Several years ago I extensively researched the alleged "Toast that Saved the Nation" -- General Lafayette's legendary toast to the health of General George Washington at the Gates House in York. This toast is promoted as an event that thwarted the Conway Cabal and saved Washington's job. Today, we even have a statue of Lafayette standing in front of the Gates House and a historic marker commemorating the event.
But is any of it really true? Did Lafayette actually give a toast? If so, did it save Washington's job? And did it really happen in the Gates House?
Turns out, the toast is mostly just boast, with little factual evidence. I wrote about the event in a York Sunday News / York Daily Record guest column, which appears below:
Now that the community has celebrated the unveiling of a statue commemorating the Marquis de Lafayette's toast to Gen. George Washington, it is probably a good time to separate the legend from historical fact.Local tradition holds that Lafayette was invited by the Board of War to come to York Town, then hosting the Second Continental Congress, in order to accept a commission to lead a Continental Army invasion of Canada. The board was filled with Washington's enemies, and their ultimate goal was to replace the commander-in-chief with Gen. Horatio Gates. Perhaps they could even woo Lafayette to support their cabal.
Gen. Gates hosted a banquet at his house, and here Lafayette sat as board members and congressional delegates toasted one another. Much to the conspirators' dismay, however, Lafayette proposed a toast to Washington. This brave deed reinforced Lafayette's steadfast support of the general, ultimately thwarting the Conway Cabal and saving Washington's job. Without Lafayette's support, the French government would not support a change in leadership. The young nation was coveting the support of France to help defeat the British Army.
This is the oft-told story of Lafayette's 1778 visit to York Town. But is there really historical evidence to support this claim?
