me to say. We both know everything he told me was a lie.”

“Oh, but was it?” Jonah muses, leaning back on his chair. “Tell me lies, then. But tell me what he said scared him.”

“I…” Liam stops, words dying in his throat. He wants to talk to his parents like he’s never wanted anything before. So much that it hurts to breathe knowing they are one treason away. But when he opens his mouth, it isn’t Chase’s fears that slips out in a whisper. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” Jonah asks, sounding truly annoyed for the first time.

“Why the hell would I do anything to help you?” Liam answers as dismissively as he can.

“You just lost the chance to speak to your parents, Liam. Talk to me like that again, and I’ll make sure you can’t talk at all.”

Liam bristles, but keeps quiet. There’s no forgetting who holds the power between them, after all. No matter how much Liam wants to get up and slap the asshole, there’s no denying he can barely get up on his own, let alone face Jonah.

“Give me Chase’s family’s address and I’ll let you send them a text,” he concedes.

“I don’t know it.”

A truth, for once. Chase had barely ever mentioned his family when they dated, let alone take Liam to meet them.

“Liam, I’m losing my patience.”

“I mean it, I don’t know. He’s not close to them,” Liam shrugs. “There, that’s info on him. Now give me my phone.”

“A shit info I already knew. Tell me something he’s embarrassed about, then.”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you actually choosing to protect the guy who ruined your life instead of talking to your parents? Are you really that dumb?”

Deep down, Liam doesn’t even know why he’s protecting Chase. He doesn’t deserve it. Every time Jonah mentions Liam’s parents his eyes water with painful longing. But, somehow, be it stubbornness or stupidity, he can’t get himself to say anything Chase has ever told him. He can’t bear to hurt him like that.

He's felt that pain before, and it’s not something he wishes to give anyone else, even someone who’s hurt him so much. Someone he could never quite muffle his feelings for.

“You have one minute to give me something or this is the last amiable conversation we’re having, boy.”

Liam simply raises his chin and counts the seconds as they go by.

One, two, three, and Jonah’s nostrils flare.

Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and he is scared of what he’s choosing, but what other choice does he have? Betray Chase for things he knows, somewhere deep down, aren’t lies?

That isn’t a choice, not really. Not one he can make anyway.

Forty-nine, fifty, fifty-one, and Jonah gets up, jaw clenched and eyes shining dangerously.

Sixty and Liam is still trembling, but when Jonah calls for the guards, he gets up calmly, as if the movement doesn’t burn and make him dizzy.

“You are going to regret this,” Jonah states.

Liam turns his back and doesn’t look back even when a chill climbs its way up his spine, or when one of the guards shoves him forward and he nearly falls.

Liam simply keeps walking, feeling like for once he’s won something, even if he knows he’ll pay dearly for it. Even if he knows he’s losing something, too – ever since he woke up bound to Chase in this place, maybe even sooner, he’s been losing it, one piece at a time.

Himself.

But today he's won the argument, so Liam pretends that's a good thing and only stops holding the tears that well up in his eyes when he's locked up in the room again and there is no one to watch him cry.

As soon as Liam leaves his office, Jonah gets up and turns around to his window. The whole city lies before him – his to take, his to conquer.

He expected the boy to give him something useful to work with, not only lamenting. Though it had been fun seeing Liam crack and shatter right in front of him, that served him nothing. If at least Jonah had thought to record the broken speech Liam had given, maybe he could use it to try to shatter Chase later, but he hadn’t even considered it.

Sighing, Jonah crosses his arms and purses his lips.

He is already winning. He’s already infiltrated Chase’s agency using the confidential information he’d made the man give him, has already donated such a huge amount of money to them that he knows no one will come after him again.

Not with the things he knows now, at least. Nothing too dirty, and yet nothing the general public can know either – just what he needed to successfully blackmail Chase’s boss into forgetting the case against Jonah’s company.

He would like to have seen Chase’s face when he got to work that morning and found out what the information he’d given Jonah was used for.

