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nordleuchten · 2 years

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24 Days of La Fayette: December 18th - Charles-Albert, comte de Moré de Pontgibaud

Charles-Albert, comte de Moré de Pontgibaud was one of La Fayette’s most “unruly” aide-de-camps and I am not exaggerating when I say that he was most likely the Marquis’ least beloved aide-de-camp.

Pontgibaud was born in 1758 and was one of the few individuals in La Fayette’s military circle that were younger than he was. But youth was not the only thing the two of them had in common – just like La Fayette, Pontgibaud was a bit of a troublesome teenager. While his refusal to follow orders landed La Fayette a spot on the American army pay rolls and a page in the history books, things looked different for the Comte. At the tender age of 16 he was imprisoned for a fierce and violent character, and refusing to do any kind of work. Absolutely lovely, what else could one want from an aide-de-camp?

Pontgibaud escaped prison in the fall of 1777 and he left Nantes on October 11, 1777, bound for America, on the Arc en Ciel. His father, a gentleman of 77 years, was reportedly greatly worried by his son’s escapades. While we have no direct letter from his father, we have letters from a nobleman by the name d’Alagnac (that I could not identify any further) addressed to Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. D’Alagnac wrote to John Adams on May 18, 1778:

Dr. Franklin, sir, to whom I had the honor to write for information about a young man, Chevalier de Pontgibaut, who left Nantes on 11 October 1777 on board the Arc en Ciel with letters of recommendation to Messrs. Conway and Lafayette in the hope of being employed with the troops of the United Colonies of America; has replied that he knows nothing on the matter. Permit me then to turn to you, sir, as you have newly arrived from that country and might have some information on the whereabouts of the Chevalier or the Arc en Ciel and you would greatly oblige me if you would have the goodness to inform me as to the fate of the one or the other. This young man, filled with ardor and eager to achieve glory in the service of such a worthy cause, is very dear to his family and his silence, since his departure, deeply worries his father, Comte de Chalier, a venerable old man of 77. Would it be too much of an imposition on you, sir, to ask you to ease his anxiety by condescending to discover what has become of this young man on the supposition that you have no information at hand. I dare hope for a favorable response to my request, sir, and I have the honor to be with a great respect, sir, your most obedient and humble servant

“Alagnac to John Adams: A Translation, 18 May 1778,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 6, March–August 1778, ed. Robert J. Taylor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983, pp. 132–133.] (12/18/2022)

Let us try to ease the old man’s anxiety and have a look at what happened to his son. Pontgibaud’s ship made it to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. There it was attacked by a British frigate and either run aground or outright sunk. Pontgibaud managed to get ashore where the few belongings he was able to safe from the wreck were stolen. That certainly was not his lucky day. He travelled to the army encampment at Valley Forge and it was there that he met La Fayette for the first time. Since Pontgibaud a letter of introduction for La Fayette and Conway, it is safe to assume that he wished to be employed by one of the two. But I let him tell his story:

I presented myself to him, and told him frankly my whole story. He listened to my history with attention and kindness, and at my request enrolled me as a volunteer. He also wrote to France and before long received a reply confirming the truth of my statements; he then appointed me one of his aides-de-camp, with the rank of Major, and from that moment never ceased to load me with benefits and marks of confidence.

Chevalier de Pontgibaud [Charles-Albert de More], A French Volunteer of the War of Independence, trans. and ed. Robert B. Douglas [1897; reprinted., Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1968], pp. 41-42).

La Fayette wrote himself in a letter to Patrick Henry on January 3, 1778:

Receive, Sir, my sincere thanks for the trouble you have taken in sending me some letters from France. Is it not very uncivil to be importune upon the same matter? But I have heard from a gentleman in Hampton who is reccommanded to me and is just now arrived with a parcel of letters. His vessel has been sunk by some eglish frigate, three men only have escaped, he did not save any thing but a trunk and a bag which, he says, have been braked and plundered a schore. He seems in a great distress. I take the liberty of giving to him some hopes by the inclosed letter that you will be so good as to order some notice to be taken of him. I desire him also to direct his dispatches to your excellency in case you would Give yourself the trouble of sending them to General Washington as you have done for the others.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 1, December 7, 1776–March 30, 1778, Cornell University Press, 1977, p. 211-212.

