The Marquis de Lafayette's 1824-1825 United States Tour

This year, 2024, marks the 200th anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s triumphal return tour of the United States in 1824-25.

The aging French nobleman, beloved by the American people, had fought alongside George Washington during the Revolutionary War over 40 years earlier. When he arrived in New York City on Aug. 16, 1824, Lafayette embarked on a tour of the United States that took him across the country. As he travelled more than 6,000 miles through all 24 states, Americans celebrated Lafayette, the last surviving major general of the Continental Army and one of Washington’s most trusted officers, with parades and dinners as he visited cities and towns.

In October 1824, Lafayette’s tour stopped in Baltimore at Fort McHenry, the battle site where the “Star-Spangled Banner” famously waved during the War of 1812. The Society of the Cincinnati and George Washington Parke Custis, Martha Washington’s only grandson, arranged to set up General George Washington’s marquees at Fort McHenry to welcome the “Nation’s Guest.” It was the first time Lafayette had seen the tent since the final years of the Revolutionary War. He shed tears as he remembered his military service and Washington’s inspiring leadership. Inside the marquees, to Lafayette’s surprise, Revolutionary War veterans gathered to embrace their French comrade and share memories under the “venerable canopy.” That evening, in Baltimore, presidential candidate John Quincy Adams offered a toast, “The Tears of Glory, Gratitude and Joy, in the Tent of Washington!” Custis provided the tents for subsequent ceremonies and dinners for Lafayette in Washington, D.C., and Yorktown and Richmond in Virginia. After more than a year in the United States, Lafayette sailed back to France from Washington, D.C.

View artifacts from Lafayette's 1824-1825 United States tour that were below on display in the Museum's special exhibit, Witness to Revolution: The Unlikely Travels of Washington's Tent, which was open Feb. 17, 2024, through Jan. 5, 2025.

Commemorative Plate
Museum of the American Revolution

Lafayette souvenirs became all the rage as a result of his tour of the United States. This earthenware plate, made in England by James and Ralph Clews, features an image of the Marquis de Lafayette at the center based upon a portrait by French painter Antoine Maurin. The portrait is surrounded by the words “Welcome Lafayette The Nations Guest and our Country's Glory.”

Bust of Lafayette
Museum of the American Revolution

Philadelphia sculptor William Rush observed the Marquis de Lafayette at a dinner in the city in September 1824 and created a terracotta bust of the “Nation’s Guest.” This bronze copy of Rush’s sculpture dates to 1970. Rush, a Revolutionary War veteran, helped to establish the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where the original terracotta bust of Lafayette is now part of the collection.

Souvenir from Washington’s Tent at Fort McHenry
on loan from the DAR Museum; Gift of Richard H. Thompson

William B. Barney, the son of famed Revolutionary War and War of 1812 naval officer Joshua Barney, cut this iron hook from Washington’s dining marquee during the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Fort McHenry in 1824. Following his father’s death in 1818, William B. Barney became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland. He and his fellow society members greeted Lafayette inside the tent at the fort. Barney kept the hook as a souvenir.

Lending the Tent
on loan from the Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland

George Washington Parke Custis wrote this letter in late August 1824 to John Eager Howard suggesting that the Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland should borrow “the venerable Tent of Washington” for its planned celebration of the Marquis de Lafayette in Baltimore. Howard supported this plan and Custis arranged for the tent to be sent north from his home in Virginia. When the tent arrived in Baltimore, a military escort delivered it to Fort McHenry.

John Eager Howard’s Remarks Inside the Tents
on loan from the Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland

With this piece of paper in hand, John Eager Howard welcomed the Marquis de Lafayette inside Washington’s tents at Fort McHenry on Oct. 7, 1824. He addressed the Marquis using this manuscript as his notes. Howard, surrounded by fellow members of the Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland, began his remarks with the following words:

“The few of your Brother soldiers of Maryland who remain after a lapse of 40 years, and the sons of some of them who are now no more are assembled in the tent of Washington to greet you on your visit to the United States, and to assure you of their affectionate and sincere regard.”

Parts of Howard’s address were included in multiple newspaper accounts of the event.

Recording Lafayette’s Travels
on loan from the Hagley Museum and Library

This book, Lafayette en Amérique, en 1824 et 1825, Vol. 1, first published in Paris and later translated to English, provides a full account of the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824-1825 visit to the United States of America. Auguste Levasseur, the author, served as Lafayette’s private secretary during the tour. He described Lafayette’s encounter with Washington’s tents at Fort McHenry in detail: “On the parade of the fort were collected a great number of old revolutionary officers, the magistrates, &c. and a detachment of infantry, which by opening their ranks, allowed to be seen behind them the tent of Washington.”

Lafayette Cockade
Museum of the American Revolution, Conserved with funds from Lyn M. Ross in memory of Danny Offit

Christopher Rhodes Greene wore this silk cockade to celebrate the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Charleston, South Carolina, in March 1825. Greene’s grandfather, Continental Army officer Colonel Christoper Greene of Rhode Island, served alongside Lafayette during the Revolutionary War. The image of the Marquis de Lafayette at the center is based upon a portrait by French painter Antoine Maurin.

Lafayette Parade Banner
Museum of the American Revolution

Philadelphians celebrated the Marquis de Lafayette’s return to the United States in 1824 with a large parade that passed by Independence Hall. Artist John Archibald Woodside painted this silk banner with a portrait of Lafayette at the center for the parade. The “Victuallers of Philadelphia,” the butchers who supplied the city’s residents, taverns, and inns with meat, carried this banner during the procession through the streets. For some reason, Woodside painted over the word “Female,” perhaps to correct a mistake. The allegorical figures of fame (left) and liberty (right) hoist a crown of laurels over Lafayette’s head.

Witness to Revolution: The Unlikely Travels of Washington's Tent, open at the Museum through Jan. 5, 2025, brings to life the stories of individuals from all walks of life who saved George Washington’s tent and fashioned this relic into a symbol of the fragile American republic. Plan your visit today!