| Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant | |||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 2 August 1754 | ||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Paris, France | ||||||||||||
| Death Place: | Prince George's County, Maryland, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Resting Place: | Arlington National Cemetery | ||||||||||||
| Resting Place Coordinates: | 38.8811°N -77.0722°W | ||||||||||||
| Monuments: | L'Enfant Plaza, Washington, D.C.; Freedom Plaza, Washington, D.C. | ||||||||||||
| Nationality: | French and American | ||||||||||||
| Education: | Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture | ||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Military engineer, architect | ||||||||||||
| Known For: | L'Enfant Plan | ||||||||||||
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Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant (in French pjɛʁ ʃɑʁl lɑ̃fɑ̃/; August 2, 1754June 14, 1825) was a French-American artist, professor, and military engineer who in 1791 designed the baroque styled plan for Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. His work is known today as the L'Enfant Plan[1] which inspired plans for other world capitals such as Brasilia, New Delhi, and Canberra. In the United States, plans for Detroit, Indianapolis and Sacramento took inspiration from the plan for Washington, DC . [2]
L'Enfant was born on August 2, 1754, in Paris, specifically at the Gobelins located in the 13th arrondissement on the city's left bank.[3] He was the third child and second son of Pierre L'Enfant (1704–1787), a painter and professor at Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture known for his panoramas of battles,[4] and Marie Charlotte Leullier, the daughter of a French military officer. In 1758, his brother Pierre Joseph died at six, and Pierre Charles became the eldest son.[5] He studied with an intense curriculum at the Royal Academy from 1771 until 1776 with his father being one of his instructors. Academy classes were held at the Louvre, benefiting from the close proximity to some of Paris' greatest landmarks, such as the Tuileries Garden and Champs-Élysées, both designed by André Le Nôtre, and Place de la Concorde. L'Enfant would have also learned about city and urban planning during his time at the academy, likely examining baroque plans for Rome by Domenico Fontana and London by Sir Christopher Wren.
He was described by William Wilson Corcoran as "a tall, erect man, fully six feet in height, finely proportioned, nose prominent, of military bearing, courtly air and polite manners, his figure usually enveloped in a long overcoat and surmounted by a bell-crowned hat -- a man who would attract attention in any assembly."[6] Sarah De Hart, daughter of New Jersey statesman John De Hart, drew a silhouette of L'Enfant in 1785. It now hangs in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the US Department of State.
After his education L'Enfant was recruited by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais to serve in the American Revolutionary War in the United States. He arrived in 1777 at the age of 23, and served as a military engineer in the Continental Army with Major General Lafayette.[7] He was commissioned as a captain in the Corps of Engineers on April 3, 1779, to rank from February 18, 1778.[8]
Despite his aristocratic origins, L'Enfant closely identified with the United States, changing his first name from Pierre to Peter when he first came to the rebelling colonies in 1777.[9] [10] [11] L'Enfant served on General George Washington's staff at Valley Forge. While there, the Marquis de Lafayette commissioned L'Enfant to paint a portrait of Washington.[12]
During the war, L'Enfant made a number of pencil portraits of George Washington and other Continental Army officers.[13] He also made at least two paintings of Continental Army encampments in 1782.[14] They depict panoramas of West Point and Washington's tent at Verplanck's Point. The latter details what is believed to be "the only known wartime depiction of Washington’s tent by an eyewitness."[15] The seven-and-a-half-foot-long painting was purchased by the Museum of American Revolution in Philadelphia.
During the fall of 1779 L’Enfant contributed to the Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States authored by General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. He was tasked to draft the eight "plates" or illustrations detailing camp and troop formations, as he was the only artistically trained individual involved. The "Blue Book" was completed by April 1779, receiving approval from General Washington and Congress. For his efforts, Congress awarded L’Enfant $500 and officially promoted him to captain of engineers, retroactive to February 1778.
