Lafayette Visits Beaufort

Latest update: 20 February 2024 - gmc

One of the heroes of the American Revolution was a young French aristocrat with a whopper of a name, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, a.k.a. Marquis de La Fayette. Lafayette (the Americanized spelling of his title of nobility) was born September 6, 1757 in the family château of Chavagniac in the province of Auvergne. He joined the French Army at the tender age of 14 and was forced out of the service due to reforms at the ripe age of 18 years. A few years of life at Versailles convinced him that his talents and experience could be better used helping the Patriots secure freedom from England. 

Replica of Le Hermione anchored off of Mount Vernon, 2015

He bought the Hermoine with his own money and sailed to the American colonies without his King's permission. The Continental Congress granted him the honorary rank of Major General. He served as aide-de-camp to Gen. George Washington with whom he developed a close military and personal relationship. Eventually Lafayette returned to France where political unrest and revolution had erupted. He survived the French Terror and returned to a military life.

 In 1824 Lafayette was invited by the government of the United States to visit America as its guest, and his triumphal tour of the country lasted 15 months. Congress gave him a gift of $200,000 and a sizable tract of land for his return. 

Study has been underway for several years in anticipation of the upcoming 200^th anniversary of Lafayette’s triumphant tours of America. French geographer, Julian Icher, has been on a quest to document all of Lafayette’s stops along the tour. He even visited our Research Room in 2019. 

Lafayette visited Beaufort on March 18, 1825 and is purported to have spoken to a crowd of Beaufortonians from the porch of the John Mark Verdier House, a.k.a the Lafayette House, 801 Bay Street.   

A clipping from our vertical file about the Marquis includes an article from the Southern Patriot newspaper (Charleston, SC) dated March 23, 1825 describing Lafayette's quite brief - and quite late - visit here 5 days earlier.  

Reception of Gen. Lafayette in Beaufort

The General was expected to arrive at Beaufort on the morning of the 18th, but did not reach there until half past 10 o'clock on the night of that day. He was received by a Committee of the citizens, consisting of Dr. JAMES STUART, and Messrs: JOHN A. STUART, RICHARD DE TREVILLE, and by the Beaufort Artillery and Volunteer Guards. As the Steam Boat came in front of the town, a salute of 13 guns were fired ; and the Committee was introduced to the General by the Hon. JAMES HAMILTON. He was then conducted to the reception room -- the Military and the carriages (in which were the General and his family, and the Military gentlemen that accompanied him from this place) forming a procession, preceeded by Music. The carriages were flanked on the right and left by the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery in single file. A detachment of the St. Lucke's [sic] Troop of Cavalry; and the Officers of the Battalion, mounted, under the command of Maj. JACOBS, flanked the whole procession. 

The General passed through a Triumphal Arch, illuminated for the occasion. On his reaching the reception room, he was welcomed by an Address from WM. ELLIOTT, Esq. Intendant, [read that "Mayor"] to which the General replied. He was then led to the Ball Room where several ladies and gentlemen were assembled to receive him ; and after remaining about 3 hours, he was reconducted to the landing, in the same order of procession, and left the town of Beaufort, accompanied by the regrets of the inhabitants that his engagements permitted so short a stay among them.

Lafayette boarded the USS Brandywine on September 7, 1825 at Washington, DC to return to France amid great acclaim as the "hero of two worlds." He died May 20, 1834 in Paris.

Learn More about the Marquis de Lafayette

If you want to know more about Lafayette: be sure to search on him as a subject in the SCLENDS catalog. Hoopla has three titles, two in English,  Marquis de Lafayette: The Hero of Two Worlds, Marquis de Lafayette and the French and one in French, Le Marquis de Lafayette. 

There are plenty more newspaper clippings and articles to be found in our "LAFAYETTE, MARQUIS DE, 1757-1834" vertical file here in the Research Room. We are the only SCLENDS library to hold the title, Lafayette: Prisoner of State by Paul Spalding (2010) about the 5 years he spent incarcerated by a coalition of Austrians and Prussians during the French Revolution. We're also the only SCLENDS library to hold The Story of the Life of Lafayette (1831)

A great online source for materials about Lafayette is the Digital Public Library of America. It has almost 2000 texts and images about this military leader. 

Another place to find out more information about Lafayette's life and times is to open  the "Research & Learn" tab on the Library's website to reach the databases we provide you. Among the resources is DISCUS, an online database of reference databases to all our customers. One can find out more about the fascinating life of Lafayette in the Gale in Context: Biography database.

Contact us if you need help getting a Beaufort County Library card or getting passwords to our digital resources.