"Major Général Lafayette"

inconspicuous

August

A certain trio of friends meet each other for the first time. It would've been around this time, August of 1777. The animated gif version is here. You can see alternate versions + my process (drawing and animation timelapse) on instagram!

-Gilbert... Teach me to shoot, please. I practice whenever I can, but... I rarely hit the target.

She was a bit disappointed by herself... And it can be seen.

@the-lady-of-roses

He was surprised at such a request...

"Marie, this is not easy for me to teach 'ou.. It takes lots of practice to master hitting the target... Why do 'ou ask? Also never point the gun at someone. Always keep it pointed at the ground. It may be loaded.. Safety first. "

When Gilbert took the gun from her, she rolled her eyes dramatically.

"... Have you all conspired against me? That's the second time I've heard that! I'm not a child, Gilbert...

Gilbert had some military experience. His father in law was in charge of the dragoons.Sighing, he checked the pistol to make sure it wasn't loaded. Thankfully it was not.

"Marie... I... I suppose I can show 'ou. "

His facial expressions though.... He had just came from seeing King Louis and he wasn't happy. Still in full uniform too.

"Except for you... The Captain says it too. I heard the exact same thing from her a few days earlier."

"Never point a gun at someone when you don't have to. Safety first."

She recited it, feigning seriousness.

"Or: "Never shoot unless necessary"... As if I didn't know that. I really don't want to kill people! I would only do it if there was absolutely no other option...

She sighed quietly in resignation and looked away.

Gilbert sighed. He was under alot of stress and almost snapped at Marie. But he exhaled grumpily, deciding to show her how to shoot properly.

"Now I'm going to show 'ou the proper way.. "

Marie also almost shouted at Gilbert... She glared at him, clenching her fists. However, she decided to control herself. Nerves weren't the best advisor right now...

She slowly counted to ten in her mind and closed her eyes.

"Do 'ou want the training or not? "

She said quietly and lowered her gaze. She really didn't want to argue...

" Well first, uh, the pistol remains unloaded until it is fired. In the meantime... Um.. 'Ou just keep 'our index finger off the trigger. "

After briefly explaining he loaded the weapon with one bullet.

-Gilbert... Teach me to shoot, please. I practice whenever I can, but... I rarely hit the target.

She was a bit disappointed by herself... And it can be seen.

@the-lady-of-roses

He was surprised at such a request...

"Marie, this is not easy for me to teach 'ou.. It takes lots of practice to master hitting the target... Why do 'ou ask? Also never point the gun at someone. Always keep it pointed at the ground. It may be loaded.. Safety first. "

When Gilbert took the gun from her, she rolled her eyes dramatically.

"... Have you all conspired against me? That's the second time I've heard that! I'm not a child, Gilbert...

Gilbert had some military experience. His father in law was in charge of the dragoons.Sighing, he checked the pistol to make sure it wasn't loaded. Thankfully it was not.

"Marie... I... I suppose I can show 'ou. "

His facial expressions though.... He had just came from seeing King Louis and he wasn't happy. Still in full uniform too.

"Except for you... The Captain says it too. I heard the exact same thing from her a few days earlier."

"Never point a gun at someone when you don't have to. Safety first."

She recited it, feigning seriousness.

"Or: "Never shoot unless necessary"... As if I didn't know that. I really don't want to kill people! I would only do it if there was absolutely no other option...

She sighed quietly in resignation and looked away.

Gilbert sighed. He was under alot of stress and almost snapped at Marie. But he exhaled grumpily, deciding to show her how to shoot properly.

"Now I'm going to show 'ou the proper way.. "

Marie also almost shouted at Gilbert... She glared at him, clenching her fists. However, she decided to control herself. Nerves weren't the best advisor right now...

She slowly counted to ten in her mind and closed her eyes.

"Do 'ou want the training or not? "

-Gilbert... Teach me to shoot, please. I practice whenever I can, but... I rarely hit the target.

She was a bit disappointed by herself... And it can be seen.

@the-lady-of-roses

He was surprised at such a request...

"Marie, this is not easy for me to teach 'ou.. It takes lots of practice to master hitting the target... Why do 'ou ask? Also never point the gun at someone. Always keep it pointed at the ground. It may be loaded.. Safety first. "

When Gilbert took the gun from her, she rolled her eyes dramatically.

