Program

Lafayette Trail

Subject

Event, People, Site

Location

323 Water St, Yorktown, VA 23690, USA

Lat/Long

37.239395, -76.509107

Grant Recipient

The Lafayette Trail, Inc.

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), was a French nobleman and captain in the French Dragoons. In April 1777, Lafayette sailed on the Victoire, a ship built with his personal funds, for North America to serve as a military leader in the American Revolution, despite a royal decree prohibiting French officers from serving. Shortly after his arrival, the Continental Congress commissioned him as a major general serving under George Washington.  Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, Lafayette managed to organize a successful Patriot retreat. Early in 1779, he returned to France to negotiate an increase in support from the French government, securing thousands of French troops to fight for the American cause. As one of three division commanders, Lafayette played a pivotal role in the 1781 Battle of Yorktown. He succeeded in containing Lord Cornwallis’s men, allowing time for additional French and American forces to arrive and lay siege to the British troops, forcing Cornwallis to surrender and ensuring American victory.

In 1784 General Lafayette traveled down the coast on La Nymphe, a frigate, as he celebrated the end of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the new nation. On November 15th, he disembarked at Yorktown, VA, having come from Boston, MA. The Yorktown and Williamsburg citizens greeted Lafayette and held a reception for him. Lafayette then went on to Richmond, VA where he was greeted by George Washington and visited the State Assembly.