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However, the process of designing and building Washington was far from easy a task for L’Enfant and he was not given due credit for his design until years after his death. L’Enfant was born in Paris in 1754; he studied at the Royal Academy, and then left for America to fight in the Revolutionary War. He served in the Corps of Engineers under Baron Von Steuben during the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. He was wounded in 1779, and was later captured by the British. In 1783 the Continental Congress awarded him the rank of Major. He remained in America after the war and gained a “reputation as an urban designer and architect.” The purpose of this paper is to examine the problems that Pierre L’Enfant encountered in designing and building Washington D.C. What delays did the project have and how might they have been avoided? Why was L’Enfant dismissed from his work in 1792? L’Enfant wrote to Washington in September of 1789 before the site of the city was chosen formally requesting the job of designing the capital. Washington was familiar with L’Enfant, having seen his 1787 renovation of New York’s city hall. He hired L’Enfant and later justified his decision saying, “He was better qualified than any one who had come within my knowledge in this country” Thomas Jefferson was Secretary of State at this time, he had his own reservations as to how the capital city should be designed and was resolved to keep tight reign on L’Enfant’s activities. Washington gave L’Enfant verbal instructions to go to Georgetown and assist in the completion of a map and survey of the plot of land reserved for the capital. This is where the problems began. L’Enfant commenced his survey of the area on March 11, 1791. He soon wrote a letter to Jefferson saying that he had begun the survey, but was plagued by a thick mist that had hung over the area. He also said that, having ridden over the entire area himself, it appeared to be a good location for the capital. Jefferson was upset by these revelations for Washington had planned a trip to the site on the 28th of March. Washington arrived on schedule, and was not pleased to find the survey and map incomplete. He made an attempt to observe the site himself, but was hampered by rain and stated that he had “derived no great satisfaction from the review.” L’Enfant wrote a letter of apology to Washington on April 4 asking for his opinion of the site, and for any further instructions that he may have. It was Jefferson, however, who replied to the letter. In it he stated “I am happy that the President has left the planning of the Town in such good hands and have no doubt it will be done to general satisfaction.” Jefferson had relinquished his reservations about L’Enfant having seen that his plan for the capital was even more ambitious that his own. The new plan was “quite in line with his own hopes and reservations,” for it “superimposed a radial system of avenues of Jefferson’s grid street design” and preserved the “general arrangement of the main elements that Jefferson had suggested.” On June 22 L’Enfant met with Washington at Mount Vernon to give him a progress report. Washington expressed only brief concerns about the location of the President’s house. Construction on the site began, the site was cleared, foundations were dug, and surveyors marked the street lines. Jefferson wrote to L’Enfant on August 18 to notify him of his upcoming visit to Philadelphia and asking him to have his city plan made into an engraving. L’Enfant drew up a copy for the engraver and met with Jefferson in Philadelphia to further discuss it. At this time Daniel Carroll, David Stuart, and Thomas Johnson were appointed commissioners by Washington to supervise the actual construction and development of the land. The commissioners came to several agreements pending to the project and wrote to L’Enfant to inform him. They agreed that the district would be called the “Territory of Columbia” and the city name would be “City of Washington.” Thus L’Enfant must title his map “A Map of the City of Washington, in the Territory of Columbia.” They also agreed to name the streets alphabetically from north to south, and numerically from east to west of the Capitol. At this time, relations between all parties involved in the planning of the city were in good standing and L’Enfant’s plan was established. This is when problems for L’Enfant began to arise. L’Enfant’s problems began with the engraving of the plan that Washington had requested. L’Enfant made arrangements with a French engraver Pigalle to have a completed engraving of the plan before October of 1791. The Commissioners needed the engraving to sell the lots in the capital. Pigalle wrote to L’Enfant saying that it would not be possible to complete the engraving by the deadline. L’Enfant immediately wrote to Tobias