marquis de lafayette tour of america

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August 16, 2024 will see the kick off this monumental Bicentennial celebration. The hundreds of events planned will trace Lafayette’s footstep on the exact dates and in the exact order he followed on his tour of America as the “Guest of the Nation” between 1824 and 1825.

Lafayette’s 1824 and 1825 Farewell Tour of America

Please visit our Events page to discover the Bicentennial Activities in 2024 and 2025. You are invited to join us as a member to receive regular alerts as additional activities and events are revealed!

Take a Tour!

Explore any tour location with this interactive audio tour! You can take the tour remotely by clicking on the white arrow in the green circle above and then clicking on the story sites on the map. Or enjoy the tour on-site by downloading the TravelStorys app for free. The audio, text, and images will launch automatically as you approach each story site.

The American Friends of Lafayette

The American Friends of Lafayette is thrilled to announce the upcoming thirteen-month bicentennial celebration of Major General Lafayette’s triumphant return tour to America!

Education has a cost, so please help us by donating to ensure that Lafayette’s legacy is prominent for generations to come.

Galerie de Lafayette

The Lafayette Trail: Mapping General Lafayette’s Farewell Tour in the United States (1824-1825)

The Marquis de Lafayette laying the cornerstone at Bunker Hill in 1825.

“Permit us then to receive you as the Nation’s Guest and to render to you all the honors which it is in our power to bestow on you. They are the voluntary tribute of hearts burning with gratitude. We wish our children to understand that virtue alone has the right to such homage, and that in the midst of a free people merit never stays without reward .”

A representative from Portsmouth, NH welcoming Lafayette on September 1 st , 1824.  

I n the early 1820s, the United States had solidified its political system and had become a nation free of any wartime binding agreement with the Republic of France. Thomas Jefferson , a lifelong friend of France, negotiated the Louisiana Purchase and secured westward expansion. The War of 1812, however, reminded the United States that homeland security needed to be a top priority for the next decades. As the generation of veterans of the Revolutionary War was wearing thin, emphasis was placed on building up national awareness capitalizing on the momentum resulting from previous conflicts. The early 1820s was marked by the Monroe Doctrine, a rationale enshrining American ambitions to secure a comfort zone around the United States of America, as the balance of power was rapidly changing in Europe.

At the same time in France, the French Revolution had brought about a new social order, which was no longer based on privileges for the few at the expense of the people of France, but rather a reshuffling of the political cards into the form of a Republic. The Marquis de Lafayette opposed the conservative Bourbon Restoration that followed the Napoleonic years but soon realized that liberal thinking had gradually weakened in France.

As the last surviving Major General of the Revolutionary War, Lafayette was invited by U.S. president James Monroe and Congress to visit the 24-state Union for what would become his Farewell Tour in the United States of America. Accompanied by his Secretary Auguste Levasseur, General Lafayette visited all the 24 states of the Union in 13 months (August 1824 – September 1825). The American experiment narrated by Levasseur was meant to serve as a driver to revive Liberals’ political views at a time when the Bourbon Restoration was stifling liberalism in France. In 1829, Lafayette started off a much smaller tour between Grenoble and Lyon in France [i] to challenge the authority of King Charles X and the secret appointment of Jules de Polignac as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

While almost 50 years had elapsed since the end of the Revolutionary War, the presence of General Lafayette in the United States unleashed a burning desire to express the peoples’ gratitude that had been building during the postwar period. Although the Farewell Tour of Lafayette is generally described as an outpouring of love and respect from the American people, looking at  a specific narrative emphasizing the preparations made for the reception of Lafayette remains a unique vantage point to capture that spirit. A source documenting Lafayette’s visit to the Adams Female Academy in Derry, NH highlights the aura surrounding him when he met with local people, which granted him a godlike presence impacting not only people’s mood but also local weather.

In his Book of Nutfield [ii] , George F. Willey provides a description of the preparations made to welcome Lafayette at the Academy based on a letter written at that time. “ Ladies from the village now came in, hoping to share our chance of seeing the hero. After remaining an hour they departed, supposing he might have taken some other route, and that it was useless to wait any longer. But we were not so ready to relinquish our hopes, and concluded to remain.” The letter also describes Lafayette entering a classroom. “ As he entered the teacher's desk I turned to look at the pupils. A magician's hand could not have effected a more sudden transformation. […] Smiles and animation had displaced fatigue and anxiety. […] Every eye glistened, but it was with enthusiasm ; every heart swelled with intense interest as we beheld the friend, the defender, the martyr of liberty.” The letter ends by emphasizing the local weather, reportedly greatly enhanced after Lafayette departed. “ As he left the building, the clouds which had obscured the heavens suddenly became dissipated in the west, and although the rain still fell in torrents, the sun broke forth with unusual splendor, forming a magnificent rainbow in the east. The splendid colors of the rainbow beautifully contrasted with the masses of dark clouds that still skirted the horizon.”

In his memoirs, Josiah Quincy Jr describes the moment when Lafayette was transferred to the authorities of the Granite State upon crossing into New Hampshire at the Methuen-Salem border in June 1825. “ To me his last words were ‘Remember, we must meet again in France!’ And so saying, he kissed me upon both cheeks. 'If Lafayette had kissed me,' said an enthusiastic lady of my acquaintance, ‘depend upon it, I would never have washed my face again as long as I lived!’ The remark may be taken as fairly marking the point which the flood-tide of affectionate admiration reached in those days.” [iii] This story encapsulates how people perceived Lafayette’s physical and spiritual presence during his visit, which was often characterized by the utmost desire to touch him and receive his personal blessing. Walter Harriman, who served two terms as Governor of New Hampshire, recalls the crowd in attendance when Lafayette passed through Warner, NH on June 27, 1825, “ Before Lafayette could alight from his carriage, an eager crowd pressed forward to look upon his face and to grasp his hand.” [iv]

The Farewell Tour provides a unique opportunity to look at the core of American society almost 50 years after the Revolutionary War, and to assess what the country thought of itself. It taps into remote and vivid historical backgrounds and reveals how the United States celebrated one of its heroes in large cities as well as in the countryside, all across the nation.

The Farewell Tour was characterized by a fast pace as well as very frequent unscheduled stops that Lafayette made along the way.

In New England alone, Lafayette made more than 170 stops on his two visits, in August-September 1824 and June 1825. He visited people he knew from the Revolutionary War such as Caleb Stark, son of New Hampshire General John Stark , Elias Hasket Derby Jr, officer during the Revolutionary War, and James Armistead Lafayette, former slave that played a pivotal role as a double agent during the Siege of Yorktown in September/October 1781.

Many streets, cities, towns and squares across the United States today are named after General Lafayette and his La Grange castle in the outskirts of Paris. Most of those names are a direct result of the momentous Farewell Tour.

The schedule of the Tour was mostly driven by commitments Lafayette had already made, especially to large cities like Boston, New York and Washington D.C. As a result, he consistently declined a lot of invitations originating from smaller cities and towns due to their geographic location. Indeed, venturing further into the countryside carried the risk of spending time on poorly maintained roads and undergoing mechanical failures that would delay the rest of the trip.

Though many prearranged commitments were inescapable, some decisions and alterations to the existing itinerary could still be made on the fly. Lafayette, in an 1824 letter [1] to a committee from Portsmouth, NH, declines their invitation to visit Portsmouth because of previous commitments made in Washington, D.C. Notwithstanding the content of this letter, Lafayette rushed through Portsmouth in a one-day trip the same year. This letter embodies how pivotal geographic location and previous commitments were in decision-making on the Tour. The fact that Lafayette’s visit to Portsmouth lasted only one day, followed by nighttime travel to return to Boston by early the next morning, lets us capture somehow the “guilt” to have accepted an unexpected offer. The desire to catch up on the initial schedule, even if it meant spending the night in a carriage, lies behind this need to accommodate as many people as possible.

The Lafayette Trail, Inc. is a nonprofit organization with the mission to document, map, and mark General Lafayette's footsteps during his Farewell Tour of the United States in 1824 and 1825. It aims to educate the public about the national significance of Lafayette's Tour and to promote a broader understanding of Lafayette's numerous contributions to American independence and national coherence in preparation for the 2024-2025 tour bicentennial celebrations. The Trail brings together history, cartography and computer science in an education program whose principal goal is to raise awareness about Lafayette and the ideals he stood for throughout his life. It relies heavily on boots-on-the-grounds research that adds valuable materials kept in local historical societies and public libraries to the large-scale narratives covering (with much less detail) the whole trip. It features a user-friendly web-based mapping program ( thelafayettetrail.org )  as a tool capable of generating large interest in the French-American longstanding friendship, a powerhouse of progressivism that brought about democratic ideals still in motion around the world.

[1] The letter reads:

“Gentlemen,

The resolutions of the town of Portsmouth delivered by you in terms equally kind and flattering have excited the most lively feelings of gratitude. Happy I will be eventually to present the citizens of Portsmouth with the homage of sentiments which I have cherished for near half a century. I much regret, gentlemen, that previous engagements and the propriety of an early visit to the seat of the government of the Union make it necessary for me to limit this first eastern excursion to the city of Boston where I had been kindly invited to land from Europe. I shall now certainly return to this part of the country before I leave the United States when it will be my happy lot, as it long has been my eager desire to visit the town of Portsmouth and express to her citizens the grateful and affectionate respect that bind me to them.

Accept, gentlemen, my respectful acknowledgement and cordial attachment,

[i] Jérôme Morin, Itinéraire du Général Lafayette, de Grenoble à Lyon, ed. (Lyon, France : Imprimerie de Brunet, 1829), 128p.

[ii] George F. Willey, Willey’s Book of Nutfield , ed. (Derry NH: Derry Deport, 1895), p22.

[iii] Josiah Jr. Quincy, Figures of the past , ed. (Boston, MA: Robert Brothers, 1883), p153.

[iv] Walter Harriman, History of Warner, New Hampshire , ed. (Concord, NH: The Republican Press Association, 1879), pp. 335-336.

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Lafayette, French Hero of American Liberty, Returns – Join us to welcome him back!

Help us commemorate and celebrate the bicentennial of Lafayette’s visit to Fayetteville, NC – the only place named for him that he personally visited!

Tuesday afternoon, March 4  – Join the throngs welcoming Lafayette as he enters town in a horse-drawn carriage, accompanied by his son George Washington Lafayette and Hutchins Burton, the governor of North Carolina in 1825.  The Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry will march beside him in uniform as his bodyguard, just as they did in 1825.

Tuesday evening, March 4  – Dance the evening away at a formal ball held in Lafayette’s honor. (Regency attire is encouraged but not required.)  Dance master Charles Steplively of Virginia will be on hand to guide you through the steps, accompanied by live period music performed by  Syllabub .

Wednesday, March 5  – Explore Fayetteville’s Lafayette Trail:  see the Liberty Point Resolves (Fayetteville’s own “declaration of independence”), documents and 200 year-old souvenirs related to Lafayette’s visit, Lafayette’s 1825 carriage, the four-poster bed he slept in, and other sights and sites related to Lafayette! Then head a little north of downtown to see the Methodist University Lafayette Collection on display at Davis Memorial Library.

Wednesday evening, March 5  – Enjoy an elegant dinner featuring a menu typical of the period enhanced with live music.  Be entertained by the dramatic portrayal of scenes from Lafayette’s visit to Fayetteville, directed by Fayetteville State University theatre professor (and S weet Tea Shakespeare  founder) Jeremy Fiebig.

Thursday morning, March 6 – American Friends of Lafayette/Lafayette society members-only event at Methodist University.

 Need a Reservation? Stay Tuned!

We have already received emails from people wanting to go ahead and register to attend the Fayetteville events! Some have even booked a room! Well, good news! We will have a link on this page to online reservation services for the Lafayette Costume Ball and the Farewell Dinner and we will also have a list of preferred hotels.

All of that will go live on June 30 and you can find it right here!

More about the celebration in Fayetteville…

On March 4-5, 2025, Fayetteville will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the visit to our city by the Marquis de Lafayette, who fought alongside George Washington in the American Revolution and was an international symbol of freedom and human rights. These events are part of the national bicentennial celebration of Lafayette’s “Farewell Tour” of 1824-25, when President James Monroe persuaded him to return to visit America.

The “Farewell Tour” coincided with the 50th anniversary of our nation’s founding and the country was in a patriotic mood. Lafayette was the last surviving major general of the American Revolution and he was enormously popular. For many towns, it was the “event of the century.” In the larger cities like Boston, New York, or Philadelphia, crowds of 100,000 and more gathered just to get a glimpse of Lafayette, numbers that in modern times are associated with international rock stars.

The bicentennial celebration of the Farewell Tour begins in New York City in August of 2024. This will kick off a “rolling celebration,” as each city holds events on the exact dates they occurred. These will be immersive “living history” events with authentic costuming, music, dance, and other performances to replicate as faithfully as possible exactly what it must have felt like to be there two hundred years ago.

The celebration in Fayetteville, North Carolina, will take place on March 4-5, 2025. It will include a grand procession led by Lafayette and his entourage in an open carriage, a period costume ball, and a dinner party with live theatrical performances that portray various scenes from his visit. Fayetteville was the very first city named for Lafayette (in 1783) and the only namesake city he visited, facts that will elevate this to one of the nation’s premier celebrations. The local planning committee has partnered with Fayetteville’s Lafayette Society, but it also includes numerous other community organizations.

The American Friends of Lafayette (AFL) is coordinating the Farewell Tour bicentennial on the national level. They have designated Fayetteville as a “premier bicentennial site.” Chuck Schwam, AFL Chief Operating Officer, said “There is no more important location than Fayetteville, North Carolina… we expect thousands to descend upon Fayetteville for the purpose of commemorating, celebrating, and educating.”

Indeed, the celebration will be fun but also educational, with symbolic connections to the past. Two hundred years ago, there were social and political divisions in our country not unlike the present. President Monroe saw Lafayette as a unifying force for America in 1824-25 and he can be a unifying force again. Indeed, his ideals and life story make him the perfect role model for our Nation on the eve of its 250th birthday.