L'Enfant was wounded at the Siege of Savannah on October 9, 1779. He recovered and became a prisoner of war at the surrender of Charleston, South Carolina, on May 12, 1780. He was exchanged in November 1780 and served on General Washington's staff for the remainder of the American Revolution. While the historical consensus generally attributes the creation of the Badge of Military Merit, later known as the Purple Heart, to George Washington in 1782, there is an implied claim by Pamela Scott, Washington D.C. historian and former editor of The L'Enfant Papers at the Library of Congress, that L'Enfant may have conceived the medal's design. L'Enfant was promoted by brevet to Major in the Corps of Engineers on May 2, 1783, in recognition of his service to the cause of American liberty. He was discharged when the Continental Army was disbanded in December 1783.[16] In acknowledgment of his Revolutionary War contributions, L'Enfant received 300 acres of land in present-day Ohio from the United States. However, he never set foot on or resided in the granted land. A map outlining the territory was sketched on the reverse side of a segment of L'Enfant's land deed, signed by President Thomas Jefferson on January 13, 1803.[17]
Following the American Revolutionary War, L'Enfant settled in New York City and achieved fame as an architect by redesigning the City Hall in New York for the First Congress of the United States (See: Federal Hall).[18]
L'Enfant also designed furniture and houses for the wealthy, as well as coins and medals. Among the medals was the eagle-shaped badge of the Society of the Cincinnati, an organization of former officers of the Continental Army of which he was a founder. At the request of George Washington, the first President of the Society, L'Enfant had the insignias made in France during a 1783–84 visit to his father and helped to organize a chapter of the Society there.[19]
In 1787 L'Enfant received an inheritance upon his father's death that included a farm in Normandy. His military pension and success as a designer provided financial stability enabling him to pursue his career and contribute to various projects for a period of time. While L'Enfant was in New York City, he was initiated into Freemasonry. His initiation took place on April 17, 1789, at Holland Lodge No. 8, F & A M, which the Grand Lodge of New York F & A M had chartered in 1787. L'Enfant took only the first of three degrees offered by the Lodge and did not progress further in Freemasonry.[20]
Around this period, L'Enfant designed the "Glory" ornamentation above the altar in St. Paul's Church. The chapel, built in 1766, is the oldest continuously used building in New York City. George Washington worshipped there on his inauguration day. The intricate design vividly depicts Mt. Sinai amidst clouds and lightning, capturing the dramatic moment of divine revelation. At the center of the piece is the Hebrew word for "God" enclosed within a triangle, symbolizing the Holy Trinity. Below, the two tablets of the Law are inscribed with the Ten Commandments, highlighting the enduring significance of these foundational moral laws.
L'Enfant was also a close friend of Alexander Hamilton. Some of their correspondences from 1793 to 1801 now reside in the Library of Congress.[21] Hamilton is credited with helping L'Enfant with the federal city commission.
The new Constitution of the United States, which took effect in March and April 1789, gave the newly organized Congress of the United States authority to establish a federal district up to 10 miles square in size. L'Enfant had already written first to President George Washington, asking to be commissioned to plan the city. However, a decision on the capital was put on hold until July 1790 when the First Congress passed the "Residence Act", setting the site of the new federal district and national capital to be on the shores of the Potomac River.[22]
The Residence Act was the result of an important early political compromise between northern and southern congressional delegations, brokered by new cabinet members, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton of New York and political opponent, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia. It specified the new capital would be situated on the northern and southern banks of the Potomac River, at some location, to be determined by the president, between the Eastern Branch (now referred to as the Anacostia River) near Washington's estate of Mount Vernon and the confluence with the Conococheague Creek, further upstream near Hagerstown, Maryland. The Residence Act also gave authority to President Washington to appoint three commissioners to oversee the survey of the ten mile square federal district and "according to such Plans, as the President shall approve," provide public buildings to accommodate the Federal government in 1800.[23] [24]
President Washington appointed L'Enfant in 1791 to plan the new "Federal City" (later named the "City of Washington") under the supervision of the three Commissioners, whom Washington had appointed to oversee the planning and development of the federal territory that would later become designated the "District of Columbia". Included in the new district were the river port towns of Georgetown (formerly in Montgomery County of the State of Maryland) and Alexandria (in Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia).[25] Thomas Jefferson, who worked alongside President Washington in overseeing the plans for the capital, sent L'Enfant a letter outlining his task, which was to provide a drawing of suitable sites for the federal city and the public buildings. Though Jefferson had modest ideas for the Capital, L'Enfant saw the task as far more grandiose, believing he was not only surveying the capital, but devising the city plan and designing the buildings.[26] The work of André Le Nôtre, particularly his Gardens of Versailles and Tuileries Garden, is said to have influenced L'Enfant's master plan for the capital.[27]
L'Enfant arrived in Georgetown on March 9, 1791, and began his work, from Suter's Fountain Inn.[28] Washington arrived later on March 28, to meet with L'Enfant and the Commissioners for several days.[29] On June 22, L'Enfant presented his first plan for the federal city to the President.[30] [31] [32] On August 19, he appended a new map to a letter that he sent to the President.[33] 100 square miles, roughly 6,000 acres, had been allocated to the city with the ambitious goal of having one million residents inhabit the area; it was to be as large as the occupied portions of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia combined. In a letter to then Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, L’Enfant stated that his models for the new city included such “grand” cities as London, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, Naples, Venice, Genoa, and Florence.
