LAFAYETTE TOURS THE USAoutline written by Charles Eugene Claghorn III |
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New
York City In
1824, President James Monroe invited Lafayette to visit the United States. In
August, Lafayette began his triumphal tour of New York City, where he received a
hero's welcome. He visited all 24 states of the Union, from Maine to Georgia and
from New Jersey to Missouri. With Lafayette were his son, George Washington
Lafayette, and his secretary, Auguste Levasseur, who kept a daily journal of
Lafayette's trip. On August 16th Lafayette was escorted from the battery in a
carriage drawn by four white horses to City Hall, where he received a thunderous
welcome. While
in his carriage and placed on a barge with his horses, Lafayette was taken to
Brooklyn and cheered by thousands. In the crowd was a 15-year-old boy named Walt
Whitman who never forgot that exciting moment. New
England After
he left New York on August 20th, the marquis had supper at the Sun Tavern in
Fairfield, Connecticut and spent the night at the Washington Hotel in
Bridgeport. In New Haven he was greeted by Governor Oliver Wolcott, Jr. and
while there visited Yale College. When
Lafayette arrived in Providence, Rhode Island on Monday, August 23rd, he was
entertained at a reception and dinner. On
August 25th, Lafayette attended commencement exercises at Harvard College, then
traveled to Quincy, Massachusetts where he called on former President John
Adams, now aged 88 and very feeble according to Lafayette's secretary. On 1
September 1824, Lafayette entered Portsmouth, New Hampshire and was entertained
at a banquet and ball. On his return to New York, the Marquis left Middletown,
Connecticut on the steamer OLIVER ELLSWORTH and traveled down the Connecticut
River into Long Island Sound. New
York State On
Monday, September 6th, Lafayette visited Columbia College. That evening a dinner
was held at the City Hotel in honor of Lafayette's 67th birthday. On the 15th
the marquis boarded the steamboat JAMES KENT for a trip up the Hudson River to
Albany, but the promoters of the trip booked so many people that Lafayette, his
son, and his secretary had to share a cabin with Revolutionary War veterans
General Morgan Lewis and Colonel Nicholas Fish. At
Albany, a triumphal arch was topped by a large stuffed eagle that flapped its
wings (somehow mechanized) as Lafayette was greeted by Governor Joseph C. Yates
and entertained at a supper and ball. On
Saturday, September 18th, Lafayette's party, including Gov. Yates and
ex-governors DeWitt Clinton and Morgan Lewis, was carried in five boats on the
canal to Troy, where a parade for Lafayette was led by members of the local
Masonic Lodge (Lafayette was a Mason). While
here the marquis visited the Troy Female Academy founded by Emma Hart Willard. New
Jersey On 23
September 1824, Lafayette crossed the Hudson River on the JAMES KENT to Jersey
City, New Jersey, where he was received by Governor Isaac H. Williamson at
Lyon's Hotel and escorted by a detachment of militia to Newark to be serenaded
by children. Then he was taken to Elizabeth where he attended a reception at
River's Hotel. At
Princeton Lafayette was entertained at the college for a noontime dinner. After
he left Trenton, the marquis rode to Bordentown, where he visited with Joseph
Bonaparte, former king of Spain. Pennsylvania When he
arrived in Philadelphia on September 29th, Lafayette was greeted by a long
parade that included 160 Revolutionary War veterans drawn in large cars
(wagons). After Lafayette left Philadelphia by boat, he arrived at Chester at
dusk on October 5th and was entertained by the ladies of the town, who cooked
and served the meal. The next day, at Chadd's Ford, the marquis visited
Brandywine Battlefield where he had been shot in the leg. Delaware Lafayette
attended a reception in Wilmington on the 6th, then left at 5:50 for New Castle
to attend the wedding of Dorcas Van Dyke and Charles Irenee du Pont. At
Frenchtown, Lafayette embarked on the steamboat UNITED STATES for Baltimore.