TravelStorys

Explore Lafayette’s visit to North Carolina with this interactive video tour.  You can take a virtual tour of each location by clicking on the white arrow on the “Lafayette in North Carolina” video below, moving the map (scroll south to see Fayetteville), and then clicking on the story sites on the map. You can also enjoy the tour on location by downloading the TravelStorys app for free. The audio, text, and images will launch automatically as you approach each story site.

The American Friends of Lafayette, founded in 1931 at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania to honor the memory of Lafayette, is a national organization with over 500 members in 35 states. This organization will coordinate the Farewell Tour on the national level. They have partnered with Fayetteville, North Carolina, and will highlight our celebration, an honor accorded only to 8 other cities out of hundreds of celebrations. For more information about the national celebration, please visit  www.lafayette200.org .

The bicentennial celebration was the main topic of discussion at the annual meeting of the American Friends of Lafayette in LaGrange, GA, in June 2023. Gwen Melton, president of Fayetteville’s Lafayette Society board of directors, and her husband Ken are pictured here with two ladies dressed as if they are expecting Lafayette himself to visit them!

For a listing by location or by dates of the cities that Lafayette visited during his Farewell Tour, visit the website for The Lafayette Trail . This computer mapping project, founded by Frenchman Julien Icher, traces Lafayette’s travels across America in 1824-25. The AFL supervised the project during its founding between 2017-2019 and supported it with numerous donations. Later, Julien coordinated the installation of Lafayette Trail signs as physical corollaries of the computer maps. The signs were donated by the Pomeroy Foundation of New York. In 2021, Fayetteville became one of the first cities awarded a sign.  Check out the video below to learn more about Fayetteville and our marker!

Why did Lafayette keep this drawing of Fayetteville over his bed in France?

Find out more here!  

The Marquis de Lafayette's Triumphant Tour of America

Réunion des musées nationaux/Joseph-Désiré Court/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

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The extensive year-long tour of America by the Marquis de Lafayette, a half-century after the Revolutionary War, was one of the greatest public events of the 19th century. From August 1824 to September 1825, Lafayette visited all 24 states of the Union.

Visit of Marquis de Lafayette to All 24 States

Kean Collection/Staff/Getty Images

Called the "National Guest" by newspapers, Lafayette was welcomed in cities and towns by committees of prominent citizens as well as vast crowds of ordinary people. He paid a visit to the tomb of his friend and comrade  George Washington at Mount Vernon. In Massachusetts, he renewed his friendship with John Adams , and in Virginia, he spent a week visiting with Thomas Jefferson .

In many places, elderly veterans of the Revolutionary War turned out to see the man who had fought beside them while helping to secure America's freedom from Britain.

Being able to see Lafayette, or, better yet, to shake his hand, was a potent way of connecting with the generation of Founding Fathers that was quickly passing into history at that point.

For decades, Americans would tell their children and grandchildren they had met Lafayette when he came to their town. The poet Walt Whitman would recall having been held in Lafayette's arms as a child at a library dedication in Brooklyn.

For the United States government, which had officially invited Lafayette, the tour by the aging hero was essentially a public relations campaign to showcase the impressive progress the young nation had made. Lafayette toured canals, mills, factories, and farms. Stories about his tour circulated back to Europe and portrayed America as a thriving and growing nation.

Lafayette's return to America began with his arrival in New York harbor on August 14, 1824. The ship carrying him, his son, and a small entourage landed at Staten Island, where he spent the night at the residence of the nation's vice president Daniel Tompkins.

On the following morning, a flotilla of steamboats decorated with banners and carrying city dignitaries sailed across the harbor from Manhattan to greet Lafayette. He then sailed to the Battery, at the southern tip of Manhattan, where he was welcomed by a massive crowd.

Welcomed in Cities and Villages

Print Collector/Contributor/Getty Images

After spending a week in New York City , Lafayette departed for New England on August 20, 1824. As his coach rolled through the countryside, he was escorted by companies of cavalry riding alongside. At many points along the way, local citizens greeted him by erecting ceremonial arches his entourage passed under.

It took four days to reach Boston, as exuberant celebrations were held at countless stops along the way. To make up for the lost time, traveling extended late into the evenings. A writer accompanying Lafayette noted that local horsemen held torches aloft to light the way.

On August 24, 1824, a large procession escorted Lafayette into Boston. All the church bells in the city rang out in his honor and cannons were fired in a thunderous salute.

Following visits to other sites in New England, he returned to New York City, taking a steamship from Connecticut via the Long Island Sound. 

September 6, 1824, was Lafayette's 67th birthday, which was celebrated at a lavish banquet in New York City. Later that month, he set out by carriage through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and briefly visited Washington, D.C.

A visit to Mount Vernon soon followed. Lafayette paid his respects at Washington's tomb. He spent a few weeks touring other locations in Virginia, and on November 4, 1824, he arrived at Monticello, where he spent a week as a guest of former president Thomas Jefferson.

On November 23, 1824, Lafayette arrived in Washington, where he was a guest of President James Monroe . On December 10, he addressed the U.S. Congress after being introduced by Speaker of the House Henry Clay .

Lafayette spent the winter in Washington, making plans to tour the southern regions of the country beginning in the spring of 1825.

From New Orleans to Maine in 1825

The National Guard/Flickr/Public Domain

In early March 1825, Lafayette and his entourage set out again. They traveled southward, all the way to New Orleans. Here, he was greeted enthusiastically, especially by the local French community.

After taking a riverboat up the Mississippi, Lafayette sailed up the Ohio River to Pittsburgh. He continued overland to northern New York State and viewed Niagara Falls. From Buffalo, he traveled to Albany, New York, along the route of a new engineering marvel, the recently opened Erie Canal .

From Albany, he traveled again to Boston, where he dedicated the Bunker Hill Monument on June 17, 1825. By July, he was back in New York City, where he celebrated the Fourth of July first in Brooklyn and then in Manhattan.

It was on the morning of July 4, 1825, that Walt Whitman, at the age of six, encountered Lafayette. The aging hero was going to lay the cornerstone of a new library, and neighborhood children had gathered to welcome him.

Decades later, Whitman described the scene in a newspaper article. As people were helping children climb down into the excavation site where the ceremony was to take place, Lafayette himself picked up young Whitman and briefly held him in his arms.

After visiting Philadelphia in the summer of 1825, Lafayette traveled to the site of the Battle of Brandywine , where he had been wounded in the leg in 1777. At the battlefield, he met with Revolutionary War veterans and local dignitaries, impressing everyone with his vivid memories of the fighting a half-century earlier.

An Extraordinary Meeting

_ray marcos/Flickr/CC BY 2.0

Returning to Washington, Lafayette stayed at the White House with the new president,  John Quincy Adams . Along with Adams, he made another trip to Virginia, which began on August 6, 1825, with a remarkable incident. Lafayette's secretary, Auguste Levasseur, wrote about it in a book published in 1829:

At the Potomac bridge we stopped to pay the toll, and the gate-keeper, after counting the company and horses, received the money from the president, and allowed us to pass on; but we had gone a very short distance when we heard someone bawling after us, 'Mr. President! Mr. President! You have given me eleven-pence too little!'

Presently the gate-keeper arrived out of breath, holding out the change he had received, and explaining the mistake made. The president heard him attentively, re-examined the money, and agreed he was right, and ought to have another eleven-pence.

Just as the president was taking out his purse, the gate-keeper recognized General Lafayette in the carriage, and wished to return his toll, declaring that all gates and bridges were free to the nation's guest. Mr. Adams told him that on this occasion General Lafayette traveled altogether privately, and not as the nation's guest, but simply as a friend of the president, and, therefore, was entitled to no exemption. With this reasoning, our gate-keeper was satisfied and received the money.

Thus, during his course of his voyages in the United States, the general was but once subjected to the common rule of paying, and it was exactly upon the day in which he traveled with the chief magistrate; a circumstance which, probably in every other country, would have conferred the privilege of passing free.

In Virginia, they met up with former president Monroe and traveled to Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello. There, they were joined by former president  James Madison , and a truly remarkable meeting took place: General Lafayette, President Adams, and three former presidents spent a day together.

As the group separated, Lafayette's secretary noted the former American presidents and Lafayette sensed they would never meet again:

I shall not attempt to depict the sadness which prevailed at this cruel separation, which had none of the alleviation which is usually left by youth, for in this instance, the individuals who bade farewell had all passed through a long career, and the immensity of the ocean would still add to the difficulties of a reunion.

On September 6, 1825, Lafayette's 68th birthday, a banquet was held at the White House . The following day, Lafayette departed for France aboard a newly built frigate of the U.S. Navy. The ship, the Brandywine, had been named in honor of Lafayette's battlefield valor during the Revolutionary War.

As Lafayette sailed down the Potomac River, citizens gathered on the banks of the river to wave farewell. In early October, Lafayette arrived safely back in France.

Americans of the era took great pride in Lafayette's visit. It served to illuminate how much the nation had grown and prospered since the darkest days of the American Revolution. And for decades to come, those who had welcomed Lafayette in the mid-1820s spoke movingly of the experience.

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A View from My Porch: More on the Marquis: Lafayette’s Farewell Tour— The Bicentennial

March 1, 2024 by Thomas D Gotowka

In my last “View,” I considered General Lafayette’s life and crucial role in America’s War of Independence and reviewed his first visit to Old Lyme in 1778 (also see below.) 

My inspiration for this topic was the installation of Lafayette Trail markers commemorating stops he made in what is now known as his “Farewell Tour” in Old Lyme and my hometown, Fredonia, N.Y. in Aug.,1824 and June,1825, respectively.

I review that incredible farewell tour in this essay. This essay completes the saga about the almost mythical “hero of two worlds,” Lafayette.

Further, it is the bicentennial of the Tour and there are rumblings of a sweeping tribute; and perhaps even some local acknowledgement. 

In 1824, at the invitation of President James Monroe and Congress to “visit the “adopted country of your early youth, which has always preserved the most grateful recollection of your important services;” Lafayette began a tour of the then 24 states of the Union on its 50th anniversary.

President Monroe, the last Founder-President, felt that “it was important for the younger generation to recognize that freedom and democracy had come at a great cost.” Voters should remember those words when you vote on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 — the apparent GOP nominee seeks, in his own words, to “terminate elements of the U.S. Constitution. 

The invitation could not have come at any better time for Lafayette.

His life became fraught after returning to France in 1781. He viewed himself as a “missionary of liberty,” having drafted one of the basic charters of human liberties, the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,” with Thomas Jefferson; which he presented to France’s National Assembly on July 11th, 1789, a few days before the storming of the Bastille, which marked the onset of the French Revolution. The Declaration, which contained the principles that inspired the French Revolution, was discussed, and edited by the Assembly and became the preamble to the new French Constitution of 1791. 

Imprisonment:

The French Revolution devolved into the Reign of Terror, which included the guillotining of thousands — and Lafayette, a moderate who supported a constitutional monarchy, began to openly criticize the powerful political group behind the violence, Robespierre and the Jacobins. 

His situation turned dire and he fled the country, denounced as a traitor. He was captured and imprisoned by the Austrian government for five years as a dangerous radical and enemy of monarchy, who might lead an Austrian revolution. He was not released until Napoleon Bonaparte and his armies conquered Austria in 1797; and after two years of exile in Holland, Lafayette returned to France in 1799, whereupon he declined to participate in Napoleon’s government. 

Rather, as a fervent opponent of slavery, he resumed his correspondence with British abolitionists and American statesmen on the emancipation of slaves and began again to follow the developments of the anti-slavery movements in England, France, and the United States.

The Farewell Tour:

Lafayette traveled more than 6,000 miles from August 1824 through September 1825, making stops in each of 24 states; with more than 170 stops in New England alone. The Tour relied on steamboats, stagecoach, canal barge and occasionally, horseback; and according to the American Battlefield Trust, was characterized by a fast pace, often at night, with frequent unscheduled stops to meet “off-schedule” with the public. 

Note that he also made repeated stops in New York City, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., which I have not reflected. My account of his travelogue is assembled from several sources and I have tried to present the breadth and scope of his tour and what I consider the historic highlights. Further, this is not meant to be a precise day-by-day chronological record of the tour. 

He left Le Havre, France on July 13, 1824 aboard the American merchant vessel, Cadmus , accompanied by his son, Georges Washington de Lafayette; and was greeted on August 15th when he landed at Staten Island with a 13-gun artillery salute from the batteries of Fort Diamond, accompanied by cannon volleys from U.S. Navy and merchant ships in the harbor. He traveled to Manhattan the following day and was welcomed by the “first triumphal parade in NYC history.” A few days later, he headed north; and was escorted along Connecticut’s coastal towns and cities by companies of cavalry. He encountered the “eagerness of the citizens to see and be introduced” to him, while “thronged with multitudes.” 

He made 19 stops between Westport and New London; stopping in New Haven on August 21st to tour Yale. He visited Mrs. Faith Trumbull, widow of Jonathan Trumbull, who was Connecticut’s Governor during the Revolution.  

He crossed the Connecticut River by ferry from Old Saybrook to Old Lyme to have breakfast on Aug. 22nd with Richard McCurdy, the youngest son of John McCurdy, with whom he had stayed whilst his troops were quartered on Old Lyme’s South Green on July 27, 1778. Note that he eventually made 28 stops in Connecticut; including the 19 on the coast.

He continued north from New London through Providence and Stoughton, Mass.; and arrived in Cambridge, on August 25, settling in the Boston area until the end of August. He visited former President John Adams at his home, “Peacefield,” in Quincy, and attended Harvard’s Commencement. 

In September he visited Portsmouth, N.H., and its Naval Shipyard; and then headed south again to Boston and the Old North Church, stopping in Lexington, Concord, Salem, Marblehead, and Newburyport. 

Next on his itinerary were Worcester, Tolland, Conn.; and then, Hartford’s Old State House, which was completed in 1796, and Middletown, Conn.

