A simple, iron key, prodigious compared to the keys of today, caught my eye on my first trip to Virginia in 2004.
Prominently displayed in the central passage of Mount Vernon, this key unlocked the main gate of the fortress of despotism known as the Bastille.
Gifting it to George Washington, Lafayette wrote:
Give me leave, my dear general, to present you with a picture of the Bastille just as it looked a few days after I had ordered its demolition, with the main key of that fortress of despotism—it is a tribute which I owe as a son to my adoptive father, as an aide-de-camp to my general, as a missionary of liberty to its patriarch.
Can you imagine the emotion George Washington must have felt as he held this key in his hand?
Since Washington prominently displayed this glass-encased key over a rendering of the Bastille in the central passage of his lovely home, he obviously meant his numerous guests to see it.
What would it have been like to have been one of those visitors, to discuss with George Washington the meaning behind that key?
Who was Lafayette?
Thus began my journey to discover the Frenchman, which history textbooks merely note as a supporter of the American Revolution.
For our 18th and 19th century homeschool history studies, my kids and I have learned a lot with the Jean Fritz biography, Why Not, Lafayette?
Fritz’s children’s book tells SO much more of the Lafayette story than annoying pithy textbooks.
Then we met Lafayette in Colonial Williamsburg, whose story matched all we read in homeschool.
However, the Lafayette story only goes to the eve of the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, whereas the Jean Fritz book covers his entire life.
Lafayette helps America Gain Independence
As a teenager, Lafayette volunteered to serve under General George Washington without pay.
In fact, he spent his own money to supply his dragoons.
Instrumental in influencing France to reinforce the Continental Army with 6,000 French troops, Lafayette also cornered General Cornwallis and his troops in Yorktown.
While Lafayette and his dragoons prevented Cornwallis’ escape by land, the French navy blocked escape by sea.
Meanwhile the Continental and French armies quickly arrived from New York area to lay siege on Cornwallis’ troops in Yorktown.
In less than a month of the siege’s onset, the American and French forces secured victory.
Lafayette the Abolitionist
Openly persuading Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and others to free their slaves, Lafayette was an ardent abolitionist.
Even William Wilberforce, the man who drove the English Parliament to bring an end to the slave trade, met with Lafayette in his home.
Lafayette and his wife established on the French colony of Cayenne, today’s French Guiana, a plantation where he attempted to bring freedom to slaves.
Lafayette helps Design France’s Flag
Taking the ancient colors of Paris, French Revolutionists wore red and blue cockades in defiance of the older monarchical fleur-de-lis flag on July 13, 1789.
After the storming of the Bastille on July 14, elections called for Lafayette to lead the National Guard of Paris.
On July 17, the National Guard wore cockades of blue, red, and white on the occasion of King Louis XVI arrival.
Ever the moderate, Lafayette added the royal white to the cockade.
Lafayette encourages Huguenots
Even though a Catholic, Lafayette desired freedoms of French Huguenots. I am a descendant of French Huguenots.
France Mourns Lafayette’s Death
Like any good book lover, the end of the Jean Fritz book saddened my heart because it ended with the end of Lafayette’s life.
In 1834, Lafayette breathed his last while holding Adrienne’s miniature.
Knowing the fame of Lafayette, King Louis-Phillippe ordered a military funeral, surrounded by soldiers with drawn bayonets.
Attended by family, dignitaries and over 3000 members of the National Guard, the funeral advanced to Picpus Cemetery located within the walls of a convent.
Mourners buried the hero of two countries next to his wife in Paris, in the cemetery she established to respectfully bury victims of the Reign of Terror, including her grandmother, mother, and sister.
Mourners then laid upon his grave the soil from Bunker Hill that Lafayette collected on his Grand Tour of America in 1824.
America Mourns Lafayette’s Death
Meanwhile President Andrew Jackson ordered the same military honors for Lafayette, reminiscent of George Washington’s.
This included every army post and every ship in America firing a 24-gun salute, flags lowered at half-mast, the walls of Congress hung in black, army and navy officers wore black bands of mourning for six months, and memorial services held throughout America. (Why Not Lafayette, by Jean Fritz)
Known as Old Man Eloquent, John Quincy Adams gave a lengthy eulogy and encouraged making Lafayette’s name known to future generations.
America Honors Lafayette
Towns, schools, counties, and streets across the country bear the name Lafayette or of his home, La Grange.
Even newly born babies received Lafayette’s name, indicating their parents’ feelings for the friend of America.