When they reached Fort McHenry, the marquis was greeted by veterans of the War
of 1812 and by old Revolutionary War soldiers. Lafayette rested in Baltimore for
five days, then was given a farewell dinner under a massive tent. He spent the
night in Rossburg. Washington,
D.C. Upon
his arrival on October 12th, Lafayette was taken to The White House, where he
was welcomed by President James Monroe. While here, Lafayette visited Martha
Parke Custer Peter, the widow of Thomas Peter. She was the granddaughter of
Martha Washington. Virginia After a
banquet in Alexandria, the marquis returned to Washington, then sailed down the
Potomac River on the steamship PETERSBURG with John C. Calhoun, Secretary of
War. Lafayette visited the tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon, then left for
Yorktown, where he was greeted by Chief Justice John Marshall. Lafayette
visited Williamsburg, then stopped off on October 22nd to inspect the 65-gun
NORTH CAROLINA. At Richmond on the 26th, the marquis was received by 40
Revolutionary War veterans and attended the horse races. On 2
November 1824 Lafayette stayed with former President Thomas Jefferson at
Monticello. At a banquet at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, the
marquis was seated between former presidents Jefferson and James Madison.
Lafayette was Jefferson's guest for nine days, then he visited Fredericksburg,
where a parade and dinner were held in his honor. Washington,
D.C. On
November 23rd, Lafayette dined in The White House with President and Mrs.
Monroe. As a
result of the French revolution and his five years of imprisonment, Lafayette
lost all of his fortune except for his farm La Grange and had been borrowing
money to sustain himself. Whereupon, on 20 December 1824, Congress voted
Lafayette $250,000, payable over ten years, and a grant of federal land in
Florida, situated between what is now Gainesville and Tallahassee. During
his long stay in Washington, D.C., the marquis made numerous side trips. On his
return trip from Philadelphia he traveled through Lancaster County and arrived
at York on 2 February 1825, where he was greeted by church bells and attended a
banquet. After
he left Washington, D.C., Lafayette was greeted in Raleigh by Governor Hutchins
G. Burton and on March 2nd attended a dinner and ball at North Carolina State
University. South
Carolina On 6
March 1825, Lafayette crossed the border and arrived at Cheraw at 11:00 PM,
where some 15,000 citizens awaited his arrival. On
March 8th Lafayette arrived at Camden, where he laid the cornerstone of a
monument to Baron de Kalb, who had been killed there. At Columbia, the marquis
visited South Carolina College and attended a grand ball. On the 12th, as
Lafayette entered Charleston, he was greeted by the firing of cannon and ringing
of church bells. Lafayette embarked on the steamship HENRY SHULTZ. When the
vessel landed at Beaufort, cannons roared. Upon
his arrival at Savannah on 19 March 1825, Lafayette was welcomed with a salute
by the Chatham Artillery. On the 21st, Freemasons met with Lafayette as he laid
the cornerstones to General Nathaniel Greene and Casimir Pulaski. After
Lafayette reached Augusta on the 23rd, the town celebrated for 48 hours, leaving
the marquis in a state of exhaustion. Alabama When
Lafayette crossed the Chattahoochee on the 31st, Indians leaped about him,
danced, and gave a loud cry. While Lafayette was still inside, Indians lifted
his carriage onto their shoulders and marched to their village. Lafayette was
escorted by Indian Chief Chilly McIntosh to Montgomery, where he was greeted by
Governor Israel Pickens. After attending a Masonic party on April 7th at Mobile,
Lafayette attended a ball and danced with the ladies. Louisiana
and Mississippi Lafayette
boarded the steamboat NATCHEZ and on the 13th was given a 13-gun salute as the
vessel passed Fort Planquemine. In New Orleans, at the Place d'Arms, a triumphal
arch 60 feet high greeted Lafayette. He visited Baton Rouge and was greeted on
the 18th by a discharge of cannon at Natchez, where the marquis attended a ball.
Missouri At St.