L'Enfant collaborated with a talented team of assistants whose contributions were instrumental in realizing his grand vision. Among these collaborators were Andrew Ellicott, a skilled surveyor whose meticulous measurements helped lay the groundwork for the city's layout. Benjamin Banneker, an African American mathematician and surveyor, provided invaluable expertise and calculations essential to the project. Étienne Sulpice Hallet or Stephen Hallet, an accomplished architect, served as a draftsman. Alexander Ralston, renowned for his urban design prowess, helped L'Enfant lay out the city plan. Isaac Roberdeau, a competent draftsman and son of the American founding father Daniel Roberdeau, served as L'Enfant's main assistant. Together, this diverse team of assistants collaborated closely with L'Enfant, each contributing their unique skills and expertise to the creation of the plan for the nation's capital.
President Washington retained a copy of one of L'Enfant's plans, showed it to the Congress, and later gave it to the three Commissioners.[34] The U.S. Library of Congress now holds both the plan that Washington apparently gave to the Commissioners and an undated anonymous "dotted line" survey map that the Library considers L'Enfant to have drawn before August 19, 1791.[35] The full plan identifies "Peter Charles L'Enfant" as its author in the last line of an oval in its upper left corner. The "dotted line" survey map may be one that L'Enfant appended to his August 19 letter to the President.[36]
L'Enfant's "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of the United States..." encompassed an area bounded by the Potomac River, the Eastern Branch, the base of the escarpment of the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line, and Rock Creek.[34] [37] His plan specified locations for two buildings, the "Congress House" (the United States Capitol) and the "President's House" (known after its 1815–1817 rebuilding and re-painting of its stone walls, as the "White House" or "Executive Mansion").[34] The plan specified that most streets would be laid out in a grid. To form the grid, some streets (later named for letters of the alphabet) would travel in an east–west direction, while others (named for numbers) would travel in a north–south direction. Diagonal broader avenues, later named after the states of the Union, crossed the north–south-east/west grid.[38] [39] The diagonal avenues intersected with the north–south and east–west streets at circles and rectangular plazas that would later honor notable Americans and provide open space. The 15 states at the time were each allocated a square to build on and decorate as they saw fit. They would be located along the avenues and were to be easily visible from each other to engender friendly competition. L'Enfant's plan additionally laid out a system of canals (later designated as the Washington City Canal) that would pass the "Congress House" and the "President's House". One branch of the canal would empty into the Potomac River south of the "President's House" at the mouth of old Tiber Creek, which would be channelized and straightened.
The "Congress House" would be built on "Jenkins Hill" (later to be known as "Capitol Hill"), which L'Enfant described as a "pedestal awaiting a monument".[40] Emphasizing the importance of the new Nation's Legislature, the "Congress House" would be located on a longitude designated as 0:0.[41] A sunburst of avenues would radiate out from this structure affirming its role as the center of the new republic. John Trumbull was given a tour of "Jenkins Hill" by L'Enfant himself; Trumbull confirmed in his autobiography that the concept for a "great circular room and dome" had originated with L'Enfant. It is unknown what L'Enfant's vision for the capitol building would have looked like. However, a separate plan submitted at a later date by his draftsman Étienne Sulpice Hallet might provides researchers a glimpse of what L'Enfant may have had in mind. Hallet's plan incorporates L'Enfant's ideas and shows different points of focus that align with the radiating avenues, thus ensuring harmony and balance that was important to L'Enfant.
L'Enfant envisioned the "President's House" (later to be known as The White House), to have public gardens and monumental architecture. Reflecting his grandiose visions, he specified that the "President's House" (occasionally referred to as the "President's Palace") would be five times the size of the building that was actually constructed, even then becoming the largest residence then constructed in America. The "President's House" would be located at a northwest diagonal from the "Congress House" along the future Pennsylvania Avenue. while situated on a ridge parallel to the Potomac River, north of a riverfront marsh and Tiber Creek.