The Grand Tour:

He began the “grand tour” or “great circle route” in October and visited Philadelphia, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. He stopped at Fort McHenry, where he was greeted by veterans of the War of 1812, some of whom still bore their wounds. Displayed in the center of the fort, was the tent that General Washington had used in 1776 at the Battle of Dorchester Heights, which ended with the withdrawal of British troops from Boston. 

He arrived in Washington on November 23rd, where he was the guest of President Monroe; and addressed Congress on December 10. 

In Virginia, he paid his respects at Washington’s tomb at Mount Vernon, visited Jefferson at Monticello, James Madison at his home, “Montpelier,” and the Yorktown Battlefield.

In early March,1825, Lafayette and his entourage set out from Washington and headed south to the Carolinas and Georgia; and then west to the new states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana; — all the way to New Orleans. 

In May, he went up the Mississippi by riverboat to the new states (i.e., since the original 13) of Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. He sailed the Ohio River to Pittsburgh.

La petite finale :

From Pittsburgh, he traveled through Pennsylvania and reached New York state via Meadville, and Erie. He stopped in Fredonia on June 4,1825, and from there, proceeded to Buffalo via steamboat from Dunkirk on Lake Erie. He visited Niagara Falls and went to Albany by way of the nearly-completed Erie Canal. From Albany he traveled directly to Boston, where he began his second New England tour by laying the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument on June 17, 1825.

On June 23, he continued his Tour, through Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, with two final stops in June at Montpelier, and then Burlington, ending the Tour at Lake Champlain.  

He returned to Washington and on September 6, 1825, his 68th birthday, a banquet was held at the White House by President John Quincy Adams. The following day, after delivering a farewell speech at the front entrance to the White House, Lafayette departed for France aboard a newly built frigate of the U.S. Navy, the Brandywine , named to honor his first major battle of the War of Independence. where he was wounded on September 11, 1777, He arrived safely back in France in early October. 

Samuel F.B. Morse (you also know him for his code) completed his full-length portrait of Lafayette in 1826, and it is displayed in the City Hall portrait collection in New York City Hall.

The William G. Pomeroy Foundation:

Established in 2005 to increase awareness, diversify, and expand the national bone marrow registry; they have expanded their focus to include community history and have provided grants for roadside markers and plaques; and since their founding in 2005, have funded more than 2,000 signs across the United States in six marker grant programs. 

To Old Lyme’s benefit, these programs have included Lafayette’s farewell tour; via their agent, The Lafayette Trail Inc., whose mission is to document, map, and mark Lafayette during the Tour and to “educate the public and to promote a broader understanding of Lafayette’s numerous contributions to American independence and national coherence in preparation for the 2024-25 tour bicentennial celebrations.” 

An Interesting Note:

While at Bunker Hill, his son arranged for trunks filled with the local soil to be transported with him back to Paris; and when his father died on May 20, 1834, he was laid to rest next to his wife at the city’s Picpus Cemetery; and his son covered his coffin with the soil they had taken from Bunker Hill. The American flag has flown over his grave continuously since the end of WWI.

In closing, “May God bless America and may God protect our troops.”

Author’s Thoughts: Even today, this would be a whirlwind tour. I wonder who arranged the trip and how was it done in such detail. Lafayette was “rockstar,” in The Sixties’ sense, which is high praise, indeed. I have also given this designation in an earlier “View” to Israel Putnam, of Brooklyn, CT, who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill. 

About the Author:  Tom Gotowka is a resident of Old Lyme, whose entire adult career has been in healthcare. He will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK. A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes “qualify” him to write this column.

Sources: Lafayette’s Farewell Tour Auricchio, L. “Vita: Lafayette; Brief life of an American champion: 1757-1834.” Harvard Magazine. March-April,2015. Baker, J.W. “The Imprisonment of Lafayette”. American Heritage. 06/1977. Duncan, M. (2021) “Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution.” New York: Public Affairs Books. Feinman, P. “The Lafayette 1824-1825 Bicentennial: Are You Ready? The Institute of History, Archaeology, and Education (IHARE). 11/29/2021. Feinman, P. “Lafayette in New York: The Third of Four Trips.” IHARE. 12/27/2021. Fowler, A. “Welcome Lafayette: The Revolutionary War Hero’s 1824 Tour in Connecticut.” Yankee Institute. 08/21/2023. Gotowka T. “A Special ‘View from My Porch’ in Recognition of Independence Day: CT’s General Israel Putnam was a ‘Man of Legendary Courage’, a Brooklyn ‘Rock Star’.” LymeLine. 07/04/2022. Icher, J. P. “The Lafayette Trail: Mapping General Lafayette’s Farewell Tour in the United States (1824-1825)”. The American Battlefield Trust. 08/23/2022. Jones, W. “Rekindling the Spark of Liberty: Lafayette’s Visit to the United States, 1824-1825.” The Schiller Institute. 11/2007.

Reader Interactions

March 3, 2024 at 2:01 am

Fascinating!! And a touching tribute to someone so instrumental in forming the principles of our democracy.

March 4, 2024 at 4:46 pm

This is an excellent overview, Tom. Happy to see this in Lymeline as we approach the 200th anniversary of the tour that came through our town. You ask about logistics in your note and it is an interesting question. We know the preparations were made well in advance. In our “Revolution in the Lymes” book Michaelle Pearson and I reproduce Robert McCurdy’s letter to his sister Sarah detailing the preparations for Lafayette’s visit to their family home. The letter was written June 4, 1824, a full two months before Lafayette’s ship arrived at New York harbor. So we know arrangements were in made well in advance while Lafayette was in France. I would suspect the Masonic lodges had a great hand in these preparations. Moses Warren, past master of Old Lyme’s Pythagoras Lodge, greeted fellow Mason Lafayette, escorting him up the Lyme-New London turnpike (today’s Route 1) through Lyme before delivering him to the care of the New London Masons. This was a typical pattern on his tour. Thanks for stirring up interest in our hero!

March 7, 2024 at 5:31 am

Very nicely done!

March 10, 2024 at 5:45 pm

I just love Tom Gotowka…..he is wonderful

Lafayette’s Tour

By Charlene Mires

When the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), a French hero of the American Revolution, returned to the United States in 1824-25, Philadelphians joined in a wave of nationwide affection for the nobleman who had volunteered for service in the Continental Army at the age of 19. Lafayette’s return to the region stirred increasing regard for preserving relics of the Revolution, especially the old Pennsylvania State House, which began to acquire a new name: Independence Hall.

Lafayette (Marie Joseph Paul Yyves Roch Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette) returned to the United States as the “nation’s guest” by invitation of his longtime friend President James Monroe (1758-1831). With the Declaration of Independence nearly fifty years in the past, Lafayette represented a generation of heroes soon to pass from living history into memory. Throughout the United States, his presence touched off elaborate preparations, pageantry, and a lively market for Lafayette keepsakes. The tour, originally intended to last four months, triggered such intense public enthusiasm that Lafayette stayed for thirteen months and traveled to all twenty-four states in the nation. He visited Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) at Monticello and the Mount Vernon tomb of his general and friend George Washington (1732-99).

Lafayette came to the Philadelphia region twice, near the beginning and end of his tour. In September 1824, after arriving in New York from France, he journeyed through northern New Jersey to Trenton, where he crossed the covered bridge over the Delaware River to Morrisville, Pennsylvania. Entertained at an evening ball at Holmesburg and then lodged overnight at the Frankford Arsenal , the next day Lafayette entered Philadelphia in a carriage pulled by six cream-colored horses and accompanied by a three-mile-long procession of citizens on horseback, public officials from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, military units, veterans of the Revolution, tradesmen, and farmers from the countryside. The parade followed a route carefully planned to pass impressive neighborhoods and landmarks and cheering throngs of onlookers on the way to the old State House. Temporary triumphal arches along the route ushered the marchers and riders through Northern Liberties into the city.

For nearly two months, Philadelphians had planned for the moment of Lafayette’s arrival. For his reception, an arrangements committee commissioned architect William Strickland (1788-1854) to refurbish the room in the old State House where independence had been declared. By that time in a state of neglect, the east room on the building’s first floor attracted renewed attention as it became transformed for the occasion. As Philadelphians acquired new mahogany chairs and sofas, draperies, and carpets to create a suitably lavish reception, they also coined a name for the room: the “Hall of Independence” or “Independence Hall.” Originally applied only to the first-floor room where independence had been declared, over subsequent decades the name became applied to the building as a whole.

Lafayette’s reception in the Hall of Independence, during which he and Philadelphia’s mayor exchanged greetings and reflected on the historic events that transpired where they stood, established a precedent for other nineteenth-century guests, from dignitaries to visiting fire companies. Lafayette’s eight-day visit also created new attachments to the memory of the American Revolution for thousands of schoolchildren who assembled in the State House Yard to be in his presence, for residents who attended a celebratory civic ball at the Chestnut Street Theatre, and for those who adorned themselves and their homes with mass-produced souvenirs. “Everything is Lafayette, whether it be on our heads or under our feet,” the Saturday Evening Post commented in the aftermath. “We wrap our bodies in Lafayette coats during the day, and repose between Lafayette blankets at night.”

Departing Philadelphia, Lafayette traveled by steamboat on the Delaware River to Chester, Pennsylvania, which celebrated him with a parade and banquet, and from there to Wilmington, Delaware. When he returned to the region for a somewhat longer, but quieter, stay near the end of his tour in July 1825, his itinerary included visits to Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill. On the way south for departure from Washington, he stopped in West Chester (where an estimated ten thousand people gathered to witness his procession) and joined military units and aged veterans in a tour of the area of the Battle of Brandywine, where he had been wounded during the Philadelphia campaign.

Lafayette’s tour left lasting effects around the United States in the form of towns, counties, colleges, and streets bearing his name, projects to create monuments, and new regard for material relics of the American Revolution. In Philadelphia, historically-minded citizens formed the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1824. Some who served on the arrangements committee for Lafayette’s visit mobilized again 1828 to replace the steeple on Independence Hall, which had lacked this distinctive feature since the original rotted away more than four decades before. The new steeple served contemporary needs for a clock and bell, but the Philadelphia City Councils insisted that it must resemble as closely as possible the building as it stood at the time of the American Revolution.

Charlene Mires is Professor of History at Rutgers-Camden and Editor-in-Chief of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.  (Author information current at time of publication.)

Copyright 2016, Rutgers University

Lafayette Arrives at Independence Hall

Winterthur Museum

Public fascination with Lafayette sparked a lively industry in mass-produced souvenirs during his 1824-25 tour. The Saturday Evening Post , published in Philadelphia, commented: “Everything is Lafayette, whether it be on our heads or under our feet. We wrap our bodies in Lafayette coats during the day, and repose between Lafayette blankets at night.” This souvenir handkerchief, produced in Germantown, depicts Lafayette’s arrival in Philadelphia. The caption beneath the top image includes the new name given to one room inside the old Pennsylvania State House during the weeks leading to Lafayette’s arrival: Independence Hall. The depiction of the old Pennsylvania State House, with a temporary triumphal arch in the foreground to welcome Lafayette, shows aspects of its appearance by 1824. The original arched piazzas on either side of the building had been demolished and replaced with practical, fireproof office buildings. The building’s distinctive steeple is absent, having rotted away by the 1780s. Lafayette’s visit helped to awaken renewed interest in the old State House as a place of historic significance. In 1828, the Philadelphia City Councils commissioned a replacement steeple and insisted that it should resemble the original as closely as possible.

Courtesy, Winterthur Museum, Handkerchief: Lafayette’s Arrival at Independence Hall by Germantown Print Works, 1824-1825, Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Linen, Museum purchase, 1967.144.

Grand Civic Arch

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

A series of about a dozen temporary triumphal arches placed in Philadelphia and its immediate suburbs ushered Lafayette through the city. The Grand Civic Arch at the old Pennsylvania State House, depicted here in a later nineteenth-century watercolor by David J. Kennedy, was a collaboration of the architect William Strickland, painter Thomas Sully, and artist William Rush. Constructed of canvas stretched on a wood frame, the arch stood thirty-five-feet high and spanned forty-five feet across Chestnut Street.

Lafayette, Volunteer for the American Revolution

Philadelphia Museum of Art

This mezzotint print, created in 1787 by the artist Charles Willson Peale, depicts the Marquis de Lafayette as a major general in the Armies of the United States. Lafayette arrived in Philadelphia to volunteer for service in July 1777. Wounded at the Battle of Brandywine in September, he gained command of his own division and spent part of the winter at the encampment of George Washington’s army at Valley Forge. Lafayette and Washington formed a lasting friendship, which the French nobleman honored in 1824 by visiting Washington’s tomb at Mount Vernon.

Mezzotint with engraved text (7-1/16 by 6-1/18 inches), Gift of the McNeil Americana Collection, 2009.

Lafayette, the Nation's Guest

After his enthusiastic reception in Philadelphia in 1824, Lafayette continued to Washington, D.C., where he became the first foreign dignitary to address a joint session of Congress. To honor the occasion, Dutch artist Ary Sheffer presented Congress with a full-length portrait of Lafayette, reproduced in this 1824 engraving by Jean Marie Leroux. The portrait was exhibited in the Capitol Rotunda for thirteen months during 1824-25 and was widely copied by other artists. Lafayette so admired the portrait that he distributed engravings, like this one, as he traveled throughout the United States.

Francis (Frank) Johnson

More than two thousand Philadelphians and guests, including Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, attended the “Lafayette Ball” held at the Chestnut Street Theatre on October 4, 1824, the last night of Lafayette’s visit. The music for this auspicious occasion was provided by Philadelphian Frank Johnson, depicted here in an 1846 lithograph, and his popular band of African American musicians. By the 1820s Johnson was gaining national prominence as a musician, composer, and band leader, making him a natural choice to entertain at such a prominent event. Although many sources have described Johnson’s place of birth as the West Indies, recent scholarship has established that he was born in Philadelphia in 1792.

