By
Sheila C. Ingle
Sometimes
research is simply random in its trail.
Sometimes, however, unforeseen data has led me to a treasure of
information that is completely surprising.
I
was in the midst of completing the manuscript of my third book. Including many
details of the Southern Campaign and South Carolina during the Revolutionary
War, I planned a chapter that included an imaginary visit of Marquis de
Lafayette to my protagonist. As usual, I
intentionally researched this nineteen-year-old, French soldier who desired to
fight against the British and beside General George Washington. My questions snowballed.
Why
would he leave France to fight another country’s battle for freedom? Why did he leave his young pregnant wife? Why
did he become such a friend to our country?
Why did he reject his sovereign’s command to not leave France and ignore
the arrest warrant? Why would he accept
a commission in the Continental Army without pay? Was he solely an adventurer that lacked
maturity?
These
questions drove me to find answers. There are always reasons for our actions,
and the more I read about the Marquis, the more I wanted to know what drove him
into a disguise and then onto a ship to cross the Atlantic. Strong motivations
obviously propelled him. And so, putting
the puzzle pieces commenced.
Born
in 1757, Marie Jean Paul Joseph Roche Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de
Lafayette, lost his father before he was two.
His father fought fiercely and died in a battle against the
British. His mother and grandfather died
when he was twelve, and after his formal schooling, he joined the French
entourage of King Louis XVI and army. He married at sixteen.
The
word liberty became popular at court, and he listened closely to what was
occurring in America. Lafayette and
other officers wanted to strike a blow of revenge against the British for the
Seven Year’s War. Buying his own ship,
called Victory, to cross the Atlantic Ocean, he learned to speak a smattering
of English on his two-month voyage to America.
Then
what I thought was truth shifted.
Sitting
at a Sons of the American Revolution dinner one night, I met a couple who told
me about Lafayette sailing into the property of Benjamin Huger near their
hometown of Georgetown, South Carolina.
All I had read was that Lafayette arrived first in Charleston. Excited by this twist, checking revealed his
first stop was at the plantation of Major Benjamin Huger of French Huguenot
descent. Spending a few hospitable days
there, the Major’s young son Francis made friends with Lafayette. Years later, as an adult, Francis later rescued
Lafayette from an Austrian prison after the French Revolution. Unbelievable
connect!
Lafayette’s
influence on Francis was long lasting and inspirational. He was not an adventurer.
In
reading Lafayette’s letters and papers, the word liberty and its importance were
often the subject. His family’s coat of
arms includes the Latin words, “cur non,” meaning why not. It was in these words that I finally found
the answers to my questions about the young Lafayette and his intense love of
liberty. Neither his youth nor his age
nor his station in life kept him from fighting for liberty for our country and
his own. He faced life, not with a what
if, but with a why not, and others pursued the same.
Research
stimulates my mind and my imagination.
The newness is exciting. I look
at events and people with fresh eyes, recognizing both similarities and
differences. Seeking answers to what
truly happened next helps me understand what might occur next in my biographical
fiction.
A graduate of Converse College with both
bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Sheila Ingle is a lifelong resident of S.C. Her published books, Courageous
Kate, Fearless Martha, Brave Elizabeth, and Walking with Eliza focus on the bravery of Patriot women living in Revolutionary
War South Carolina. Tales of a Cosmic
Possum, not only shares Ingle family history, but also South Carolina and
cotton mill history. Serving on the board for eight years of Children’s
Security Blanket (a 501c3 organization that serves families that have children
with cancer), she is the Board Chairman. She is also a member of Chapter D PEO,
where she served as vice president and chaplain; Circle 555(a local women’s
giving group), where she has served on the grant committee; and a board member
of Spartanburg County Historical Association, serving on the Walnut Grove
Committee. Married for thirty-eight years to John Ingle, they have one son
Scott. Besides being avid readers, the South Carolina beaches are their
favorite spots for vacations. Social Media links: sheilaingle.com Facebook: Sheila Ingle, Author @sheilaingle1
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