"... Have you all conspired against me? That's the second time I've heard that! I'm not a child, Gilbert...

Gilbert had some military experience. His father in law was in charge of the dragoons.Sighing, he checked the pistol to make sure it wasn't loaded. Thankfully it was not.

"Marie... I... I suppose I can show 'ou. "

His facial expressions though.... He had just came from seeing King Louis and he wasn't happy. Still in full uniform too.

"Except for you... The Captain says it too. I heard the exact same thing from her a few days earlier."

"Never point a gun at someone when you don't have to. Safety first."

She recited it, feigning seriousness.

"Or: "Never shoot unless necessary"... As if I didn't know that. I really don't want to kill people! I would only do it if there was absolutely no other option...

She sighed quietly in resignation and looked away.

Gilbert sighed. He was under alot of stress and almost snapped at Marie. But he exhaled grumpily, deciding to show her how to shoot properly.

"Now I'm going to show 'ou the proper way.. "

-Gilbert... Teach me to shoot, please. I practice whenever I can, but... I rarely hit the target.

She was a bit disappointed by herself... And it can be seen.

@the-lady-of-roses

He was surprised at such a request...

"Marie, this is not easy for me to teach 'ou.. It takes lots of practice to master hitting the target... Why do 'ou ask? Also never point the gun at someone. Always keep it pointed at the ground. It may be loaded.. Safety first. "

When Gilbert took the gun from her, she rolled her eyes dramatically.

"... Have you all conspired against me? That's the second time I've heard that! I'm not a child, Gilbert...

Gilbert had some military experience. His father in law was indeed in charge of him. But truth be told, he hadn't really fired a pistol at anyone... Yet.

"Marie.. I.. Fine I suppose I can show 'ou. "

His facial expressions said something else.... Worry.

-Gilbert... Teach me to shoot, please. I practice whenever I can, but... I rarely hit the target.

She was a bit disappointed by herself... And it can be seen.

@the-lady-of-roses

He was surprised at such a request...

"Marie, this is not easy for me to teach 'ou.. It takes lots of practice to master hitting the target... Why do 'ou ask? Also never point the gun at someone. Always keep it pointed at the ground. It may be loaded.. Safety first. "

When Gilbert took the gun from her, she rolled her eyes dramatically.

"... Have you all conspired against me? That's the second time I've heard that! I'm not a child, Gilbert...

Gilbert had some military experience. His father in law was in charge of the dragoons.Sighing, he checked the pistol to make sure it wasn't loaded. Thankfully it was not.

"Marie... I... I suppose I can show 'ou. "

His facial expressions though.... He had just came from seeing King Louis and he wasn't happy. Still in full uniform too.

Now, to be clear – the title of this post is not referring to a modern stamp that might be interesting for collectors. This post is about the stamp the US government created in 1824 for La Fayette alone so that he could use the stamp and frank his correspondence. This was quite the forward-thinking act by the government since La Fayette had not only a lot of personal correspondence with family and friends that he wanted to carry out during his long trip, he also got absolutely swamped by letters of all kind, among them many invitations and petitions but also personal notes and he had to (and also wanted) to reply to.

The note accompanying the stamp send on a bit of wild goose chase – the note mentions a “privilege having been granted him by the Government”. I went through the Journals of both the Senate and the House of Representatives; I had a look at their joint resolutions but still was not able to turn up anything. There is not much literature about these special stamps and if it is discussed, it is simply called “a special act by Congress” or something along those lines. There is the possibility that the postmaster general at the time had it within his rights to grant La Fayette the privilege. I am definitely keeping an eye open for this ominous grant by the government in the future.

I was previously unaware that La Fayette had such strong opinions about German sentiments like patriotism or philanthropy but I actually see his point about “eccentricities” …

You know the Germans. there are Excentricities in their patriotism as Well as in their philosophy. Yet much of it is Boiling in the Northern parts of that Country.

“Lafayette to Thomas Jefferson, 10 December 1817,”

Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-12-02-0196. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 12, 1 September 1817 to 21 April 1818, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014, pp. 245–249] (27/07/2026).

German patriotism and philantropy Evaporates in Romantic Ideology; two Nations alone, french and English, or one of them, Could take the Lead in European Emancipation.

“Lafayette to Thomas Jefferson, 20 December 1823,”