#richard fitzpatrick

Jason Priestley Call Me Fitz S01E05 “The Back End”

Worst: know it is a Hallmark film, but it didn’t necessarily need to be a romance.

Tarleton wears the uniform of British Legion (complete with “Tarleton helmet”). The story of Tarleton and Lafayette is an intriguing one. The two clashed during the Virginia campaign, where Lafayette was very conscious that he didn’t have the men and cavalry to match Tarleton’s forces. Both participated in the battle of Yorktown, after which there was a good deal of socialisation between senior British, French and Continental officers (Lafayette and Cornwallis exchanged  visits for example). Tarleton already had a reputation for brutality, however - particularly in the Waxhaws massacre - and when senior British officers were invited to dinner, Tarleton was the only one not to receive an invitation. The exact extent of his alleged “brutality” is still being assessed by historians. Curiously, though, after the war he struck up a friendship with Lafayette. He spent a good deal of time in Paris and was there in the summer of 1791, where he was noted to be much in the company of his erstwhile foe. Lafayette wanted to commission him in the French army if reactionary foreign forces threatened the Revolution (there is so much to unpack in that!).   Tarleton was a Whig politician, and allied with Charles Fox, one of Lafayette’s good friends. In 1795, Tarleton joined with Fox, William Wilberforce and Richard Sheridan in an effort headed by Richard Fitzpatrick (another former foe on the battlefield who Lafayette counted as a good friend) to gain parliamentary support for Lafayette’s release from prison.  Tarleteon seconded Fitzpatrick’s motion, and Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (yes, THAT Cornwallis) also spoke in its support. 

So, in essence, Lafayette spent about a month meeting everyone he was about to fight against.

Richard FitzPatrick, National Portrait Gallery collection Lafayette met FitzPatrick in London in 1777, and although the two would soon be on opposing sides they remained good friends. Howe appointed FitzPatrick a commissioner to meet with Washington’s agents to negotiate a prisoner exchange in Germantown, where the two friends met again and Lafayette took the opportunity to give FitzPatrick a letter for Adrienne:  “Germantown, April 28th, 1778. I write to you, my dearest love, by a very strange opportunity, since it is an English officer who has taken charge of my letter. But your wonder will cease, when you hear that that officer is my friend Fitz-Patrick. He is returning to England, and I could not resist my wish of embracing him before his departure. It was the first time we had met unarmed in America, and that manner of meeting suits us both much better than the hostile appearance which we had, until now, thought proper to affect. It is long since I have received any news from France, and I am very impatiently expecting letters. Write frequently, my love, I need the consolation of hearing often from you during this painful separation. There is no important news; neither would it be proper for Mr. Fitz-Patrick to carry political news from a hand at present engaged in fighting with his army. I am in perfect health; my wound is completely healed, but my heart is far from being tranquil, for I am far from all those I love; and my anxiety about them, as well as my impatience to behold them, increase every hour. Say a thousand things for me to all my friends; present my respects to Madame d'Ayen, and to the Marshal de Noailles. Embrace, above all, our children, my dearest love, and be convinced yourself that every moment that separates me from you and them appears to me an age. Adieu; I must quit you, for the hour is far advanced, and to-morrow will not be an idle day. Adieu, Adieu!” FitzPatrick  (24 January 1748 – 25 April 1813) was an Anglo-Irish poet, soldier and politician. He was also a friend and ally of Charles Fox, another of Lafayette’s British friends, and during the French Revolution spoke in parliament in support of Lafayette. Following the imprisonment of the Lafayette family, FitzPatrick moved a motion on December 16th, 1796, urging aid for the prisoners of Olmütz.

Judging by your posts, you seem like a very learned person and I love perusing your blog! Therefore, I can’t have you thinking that! While it is true that Lafayette tended to be outwardly Anglophobic, a stronger truth should be submitted for consideration: Lafayette almost never met a stranger in any country. He had friends on the British side during the war that he had met in London before his voyage to America and several Englishmen (Charles James Fox, Richard FitzPatrick, Samuel Taylor Coleridge) encouraged and/or fought for his release during his imprisonment. So, no! I don’t think he would’ve disliked you! Your nationality would not be enough to turn him away. I hope this dismisses any doubts you may have.

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9wv-_-ahr4)