De Lafayette letters found

Gelders Archief

Recently Dutch archivist Menoucha Ruitenberg ‘discovered’ ten letters from Gilbert du Motier, marquis De Lafayette (1757-1834) to Charlotte Sophie van Aldenburg Bentinck (1715-1800). The letters from the French marquis (in full : Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette) were written between 1778 and 1785, and the question has arisen if they were ever published before.


De Lafayette is one of the most popular historic figures in the United States of America and France. He volunteered to fight with the Americans in their War of Independence against the British (1775-1783), and was befriended with general George Washington, who later became the first president of the U.S.A.. During the war the marquis served as a commanding officer, ultimately having the rank of general. He was voted by the U.S. Congress the sum of $ 200,000 and a township of land located in Tallahassee, Florida, to be known as the Lafayette Land Grant. The marquis was granted honorary United States citizenship by Congress in 2002. The honor was also extended to all his descendants. His statue is in one of the four corners of the Lafayette Park, located directly north of the White House in Washington, and it is accompanied (in the remaining corners) by statues of other foreign Revolutionary War heroes.
De Lafayette also played an important part in the French Revolution.

In his letters to Charlotte Sophie, the main character in two books by the Dutch author Hella Haasse, the marquis writes in detail about events on the battlefields in America. He is annoyed about the British violence, and accuses the opponents of killing innocent women and children. Although a few personal statements are made, such as about his health, he mainly talks about political, social and military affairs.

Ruitenberg found the letters whilst making an inventory of the Bentinck family archives, with which she started in 2010. After its completion, to be expected in two years time, the documents will be available and accessible to the public.

This Gelders Archief project is co-financed by VSBfonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Gelderland, Gemeente Rheden en Landgoed Middachten.