Related Topics

• Greater Philadelphia
• Philadelphia and the World
• Philadelphia and the Nation
• Cradle of Liberty

Time Periods

• Nineteenth Century to 1854
• Center City Philadelphia
• France and the French
• Independence Hall
• Veterans and Veterans’ Organizations

Related Reading

Amundson, Jhennifer A. “Staging a Triumph, Raising a Temple: Philadelphia’s ‘Welcoming Parade’ for Lafayette, 1824.” In Gobel, David, and Daves Rossell, eds. Commemoration in America: Essays on Monuments, Memorialization, and Memory. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 2013.

Idzerda, Stanley J., Anne C. Loveland, and Marc H. Miller. Lafayette, Hero of Two Worlds: The Art and Pageantry of His Farewell Tour of America, 1824-25. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 1989.

Klamkin, Marian. The Return of Lafayette, 1824-25. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1975.

Loveland, Anne C. Emblem of Liberty: The Image of Lafayette in the American Mind. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971.

Mires, Charlene. Independence Hall in American Memory. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.

Oberholzer, Ellis Paxon. Philadelphia , A History of the City and Its People. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1912.

Related Collections

• Philadelphia Committee of Arrangements (Lafayette Reception) Records Historical Society of Pennsylvania 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia.
• Marquis de Lafayette Collection Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.

Related Places

• Brandywine Battlefield Park
• General Lafayette Historical Marker
• Lafayette: Citizen of Two Worlds (Cornell University)
• Lafayette in America, 1824-1825 (Friends of Lafayette via YouTube)
• Lafayette Returns to Philadelphia ( Independence Hall in American Memory Companion Site)
• August Levasseur, Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825 (Google e-book)
• Biography of Marquis de Lafayette (National Park Service)

Connecting the Past with the Present, Building Community, Creating a Legacy

Our history: Hunting for Lafayette almost 200 years later

Imagine trying to follow a trail almost 200 years old, where nearly every building and landmark is gone.

That’s the task undertaken by French historian Julien Icher, founder and executive director of the Lafayette Trail, a French-American project to map the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824-25 tour of the United States, including two days in Cincinnati.

“The tour of Lafayette is unmatched in this country,” Icher said.

Lafayette was a French aristocrat who served as a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and was a key figure in the relationship between the United States and France that helped turn the tide of the war.

Nearly a half century later, America was experiencing some growing pains. A contentious election in 1824 had divided the people. A generation had grown up with no memory of the revolution. So, President James Monroe invited Lafayette to tour America to remind the people.

Everyone welcomed “the Nation’s Guest.” Some 50,000 people came to see him in Cincinnati, a city of only 12,000 then.

“At a time of deep divide, Lafayette was a unifying figure,” Icher said.

His tour covered 6,000 miles and all 24 states from Aug. 15, 1824, to Sept. 7, 1825.

Working out of Londonderry, New Hampshire, Icher also has 13 months to visit the same places Lafayette went, from Maine to Missouri, down to Louisiana.

“I am doing something new, which is going boots on the ground to all those places and inquire to the local libraries, historical societies, Freemason lodges, those kinds of societies that might have information about the visit,” Icher said.

That’s the type of information that can’t be found online – yet.

Part of the project is to create a digital record of all the places Lafayette visited and to map the precise locations using geographic information system (GIS) technology.

“I want to work with the local agencies … to place markers in order to memorialize the steps of Lafayette,” Icher said.

“I want the markers to be located accurately where Lafayette went. My research is more of geohistory, which is about identifying with a lot of accuracy using GIS technology, modern-day computer mapping technology.”

To give an idea of how difficult it is to locate the exact spots, consider that Cincinnati’s Public Landing, where crowds met Lafayette on May 19, 1825, was moved one block east in 1969. The site of the original Public Landing, between Main and Broadway streets, is now Mehring Way, outside Great American Ball Park.

Some of the local places Lafayette visited:

• The home of Christian Febiger, the son of a Revolutionary War commander who served with Lafayette, on Vine Street between Fourth and Fifth streets (precise location unknown).
• The Masonic Hall on the northeast corner of Third and Walnut streets (site of the Scripps Center).
• The Western Museum at the southwest corner of Main and Pearl streets (site of the Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. building).
• The Cincinnati Hotel at the northwest corner of Front and Broadway streets right on the Public Landing (now the ballpark's center field bleachers), where he attended a ball in his honor.
• The Carneal House at 405 E. Second St., Covington, which is still standing. A historic marker there notes Lafayette’s visit.

The Lafayette Trail is sponsored by the American Friends of Lafayette and the Consulate General of France in Boston, and has been endorsed by French President Emmanuel Macron. In April, Icher was part of the French delegation with Macron that visited the White House and the U.S. Capitol.

The project “emphasizes the historical ties that our two countries have nurtured since the beginning of our bilateral relationship in 1778,” Icher said.

More online at thelafayettetrail.com .

Lafayette Returns To America

When the Marquis de Lafayette returned to America for an extended tour of the 50-year-old Republic, he was no longer the slim young nobleman in a powdered wig.

At 66 years old, he had cropped his still-dark hair in the fashion of the day. He had acquired gravitas during his political career in France. Lafayette survived  the tumultuous years of the revolution and its aftermath, which for him included a five-year prison term.

50 Years Flew By

In 1824, President James Monroe invited Lafayette, the last surviving general of the American Revolution, to tour all 24 U.S. states — 11 more than the original 13, including Maine and Vermont. Monroe wanted the visit to celebrate the nation’s 50 th anniversary.

Portrait of Lafayette by Ary Scheffer. It hands in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Lafayette took him up on the offer, and what a celebration it was.

From July 1824 to September 1825, Lafayette traveled 6,000 miles to every state by stagecoach, horseback, canal barge and steamboat. He was greeted with rapture, escorted by cavalcades, feted and honored. People named streets, monuments and entire towns after him.

He left France on July 13, 1824 and was received a salute by artillery when he landed at Staten Island, N.Y., on August 15.

The First New England Visit

Lafayette visited New England twice, spending a month all told in the region. Heading north from Staten Island, he stopped briefly in New Haven, Conn., Providence, R.I ., Stoughton, Mass., and Boston from August 21 to August 24. He had a splendid escort and enjoyed greetings of great demonstrations of joy — so great, he had to travel at night to make progress.

He arrived in Cambridge, Mass., on August 25, and settled into the Boston area until August 31. During that time he visited former President John Adams  in Quincy, Mass.

The next day he stopped in five Massachusetts cities and towns:  Lexington, Concord, Salem, Marblehead, and Newburyport. He visited the Old North Church and, noticing a bust of George Washington, said, “Yes, that is the man I knew and more like him than any other portrait.”

On September 1, he visited Portsmouth, N.H., then headed south again to Boston and Lexington.

Worcester, Mass., and Tolland, Conn., were on his agenda on Sept. 3. Then on Sept. 4, Hartford and Middletown, Conn.

Second New England Visit

Lafayette then visited familiar places:  Philadelphia, Delaware, Virginia. He spent some time in the new capital, Washington, D.C., then south to Maryland, the Carolinas and Georgia.  He turned west to see the new states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, then up the Mississippi River in a steamboat to Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Then he traveled back through Pennsylvania to New York, where he saw Niagara Falls and went to Albany by way of the Erie Canal. From Albany he traveled straight to Boston.

On June 17, 1825, Lafayette began his second New England tour by laying the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument – exactly 50 years after the battle was fought. He was surrounded by “ such a civic and military display as is seldom seen among men .”

Daniel Webster gave a rousing speech for the occasion. A grand two-mile long procession marched from the Boston Common, with the 40 survivors of the battle following in eight carriages.

Lafayette then laid the cornerstone at the monument with the help of some masons. The platform held a thousand ladies. Then 4,000 people sang odes, gave toasts and ate an enormous dinner.

Northern New England

A less grand reception, but no less sincere, met Lafayette in northern New England. He spent the night of June 23 in Dover, N.H. That  night, a delegation of citizens from South Berwick, Maine, invited him to breakfast. He accepted. The next day he was greeted with an arch of evergreens, festooned with oak leaves and roses.  A cavalcade escorted him to the Cleaves Hotel in Saco, then he visited Biddeford and Portland. During the few hours he spent in Portland, 15,000 Mainers saw him.

On June 27, he arrived late at night in Claremont, N.H. Early the next day, he crossed over the Cornish Bridge to Vermont, passing through Woodstock  late in the morning, then took a stagecoach over the mountains to  Barnard  and Royalton . In Randolph ; Vt., he was said to have met a young  Justin Morrill  and eventual Senator  Dudley Chase .

Gov.  Cornelius P. Van Ness  escorted him through  Barre . Large festivities greeted him in Montpelier, where he spent the night at the historic  The Pavilion .

On Wednesday, June 29, 1825, Lafayette met with women’s groups in  Montpelier and then left for  Burlington , his last stop in New England.

Departure of Lafayette

On Sept. 6, 1825, President John Quincy Adams bid him farewell. A new ship  outfitted for him was named after a battle — the Brandywine . Though wounded at Brandywine, Lafayette had ordered a successful retreat.

He left behind dozens of places named after him, including Lafayette Village in North Kingstown, R.I., Mount Lafayette (and Lafayette Campground) in Franconia, N.H., and Lafayette Park in Manchester, N.H.

Lafayette died on May 20,1834. He lies buried in Picpus Cemetery  in Paris, under soil from  Bunker Hill .

With thanks to Recollections of General Lafayette on His Visit to the United States, in 1824 and 1825; With the Most Remarkable Incidents of His Life, from His Birth by Amos Andrew Parker. This story was updated in 2022.

HMS Gaspee Puts a Stain on the Character of R.I. Gov. Joseph Wanton

Rose hawthorne, nathaniel hawthorne’s daughter, becomes candidate for catholic saint, 20 comments.

Pass his statute every day on the University of Vermont campus.

Nice portrait!

[…] Island, which is named for him. In the 1780s, with mounting debts, he turned to his old friend the Marquis de Lafayette to arrange a profitable post supplying goods, including timber, to the French […]

[…] planter, and the family lived in a large stone house in Newport near Narragansett Bay. The Marquis de Lafayette and Count Rochambeau visited the opulent residence during the Revolutionary […]

Lafayette’s visit to Ipswich is at https://ipswich.wordpress.com/2014/02/06/when-lafayette-came-to-ipswich/

[…] Early in 1776, the Congress sent him, alone, to France to persuade the French government to send soldiers, guns and money in support of the American Revolution. Deane managed to get informal support from France, including ships, arms, surplus military supplies and officers like the Marquis de Lafayette. […]

[…] Revolutionary War veterans dinner was inspired by the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States to commemorate the country’s 50th anniversary. He hosted it at the large […]

[…] winter headquarters during the Siege of Boston. She had stayed close to Mount Vernon, but as the Marquis de Lafayette said, she loved her husband […]

[…] Lebanon Green. Visitors who came to see him included George Washington, Henry Knox, Israel Putnam, Marquis de Lafayette and Count Rochambeau. Both the house and the War Office are still on the mile-long […]

[…] Marquis de Lafayette seldom forgot a friend, as he showed when he visited Vermont in 1825 on his final celebratory tour of America. Learning of Barton’s predicament, the French […]

[…] moved to New Orleans and became a great philanthropist, donating the last $10,000 to build the Bunker Hill Monument. Abraham donated funds to maintain the Touro […]

[…] lived in a large stone house in Newport near Narragansett Bay. During the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette and Comte de Rochambeau visited the Robinson […]

[…] said Cox. Those false pies were called Washington Pies, light cakes with a cream or fruit filling. Lafayette Pies were […]

[…] Tyler and persuaded him to visit that city, as well. He traveled there after the dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument. There he learned of a new disaster brewing for his administration – his attorney general had […]

[…] Revolution (before the British trashed his farm) he hosted a dinner for George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. He offered them two bottles of the best French wine and 12 bottles of Greening cider. Each guest […]

[…] Tyler and persuaded him to visit that city, as well. He traveled there after the dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument. There he learned of a new disaster brewing for his administration – his attorney general had […]

[…] question, “Where was the shot heard round the world fired?” surfaced in 1824. Then the Marquis de Lafayette visited all 24 states to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence. When he arrived in Lexington, Mass., people told […]

[…] in France, they renewed their old friendship and indeed became very close. In 1824, now-President Monroe invited Lafayette to visit the United States, soon to celebrate its 50th anniversary as a […]

[…] Lafayette, by the way, when he was invited back to the United States by President James Monroe to tour the country in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the revolution, as the only living general of that war, […]

[…] would welcome the Marquis de Lafayette when his tour of America came to Troy, and would visit him in France when she traveled there, hearing his firsthand account […]

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Lecture—The Marquis de Lafayette and his Farewell Tour

March 27, 2024 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm.

In 1824-1825, the marquis de Lafayette embarked on a tour of the United States, returning for a final time to the country he helped establish and whose democratic experiment he saw as a model for the rest of the world. Throughout his thirteen-month tour, he visited all twenty-four states of the union, where he was celebrated in each city and town with processions, banquets and receptions, worship services, and visits to important sites. Join historian Alan Hoffman, president of the American Friends of Lafayette and the translator of Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825 , a first-hand account of Lafayette’s tour, and Chuck Schwam, the executive director of the American Friends of Lafayette, for a discussion of Lafayette’s farewell tour, its significance, and an overview of planned commemorative events celebrating its bicentennial.

This lecture accompanies our upcoming exhibition,  Fete Lafayette: A French Hero’s Tour of the American Republic ,  on view from March 2 through December 31, 2024.

Registration for in-person attendance is currently at maximum capacity, but we encourage you to tune in with us virtually! To register and attend the program virtually, please click the link below.

