The Guest of the Nation – the Marquis de LaFayette was a guest in Ohio
By Frances E. McGee-Cromartie, co-chair of the Under-Told Stories Committee
A Guest of the Nation – 1825 Visit to the United States
President James Monroe penned a letter in February of 1824, inviting the Marquis de LaFayette, Revolutionary War hero to visit the United States. In the letter, the President stated that he called upon Congress to “send a frigate to some port of France, to receive and bring” him back to the country of his “adoption in early life, which has always cherished the most grateful recollection” of his service. Lafayette responded that, “the summer will not be over before I enjoy the delight to find myself, under an American flag, on my way to the beloved land of which it has been my happy lot to become an early soldier and an Adopted Son.”
In September 1824, an elderly man stood on the bow of a ship pulling into New York harbor. It had been fifty years since the Marquis de LaFayette had last visited the shores of the former British colonies. As he neared the biblical lifespan of three score years and ten (70 years old), the desire to once again see the land of his youth grew. The years in between had been tough. He had suffered imprisonment and the loss of loved ones, seen his health diminish, and his wealth seized.
The invitation to return to this relatively new nation had been so fraught with red tape and roadblocks that he despaired that he would die before approval to journey abroad would be granted.
As the ship pulled into port, he had wondered about the reception that he would receive. At home, he was ignored and thought of as a relic, a “has-been,” a symbol of the past. The heroic deeds of his youth in this foreign land were dismissed and mocked. No one seemed to care that he had been the teen-aged aide to the great General Washington; or that he had fought and been wounded at several important Revolutionary War battles; or that he had been the one to convince his countrymen to enter the fray at Yorktown and cinch the victory for the colonial rebels.
So many of his own contemporaries had passed on like his youth and his youthful ideals. Would the descendants of these Patriots remember the past or would they, like the citizens of France find him decrepit and forgettable?
As he prepared to disembark, the man noticed a large crowd had gathered. It seemed to fill every inch of space along the pier and beyond. Men, women, and children gathered; the young and old were mixed together. Who was the hero they had gathered to honor? How was it that he had missed meeting this great man during his own journey? It was only when he looked closely and saw that the honor guard lining the gangplank was comprised of elderly men clad in faded military uniforms from a long-ago era that the man realized who was being honored and burst into tears.
“LAFAYETTE, LAFAYETTE, LAFAYETTE!” the crowd roared. They remembered, he thought as people broke from the crowd and reached forward to clasp his hand or to touch his body.
Even more people lined the streets of Manhattan as the carriage bearing the Marquis de Lafayette made its way to the town hall where he expected to be greeted by elected officials in a small ceremony. So many people packed the streets in an attempt to get a glimpse of this great man that the normal short twenty-minute carriage ride took two hours to complete.
So great was his reception, that everywhere he went people stopped what they were doing and showed up to acknowledge his part in the creation of this nation. As word of his triumphant return to the United States spread, more and more people clamored to pay tribute. Citizens, young and old, wanted to acknowledge and give thanks for his courage, leadership and steadfast belief in the ideals held by the former rebels who created this new nation. What was planned as a two-month nostalgic visit became instead a two-year farewell tour of the nation’s 24 states. Now, in May of 2025, Ohio residents are celebrating and remembering this Frenchman’s contributions to the Revolutionary War and our indebtedness to his memory.
In May 1825, Lafayette visited three Ohio cities and was warmly welcomed. Learn more about the Ohio story of Lafayette’s national tour here: