While knee deep unpacking my homey stuff into a former bachelor pad after our elopement, I escaped to Yorktown for the day for a Lafayette event! 😉
For a few months now, I’ve been Following the Frenchmen through The Lafayette Trail, founded by Julien Icher.
Equally thrilled to attend a Lafayette event and see this young man from France who is telling America’s story so well, I couldn’t wait to attend the unveiling of the newest Lafayette Trail marker marking one of the hundreds of places Lafayette visited on his American grand tour from 1824-1825, at the invitation of President Monroe.
Always intrigued by the Frenchman who fought in the American Revolution, a mere sentence or two in my history texts, I was floored to stumble across him at every place I visited in Virginia, while on vacation from Texas.
Beginning my own grand tour of Lafayette, I planned many of our homeschool studies around all I learned, to share with my kids.
We deeply learned incredibly amazing things that history seems to have forgotten about American’s favorite Frenchman, who as a 19 year old volunteered to serve in the American Revolution as a brigadier general at his own pay…just so he could learn at the feet of General George Washington.
As a result, my kids got excited too, with my son imploring me to sew a historically accurate Lafayette regimental for him to wear to Colonial Williamsburg.
Thus, I was enthralled to see another young Frenchman so impassioned about Lafayette’s influence in America, that he founded The Lafayette Trail in 2019: to document, map, and mark General Lafayette’s footsteps during his Farewell Tour of the United States in 1824 and 1825. It aims to educate the public about the national significance of Lafayette’s Tour and to promote a broader understanding of Lafayette’s numerous contributions to American independence and national coherence in preparation for the 2024-2025 tour bicentennial celebrations. –The Lafayette Trail
Opportunity to experience my first Follow the Frenchmen event in Yorktown thrilled my soul, because Lafayette’s most influential location to visit in America was Yorktown…where America won it’s independence from Britain because of Lafayette!
Assigned by Washington in 1781 to capture the turncoat, Benedict Arnold in Virginia, Lafayette disappointedly but obediently left all the exciting action behind near New York City, where victory was expected to occur.
Meanwhile Benedict Arnold fled Virginia while General Cornwallis arrived with all his troops from the south…skirmishing with Lafayette and his dragoons, effectively cornering Cornwallis in Yorktown.
Upon the news that Cornwallis and all his troops were stuck on a Virginia peninsula surrounded by much deep water, the American and French troops journeyed from near New York to Virginia…while the French fleet under Admiral de Grasse blocked the only entry into the Chesapeake from the British to rescue Cornwallis.
After a short siege, Cornwallis surrendered.
Thus, Yorktown annually celebrates its French-American Alliance, one of which my kids and I attended in 2010….when we stood amongst many of the French as they hailed Lafayette (portrayed by Colonial Williamsburg’s Mark Schneider) as he paraded down the street to grand fanfare.
After a wonderful speech from Julien, we followed him to the waterfront for the unveiling…
After another terrific speech from Julien, an American Revolution reenactor celebrated in 18th century fashion…with the firing of a cannon over the York River.
Then to the Freight Shed for indoor ceremonies…
…where Julian gave a slide presentation after the Rochambeau Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution served refreshment.
Afterwards I enjoyed looking at all the Lafayette memorabilia from the Grand Tour and beyond on display, of which this was my favorite.
Check out this wonderful video commemorating the event and Julien’s work!