Register to Attend the Lecture Virtually

About the Speakers

Alan Hoffman is an independent historian and the current president of the American Friends of Lafayette, and was a lawyer in Boston for fifty years. From 2003 to 2005, he translated Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825 , a first-hand account of Lafayette’s farewell tour of America, written by Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette’s private secretary throughout the tour. Now in its third printing, this translation was published by Peter E. Randall Publisher in 2006. Mr. Hoffman has delivered over two hundred lectures on Lafayette, and has spoken in each of the twenty-four states and Washington, D.C., that Lafayette visited during his tour, as well as in La Grange, Texas, and Lafayette and Denver, Colorado. In addition to his translation of Levasseur’s journal, Mr. Hoffman has published various articles on Lafayette, including “Lafayette: Symbol of Franco-American Friendship” in Symbol of Two Worlds edited by Diane Winham Shaw (American Friends of Lafayette, 2013), and “The Marquis de Lafayette in Savannah” in Slavery and Freedom in Savannah edited by Leslie M. Harris and Daina Ramey Berry (University of George Press, 2004). In addition to serving as the current president of the American Friends of Lafayette, Mr. Hoffman serves as the president of the Massachusetts Lafayette Society and is also the editor of The Gazette, a twice yearly historically rich publication of the American Friends of Lafayette .

Chuck Schwam is the executive director of the American Friends of Lafayette and committee chair of the Lafayette Farewell Tour Bicentennial effort that oversees fifty nation-wide committees dedicated to commemorating the tour. Additionally, he is the publisher of The Gazette of the American Friends of Lafayette.

Upcoming Events

Lecture—“a perilous voyage for our company”: the misadventures of james selkirk on the chesapeake bay, lecture—lord dunmore’s war, lunch bite – a portrait miniature of the marquis de lafayette painted during the farewell tour, panel discussion—waging war in america: operational challenges of armies during the american revolution, author’s talk— this fierce people: the untold story of america’s revolutionary war in the south.

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Marquis de Lafayette Returns: A Tour of America's National Capital Region (History & Guide) Paperback – January 29, 2024

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• Print length 160 pages
• Language English
• Publisher The History Press
• Publication date January 29, 2024
• Dimensions 6 x 0.31 x 9 inches
• ISBN-10 146715587X
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ The History Press (January 29, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 146715587X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1467155878
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• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.31 x 9 inches
• #18,652 in U.S. State & Local History
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Elizabeth reese.

Elizabeth Reese is a public historian and writer living in the Washington, D.C. area. She has previously worked at a variety of museums and historic sites, including Hamilton Grange National Memorial and the United States Capitol Visitor Center. She has developed interpretive programs on civil rights, women’s history and Founding America and was a Scott Hartwig Public History Fellow at the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg. She currently serves as the chair for the American Friends of Lafayette Bicentennial Committee for Washington, D.C.

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Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: “The Guest of the Nation” Visits Montpelier

• December 1, 2021
• Hilarie M. Hicks, MA

“… taking part in the offerings of gratitude to a Champion of Liberty and national Benefactor whom every American Citizen delights to honour.” James Madison, November 10, 1824 1

That “Champion of Liberty,” as Madison called him, was Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette (1757-1834), also known as the Marquis de Lafayette, or simply General Lafayette. Lafayette first came to America from his native France to support the cause of liberty during the American Revolution,  joining George Washington’s staff  at age 19. Lafayette endured the brutal winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. He led a division of troops in the successful siege of Yorktown in 1781, the last major battle of the Revolutionary War, which forced the surrender of the British General Cornwallis. Returning to France, Lafayette continued to serve the cause of liberty during the French Revolution, famously  gifting the key to the Bastille  to his mentor Washington.

Four decades later, American pride was at a new height. The United States had won a second war for independence – the War of 1812 – during James Madison’s presidency, and experienced an  “Era of Good Feelings”  under Madison’s successor James Monroe. Americans revered the Revolutionary generation, even as fewer and fewer of the soldiers and statesmen of that era were still living. When Lafayette accepted President Monroe’s invitation to return as the nation’s guest in 1824,  his thirteen-month tour  through the (then) 24 states became an outpouring of affection and gratitude for the Frenchman who helped the United States achieve independence. The tour also gave Lafayette a chance to reunite with old friends, including James Madison. Lafayette visited the Madisons at Montpelier on two legs of his journey – in November 1824 and again in August 1825.

This celebratory 1825 engraving (featuring a plethora of exuberant fonts) heralded “The Nation’s Guest. In Commemoration of the Magnanimous and Illustrious LAFAYETTE’S Visit to the United States of North America in the Forty-Ninth Year of Her Independence.”  Joseph Perkins after Ary Scheffer , courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

“As Amiable a Man as His Vanity Will Admit”

Madison’s own friendship with Lafayette had begun 40 years earlier, in September 1784. Madison had a chance encounter in Baltimore with Lafayette, who was on his way to negotiate a treaty with the Iroquois at Fort Stanwix, New York and invited Madison to travel with him. As  Madison wrote to his father from Philadelphia , “I fell in with the Marquis & had his company thus far. … He presses me much to fall into his plan, and I am not sure that I shall decline it. It will carry me farther than I had proposed, but I shall be rewarded by the pleasure of his company and the further opportunity of gratifying my curiosity.” 2

Madison and Lafayette’s month-long road trip (from September 3 to October 8) turned out to be a bonding experience. Soon afterwards, Madison  wrote a frank assessment of the Marquis’s character  to his close friend Thomas Jefferson, using a cypher or code in case the letter was read by anyone else:

“The time I have lately passed with the M. has given me a pretty thorough insight into his character. With great natural frankness of temper he unites much address with very considerable talents, a strong thirst of praise and popularity. In his politics he says his three hobby horses are the alliance between France and the United States, the union of the latter and the manumission of the slaves. The two former are the dearer to him as they are connected with his personal glory. The last does him real honor as it is a proof of his humanity. In a word I take him to be as amiable a man as his vanity will admit and as sincere an American as any Frenchman can be; one whose past services gratitude obliges us to acknowledge, and whose future friendship prudence requires us to cultivate.” 3

Madison saw Lafayette as both talented and glory-seeking, someone who deserved America’s gratitude and someone whose friendship could be politically useful. (When Madison later edited his papers for publication during his retirement, he crossed out “a strong thirst of praise and popularity” and changed “as amiable a man as his vanity will admit” to “as amiable a man as can be imagined” – even altering the coded words in the hope that no one would realize his initial impression of Lafayette was somewhat mixed.) 4

This 1790 mezzotint engraving of Lafayette captures some of the youthful vanity that Madison perceived when he first met Lafayette in 1784.  Mezzotint by Philibert-Louis Debucourt , courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Liberty and Slavery

It’s significant that Madison saw Lafayette’s commitment to the abolition of slavery as “a proof of his humanity.” At this point in his life, Madison himself was still reconciling his thoughts on natural rights with the institution of slavery. He had sold  Billey Gardner  from slavery into temporary servitude rather than penalizing him “merely for coveting that liberty which we have paid the price of so much blood, and proclaimed so often to be the right, & and worthy pursuit of, every human being,” as  he wrote to his father . 5   Madison wrote in 1785  that one “of my wishes is to depend as little as possible on the labour of slaves,” 6  intending to try land speculation as an alternate way to earn income. Once Madison inherited the Montpelier plantation from his father in 1801, his outlook seems to have changed. He thought less in terms of ending his personal dependence on enslaved laborers, and instead looked for a future end to slavery through  colonization  (emancipating enslaved people and resettling them in Africa or the western territories of the United States.)

“My Friend, as My Heart Reckons But Few Men”

Lafayette was enthusiastic about the friendship he had established with Madison during their travels.  He wrote effusively to Madison  shortly before returning to France in December 1784,

“One of the Most pleasing Circumstances, not only of my Voyage, But also of my Life, Has Been to obtain as an intimate friend the Man who Before this last time, was only to me a valuable and Agreable Acquaintance. Hitherto You Had Been my friend as the World Calls it—But now I Hope you are my friend as my Heart Reckons But few men—and once for all, I wanted to tell you that I know you, esteem you, and love you with all the warmth of my regard and affection.” 7

Although it would be 40 years before Madison and Lafayette saw each other again, their friendship continued. The two men corresponded steadily, exchanging at least 65 letters between 1785 and 1824.

The Nation’s Guest Arrives

Lafayette arrived back in America on August 15, 1824, embarking on his return journey to France on September 7, 1825. As he traveled throughout the United States, communities welcomed the general with processions, artillery salutes, speeches, dinners, and balls. Young ladies strewed flowers or presented bouquets. Elderly veterans of the Revolution came out to shake his hand and share their war stories. Crowds waving handkerchiefs turned out in great numbers simply to catch a glimpse of the great man. Lafayette visited Washington’s tomb at Mount Vernon, laid the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill monument, and participated in ceremonies marking the anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown. 8

Lafayette’s secretary, Auguste Levasseur, published  an account of their travels , which sheds some light on their time at Montpelier. 9  We can glean further insights from the Madisons’ letters, as well as newspaper accounts of Lafayette’s journey.

An Invitation to Montpelier

As soon as Madison heard that his old friend Lafayette had safely arrived in America in August 1824, he immediately extended an invitation to visit Montpelier,  writing on August 21, 1824 ,

“I this instant learn, my dear friend, that you have safely reached the shores, where you will be hailed by every voice of a free people. That of no one, as you will believe, springs more from the heart than mine. May I not hope that the course of your movements will give me an opportunity of proving it, by the warmth of my embrace on my own threshold. Make me happy by a line to that effect when you can snatch a moment for a single one, from the eager gratulations pouring in upon you.” 10

If Lafayette responded directly to Madison’s invitation, that letter does not survive. A letter from Lafayette to the United States Senator from Maryland, Samuel Smith, indicates that Lafayette was scheduling trips around his planned attendance at the October 19 Yorktown ceremonies. “The Monticello, and Montpellier visits, and then to the president’s [Monroe’s] County Seat I will be forced to differ [defer] until after the york town anniversary.” 11

Embracing Old Friends at Monticello

Lafayette arrived at Monticello on November 4 to visit Thomas Jefferson. James Madison joined them there about sunset that evening, and attended a dinner in Lafayette’s honor at the University of Virginia the next day. 12   James reported to his wife Dolley from Monticello ,

“My old friend embraced me with great warmth. He is in fine health & spirits but so much increased in bulk & changed in aspect that I should not have known him.” 13

Lafayette’s appearance had changed significantly since Madison had seen him forty years earlier.  Portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette , ca. 1822, attributed to Ary Scheffer, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the John Hay Whitney Collection.

James also wrote Dolley what no hostess would want to hear – he still didn’t know exactly when Lafayette would arrive at Montpelier or how many people would be in Lafayette’s entourage!

“The Gen l . does not say yet how many days he stays here. … It is probable he will not be with us till near or quite the middle of next week. He will have with him besides his son & Secy. the 2 Councillors, and such of the Company of Orange meeting & conducting him as may chuse to stop at Montpellier… I may learn more to day, but not in time to write you.” 14

Plans and Preparations

Dolley initiated preparations nonetheless.  Ailsey Payne , who was then an 18-year-old enslaved housemaid, later remembered “stirring times” as Ailsey and other domestic workers polished silver, put tablewares in order, and cleaned the house. The ice houses were filled with the meats that enslaved cooks would prepare for an elaborate dinner including mutton, beef, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and shoats. Ailsey particularly recalled that Dolley made sure the maids were well-dressed for the occasion, since their appearance reflected on Dolley. Otherwise, as Ailsey explained, Dolley would have “disqualified herself in her own house.” 15

Lafayette’s plans had firmed up by the time he wrote from Monticello to Robert Lewis of Fredericksburg:

“We expect to leave here next Monday to dine in Montpellier and remain with my friend Mr. Madison until Friday when we contemplate to partake of an early dinner with the citizens of Orange County at their Court House, then to proceed as far as we can on the road to Fredericksburg there to arrive Saturday morning…” 16

“Next Monday” meant that Lafayette would arrive at Montpelier on November 15, and stay until Friday, November 19.

The fluid nature of Lafayette’s schedule was sometimes frustrating to local residents who wanted to organize appropriate welcomes. When Madison alerted his neighbor, former governor James Barbour, that Lafayette would be coming the next day,  Barbour replied  in consternation,

“Yours of this morning is the first intimation I have had of the General’s approach. The shortness of the interval, and our sparse situation present almost insuperable difficulties in making a suitable arrangement to meet him.” 17

Barbour proposed meeting Lafayette’s carriage at the county line near Gordonsville. He would bring his carriage and asked Madison to send his own carriage as well. Barbour also asked Madison to relay a message to his nephew, Captain Conway Macon, regarding the plans to meet Lafayette.

Guest of the Nation, Guest of Montpelier

Despite the short notice, Barbour was able to arrange a suitable escort for Lafayette. As the newspaper reported,

“Although his approach was known only a few hours before its occurrence, and the weather was extremely inclement, many of the respectable citizens went out to do him honor. He, his suite, and a most numerous and respectable escort of the citizens of Albemarle, were met at Gordonsville, near the county line, by the Orange Committee of Arrangement, and an escort of mounted Volunteers, under the command of Capt. MACON.” 18

Lafayette and his party transferred to the carriages provided by the Committee of Arrangement (presumably including Barbour’s and Madison’s carriages) and traveled on to Montpelier, “where they were affectionately received by Mr. MADISON.” 19  As Ailsey Payne later remembered, there were “more horses and carriages [than] you could hardly count!” 20

Lafayette’s secretary, Auguste Levasseur, recorded his impressions of the Madisons and Montpelier in  his journal : “Mr. Madison is now seventy-four years of age; but his body, which has been but little impaired, contains a mind still young, and filled with a kind sensibility, which he showed in its full extent, when he expressed to General Lafayette the pleasure he felt in having him in his house. … Mrs. Madison also greatly con­tributes, by the accomplishments of her mind, and the ele­gance of her manners, to render doubly delightful the unaf­fected hospitality with which strangers are received at Montpellier.” 21

Lafayette as represented in the Dining Room at Montpelier. Photo by Jenniffer Powers, courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust site.

