James Fayette, the Spy Both Sides Trusted

The short answer: James Fayette was enslaved in New Kent County, Virginia, when he volunteered to serve under the Marquis de Lafayette. He posed as a runaway, won the confidence of British officers including Cornwallis, and fed what he heard back to the Americans. That intelligence helped set up the siege that ended the war. Then, because he had been a spy and not a soldier, he had to petition the Virginia legislature for his own freedom.

The job nobody wanted to write down

Spying is a bad career for the historical record. The whole point is that nothing gets documented, and if it does, you have failed.

So the fact that we know as much as we do about James Fayette is itself unusual. He asked his owner's permission to serve under Lafayette. He was sent into the British camp presenting himself as a runaway looking for protection, which was an entirely believable story and therefore a very good cover.

It worked. He got close enough to British officers, Cornwallis included, that they treated him as a fixture. People talk in front of fixtures.

Better still, the British eventually asked him to spy on the Americans, which put him in the enviable position of being trusted by both sides and loyal to one. What he carried back helped shape what the Americans and the French understood about British positions in Virginia in the summer of 1781, and that understanding fed directly into the siege at Yorktown.

The paperwork problem

Here is where the story stops being a caper and starts being infuriating.

After the war, Virginia passed an emancipation law in 1783 covering enslaved men who had served as soldiers. He had not served as a soldier. He had served as a spy. The law did not cover him.

So he did it the slow way. He petitioned the Virginia legislature directly, with the Marquis de Lafayette writing in support, and in 1787 he was freed.

The name

He is often listed in reference works as James Armistead Lafayette, stacking the surname of the man who owned him onto the surname of the man who vouched for him.

He signed his own documents James Fayette.

That is the name we use. Given the chance to write himself down, that is what he wrote, and taking him at his word seems like the least anyone can do.

The scent

This is the most unusual composition we make, and it is unusual on purpose.

Peppercorn and sea salt open it, sharp and a little bracing. Pear and freesia come through the middle with an aldehydic lift that reads as clean and slightly abstract, the way a very good cologne does. Cut grass sits in there too. Labdanum, patchouli, and cedar anchor the base.

It does not smell like anything else in the collection. It is not warm, not sweet, not floral, not obviously historical. It is sharp and composed and hard to place, which felt like the right register for a man whose entire contribution depended on being difficult to read.

Best in: studies, offices, entryways, and anywhere you want the air to feel deliberate.

Two ways to bring it home

• James Fayette Signature Candle, $24. Glass vessel, eight ounces.
• James Fayette Heirloom Candle, $56. Eighteen ounces in our blue and white bowl.

Browse the full Signature Collection, the Heirloom Collection, or shop all scents.

Frequently asked questions

Who was James Fayette? An enslaved Virginian who served as a spy under the Marquis de Lafayette during the Revolutionary War, gathering intelligence from inside the British camp that contributed to the Yorktown campaign.

Why do some sources call him James Armistead Lafayette? That is the form used in many reference works. He signed his own documents James Fayette, which is the name we use.

Why did he have to petition for his freedom? Virginia's 1783 emancipation law applied to enslaved men who had served as soldiers. As a spy, he fell outside it. He petitioned the legislature directly and was freed in 1787.

What does the candle smell like? Peppercorn and sea salt over pear, freesia, and grass, with labdanum, patchouli, and cedar at the base. Sharp, clean, and hard to place.

Keep reading

More stories: Yorktown, the Town the Sea Decided, where his intelligence mattered most, Ona Judge, the Woman Who Said No, and Chef Hercules, the Cook Who Chose Freedom.