By Mike McCombs
The Island News
Most Americans can’t tell you who Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier was.
Even if you use his more familiar title — the Marquis de La Fayette or simply General Lafayette in the United States – you will still get a lot of blank stares these days. A discussion of Americans’ knowledge of their own history is best saved for another time.
But this week and next, many in the City of Beaufort will have their minds on Lafayette.
The Marquis de Lafayette was a French Nobleman and military officer who, at 19 years of age, volunteered to join the Continental Army, led by Gen. George Washington, in the American Revolutionary War. He played a role in convincing the French crown to aid the prospective nation in its battle for independence from England.
Becoming a close friend and aide to Washington, Lafayette commanded the troops in the decisive siege of Yorktown in 1781, the final major battle that secured American Independence, and he was known at the time as a “Hero of the Nation.”
In August 1824, Lafayette returned to the young United States as the only surviving major general from the Revolution. Invested in the Americans’ great experiment, Lafayette began a “Farewell Tour of the Nation” in Staten Island, N.Y. His tour included 24 states, ending Sept. 6, 1825, in Washington, D.C., where he celebrated his 68th birthday at a White House banquet with President John Adams.
That “Farewell Tour” included a stop in Beaufort.
In his March 18, 1825, visit to Beaufort, Lafayette arrived to a 13-gun salute by the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery and mounted officers from the St. Luke’s Guard. Carriages then carried Lafayette and his family through a triumphal arch for a welcome address by the Beaufort mayor. Shortly after, a reception and ball ran into the early morning hours.
In an article entitled “Reception of Gen Lafayette in Beaufort,” The Charleston Mercury documented the hero’s arrival:
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, Richared 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 was 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 single file. A detachment of St. Luke’s Troop of Cavalry, and the Officers of the Battalion, mounted under the command of Maj. Jacobs, flanked the whole progression.
There is very little documentation that exists, but historic anecdotes indicate that Lafayette greeted Beaufort townspeople from the steps of the Verdier House – also long known as the Lafayette Building — on Bay Street. In recognition of his stop in Beaufort, Historic Beaufort Foundation will erect a marker, as part of The Lafayette Trail, marking the path Lafayette’s tour of America followed, in front of the Verdier House.
“Lafayette’s visit 200 years ago has always been seen as one of the most significant events in the city’s history, HBF Executive Director Cynthia Jenkins said. “The short visit by General Lafayette and his son, George Washington Lafayette, on March 18, 1825 left an indelible mark in the memory of Beaufortonians. For two centuries we have referred to the house John Mark Verdier built ca. 1804 as the Lafayette Building.”
The bicentennial celebration of Lafayette’s visit started last week and through March 18 will include lectures, dances, living history interpretations and a visit by renowned historical interpreter Mark Schneider.
Official planning for the celebration has been underway since August and includes lectures, informative display boards for City Hall, the Beaufort History Museum, and the John Mark Verdier House Museum, program activities with the Beaufort County Library, school events and more.
The highlight will be a re-creation on March 18 of Lafayette’s arrival and procession through downtown Beaufort featuring Lafayette interpreter and U.S. Army veteran Mark Schneider. For more than 25 years, Schneider has worked at Colonial Williamsburg portraying the French aristocrat.
A warning – Bay Street will be closed Tuesday, March 18 from 9 a.m. until noon p.m. Scott Street will be closed from 9 a.m., until 3 p.m
At 10 a.m., a boat carrying Lafayette will arrive at the day dock in Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park. There will be a 13-musket salute and a cannon salute. The Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard will display the Colors and there will be the singing of Hail Columbia .
A parade procession onto Bay Street will take Lafayette and his party to the Verdier House, where local and state dignitaries, as well as “Lafayette” himself, will address the crowd. The unveiling of the Lafayette will happen there, as well, before the party parades down Scott Street through the living history demonstrations to museum exhibits at the Beaufort History Museum at The Beaufort Arsenal.
The events will culminate Tuesday evening with a dance sponsored by the Beaufort History Museum reminiscent of the dance planned for Lafayette when he arrived in Beaufort in 1825.
“This 200-year anniversary of Lafayette’s visit is an important reminder to Beaufort, the Lowcountry, to South Carolina and even our nation about the contributions this Frenchman made to our young country,” Beaufort Mayor Phil Cromer said in a news release.
Scheduled activities
Scheduled activities and tickets, where needed, are listed on Historic Beaufort Foundation’s website at https://historicbeaufort.org/lafayette-bicentennial/ and at the Bicentennial web page – LafayetteBicentennial-BeaufortSC.org.
Highlights include:
· “In the Footsteps of Lafayette: An Artistic Expression ” – Lafayette-inspired Art Exhibit/Sale at the John Mark Verdier House – sponsored by Elevate Art, (letselevateart@gmail.com for more information).
· March (all month long) – Lafayette Traveling Display – City of Beaufort, Beaufort History Museum, John Mark Verdier House.
· Monday, March 17, 7 p.m. – “How Liberty Found a Country: Conversations with an historian & the Marquis” — Mark Schneider & historian John McCardell – St. Helena’s Anglican Church Parish House, tickets required.
· Tuesday, March 18 – 10 a.m., re-creation of Lafayette’s 1825 arrival of Lafayette. – Boat arrives to Waterfront Park, 13-musket salute, cannon salute, Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard Display Colors; Singing of Hail Columbia at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park;
· Tuesday, March 18 – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,Parade Procession, Bay Street; Welcome from Lafayette and state and local dignitaries – Verdier House; Unveiling of Lafayette Marker; Living history demonstrations & museum exhibits – SAR, DAR, Coastal Heritage Society, Beaufort County Library, 19th-century ballroom dancing (Revolution Ballroom & Beaufort County School District); Museum Lafayette Exhibits – John Mark Verdier House & Beaufort History Museum, Elevate Art (at the Verdier House)
· Tuesday, March 18 – Dedication of SAR/DAR marker.
· Tuesday, March 18, 5:30 to 8 p.m. – Dancing with Lafayette – Beaufort History Museum. Beaufort Arsenal, tickets required.
· Tuesday, March 18 – Farewell to Lafayette Ceremony – City of Beaufort, Beaufort Bicentennial Committee, Craven Street.
The public is invited to come out and witness the re-creation of history Tuesday, March 18 in Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park and along the procession route on Bay and Scott streets
“This has been a celebration eight months in the making,” HBF Assistant Director Lise Sundrla said. “It’s amazing how the community has come together in such a short time to ensure a fitting celebration for one of the most significant events to occur in Beaufort’s great history.”
The Historic Beaufort Foundation, the City of Beaufort, the Beaufort Convention & Visitor Bureau, American Friends of Lafayette and The Lafayette Trail, Inc., have collaborated along with some 50 local, state, regional and national groups and individuals to celebrate the Lafayette Bicentennial.
Other partners and contributing organizations so far include the Beaufort History Museum, Beaufort County 250th Committee, Sea Island Carriage Tours, Revolution Ballroom, the Thomas Heyward Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Paul Hamilton Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Beaufort County Library — Beaufort District Collection, Elevate Art, Society of the Cincinnati, S.C. Rep. Shannon Erickson and the Beaufort County School District.
Also contributing are Coastal Heritage Society – Savannah, Williams Group PR LLC, Best Western Sea Island Inn, Rhett House Inn, Springhill Suites, Allen Patterson Builders, and the Davenport House – Savannah.
People and groups interested in donating to the bicentennial activities should contact Historic Beaufort Foundation at info@historicbeaufort.org.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