Levasseur continued, “The four days we spent at Mr. Madison’s, were agreea­bly divided between walks about his fine estate, and the still more engaging conversations that we enjoyed in the eve­nings, on the great interests of America, which are known to be so dear to Lafayette.” 22

Slavery and Religion

The conversation turned to topics that Madison and his neighbors may have found uncomfortable:

“General Lafayette, who, while he well appreciates the unfortunate position of slave-holders in the United States, and cannot overlook the greater part of the obstacles which oppose an immediate emancipation of the blacks, still never fails to take advantage of an opportunity to defend the right which  all men, without exception , have to liberty, introduced the question of slavery among the friends of Mr. Madison.” 23

Levausser’s impression was that the company discussed the topic with “frankness” and expressed “noble sentiments … on that deplorable subject.” Levasseur concluded, perhaps naively, “It seems to me that slavery cannot subsist much longer in Virginia: for the principle is condemned by all enlightened men…” 24

Levasseur did not record anything that Madison said on the subject of slavery. Madison’s opinions, if he shared them with the company, were probably similar to what  he had written to Lafayette  several years earlier: “The Negro slavery is as you justly complain a sad blot on our free Country … No satisfactory plan has yet been devised for taking out the stain. If an adequate asylum cd. be found in africa that wd. be the appropriate destination for the unhappy race among us.” 25

Madison’s ideas for ending slavery hinged on finding a site to relocate emancipated people, either in Africa or the American West, since as he later wrote Lafayette, Madison believed that

“it seems to be indelible that the two races cannot co-exist, both being free & equal.” 26

The Madisons’ guests soon turned the discussion of slavery to what Levasseur described as “the no less important question of mental slavery,” meaning the limitations on religious freedom in many European nations. “The friends of Mr. Madison congratulated themselves that at least this species of slavery is unknown in the United States,” he wrote, observing that here “no individual can be compelled to practice any religious worship, nor to frequent any place, nor to support any minister, of any religion whatever … none can be persecuted in any manner on account of religious opinions: but all men have liberty  to profess, and sustain by argument , their opinions in matters of religion…” 27

One guest made a point of drawing Levasseur aside to inform him of Madison’s role in opposing a 1784 proposal to use state tax funds to pay teachers of Christian religion. The next morning, the guest sent Levasseur a copy of Madison’s  Memorial and Remonstrance , which laid out fifteen arguments in favor of the separation of church and state. Levasseur “perused [it] with interest” and found its principles “so simple and so eloquently maintained and defended.” 28

A copy of the  Memorial and Remonstrance  was on display in Montpelier’s dining room during Madison’s retirement. Photo by Jenniffer Powers, courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust site.

Many years later, Mary Cutts recorded an incident from Lafayette’s visit that does not appear in Levasseur’s account. It was probably told to her by her aunt Dolley Madison.

“General de La Fayette when he visited Montpelier in 1825, said one of the most interesting sights he had witnessed in America was when he visited the log cabin of Granny Milly, 104 years of age, whose daughter and grand daughter, the youngest nearly 70 were all at rest retired from their labors, and living happily together; their patch of ground cultivated for them, their food and raiment supplied by [‘]Mass Jimmy and Miss Dolley.’” 29

Neither Lafayette nor Levasseur wrote about meeting  Milly  in their letters or accounts of either the 1824 or 1825 visits to Montpelier. Possibly Lafayette met Milly during one of his many “walks about [Madison’s] fine estate.” Lafayette may have found the elderly Milly and her long-lived family “interesting,” but he would not have shared Cutts’s romanticized view of Milly’s family happily retired from work. Perhaps he would have found the visit to Milly’s cabin to be another “opportunity to defend the right which  all men, without exception , have to liberty.” 30

“A Dinner Prepared with Great Taste and Elegance”

Lafayette’s departure from Montpelier on Friday, November 19, was just as ceremonious as his arrival:

“…attended by Mr. MADISON, the Committee of Arrangement, Capt. MACON’S numerous escort, and many respectable citizens, [Lafayette] proceeded to Orange Court House. Groups of citizens, on foot and on horseback, were seen on the road. As the General approached, he was every where hailed with shouts of applause. On his arrival at the Court House, an extended line of citizens presented itself, along which he proceeded. When he alighted, he was received with acclamation.” 31

Levasseur noted that while greeting the people in line, “the General received expressions of regret from several old revolutionary soldiers who had been prevented by age or distance, from being present at the celebration at Yorktown; who now consoled themselves with his expressions of friendship and remembrance by which they seemed greatly affected.” 32

After addresses and introductions, Madison accompanied Lafayette to a three o’clock dinner for 200 guests, hosted by James Barbour and “prepared with great taste and elegance.” Thirteen ceremonial toasts followed the dinner. The first was to Lafayette himself:

“The Guest of the Nation; no where more welcome than in Virginia: She received his best services; he enjoys her best affections.” 33

Lafayette graciously responded with a toast to Orange County.

The ninth toast honored “Our countryman, JAMES MADISON: Pure in private as illustrious in public life; we love the man and venerate the statesman.” Madison too made a gracious reply, adding his own praise of Lafayette:

“…he has endeared himself by his persevering devotion to the great principles of our Revolution, and by his zeal, truly America, in maintaining our rights, our honor, and our interests, as a free and independent people. In his absence I could say much, which I cannot trust my feelings to utter in his presence. But, were he absent, I could not say more than would be due, nor more than I am sure would be echoed by every heart present.” 34

Levasseur noted, “After the repast, we separated from Mr. Madison, who, notwithstanding his seventy-four years, mounted his horse with activity, and returned to his peaceful home alone, through the woods.” 35

Lafayette’s party was accompanied out of town by Captain Macon’s escort, now swelled with a number of local residents. A short way down the road, they encountered crowd gathered by a path in the woods where a “triumphal arch” had been erected at a site of Revolutionary War significance. As Levasseur explained, “We soon learned that this path which young ladies were scattering with flowers, and which the crowd entered with much interest, was the road opened by Lafayette on the 15th of June 1781, to effect a rapid march from the banks of the Rapidan to Michunk creek, where Cornwallis was greatly surprised to find him in order of battle…” 36

A week later, Dolley recorded her impressions of the visit in a letter to her brother-in-law:

“We have lately had a visit from Gen l . LaFayette & family of a few days—the former, you know, was an old friend of M r  M——s I was charmed with his society— & never witnessed so much enthusiasm as his appearance occationed here and at our court house, where hundreds of both sexes collected together, to hail & welcome him— He has promised to spend some time with us again, before he leaves this country.” 37

Lafayette Returns to Montpelier

Just as Lafayette promised, he made one last trip to visit his Virginia friends in the final weeks of his stay in America. Levasseur wrote in his travel journal that in August 1825, “we again left the capital to make a last tour in Virginia. On this occasion we visited Albemarle, Culpepper, Fauquier, Warrenton and Buckland.” Lafayette’s mood seemed different on this final segment of the journey, as Levasseur observed:

“Although in all these towns the progress of Lafayette was marked by popular festivals, he could not avoid feeling pained by the recollection that in a few days he was about to leave, perhaps for ever, a country which contained so many objects of his affection.” 38

James Monroe (who had recently been succeeded as president by John Quincy Adams) and James Madison “re-joined us on the road to Monticello, whither the general went to take leave of his old friend Jefferson, whose enfeebled health kept him at present in a state of painful inaction.” Levasseur noted the sadness of Lafayette’s parting from these three statesmen and friends,

“for in this instance, the individuals who bade farewell, had all passed through a long career, and the immensity of the ocean would still add to the difficulties of a reunion.” 39

In focusing his description on the poignant farewell at Monticello, however, Levasseur left out the specific details of Lafayette’s travel itinerary, which included two stops at Montpelier on August 15-18 and August 21-22. These details can be reconstructed from newspaper accounts and letters.

Tracing Lafayette’s August 1825 Route

According to an item reprinted from the Washington newspaper  National Intelligencer , Lafayette left the capital city on August 6 to spend a few days with Monroe in northern Virginia. After returning to Washington, Lafayette’s plan was to “proceed, by the way of Fredericksburgh, to visit, and take leave of, the Ex-Presidents Jefferson and Madison.” 40

A news item from Fredericksburg reported that Lafayette arrived there between midnight and one o’clock Sunday morning, August 14. He attended church services later that morning, and left town on Monday, August 15 “for the purpose of paying farewell visits to Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison.” Hugh Tennant Mercer, whose father General Hugh Mercer had died in the American Revolution, was listed as one of the men who accompanied Lafayette from Fredericksburg to Montpelier. 41  Presumably Lafayette’s party arrived at Montpelier later in the day on Monday. Mercer later apologized to Madison “at being obliged to leave so abruptly the easy & refined Hospitality of Montpelier, in my late Visit to you & Mrs Madison, & especially too as the pleasure of that Visit was so highly enhanced to me by the Society of Him, whom every Section of our Country has been emulous in honoring, but whom, alas! we shall, in all probability, never behold again!” 42

The days of Lafayette’s visit may have seemed very full to Dolley Madison, who wrote to a relative on Tuesday, August 16,

“Gen l . Fayette … did not arrive with us til the day before yesterday.” 43

The “day before yesterday” was Sunday, suggesting that Dolley thought her company had spent one more day at Montpelier than they actually had! In any case, Lafayette and his party were still at Montpelier when Dolley was writing on Tuesday, August 16. Lafayette’s son, George Washington Lafayette, also wrote a letter datelined “Montpelier, 16 th  Aug. 1825,” in which he regretted being unable to visit Richmond friends, “but our time is so very short, that truly it has become absolutely impossible. We are on our way to bid adieu to Mr. Jefferson, and it will require our best exertions to arrive at Washington city by the 25 th  of this month.” 44

Lafayette likely saw a bust of himself in the Madisons’ art collection while visiting Montpelier. Lafayette’s bust appears to the right of the fireplace. Photo by Jenniffer Powers, courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust site.

Lafayette left Montpelier for Monticello on Thursday, August 18, where he stayed until Sunday, August 21. (Jefferson’s granddaughter reported on August 26 that “Gen. La Fayette left us on sunday last, having arrived the thursday evening before.” 45 ) The touching scene described by Levasseur, when Lafayette took his final leave of Jefferson, with Madison and Monroe also present at Monticello, must have taken place during those few days.

After leaving Monticello, Lafayette made one last stop at Montpelier on Sunday, August 21. Monroe was traveling with him. It is unknown how long Lafayette intended to stay, but later that day, Captain Philip Slaughter arrived at Montpelier with an invitation to a dinner in Lafayette’s honor in Culpeper on Monday, August 22. Slaughter recorded in his journal, “Major Gabriel Long and myself were deputed by the committee of arrangements of Culpeper to wait upon General La Fayette at Montpelier, the seat of ex-President Madison, in Orange, and invite him to dine at Culpeper Courthouse on 22d of August, 1825. We started from my house on the 21st, with two carriages, and remained at Montpelier that night. We left there with General La Fayette and suite, at 5½ A. M. …” 46

“Lafayette Took His Final Leave of Us”

When Lafayette and his entourage departed Montpelier at daybreak on August 22, 1825, it was the last time that Madison ever saw him. Madison wrote to Frances Wright (a sometime traveling companion of Lafayette who had not made this part of the journey), “General Lafayette took his final leave of us a few days ago … He carries with him the unanimous blessings of the free nation which has adopted him. If equal honors have not been his portion in that which he had his birth, it is not because he did not deserve them: This hemisphere at least, & posterity in the other, will award what is due to the nobleness of his mind, and the grandeur of his career.” 47

As Lafayette had suspected, he would not see Thomas Jefferson again. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, less than a year after Lafayette’s visit. When Lafayette heard the news, he wrote to Madison, “Our Beloved Jefferson is No More, my dear friend, and While I Mingle My sorrows with Yours, I never more Sadly felt What Has been to me a Constant object of Regret, the painful distance there is Between our Respective places of Abode.” Lafayette concluded his letter with this reflection:

“My dear friend We are few Remaining of those old Revolutionary times. I am by Seas Separated from the Small band; But Until I Go to the departed ones My Heart is With You…” 48

Madison reflected the same sentiments in his reply to Lafayette:

“You will never doubt that your happiness is very dear to me; and I feel the sentiment growing stronger as the loss of others dear to us both, shortens the list to which we belong.” 49

In the same letter, Madison sent regards from his 95-year-old mother Nelly Madison:

“She forgets many things she says, but shall never forget General Lafayette the great & good friend of her Country.” 50

Like many Americans, Nelly Madison would always remember Lafayette with gratitude for helping to win American independence. It was not an abstract ideal for her. Nelly well remembered the American Revolution and how British General Cornwallis had “instilled a great deal of terror” in Virginia (as she told another Montpelier visitor, the Baron de Montlezun, in 1816). 51  Plaster medallion portrait of Nelly Madison by Pietro Cardelli, 1819. Photo by Rebecca Hagen, courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust site.

Revolution and Remembrance

As Madison observed, “the list to which we belong” – the list of people with personal recollections of the American Revolution – was growing ever shorter. Jefferson and John Adams died in 1826, the year after Lafayette’s tour. Monroe died in 1831, Lafayette in 1834, and Madison in 1836. In another 50 years after Madison’s death, an elderly Ailsey Payne – along with the once-young ladies who had presented bouquets to Lafayette – would tell stories of the Farewell Tour as if the tour itself was an event in a long-ago history.

Lafayette remained in American memory through the many places – towns, parks, and streets –  named in his honor . Fayetteville, North Carolina was named in 1783, even before the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War. Other places were named or renamed during the years of the Farewell Tour, including Lafayette Square in New Orleans and Lafayette Square in Washington, DC (where Dolley Madison would later live as a widow). 52

The bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour (2024-25) offers yet another opportunity to renew appreciation of Lafayette’s contributions to American independence and the cause of human freedom. For that reason, the  Lafayette Trail  project has set out to document, map, and mark the sites Lafayette visited in 1824 and 1825. The Montpelier Foundation was pleased to receive a Lafayette Trail marker on November 15, 2021, exactly 197 years since James Madison first extended to General Lafayette “the warmth of my embrace on my own threshold” at Montpelier. Look for the marker beside the historic train depot on your next visit to Montpelier!

