THE "SWORD OF HONOUR PROMISED TO YOU ON THE BATTLEFIELD...". LA FAYETTE (George Washington Du Motier de). Autograph letter signed to Jean-Marguerite-Joseph Pierron. Paris, "20 prairial" [9 June 1801]. One p. 1/2 in-12; splits at the folds, tear at the address leaf due to opening without affecting the text. "I have come to talk to you, my dear comrade, about something which is of great interest to you, and to us all, since the honour you have gained by this action has reflected on the whole body. The other day I accompanied my father to see the Minister of War [Louis-Alexandre Berthier] and we spoke to him about the sabre of honour that was promised to you on the battlefield. I repeated to him what you had said before the affair, that you would win it or be killed; his answer was that since you were not killed you should have the sabre; and he had a secretary take note of this affair, to make sure that the request had been made. For your part, I urge you to make this request again, because it is very possible that, with the best will in the world, the minister will lose sight of this matter in the midst of all the others that are weighing him down...". The son of the general, George Washington de La Fayette (1779-1849) was born during the American War of Independence and was named after the general and future American president. Hiding in the countryside during the Terror, he was sent to the United States in 1795, and was welcomed by Washington, with whom he lived from 1796 to 1798. After his father was freed by the Austrians in 1798, he returned to France and joined the army in 1800. Second lieutenant in the 11th regiment of hussars, he was chosen as aide-de-camp by Generals Canclaux and then Dupont, and finally by the future Marshal Grouchy. He took part in the campaigns in Italy (he was wounded by three bullets as he crossed the Mincio), Austria, Prussia and Poland, but was blocked from promotion by Napoleon I because of his name, and left the service in 1807. He subsequently served as a member of parliament several times, during the Hundred Days, then in 1822-1823 and from 1827 to 1849. Under the Restoration, he sat in the left-wing opposition and was involved with the Charbonnerie; under Louis-Philippe I, to whom he was initially favourable, he soon followed his father into the opposition, on the extreme left. Jean-Marguerite-Joseph Pierron, Un brave de l'armée d'Italie. Field marshal, then chief marshal, in the 11th regiment of hussars, where George Washington de La Fayette served, Jean-Marguerite-Joseph Pierron distinguished himself by his brilliant conduct at the battle of La Trebbia (17-19 June 1799), at Marengo (14 June 1800) and then at the crossing of the Mincio at Mozembano (25 December 1800), where he took a flag from the enemy and was wounded in the jaw. Made an officer on the battlefield, he was placed on the army order of the day; he received a sabre of honour on 15 September 1803 and was made a knight of the Legion of Honour on 14 June 1804.