But even so, with all the pieces finally coming together, he can’t rest just yet. Not with so much proof of his… particular transactions that the law wouldn’t approve of still in the government’s hands.

It’d be easier to get it if he had something new to bribe Chase with, but Liam will have to be enough, Jonah thinks with a groan. At least he got a good laugh at the boy’s despair before he started being annoying.

Grabbing his phone from his desk, Jonah starts typing a message.

Have you seen my little surprise?

It’s not even five minutes later when Chase's answer blinks on the screen.

How did you do it

He can almost see Chase blanching at the news of how the agent's mission to keep an eye out on Jonah's company has gone down the drain. A smile stretches across his lips at the thought.

So you did see it! Isn’t it amazing what we did together?

Chase doesn’t take long to answer this one either.

What do you want Jonah? Haven’t you already done enough?

Why do you think I want something? Can’t I just want to have a chat with the friend who helped me save my company?

He waits, but no answer comes. Jonah smiles and spares Chase of the stroke he’s probably about to have.

Just kidding, handsome. I want all the files about me you have.

I can’t do that, he answers immediately.

Jonah smiles wider.

We both know you can, Chase. And we both know what, or who, is at stake here if you don’t do as I say... Do you think Liam would enjoy a new brand on his chest to go with the ones on his arms? Mmm, maybe I should brand him with my name for a change.

Fuck you, Chase sends.

This time, Jonah waits. Lets Chase go over the threats, over what’s already been done to the boy.

Fine, Chase finally answers. But only if you promise to leave Liam the fuck alone.

The denial is already typed when Jonah stops, and deletes it. It isn’t such a bad idea, he thinks with a giggle. It is, actually, a great one.

Deal, Jonah sends, smiling at his phone. I’ll wait for you tomorrow.

He doesn’t bother containing the laugh that bubbles up his throat. This will be fun, Jonah thinks to himself, watching the sun lower on the horizon. Just what he needed to better his humor after the disappointing chat with Liam.

As he walks to the intercom near his desk, Jonah can barely contain his excitement.

“Hello dear assistant,” he says through it. He should learn her name, he thinks to himself for a moment. Maybe later. “Please have that special cell on the basement floor ready for tomorrow. Yes, mister Beaumont has been having too good of a time here, I feel like a change of accommodation is in order. Besides, I promised mister Raymond I would leave Liam alone and I intend to do exactly that."

#whumptober2021 #day 3: insults #psychological whump #whump #whump writing #hostage situation #self loathing #blackmail #whumper pov #betrayal story #y'all i changed some veery minor details in the story #like: liam isn't a writer anymore... he's a journalist!#just thought i'd mention it in case someone remembered that detail #oh and guys! did the part about what jonah did with the info chase gave him make sense?#it made to me but i wrote it so idk #pls tell me if it didn't :')

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nordleuchten · 11 months

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also, you were talking about georges' feats in the military; could you share those stories if ya have 'em? i don't think I've ever read any of them before

thank youu :))

Dear @msrandonstuff,

of course I can!

Many of the sources I am going to rely upon are La Fayette’s letters to friends and family members. Because like every proud Papa, La Fayette liked to tell everybody what his son did and accomplished.

Georges was a good officer who took his role very serious and who not only freely choose this occupation for himself and enjoyed it, but who also understood how his military conduct was connected to his and his family’s honour. Here is a description of Georges’ military qualities from an undated letter La Fayette wrote his friend Amé Thérèse Joseph Masclet:

The fact is, that George, who is a republican patriot, -- and I have met with few such in my lifetime, -- has, besides a passion for the military profession, for which I think him adapted, as he possesses a sound and calm judgment, a just perception, a strong local memory, and will be equally beloved his superiors, his comrades, and his subordinates. I love him with too much tenderness to make any distinction between his desires and mine; and I am great an enemy to oppression of every description place a restraint on the wishes of a beloved son twenty years of age. I could joyfully see him with honourable scars, but beyond that supposition have not the courage to contemplate existence.

Jules Germain Cloquet, Recollections of the Private Life of General Lafayette, Baldwin and Cradock, London, 1835, p. 131.