Louis on April 29th, Lafayette was greeted by Governors Wm. Clark of Missouri
and Edward Coles of Illinois (who had liberated his slaves). Illinois While
cruising down the Mississippi, the NATCHEZ stopped at the village of Kaskaskia,
then at the mouth of the Ohio River at present-day Cairo. Passengers boarded the
smaller MECHANIC, which steamed down the Cumberland. At Nashville
on 4 May 1825, Lafayette was greeted by General Andrew Jackson, hero of the
Battle of New Orleans, then attended a public dinner. While
ascending the Ohio River, the MECHANIC struck a rock and sank. The passengers,
including Lafayette, were rescued by the PARAGON, which took the marquis to
Louisville on May 11th. Ohio On May
19th, at Cincinnati, the marquis was treated to a fireworks display, then
attended a ball with some 500 present. At
midnight Lafayette boarded the steamboat HERALD, which made a stop at Wheeling
where festivities were held in Lafayette's honor. Lafayette
boarded a boat on the Monongahela River on May 29th to Braddock's Field, then
the militia escorted him to Pittsburgh, where he was received by hundreds of
schoolchildren. On June
2nd, Lafayette visited Allegheny College at Meadville and the next day was
honored at a banquet at Erie attended by veterans of the Revolutionary War and
the War of 1812. New
York State After
he left Erie late on June 2nd, the marquis tried to get some sleep as the
carriage rode over bumpy roads. Then there was a discharge of cannon at Fredonia
which startled Lafayette. As he looked out of his carriage he saw hundreds of
lighted candles suspended from trees and in houses. After he alighted from his
carriage, the marquis was escorted into town by men and boys with lighted
candles on one side of the road and women and girls with lighted candles on the
other side. According to the diary of his secretary, Lafayette was overwhelmed
by the reception and, for the first time on the trip, he broke down and cried. Lafayette
boarded a steamer at Dunkirk for Buffalo, where he arrived on June 4th and
received a hero's welcome. On June 6th the marquis had dinner at Fort Niagara
and then was escorted to Lockport, terminal of the Erie Canal. At Lockport the
marquis was shown the Erie Canal, which had been cut through solid rock to a
depth of 25 feet. Then Lafayette boarded the barge ROCHESTER. On June
7th Lafayette spent the night in Rochester, then traveled through Geneva,
Waterloo, Syracuse, and Rome to Utica, where he boarded the canal packetboat
GOVERNOR CLINTON drawn by white horses down the canal. On June
11th Lafayette attended receptions at Little Falls and Schenectady, then arrived
at Albany, where he stayed at Cruttenden's. Massachusetts After
he left Albany Lafayette stopped at Pittsfield and Worthington, then passed
through Worcester, arriving at Boston on June 15th where he was received by
Governor Levi Lincoln. On the 17th there was a giant parade led by survivors of
the Battle of Bunker Hill with Lafayette in a calash drawn by six white horses
and 7,000 citizens in the parade. Lafayette was permitted to take some soil from
Bunker Hill. New
England On 21
June 1825 Lafayette left Boston and was escorted by cavalry through Reading,
Andover, and Pembroke. He was met at the New Hampshire border and escorted to
Concord, where he was honored at a dinner attended by some 600 guests. Lafayette
passed through Derry Depot to Maine where a delegation escorted him to Portland,
arriving on June 24th and where he was greeted by Governor Panis. On June 28th
the marquis crossed the border into Vermont and attended a banquet in
Montpelier. At Burlington on the 29th he was greeted by Governor Van Ness and
laid a cornerstone at the University of Vermont. While boarding the PHOENIX on
Lake Champlain for New York, the marquis received a 13-gun salute. After
spending about two weeks in New York, Lafayette rode to Philadelphia, where he
attended the dedication of the water works on the Schuylkill River and marveled
at its power and simplicity in supplying water for some 120,000 civilians. He
was the guest of honor at a dinner. Lafayette
boarded the steamboat DELAWARE, which stopped at Wilmington and arrived at
Baltimore on July 30th. The marquis was escorted to Washington, where he stayed
at the Executive Mansion as the guest of President John Quincy Adams. On September 7th Lafayette boarded the ship BRANDYWINE for France. The trip to La Havre took 24 days. |
Biographical sketch from Biography.com