In the small Alsatian town of Castroville not far from where we live, there is a street and a shop that bear his name. Further east, La Grange, Texas is located in Fayette County.
New Lafayette Books Arrive
After mourning the end of a book, the ordering of more books allows the reader to relive the story through new eyes.
Mount Vernon delivered our Lafayette books the other day!
Enthusiastically the kids stopped their afternoon history reading to skim the books and look at all the pictures and captions with me.
We had so much fun catching tidbits of new information about Lafayette.
Teary-eyed, I marveled at more of Lafayette’s story.
Lafayette’s Back Pay from the American Revolution to pay his Ransom
When the news of Lafayette’s imprisonment during the French Revolution reached President George Washington, he and Congress collected $24,424. That amount equated to the pay Lafayette never received during the American Revolution.
James Madison took this money to Europe to ransom Lafayette’s release from prison.
Wow, what a George Baily moment!
Lafayette and World War I
However, I was most moved when I read about World War I, when the American troops arrived in France. (Check this video of the parade.) (Check this video of the arrival at the cemetery.)
Fittingly, on July 4, 1917 Parisians crowded windows, balconies, rooftops, and streets to cheer the American troops marching to Lafayette’s grave. (Read the following and more at the Lafayette We are Here site.)
… a French airplane flew overhead, acrobating and following the line of march for awhile, and disappeared in the distance. Hundreds of people left the sidewalks and rushed forward to shake the hands of the Americans, strangers but friends and brothers in arms. French soldiers on leave, still wearing trench uniforms stained and dingy with the grime of battle, joined the marching troops on each side in columns and continued for miles. Some of them wore bandages on their heads and others had their arms in slings, from recent wounds. Children ran forward throwing flowers in front of the marching men from over-seas. Flowers were tossed in from the sidewalks or came fluttering and floating down from balconies and windows. They were caught by the American soldiers, who stuck their gay colored petals in the steel gray muzzles of their rifles or tucked them in their belts. In the words of General Pershing: “The column looked like a moving flower garden.” –Lafayette We are Here
At Lafayette’s Grave
At the entrance to the high-walled-in Picpus Cemetery where Lafayette is buried, the troops passed through the arched gateway of the old convent and rested in the garden. There was not room for them in the limited space of the cemetery. Within the walls of the adjoining burial area were gathered only three or four hundred persons, including prominent Americans and French citizens. For the speakers a small railed platform had been erected and hung with the red, white, and blue of the two republics. Lafayette, as an American general, had fought at Brandywine, Monmouth, and Yorktown under our stars and stripes. He himself had created the French tri-color in the early days of the French Revolution, by blending the red and blue of the standard of Paris with the traditional white of royal France upon which its golden lilies had been displayed. This new flag he gave to his fellow countrymen with the prophecy that it would: “go round the world.” –Lafayette We are Here
Lafayette We are Here
Colonel Stanton, aide to General Pershing spoke:
“The fact cannot be forgotten that your nation was our friend when America was struggling for existence, when a handful of brave and patriotic people were determined to uphold the rights their Creator gave them – that France in the person of Lafayette came to our aid in words and deed. It would be ingratitude not to remember this, and America defaults no obligations.
“Today is the anniversary of the birth of the American nation, of a people whose declaration of rights affirms that ‘all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ It is celebrated at home with joy and thanksgiving, with bonfire and illuminations, because we feel that since our advent into the galaxy of nations, we have borne the part of good citizens, respecting the law and living in the fear of God.
“America has joined forces with the allied powers, and what we have of blood and treasure are yours. Therefore, it is with loving pride that we drape the colors in tribute of respect to this citizen of your great Republic, and here and now, in the shadow of the illustrious dead, we pledge our heart and our honor in carrying this war to a successful issue. –Lafayette we are Here
La Fayette, we are here!”
My Lafayette Journey Continues
If I ever travel to France, there are many things I’d like to see there, but the first would be a stop by Lafayette’s grave, posted with a American flag.
I will lay a bouquet of red, white, and blue flowers with an American flag of thanks at the site.
If I ever go there, I know I will be completely moved as I reflect on his impact on the world.
Personally, I will never impact the world like he did.
Impacted by what I learn, I touch the future as I teach others.
I will never view French or American history the same way again.
Independence looks more three-dimensional to me now that I see it through Lafayette’s eyes.
Maps covered with Lafayette’s name now have rich meaning.
The American and French flags tell a bigger story now.
And to think, my journey began with a simple key.