This  Lafayette Trail  marker notes the dates of Lafayette’s first and final visits to Montpelier, as well as the topics of discussion that Lafayette’s secretary, Auguste Levasseur, recorded in his journal. Photo by Ryan C. Jones, courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust site.

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Lafayette in Washington, 1824-1825

Between July 1824 and September 1825, Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette toured America, visiting all 24 states and the Distric… read more

Between July 1824 and September 1825, Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette toured America, visiting all 24 states and the District of Columbia. Fifty years after the revolution, the aging French general was received with parades, banquets, and military salutes. Mark Hudson , executive director of Tudor Place , a historic home that was one of the stops on the tour, talked about Lafayette’s three visits to Washington, D.C., during the tour. The George Washington University Museum and Textile Museum hosted this event. close

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The Marquis de Lafayette’s 266th Birthday Celebration: Art and Artifacts of the Farewell Tour

Join the Lafayette Libraries and the department of Languages and Literary Studies for a lunchtime presentation by Diane Windham Shaw , director emerita of special collections & College archives. The illustrated talk, “Art and Artifacts of the Farewell Tour,” showcases portraits and other commemorative works dating from Lafayette’s 1824-25 tour of America. Shaw will also share a sneak peek into the American Friends of Lafayette’s big plans to celebrate the Bicentennial of the Farewell Tour in 2024-25.

Submitted by: Kate Pitts

Lafayette’s Visit to America in 1824-25

In 1824-25, the Marquis de Lafayette , one of the last surviving generals of the American Revolutionary War, made a grand visit to America. He toured all 24 states of the Union and received a hero’s welcome everywhere he went. The visit cemented his fame in America for a new generation and left a lasting impact in the names and monuments found around the United States.

Lafayette greeting the National Guard (2d Battalion, 11th New York Artillery) on July 14, 1825, by Ken Riley

Reasons for Lafayette’s visit to America

In January 1824, President James Monroe , supported by a Congressional resolution, invited Lafayette to visit the United States as the guest of the nation. Almost 50 years had passed since the start of the Revolutionary War and the generation that had fought to secure the country’s independence from Britain was passing away. A celebratory visit by Lafayette, who had commanded troops under George Washington, could instill the spirit of the American Revolution in younger Americans and remind them of the virtues and sacrifices involved in the struggle for liberty.

On December 2, 1823, Monroe had stated in a message to Congress that any future efforts by European nations to colonize or extend their political system to any part of the Americas would be regarded as “the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.” American political leaders feared that after France’s success in suppressing a liberal revolt in Spain , the European monarchies would help Spain reconquer its former colonies in Latin America. There were rumours of an expedition to Colombia being formed at Cádiz. The invitation to Lafayette – a prominent liberal opponent of the French regime – was a way of reinforcing this message to the European powers. Monroe and others also hoped that a visit from Lafayette would encourage the American people to support the government’s bolder stance on potential military intervention in Spanish America. “As the most famous example of a fighter for liberty on foreign shores, Lafayette could help to rally the American people to greater exertions should it prove necessary.” (1)

The invitation was not without its diplomatic dangers, since the United States was still trying to get France to pay for damages suffered by American shipping during the Napoleonic Wars. During Lafayette’s visit, both Henry Clay , who succeeded John Quincy Adams as Secretary of State in 1825, and Albert Gallatin, who served as US minister to France from 1815 to 1823, urged Lafayette to avoid anti-royalist intrigues upon his return to France.

For Lafayette, who was 66 years old, the invitation came at an opportune time. In 1821 he had supported a conspiracy to overthrow King Louis XVIII and had been accused of treason. The accusation was dropped, but in February 1824 he was defeated in his bid for re-election to the French Chamber of Deputies by a more conservative opponent. Lafayette had long wanted to revisit the United States (and had written Monroe to this effect in November 1823), but political obligations had kept him France. Now, with his political career at a low point, the prospect of an American tour offered a public relations opportunity. He could rehabilitate his reputation and revive support for his liberal agenda in France.

The trip was much more than a return to old haunts for Lafayette, much more than a chance to greet old friends and reminisce about youthful adventures. It was a means of continuing French political struggles on a new front. By focusing European attention on the United States, the most important republic in the world, he could hope to breathe new life into the almost moribund cause of liberty and constitutional government. (2)

Lafayette’s entourage

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, by Samuel Morse, 1825

On July 13, 1824, Lafayette left the French port of Le Havre on the American merchant vessel Cadmus . He was accompanied by his only son, Georges Washington Motier de La Fayette (age 44), and by his valet, Sebastien (Bastien) Wagner, who appears with Lafayette in Napoleon in America . Georges had lived in the United States from 1795 to 1797, staying for most of that period with George and Martha Washington. Lafayette was also joined by Auguste Levasseur, a former junior military officer who had been involved in the 1821 conspiracy and other plots against the French government. Levasseur served as Lafayette’s secretary. He produced an account of the visit,  Lafayette en Amérique en 1824 et 1825, ou Journal d’un Voyage aux Etats-Unis , which was published in 1829 (an English translation appeared later that year). During the tour, Georges and Levasseur regularly sent reports and newspaper clippings back to Paris, so that the French public could be kept abreast of what Lafayette was saying and doing in America, and how he was being received there. Lafayette’s family got around French press censorship by having the material released in book form.

Although not included in Lafayette’s official entourage, Frances (Fanny) Wright and her younger sister Camilla were among Lafayette’s companions. Fanny was a bright young Scottish socialist who had earlier travelled to the United States and written Views of Society and Manners in America , published in 1821. When Fanny visited Paris later that year, the widowed Lafayette (38 years her senior) fell for her. The two became close friends. Lafayette invited Fanny and Camilla to go to America with him. When Lafayette’s family objected, the Wrights followed him in another vessel. They joined Lafayette for much of the tour, leading to considerable gossip.

Arrival at New York

Portrait of General Lafayette and a view of his landing in New York in 1824

Lafayette reached New York on August 15, 1824. He spent that night at the residence of Vice President Daniel Tompkins on Staten Island. The next day, the steamship Robert Fulton – full of dignitaries, marines, a West Point band, and some old comrades-in-arms – carried him to the Battery, at the southern end of Manhattan, escorted by a flotilla of crowd-filled steamboats dressed with flags and streamers. The Commercial Advertiser reported:

The news of the General’s arrival had spread through the surrounding country with the rapidity of lightning; and from the dawn of day until noon, the roads and ferryboats were thronged with people who were hastening to the city to participate in the fete and testify their gratitude for the services, and respect for the character of the illustrious ‘National Guest.’ Our citizens also turned out in immense numbers, at an early hour, and, together with the military, presented the most lively and moving spectacle that we have witnessed on any former occasion. (3)

Lafayette landed to the cheers of the tens of thousands of people who filled the Battery, the Castle, and the surrounding area. After refreshments and introductions, he reviewed the troops. He was then conveyed in a barouche to City Hall.

The General rode uncovered and received the unceasing shouts and the congratulations of 50,000 freemen, with tears and smiles which bespoke how deeply he felt the pride and glory of the occasion. The ladies, from every tier of windows, waved their white handkerchiefs, and hundreds, unloosed by their fair owners, were seen floating in the air. He was evidently much embarrassed and even afflicted, with the conflicting and powerful sensibilities which were called up and kept in action by the continued and universal demonstrations of love.… On the steps of the City Hall were assembled…a great number of Ladies, many of whom stepped forward and gave the General their hands as he passed along. The general enthusiasm also extended to the children of all ages; the name of the Hero continually reverberating from their lips, giving to Fayette a heart-appealing evidence that his memory has been hallowed at every family altar, and that future generations as well as this will be familiar with his name, and echo his praises. After his return to the City Hotel he had the extraordinary condescension and good feeling to come out and shake hands with 6 or 700 American youth, the future conservators of his fame. This circumstance has planted in the minds of these little ones the strongest affection of the man, which will go with them through life, and endure till its close. (4)

In response to the mayor’s greetings, Lafayette (who spoke fluent English) said:

While I am so affectionately received by the citizens of New York and their worthy representatives, I feel myself overwhelmed with inexpressible emotions. The sight of the American shore, after so long an absence; the recollection of the many respected friends and dear companions, no more to be found on this land; the pleasure to recognize those who have survived; this immense concourse of a free republican population, who so kindly welcome me; the admirable presence of the troops, the presence of a corps of the national navy, have excited sentiments to which no human language can be adequate. You have been pleased, sir, to allude to the happiest time, the unalloyed enjoyments of my public life; it is the pride of my heart to have been one of the earliest adopted sons of America. (5)

Hero worship

Over the next twelve months, Lafayette travelled over 6,000 miles, visiting all 24 states, some more than once. He was greeted with enthusiastic cheers, receptions, parades, processions, parties, banquets, concerts and balls. Locals decorated his route and erected ceremonial arches for him and his entourage to pass through. Church bells rang out in his honour. Cannons were fired in salutes. People praised him in toasts, speeches, poems and songs. He reviewed militias. He spoke with veterans and visited battlefields, including the site of the Battle of Brandywine, where he was wounded in the leg in 1777. He laid cornerstones and dedicated monuments. He toured mills, canals, farms and factories. He blessed children. He met Native Americans. A souvenir industry sprang up, producing dishes, ribbons, pins, badges, medallions, fans, quilts and clothing emblazoned with Lafayette’s name and/or image. Lithographs and paintings depicted scenes from the Revolution and his visit. New biographies of him were issued. Buildings, streets and towns were named for him, as were many children. His progress was breathlessly chronicled by the newspapers.

[At New Rochelle] the scene was brilliant in the extreme. The balcony and roof of the post office, and of capt. Peter’s hotel, on the opposite side of the street, were filled with ladies. The shouts of the people, the roaring of the cannon, the merry peal of the bells, the music of a full band, the eager, yet respectful anxiety of the people to shake him by the hand, and bid him welcome, must have made as gratifying an impression on the mind of the general, as any reception which had gone before. Here, more than one old seventy sixer ‘who fought and bled in freedom’s cause’ came to visit their fellow soldier. ‘Do you remember, general,’ said one, ‘who began the attack at Brandywine?’ ‘Aha! Yes – it was Maxwell, with the Jersey troops!’ ‘So it was! So it was!’ replied the delighted interrogator. ‘Well, I was with his brigade!’ A warm clasp of the hand was all the utterance to feelings which were meet reward for a life spent in the cause of liberty. (6)

Sometimes the hero worship went over the top. The Niles Weekly Register editorialized:

To preserve, in some small degree, an account of the feelings which the arrival of our venerable friend has elicited, we have noticed a few of the exhibitions of it that have taken place; but every narrative of them falls far short of the reality of what has happened. The people are wild with joy, and the gratitude and love of all persons, of every age, sex and condition, seems hardly to be restrained within the bounds of propriety – as if it would cause many to forget what was due to themselves and the general, whom they delight to honor. At one place they failed so far in self-respect as to contend with horses for the privilege of drawing the revolutionary chief in his carriage! It is to be hoped that the general will not be thus insulted again – for insulted he must be when he sees the sovereigns of this great and glorious country, aiming at the most magnificent destinies, converted into asses or other beasts of burthen. It is his desire to be treated like a man, not as a titled knave or brainless dandy. Let him be hugged to the heart of all that can approach him, so far as not to endanger his health, and incur the risk of ‘killing him with kindness’ – let the trumpet to the cannon speak, the cannon to the heavens, and the ardent prayers of free millions ascend to the throne of the OMNIPOTENT, that blessings may be heaped upon him; but, in all this, let us remember that we are men like until himself, and republicans. (7)

A dizzying itinerary

Lafayette visiting George Washington’s tomb at Mount Vernon in 1824

In the fall of 1824, Lafayette toured the northern and eastern states. He visited George Washington’s family and paid his respects at Washington’s tomb. He visited President James Monroe at the White House. He was hosted by three former presidents: John Adams in Massachusetts, Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, and James Madison at Montpelier. He visited Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte and met Napoleon’s nephews, Achille Murat and Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte . On December 10, Lafayette addressed Congress. Congress voted him $200,000 and gave him his choice of a township worth of land (over 23,000 acres). Lafayette chose land in Florida, near Tallahassee. He never visited it himself. He spent the winter in the Washington area, where he witnessed the presidential election of 1824 .

In February 1825, Lafayette began the southern and western portion of his tour. He traveled to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, where he met with members of the French Vine and Olive Colony among others. He visited Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee (where he met with future president Andrew Jackson), Illinois (after which his steamboat sank on the Ohio River), Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. By the end of May he was back in Pennsylvania. He headed overland to northern New York State and visited Niagara Falls . On June 17, he laid the cornerstone for the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston, marking the 50th anniversary of the battle. He celebrated July 4, 1825, in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Back in Washington, he stayed at the White House with the new president, John Quincy Adams.

On August 6, Adams took Lafayette to see ex-president James Monroe at his home, Oak Hill, in Virginia. Levasseur recounted the following incident, which happened on the way there:

At the Potomac bridge we stopped to pay the toll, and the gate-keeper, after counting the company and horses, received the money from the president, and allowed us to pass on; but we had gone a very short distance when we heard some one bawling after us, ‘Mr. President! Mr. President! you have given eleven-pence too little!’ Presently the gate keeper arrived out of breath, holding out the change he had received, and explaining the mistake made. The president heard him attentively, re-examined the money, and agreed that he was right, and ought to have another eleven-pence. Just as the president was taking out his purse, the gate-keeper recognized General Lafayette in the carriage, and wished to return his toll, declaring that all gates and bridges were free to the nation’s guest. Mr. Adams told him that on this occasion General Lafayette travelled altogether privately, and not as the nation’s guest, but simply as a friend of the president, and, therefore, was entitled to no exemption. With this reasoning, our gate-keeper was satisfied, and received his money. Thus, during the course of his voyages in the United States, the general was but once subjected to the common rule of paying, and it was exactly upon the day in which he travelled with the chief magistrate; a circumstance which, probably in every other country, would have conferred the privilege of passing free. (8)

Later in the month, Lafayette paid another visit to Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, joined by Monroe and James Madison. Levasseur expressed the pain when it came time for Lafayette to leave his old friends, whom he would never see again.

