Visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States
From July 1824 to September 1825, the French Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving major general of the American Revolutionary War, made a tour of the 24 states in the United States. He was received by the populace with a hero's welcome at many stops, and many honors and monuments were presented to commemorate and memorialize the visit.
1825 portrait by Matthew Harris Jouett
Portrait of General Lafayette by Samuel Morse in 1826
Landing of General Lafayette at Castle Garden, New York, August 16, 1824
Gloves portraying Lafayette, possibly commemorating his visit to the United States in 1824
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette, known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French nobleman and military officer who volunteered to join the Continental Army, led by General George Washington, in the American Revolutionary War. Lafayette was ultimately permitted to command Continental Army troops in the decisive siege of Yorktown in 1781, the Revolutionary War's final major battle that secured American independence. After returning to France, Lafayette became a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830 and continues to be celebrated as a hero in both France and the United States.
A portrait of Lafayette in the uniform of a major general of the Continental Army, painted by Charles Willson Peale, c. 1779-80
Lafayette's birthplace in Chavaniac, Auvergne
Lafayette's wife, Marie Adrienne Francoise
Statue of Lafayette in front of the Governor Palace in Metz, where he decided to join the American cause