Lear, Washington’s secretary, expressing his apologies and stating that he was not to blame for the situation. Thus the sale of lots took place without the engraving and Washington did not blame L’Enfant for this. However a controversy arose, as it appears L’Enfant had a personal copy of the plan but refused to make it available during the sale. Washington wrote a letter to Commissioner David Stuart informing him of this and stated “…that he [L’Enfant] must in the future look to the commissioners for directions.” The next problem that L’Enfant encountered was the issue involving Commissioner Daniel Carroll’s house. Carroll had begun construction on his house in a lot that was reserved for a monument and a fountain and the boundaries extended into the lines marked for a street. L’Enfant tore Carroll’s house down without making his reasons known to the Commissioners or Washington. The commissioners were enraged and the President was greatly displeased. Amidst the clamor over Carroll’s house L’Enfant continued with his plan. He did not wish to halt the project over the winter, as he would be in Philadelphia, so he wrote to his assistant Isaac Roberdeau with instructions. It is important to note that these instructions were completely without the consent or knowledge of the Commissioners and this would be the source of several problems. L’Enfant left for Philadelphia on Christmas of 1791 while his assistants Isaac Roberdeau and Balentine Baraof remained in his place. Roberdeau followed L’Enfant’s instructions and took twenty-five workers to the Aquia Creek stone quarry. The Commissioners did not think this was necessary and requested Roberdeau to meet with them to discuss the plans for the winter. Roberdeau ignored the Commissioners and proceeded with L’Enfant’s instructions. Baraof was also continuing to work on the plan and he also ignored the Commissioner’s orders to halt work and meet with them. “The patience of the Commissioners was now being rapidly exhausted…” It was their view that all work should be suspended in the winter months, this was a contradiction to L’Enfant’s plans. The assistants remained disobedient to the point where they were imprisoned and all the work on the project stopped for the winter. At this point the situation began to boil over as communication between the parties became very confused. Jefferson finally sent an ultimatum to L’Enfant on February 22, 1792. In it he stated “…the circumstances which have lately happened have produce an uncertainty whether you may be disposed to continue your services.” In conclusion he stated, under Washington’s directions, that any work that he [L’Enfant] continued with “…should be in subordination to the Commissioners.” Upon receiving this ultimatum L’Enfant resigned from his work. He did not wish to continue work on a project in which he would be robbed of all control. Pierre L’Enfant, the French architect and engineer, and faithful servant to the United States was unable to fulfill his commission. His intentions were impeded by several unfortunate circumstances. His survey was delayed because of disagreeable weather, he was unable to complete an engraving for the sale of lots, Commissioner Carroll disregarded the construction plan and L’Enfant was forced to tear down his house, and finally the Commissioners refused to continue with the plan over the winter. Several of these problems seem to stem from a generally poor system of communication between all the parties involved and it is likely that L’Enfant would have remained to work on the project until its completion if it was not for this. As it was, L’Enfant’s plan was carried out by other hands, and not to the extent of his original intentions, and he was not given due credit until well after his death. Bibliography: BIBLIOGRAPHY American Treasures of the Library of Congress. Online. World Wide Web. Dec, 1999. Available: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tri001.html Compton’s Online Encyclopedia. Online. World Wide Web. Dec, 1999. Available: http://www.optonline.com/comptons/ceo/02760_A.html Hood, Joseph. The L'Enfant Plan of 1791. Online. World Wide Web. Dec, 1999. Available: http://www.nps.gov/nama/lenfant.htm Caemmerer, H. Paul. The Life of Pierre Charles L'Enfant. New York: Da Capo Press, 1950. Elkins, Stanley and Mckitrick, Eric. The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788-1800. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Arnebeck, Bob. Through A Fiery Trial: Building Washington, 1790-1800. Lanham, MD: Madison Books, 1991. Kite, Elizabeth S. L'Enfant and Washington 1791-1792. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1929. Tindall, William. History of the City of Washington. Knoxville, TN: 1914. Writings of Washington, Bicentennial Edition, United States Government Printing Office, Vol. 12 Word Count: 1497
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