While, as La Fayette wrote, he thought Georges very much suited for the military and although he liked the idea of Georges following in his steps, he was above forcing his son to follow a certain path. La Fayette believed children should make their way, independent of their parents’ wishes – although the parents should support and guide their child because a father for example knows his son differently than the child knows itself.

Georges joined the military and was made a sous-lieutenant around the time of the Battle of Marengo. He served in succession as an aide-de-camp to the Generals Canclaux, Dupont and Grouchy. Towards the end of Georges’ military career, Marshal Joachim Murat wanted to appoint Georges as his officier d’ordonnance but Napoléon was against it and the appointment never came to pass.

Georges was wounded in the Battle of Minico/Battle of Pozzolo on December 25, 1800. La Fayette wrote the following about his son’s injuries and conduct to Masclet on 28 Pluviôse [February 17] [1801]:

I have not this long while heard from you my dear Masclet: sure I am, nevertheless, that you do not forget your friend, and that you have been pleased with George’s good fortune on the Mincio. He was in the wing and under the general who fought and won the action. The eleventh regiment of hussars was the most distinguished. My son had for his share three bullets, but slight wounds. General Dupont tells me he had named him in the account of the battle. George insisted on the suppression of the mention made of him, unless the same was done in favour of his wounded comrades. His wounds would have been sooner cured, had he not remained with the regiment as long as there was something to do which caused an inflammation and a dépôt in his arm. But when the eleventh hussars made the blockade of the forts of Verona, which put them out of the way of danger, George got into the city, where he was very well taken care of. When General Dupont saw him last, he was in good train of recovery, although he yet wore a scarf. His side was still less damaged than the arm. So that the danger of the battle, which has been great, being over, we have had nothing to fear, and much to rejoice at. I give you those details as I know you will enjoy them. Here is a good honourable solid peace.

Jules Germain Cloquet, Recollections of the Private Life of General Lafayette, Baldwin and Cradock, London, 1835, pp. 229-230.

Georges wounds were without serious consequences, and he fully recovered. He next distinguished himself during the Battle of Eylau on February 7-8, 1807. La Fayette again wrote to Masclet:

George was on the eve being appointed to the rank of captain, and even the Emperor, before he went to Italy. had promised his promotion to Generals Grouchy and Canclaux and to M de Tracy [Georges’ father-in-law]. Since that period, my son has served as volunteer aide de camp at the embarkation at Helder, at Ulm, at Udine, and in the new war at Prenzlaw, at Lubeck, at Eylau, where he had the good fortune to save his general; and at Friedland, where Grouchy commanded the wing of the cavalry which routed the Russians only at the seventh charge. The promotion promised before all these events, and for which several applications had been made by the principal ministers and general officers, has been constantly refused, so that George, although the senior lieutenant of the division, has abandoned all idea of advancement. The peace will bring him back to us, as he is a volunteer: we expect him immediately.

Jules Germain Cloquet, Recollections of the Private Life of General Lafayette, Baldwin and Cradock, London, 1835, p. 106.

La Fayette also wrote to his friend Thomas Jefferson regarding Georges’ conduct at Eylau. The Marquis wrote on April 29, 1807:

My Son and Son in Law are in the Army of Poland under the Emperor’s Command, the one as a Volunteer Aid de Camp to General Grouchy, the other as an Aid de Camp to General Beker, Both my personal friends—George Had the Happiness at the Bloody Battle of Eylaw to save the Life of His General Whose Horse Had been killed and fell on His Bruised thigh, at a Moment when our troops were Overpowered and the Russians Giving No Quarter—My Son Lept down, disengaged Grouchy from Under His Horse, Gave Him His own, and so Both Got of. Since which time, and probably on that Account, there Has been a new Manifestation of a Sentiment already and I may say officially Expressed after the Affair of Prentzlaw when George Had the Good fortune to be Approved for His Conduct—it is that not only He Never Has Any promotion to Expect from the Emperor But that His Zeal in the Active Army is so far displeasing as to put Him in immediate danger to be sent, in His Rank of Lieutenant, to Some Remote Regimen—He Has Consequently determined to Return to Us, either to Serve in an interior Staff, or to Rest Himself at La Grange, as Soon as the Circumstances of the Army will permit His Leaving the division to which He is Attached, unless a proper Explanation Speedily takes place.

“To Thomas Jefferson from Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, 29 April 1807,” Founders Online, National Archives, [This is an Early Access document from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. It is not an authoritative final version.] (05/24/2023)

To top the list off, La Fayette also wrote to James Madison on June 10, 1807:

My Son and Younger Son in Law are in the Grand Army, The later an aid de Camp to our friend Gnl. Becker Now Chef d’Etat Major to the Wing Under Mal. Massena, George a Volonteer aid de Camp to Gnl. Grouchy. In that Independant Situation He Has determined to Go on, Very Happy in the Esteem and Kindness of our Numerous friends at the Army and Among its Chiefs, But Having Had Strong Reasons Not to Expect Even the Usual and Common Course of promotion. It Has been His fortunate lot, at the Bloody Battle of Eylaw, to Save the life of His Beloved General, Brother in law to Mr. Cabanis.

“To James Madison from Marie-Adrienne-Françoise de Noailles, marquise de Lafayette, 10 June 1807,” Founders Online, National Archives, [This is an Early Access document from The Papers of James Madison. It is not an authoritative final version.] (05/24/2023)

Georges had put himself in great danger during the Battle of Eylau and his courage was noted. Even beside that, Georges had done very well in the past and was respected by his superiors – the only problem; he was a La Fayette and Napoléon was petty. He and his brother-in-law (the husband of his younger sister Virginie) therefore quitted the military after the end of the military season in 1807 – to the infinite joy of his mother Adrienne.

She [Adrienne] bore with gentle fortitude the anxieties of which my brother and my husband were the object during the campaigns of 1805 and 1806. She heard with joy of George’s good fortune when he saved his general’s life at the battle of Eylau. The peace which followed brought on for her a period of unmingled happiness. I [Virginie] shall not attempt to describe it to you. I have scarcely dwelt upon those peaceful years we passed at Lagrange, although, during that whole period, I was my mother's daily companion. But I could only repeat to you that we were happy. At the end of the spring of 1807, it seemed that God had accomplished all my mother’s desires in this world. As for myself I cannot fancy it possible to be happier than I was during the period which elapsed from the peace and my eldest daughter’s birth up to the beginning of the fatal malady.

Mme de Lasteyrie, Life of Madame de Lafayette, L. Techener, London, 1872, pp. 391-392.

This is pure speculation on my part, but I could imagine that Georges’ leave from the military could also have been influenced by family reasons. In the above quoted letter to Madison, La Fayette mentioned that Georges’ little daughter of four weeks had just died and I could imagine that, just like Henriette’s death was a waking-call for a Fayette, Georges’ wanted to be closer to his wife, children and family.

Adrienne also was not the only one who was frequently anxious for Georges and Louis (Virginie’s husband). La Fayette wrote on October 16, 1805 to James Madison:

My Son Serves in the Grand Army as an Aid de Camp to General Grouchy—My Son in Law Louïs Lasteyrie Serves there also as an officer of dragoons—two Young Wives, a Sister, and Mother Are With Me at La Grange—and While I Consider their Anxiety and My Own for the Sake of our Young Soldiers, I am inclined to feel Less Regret, and I know You Will find More Cause to Approve me for Having Yelded to the Opinion of the Ambassadors and Mine Respecting the present obstacles to An immediate Voyage (…).

“To James Madison from Lafayette, 16 October 1805,” Founders Online, National Archives, . [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, vol. 10, 1 July 1805–31 December 1805, ed. Mary A. Hackett, J. C. A. Stagg, Mary Parke Johnson, Anne Mandeville Colony, and Katherine E. Harbury. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2014, pp. 434–436.] (05/24/2023)

I hope I could answer your question and I hope you have/had a wonderful day!

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