This was another massacre similar to those of the infamous Grey. [2] Only five prisoners were taken. The commander pretended to have received information that Pulaski had ordered his men to give no quarter, but this was false. Admiral Byron reached New York and took command of the fleet about the middle of September (1778). After repairing his shattered vessels he sailed for the port of Boston. Soon after his arrival in the bay fortune disconcerted all his plans. A furious storm drove him out to sea and damaged his fleet so much that he found it necessary to put into Newport to refit. This favorable moment was seized by the Count D'Estaing who sailed on the 3d of November for the West Indies. Thus terminated an expedition from which the most important advantages had been anticipated. A variety of accidents had defeated plans judiciously formed which had every probability of success in their favor. Lafayette, ambitious of fame on another theater, was now desirous of returning to France. Expecting war on the continent of Europe he was anxious to tender his services to his King and to his native country. From motives of real friendship as well as of policy, Washington was desirous of preserving the connection of this officer with the army and of strengthening his attachment to America. He therefore expressed to Congress his wish that Lafayette, instead of resigning his commission, might have unlimited leave of absence to return when it should be convenient to himself, and might carry with him every mark of the confidence of the government. This policy was adopted by Congress in its full extent. The partiality of America for Lafayette was well placed. Never did a foreigner, whose primary attachments to his own country remained undiminished, feel more solicitude for the welfare of another than was unceasingly manifested by this young nobleman for the United States.