Pontgibaud’s commission as a Major was approved in February of 1778.

Not much is to be found about Pontgibaud’s early service as a volunteer and later as an aide-de-camp. He was however helpful to La Fayette during the joined efforts of the French fleet and the American troops in Rhode Island. In a letter to La Fayette, d’Estaing tells the Marquis that his aide-de-camp Pontgibaud had helped the French officers in counting and identifying several British ships.

At one point in time, I can not say with certainty when, Pontgibaud returned to France. It is probably that he sailed with La Fayette on the Alliance but even if that had not been the case, both men were in Paris around the same time. La Fayette was the first of the two to return to America and when Pontgibaud followed suit, he carried mail and packets for the Marquis on his person. If there is one thing to know about La Fayette, then that he was very invested in his mail and Pontgibaud appears to not have been up to the Marquis’ standard. Pontgibaud arrived onboard the Alliance on August 16, 1780 in Boston and La Fayette wrote to George Washington on August 28, 1780:

No pontgibault as yet, which Added to our Circumstances of provisions, and our dull prospects of inaction, Makes me feel very uneasy.

“To George Washington from Major General Lafayette, 28 August 1780,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 28, 28 August–27 October 1780, ed. William M. Ferraro and Jeffrey L. Zvengrowski. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2020, pp. 14–15.] (12/18/2022)

He wrote to the Vicomte de Noailles on September 2, 1780:

We are tired of the whole thing, my friend. I have cursed about M. de Pontgibaud so much that I do not know what more to say, and I am stupefied by this miracle of negligence. Eighteen days to come from Boston! The only way to explain the enigma is that Poirey is with him, which I have learned from the gazette (because Poirey has been given full coverage in the papers), and Poirey stops at every wonder he sees here. I cannot tell you how much this delay distresses me. There are a thousand things apart from the public service that I would like to know; but I promise you at least that if I have any news I will not delay in sharing it with you.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 3, April 27, 1780–March 29, 1781, Cornell University Press, 1980, p. 156-159.

He wrote to Prince de Poix on September 3, 1780:

Have you ever seen anything like it, my dear prince, and have I not reason to curse and despair? The Alliance has arrived and brought me letters; I know they are in Boston, and the officer who carries them calmly entertains himself buying horses. Good God, if he did not have my packet in his pocket, how much bad luck I would wish him! This accursed man, M. de Pontgibaud, flanked by M. de La Colombe and friend Poirey, set foot on land almost three weeks ago. He said he had important dispatches to deliver to me, so important that he refused to confide a single letter to an officer of the French army who was returning to Rhode Island, and apparently he thinks they are too important to travel other than by easy stages. Meanwhile I am getting angry, and increasingly so as I see how useless it is.

Finally he wrote to the Chevalier de La Luzerne on September 17, 1780:

M. de Pontgibaud had only one packet for you, delivered by a merchant and entrusted to his care with little sense of urgency; he sent it by the post the day after he arrived, but I reprimanded him for it nonetheless.

While La Fayette at times certainly was unhappy with Pontgibaud, he nevertheless rendered important and valuable service and continued to serve for the entire duration of war, only resigning his position after the Battle of Yorktown. Their wartime service was not the last time that the two men would meet. Pontgibaud attended a “Board of Officers” that met on March 8, 1784 in La Fayette’s house to discuss the claims of several officers to be admitted in the Society of the Cincinnati. In the context of said meeting, La Fayette wrote a list of Names of the American officers wearing now in France the badge of the society of the Cincinnati and Pontgibaud’s name is on that list. Charles-Albert, comte de Moré de Pontgibaud died in 1837.

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