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 Early
19th-century North Carolina was not a place that international
celebrities were likely to visit. Lacking large and cosmopolitan
cities and with a primarily agricultural economy, North Carolina
was well on its way to earning the nickname, “the Rip
Van Winkle state." So it was no small thing when North
Carolinians learned, in November 1824, about the impending visit
of an aging Frenchman with the impressive name of Marie Joseph
Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
Lafayette's story would have been known to most Americans
in 1824. Lafayette was a young officer in the French Royal
Army when he first learned of the American Revolution in 1775.
He was so inspired by the rebellion of the colonists against
what he saw as the tyrannical oppression of the British that
he left France to join the Continental Army. Lafayette began
as a volunteer on George Washington's staff and soon developed
a close friendship with the American General. With Washington's
help and counsel, Lafayette rose to the rank of Major-General,
leading Continental forces in the successful battle at Yorktown
in 1781.
For the remainder of his life, Lafayette continued to fight
and argue for the principles of freedom and liberty that were
behind the American Revolution. When Lafayette accepted President
James Monroe’s invitation to return to the United States
for the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution,
he was the oldest living Revolutionary War Major-General.
After spending time in New England and Washington, D.C., Lafayette
began his long tour through the states, bringing him south
through Virginia and eventually to North Carolina. He stopped
in Halifax, where the North Carolina delegation that endorsed
a declaration of independence from England met in 1776, and
then went to Raleigh, where he was received by Governor Hutchins
Gordon Burton and attended several dinners and balls in his
honor. But by far the largest reception for Lafayette awaited
him in Fayetteville.
At the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, the citizens
of Campbellton, in Cumberland County, decided to show their
appreciation to General Lafayette by changing the name of their
town to Fayetteville. It was the first of many American towns
to do so. There are now towns or cities named Fayetteville
in eight states, ten Lafayettes, and still others named LaGrange
in honor of Lafayette’s home in France (including LaGrange,
North Carolina, in Lenoir County). The weather was horrible
when Lafayette and his entourage neared Fayetteville in early
March 1825, but the rain did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm
of the crowds. Lafayette’s secretary remembered the scene:
"On the 4th of March, we reached the
pleasant little town of Fayetteville, situated on the western
shore of Cape Fear river. The weather was excessively bad;
the rain fell in torrents, yet the road for several miles before
we reached the place was crowded with men and boys on horseback,
and militia on foot; the streets of the town were filled with
a throng of ladies, in full dress, hastening across the little
streams of water, to approach the General's carriage, and so
much occupied with the pleasure of seeing him that they appeared
almost insensible of the deluge which threatened almost to
swallow them up. This enthusiasm may be more readily imagined,
when it is recollected that it was expressed by the inhabitants
of a town founded, about forty years ago, to perpetuate the
remembrance of the services rendered by him whom they honored
on that day."
Although he stayed in Fayetteville for only about 24 hours,
Lafayette was honored by several banquets and receptions, reviewed
countless militia and state troops, and had time to inspect
the brand new Lafayette Hotel, hurried to completion in time
for his visit. As he prepared to depart for South Carolina,
Lafayette offered a toast to the town: “Fayetteville. – May
it receive all the encouragements and attain all the prosperity
which are anticipated by the fond and grateful wishes of its
affectionate and respectful namesake.”
Nicholas Graham
March 2004
Sources: Stanley J. Idzerda, “Marquis
de Lafayette.” In American National Biography,
edited by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. Volume 13.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Marian Klamkin, The Return of Lafayette. New York:
Scribner’s, 1975.
Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825;
or, Journal of Travels, in the United States. New
York: White, Gallaher & White, 1829, vol. 2, p. 44. Levasseur
was Lafayette's secretary during his American trip.
Marshall DeLancey Haywood, “The Visit of General Lafayette
to North Carolina in 1825.” The American Historical
Register, May 1897.
Image:
John MacRae, “This Plate of
the Town of Fayetteville North Carolina so called in honor
of that distinguished Patriot and Philanthropist Genl. La
Fayette is respectfully dedicated to him by the Publisher.” Fayetteville,
N.C.: [1825]. Detail. North Carolina Collection.
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