I shall not attempt to depict the sadness which prevailed at this cruel separation, which had none of the alleviation which is usually left by youth, for in this instance, the individuals who bade farewell had all passed through a long career, and the immensity of the ocean would still add to the difficulties of a reunion. (9)

Lafayette visiting Maysville, Kentucky, in 1825, by Robert Dalford

Return to France

On September 6, 1825, John Quincy Adams held a grand state dinner in Washington to celebrate Lafayette’s 68th birthday. On September 7, Adams and Lafayette exchanged farewell speeches at the entrance to the White House. Among other things, Adams said, “It were scarcely an exaggeration to say, that it has been, to the people of the Union, a year of uninterrupted festivity and enjoyment, inspired by your presence.” Lafayette concluded with, “God bless the American people, each of their states, and the federal government. Accept this patriotic farewell of an overflowing heart; such will be its last throb when it ceases to beat.” (10) They then tearfully embraced. After more farewells, Lafayette and his companions boarded the steamboat Mount Vernon for a trip to the mouth of the Potomac River. There, they transferred to the frigate USS Brandywine , which carried them back to France. They were accompanied on the voyage by 24 young naval officers, one from each state. They sailed into the harbour at Le Havre on October 4, 1825. Since Louis XVIII had died in September 1824, France was now ruled by Charles X .

From that October day in 1825 until his death in May, 1834, Lafayette, by his deeds and his rhetoric won the affection of a new generation of Americans and self-consciously perpetuated his legend in the American national consciousness. By his extensive correspondence with his American friends and admirers, by his hospitality to Americans visiting France, by public profession of his personal preference for the republican government of the United States, by his defense of his adopted country against French critics, and by effective support of American claims against France, Lafayette satisfied his appetite for public acclaim and added luster to the historic role that he had long ago chosen for himself, a symbol of French-American friendship and a champion of liberal government. (11)

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• Sylvia Neely, “The Politics of Liberty in the Old World and the New: Lafayette’s Return to America in 1824,” Journal of the Early Republic , Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer, 1986), p. 169.
• Ibid ., pp. 155-156
• Edgar Ewing Brandon, Lafayette, Guest of the Nation , Volume I (Oxford, OH, 1950), p. 36.
• Ibid ., pp. 38-39.
• Niles’ Weekly Register (Baltimore), August 28, 1824, XXVI, p. 427.
• Ibid ., p. 429.
• Ibid ., p. 426.
• Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825; or, Journal of a Voyage to the United States, Vol. II (Philadelphia, 1829), pp. 243-244.
• Ibid ., p. 246.
• Ibid. , pp. 250, 254.
• Russell M. Jones, “The Flowering of a Legend: Lafayette and the Americans, 1825-1834,” French Historical Studies , Vol. 4, No. 4 (Autumn, 1966), pp. 384-385.

10 commments on “Lafayette’s Visit to America in 1824-25”

Wonderful piece! Maybe you know of Walt Whitman’s meeting with Lafayette? It left a deep impression on the very young poet. (He also was a great admirer of Frances Wright) From his memoir: Presently we Whitmans all moved up to Tillary street, near Adams, where my father, who was a carpenter, built a house for himself and us all. It was from here I ‘assisted’ the personal coming of Lafayette in 1824–5 to Brooklyn. He came over the Old Ferry, as the now Fulton Ferry (partly navigated quite up to that day by ‘horse boats,’ though the first steamer had begun to be used hereabouts) was then call’d, and was receiv’d at the foot of Fulton street. It was on that occasion that the corner-stone of the Apprentices’ Library, at the corner of Cranberry and Henry streets—since pull’d down—was laid by Lafayette’s own hands. Numerous children arrived on the grounds, of whom I was one, and were assisted by several gentlemen to safe spots to view the ceremony. Among others, Lafayette, also helping the children, took me up—I was five years old, press’d me a moment to his breast—gave me a kiss and set me down in a safe spot. Lafayette was at that time between sixty-five and seventy years of age, with a manly figure and a kind face.

Thanks, Jean. What a lovely anecdote.

They still remember General Lafayette in Montgomery, Alabama, on his last visit to USA.

He must have made quite an impression.

One of the more interesting accounts of LaFayette’s tour of America.

Thanks, John. Glad you enjoyed it.

Nice subject and very well done. Enjoyed it.

Thanks, William. Glad you liked the article.

Working on Lafayette in America and when researching his visit found the great work you did on Joseph Bonaparte. Went to send you a note and found the above. Thanks again and best wishes.

You’re most welcome! Thank you for your kind comments. So glad you are finding this site useful.

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During the course of his voyages in the United States, the general was but once subjected to the common rule of paying, and it was exactly upon the day in which he travelled with the chief magistrate; a circumstance which, probably in every other country, would have conferred the privilege of passing free.

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10 Things You May Not Know About Marquis de Lafayette

By: Christopher Klein

Updated: August 10, 2023 | Original: October 20, 2015

1. His birth name was extremely long.

The future hero of the American Revolution was born Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette in an expansive chateau in Chavaniac, France, on September 6, 1757. “It’s not my fault,” he joked in his autobiography. “I was baptized like a Spaniard, with the name of every conceivable saint who might offer me more protection in battle.”

2. King George III’s brother convinced Lafayette to fight against Great Britain.

In August 1775, Lafayette attended a dinner party at which Great Britain’s Duke of Gloucester, younger brother of King George III , was the guest of honor. The duke, who had been condemned by the king over his recent choice of a bride, hit back at his royal brother’s policies in the American colonies and praised the exploits of liberty-loving Americans at the opening battles of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord months earlier.

Lafayette, whose father died in 1759 fighting the British during the Seven Years’ War, received the inspiration he needed to strike back against the empire. “From that hour,” he wrote, “I could think of nothing but this enterprise and I resolved to go to Paris at once to make further inquiries.”

3. Lafayette was only 19 years old and without combat experience when he arrived in America.

Defying the explicit orders of King Louis XVI, who did not wish to provoke Great Britain, the marquis eluded authorities and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to assist the rebellious Americans in 1777. Although still a teenager who spoke little English and lacked any battle experience, Lafayette convinced the Continental Army to commission him a major general on July 31, 1777.

4. He was shot in the leg during his first battle.

During the Battle of Brandywine , near Philadelphia, on September 11, 1777, Lafayette was shot in the calf. Refusing treatment, the military novice managed to organize a successful retreat. Following a two-month recuperation, Lafayette was given command over his own division for the first time.

5. Lafayette named his only son after George Washington.

As both a “friend and a father,” the commander of the Continental Army held the young Frenchman in high esteem. Lafayette remained at Washington’s side during the harsh winter at Valley Forge in 1777 and through to the conclusive battle at Yorktown in 1781. In 1779 the Marquis named his newly born son Georges Washington de Lafayette in honor of the American revolutionary. Three years later, at the suggestion of Thomas Jefferson , Lafayette named his youngest daughter Marie Antoinette Virginie to honor both the French queen and the state of Virginia.

6. Hounds that Lafayette sent to Washington helped to create a new breed of dog.

In 1785, Lafayette sent seven large French hounds across the Atlantic Ocean as gifts for Washington. To increase the size of a pack of black-and-tan English foxhounds that had been given to him by his patron, Lord Fairfax, the future first president of the United States bred the hunting dogs with the imports.

The combination of the English hounds descended from those brought to the American colonies by Robert Brooke in 1650, and French canines helped to create the American Foxhound. The American Kennel Club, which calls the dog “easy-going, sweet-tempered, independent,” recognized the American Foxhound as a breed in 1886.

7. Lafayette co-authored the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.

Inspired by the ideals of the American Revolution, the marquis penned one of history’s most important documents about human and civil rights with the help of Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence’s principal architect. The National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen on August 27, 1789, and it remains enshrined in France’s present-day constitution.

8. Lafayette is an honorary American citizen.

In 1784, Maryland conferred honorary citizenship upon Lafayette, and other colonies followed suit. The U.S. State Department, however, determined in 1935 that the measures did not result in the marquis becoming a United States citizen following the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. That changed in 2002 when Lafayette became the sixth foreign national to be given honorary American citizenship by Congress.

9. At the age of 72, he was still a revolutionary leader.

After King Charles X dissolved the National Assembly and suspended the free press in 1830, Lafayette took charge of the National Guard and rushed to aid the revolutionaries who erected barricades in the streets of Paris. After the king was forced to abdicate, Lafayette turned down a chance to rule as dictator and instead backed the installation of Louis-Philippe on the throne as a constitutional monarch. The new king quickly disappointed the marquis with his lack of reforms, and Lafayette led the liberal opposition to the ruler in his last years.

10. Lafayette was buried in France underneath dirt taken from Bunker Hill.

After the 76-year-old Lafayette died in Paris on May 20, 1834, he was laid to rest next to his wife at the city’s Picpus Cemetery. To carry out the request of “The Hero of the Two Worlds” to be buried on both American and French soil, his son covered his coffin with dirt they had taken from Bunker Hill in 1825 when the marquis laid the cornerstone to the monument that still marks the battlefield.

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Archives Experience Newsletter - June 25, 2024

Cur Non?/Why Not?

On June 13, 1777, the wealthy Frenchman Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, landed near Georgetown, South Carolina with the intention of aiding the fledgling United States in their war with Britain. As a 19-year-old immersed in the Enlightenment school of thought, he embraced his chosen motto of cur non (“why not”) and set out under threat of arrest by French King Louis XVI to support the American cause. Over the course of his life, he made four trips to America, each unique and noteworthy, cementing himself as one of the most famous figures in the history of our country.

In this issue

First Visit (1777): I’m here to learn…

After leaving South Carolina, Lafayette traveled to Philadelphia in the hope of joining George Washington in the Continental Army. His arrival was met with skepticism because of his youth and foreign status. However, due to his passion and sizable purse—he promised to serve without pay—he earned a commission as a major general. General Washington and Lafayette quickly bonded, with Washington assuming a fatherly mentoring role after Lafayette declared, “I am here to learn, not to teach.” During his first combat mission at Brandywine, he bravely organized the retreat of troops even after he had been shot in the leg. Once he had recuperated, he returned to the field, soon joining Washington at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-78.

Second Visit (1780): Reinforcements

Lafayette returned to France in January 1779 to help secure additional troops and support from the French government. After a short, ceremonial eight-day jailing for having gone against King Louis XVI’s wishes, he was welcomed as a hero. He returned to the colonies in May 1780 and reunited with Washington. Now in charge of a division of troops, he led several patrol campaigns in New York and New Jersey. His patience was rewarded in early 1781 when he, along with Alexander Hamilton, led the siege of Yorktown against British General George Cornwallis. There, his strategic acumen helped trap the British forces, securing their surrender and ending the war.

Third Visit (1784): Here to teach

Lafayette traveled home to France after the war, but returned to America in 1784 to a hero’s welcome. During this trip, he visited the 13 independent states and reunited with George Washington at his Mount Vernon home. Ever the visionary, he addressed the Virginia House of Delegates, calling for “liberty of all mankind” and urging the emancipation of slaves. He also attended the Pennsylvania legislature and urged the new nation to form a federal union (the states were then bound by the Articles of Confederation). It was during this tour that he was officially made a citizen of Maryland, ensuring his national citizenship after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Fourth Visit (1825): Farewell

Lafayette’s final and most celebrated visit occurred from 1824 to 1825, when he was invited by President James Monroe as part of the lead-up to the 50th anniversary of American independence. This Grand Tour was intended to last four months with visits once again to the 13 original states. Instead, he traveled the country for 16 months and visited all the 24 states of the union. The tour became a nationwide celebration in which cities competed against each other to show the extent of their gratitude for his impact on the country. This visit took him to Washington’s grave to pay his respects to his longtime mentor. It was also notable for his attendance at the laying of the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument, where he gathered some soil to be sprinkled on his grave.

After he returned home, he died at age 76 on May 20, 1834. In the United States, President Jackson ordered that Lafayette receive the same memorial honors that had been bestowed on Washington, and both Houses of Congress were draped in black bunting for 30 days, with members wearing mourning badges.The Marquis de Lafayette had a lasting impact on the American spirit, shaped by his dedication to the principles of liberty and democracy. From his early defiance of his king to join the revolution to his final return aboard the USS Brandywine , named in honor of the battle where he was wounded, Lafayette’s unwavering support for American ideals left an indelible mark on the history of the United States.

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LAFAYETTE’S TOUR

Inscription.

When America declared its independence on July 4, 1776, the thirteen colonies were pulled into a conflict with one of the world’s most formidable powers, Great Britain. The colonies’ actions against Great Britain inspired a young French aristocrat and military officer, Marquis de Lafayette, to depart his native France to fight in the American Revolution. Lafayette served as a commander with the Continental Army throughout the war and helped secure French support for the American cause. This support played an integral part in securing American victory during the war.

Celebrated as a hero in the U.S. and France, Lafayette eventually returned to his home country. In 1824 Marquis de Lafayette was invited to visit the United States for the first time in 41 years. As an American hero and one of the only surviving commanders from the Revolution, Lafayette’s visit to the U.S. was highly anticipated and met with a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement. Lafayette’s Tour extended from 1824 to 1825. During this time he visited Washington D.C., as well as major cities and small communities across 24 states.

On April 18, 1825 General Lafayette was welcomed to Natchez, Mississippi, his only stop in the state. Once there, he was the guest of honor at a reception at the Steamboat Hotel. Following dinner, he attended a ball at Travellers Hall, which was later detailed in the April 23, 1825 edition of the Mississippi State Gazette:

The company separated at an early hour, and in the evening, the venerable La Fayette attended a ball very tastefully managed, at the large room in Travellers Hall.-The display was very imposing- the walls were ornamented with a profusion of evergreens, intermingled with natural flowers; and being brilliantly illuminated, gave the best effect to the graceful forms and fair faces, assembled upon this joyful occasion.

Soon after the festivities, General Lafayette departed for St. Louis, Missouri by way of a steamboat aptly named the Natchez .