imprudent man was perhaps a fortunate circumstance.

The two Howes having appeared before the capes of the Delaware,
General Washington came to Philadelphia, and M. de Lafayette beheld
for the first time that great man.~[19] Although he was surrounded by
officers and citizens, it was impossible to mistake for a moment his
majestic figure and deportment; nor was he less distinguished by the
noble affability of his manner. M. de Lafayette accompanied him in his
examination of the fortifications. Invited by the General to establish
himself in his house, he looked upon it from that moment as his own:
with this perfect ease and simplicity, was formed the tie that united
two friends, whose confidence and attachment were to be cemented by
the strongest interests of humanity.~[20]

The American army, stationed some miles from Philadelphia, was waiting
until the movements the hostile army should be decided: the General
himself reviewed the troops; M. de Lafayette arrived there the same
day. About eleven thousand men, ill armed, and still worse clothed,
presented a strange spectacle to the eye of the young Frenchman: their
clothes were parti-coloured, and many of them were almost naked; the
best clad wore _hunting shirts_, large grey linen coats which were
much used in Carolina. As to their military tactics, it will be
sufficient to say that, for a regiment ranged in order of battle to
move forward on the right of its line, it was necessary for the left
to make a continued counter march. They were always arranged in two
lines, the smallest men in the first line; no other distinction as to
height was ever observed. In spite of these disadvantages, the
soldiers were fine, and the officers zealous; virtue stood in place of
science, and each day added both to experience and discipline. Lord
Stirling, more courageous than judicious, another general, who was