In March of 1825, the residents of Milledgeville paused to celebrate the birth of the nation and welcome Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de la Lafayette, the last surviving major-general of the America Revolution.
The previous year, President James Monroe and Congress had issued an invitation to Lafayette to tour the 24 United States as the nation’s guest.
Fifty years prior, at the onset of the American Revolution, George Washington was desperate for officers with military experience. The arrival of 19-year-old Lafayette in the colonies was a godsend. Though young, the Marquis was a French noble, a member of a class whose role in French society was military leadership.
He was commissioned as a major general in the Continental Army in 1777. Over the next several years he played a game-changing role in the successful American war effort, cementing his place in American history as one of the young nation’s greatest heroes.
Between August 1824 and September 1825, the now 67-year-old Lafayette, accompanied by his son and secretary, visited all 24 states. He spent 13 days traveling through Georgia, three of those days in the capital of Milledgeville. Everywhere the general went, he reignited the zeal of the Revolution.
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Marquis’ visit to Milledgeville, historian and author Dr.
Lawrence Krumenaker will present for Evenings with History on Tuesday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall (220 S. Wayne St.).
Krumenaker will guide attendees along Lafayette’s route and share the itinerary for his trip across Georgia from the Savannah River to the Chattahoochee River described in his book, From River to River.
This program is sponsored by Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center at the Depot, Inc., an independent non-profit. For more information, contact the Heritage Center at 478-453-1803.
– Contributed