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Week of March 10, 1825

The Farewell Tour

Lafayette first set foot on American shores on June 13, 1777, after fifty-four days at sea, at the south inlet of North Island, South Carolina, not far from Georgetown.  He was nineteen years old.  The first Americans he encountered were slaves crewing an oyster boat who directed him to the home of Major Benjamin Huger, an officer in the South Carolina militia.  Major Huger, his wife, and their three-year-old son Francis Kinlock were remarkably hospitable given that Lafayette and DeKalb showed up near midnight, having left the rest of the entourage aboard “La Victoire” anchored offshore.  Lafayette’s first night in America was with Major Hugee and his family.  Travelling overland for three days and two nights, Lafayette and his platoon arrived in Charleston; Vicomte de Mauroy sailed “La Victoire” into Charleston Harbor the next day, the two British frigates patrolling the harbor mouth having been blown out to sea by a truculent wind.  Lafayette was eight days at Charleston, wined and dined, his Marquis pedigree a big social attraction.  He endeared himself to Americans by outfitting one hundred militia with uniforms, arms, and ammunition, which he planned to pay for by selling “La Victoire,” but sailing out of Charleston Harbor “La Victoire” hit a sandbar and sank.  Lafayette, who had no head for money, took out loans at high interest.  From Charleston his band of brothers made an 800-mile, thirty day trek to Philadelphia where he, George Washington, and the Continental Army proceeded to frustrate King George III.

Now, forty-eight years later, Lafayette returned to his South Carolina roots.  He wrote to Mayor Thomas Carr to apologize; his itinerary did not permit a side trip to Georgetown.  Twelve miles outside Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, a messenger delivered a frantic message asking Lafayette to delay his arrival: preparations were incomplete.  Lafayette delayed his entry until the next day.  One mile from Columbia and the Congaree River, Col. Tom Taylor joined Lafayette and escorted him into town.  Taylor was a Revolutionary War veteran, a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and the father of Zachary Taylor, who would become the twelfth President of the United States.

Lafayette arrived at 3:30 PM and proceeded down Main Street past four triumphal arches, fluttering flags, and three attractive girls hoisting banners with “Lafayette, DeKalb, Pulaski” in gold lettering.  Dr. James Davis and Professor Henry Nott were assigned the duty of walking twenty paces in front of the parade and clearing the path; some ‘mischievous boy’ threw an old gander into the front of the procession, and it refused to be shewed off its point, much to the chagrin of planners.  Risers at Bridle and Main Street gave occasion for speeches by Governor Manning, the Mayor, and the Guest of Honor.  Lafayette spoke to students at the College of South Carolina, founded in 1801, and now led by “the celebrated Dr. Cooper.”  (The University of South Carolina today, interestingly, has the largest collection of writings by Robert Burns outside Scotland, and the largest Ernest Hemingway collection in the world.)  The evening ended with a banquet at the State House before spending the night at Isaac Randolph’s home on Gervais Street.  The next day, a military review and a ball at the State House.

Lafayette departed Columbia on March 12 at 6 AM, accompanied by Francis Kinlock Huger, now 52 years old.  When Huger was 21 years old, studying medicine in Vienna, Lafayette was in prison not far away at Olmutz.  On Saturday, November 8, 1794, while Lafayette was on a fresh-air walk outside the prison, under armed guard, Hugee and fellow conspirator Eric Bollman snatched Lafayette in an escape attempt.  It failed.  Huger and Bollman were captured and jailed; Lafayette was put in solitary confinement.  Lafayette was forever grateful to Huger, who now resided at Charleston and would accompany Lafayette as far as Savannah.  Huger had met Lafayette earlier at New York City and Yorktown for short visits.

The trip from Columbia to Charleston was 125 miles.  Lafayette spent one night at the Fitzsimmons House sixty-four miles out; and one night at the Izard mansion.  He was then three-and-one-half days at Charleston, where he stayed at St. Andrews Hall.  Celebrations were such that the “Charleston Courier and City Gazette” and the “Charleston Commercial Advertiser” announced that they would publish no paper during Lafayette’s visit, to allow workers to attend.  St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were suspended because the local Irish brigade would be participating in a farewell parade for Lafayette.  The planned excursion to Fort Moultrie was cancelled because of rain, but there was a public dinner, fireworks, and a banquet by the Society of the Cincinnati.  The Lafayette Grand Ball was unsurpassed:  a ten-dollar ticket admitted one man and three ladies; no boots allowed; a flourish of trumpets; sixteen sets of quadrilles simultaneously.  Lafayette stayed till midnight; the dancing continued until 3 AM.

The City commissioned Charles Fraser, lawyer turned artist, to paint miniature portraits of both Lafayette and Huger, watercolor on a sheet of ivory.  The miniature of Huger was 4 ¾” by 3 7/8” and hung in Lafayette’s bedchamber to “the left of the chimney” at Chateau de LaGrange.  This miniature is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The miniature of Lafayette remains at the Charleston City Hall.

On March 17, Lafayette boarded the steamer “Henry Shultz” at Fitzsimmons’s Wharf, headed for Savannah.