Willcox, Buyck & Williams, P.A.: The Farewell Tour of America's Guest

THE FAREWELL TOUR OF AMERICA’S GUEST

story by Mark W. Buyck, III

In March 1824 an invitation arrived at LaGrange inviting the Marquis de Lafayette to America. James Monroe, the last United States President who was a Revolutionary War veteran, was in his last full year as President. Lafayette was the only living General who had served on the Patriot side. President Monroe hoped Lafayette would instill the spirit of 1776 in the next generation of Americans and celebrate the nation’s 50th birthday. On August 15, 1824, Lafayette, accompanied by his son George Washington Lafayette, arrived at Staten Island. The next day, 50,000 people lined Broadway for a triumphant parade. It had been nearly 40 years since his last visit to America and the country’s ardor for this Revolutionary War hero had not waned. Lafayette visited President Jefferson at Monticello. President Monroe entertained him at the White House. With his son, he visited George Washington’s tomb at Mt. Vernon. He traveled to Yorktown and spent 8 days there and in Williamsburg and Jamestown. He dined with Chief Justice John Marshall and Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg. He then returned to Washington to address a joint session of Congress. During his 13-month trip, he visited all the existing 24 states. He referred to himself as a “ghost from another world” whose trip “contributed to tightening the union between the states and to soften political parties.” The country was politically divided more than at any time in its history. The two leading candidates for President that year were John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. South Carolina’s John C. Calhoun announced as a candidate; however, he later declared himself a candidate for Vice President and won handily. Jackson won the overall popular vote by a fairly comfortable margin; however, he did not receive a majority of the popular or electoral vote. The election was decided in the House of Representatives where Adams carried 13 states to only 7 for Jackson. Jackson felt that the election had been stolen from him and the will of the people had been ignored. Many of his supporters agreed. Jackson and his supporters accused Adams and Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House, of entering into a “corrupt bargain” to prevent Jackson’s election.

Lafayette stayed out of the political fray and instead engendered feelings of goodwill and comity. After spending the fall and winter of 1824-25 in New England and the Atlantic states, Lafayette and his entourage headed south. On March 4, 1825, Lafayette arrived in the small town of Fayetteville, N.C. In 1783, in gratitude of Lafayette’s contributions to winning the Revolutionary War, the citizens of

Mark posing at the Lafayette historic landmark in Georgetown

Campbellton changed the name of their town to Fayetteville. This was the first of many American towns to do so. There are towns or cities named Fayetteville in 8 states, Lafayette in 10, as well as LaGrange, N.C. and Georgia. On March 6, Lafayette reached Cheraw at 11 p.m. He spent the night at the Lafayette House where he may or may not have danced on the roof. On March 7th he spent the night at Lorick Young’s Plantation near Bethune. On March 8th, he arrived in Camden and was entertained at a ball held at the Camden Hotel. At noon the next day he laid the cornerstone of the Baron DeKalb monument at the Bethesda Presbyterian Church where it stands today. On March 10, he was in Columbia visiting the campus of South Carolina College. He attended an address by Governor Manning at the State House and stayed at the home of Issac Randolph on Gervais street. On March 11 there was a ball at the State House in his honor.

Lafayette’s belief in “liberty” was universal. He was sometimes referred to as the “liberty man”. It was reported that slaves were so inspired that they “flocked in numbers to get a glimpse of Lafayette.” During a private reception in Columbia, an elderly slave arrived at the private home on a mule he had ridden from Winnsboro. He managed to push his way into the party and approached the General. When asked if he knew the man, Lafayette replied, “Yes, he is Pompey who waited on me the first day I arrived in this country in 1777.” The two of them shared a glass of champagne. On March 13, he spent the night at the Elms, Mr. Izards’ Plantation which is currently on the campus of Charleston Southern University. The next day he arrived in Charleston for 3 days of parades, balls, dinners, and evening entertainment. Events included a reception at St. Andrews Hall where he received the city’s judges and members of the bar, evening fireworks at the Orphan House, and a ball at the New Theatre. He spent a day at St. Andrew’s Hall receiving students and faculty of the Philosophical and Classical Seminary with Roman Catholic Bishop John England. While in Charleston he met with Francis Kinloch Huger, the son of Benjamin Huger, whose Georgetown home he stayed his first night in America. Lafayette arrived in Beaufort, South Carolina on March 18th and was greeted with a 13-gun salute. He was in Savannah on March 19th and continued his tour through the Deep South to the Midwest and eventually back to New England. On September 6, 1925, Lafayette arrived in Washington, DC. He once again addressed a joint session of Congress and celebrated his 68th birthday with a final banquet hosted by President Adams at the White House. Out of gratitude for his 16-month tour, President Adams insisted that an American warship return him to France. Adams renamed the recently built 44-gun frigate from Susquehanna to Brandywine. Brandywine was the Revolutionary War battle in which Lafayette had been wounded fighting on behalf of the American colonists. America’s Guest was returning from America for the final time.

248 West Evans Street | Florence, SC | 843.662.3258 2050 Corporate Centre’ Drive, Suite 230 Myrtle Beach, SC | 843.650.6777

Business Law, Litigation, Real Estate, and Federal Criminal Defense Attorneys

Mark W. Buyck, III