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Editor’s Note: This year marks the Bicentennial, 2024-2025, of Lafayette and his farewell tour, “Guest of the Nation”, which took place August 15, 1824-September 7, 1825. To commemorate the occasion, the LaGrange Daily News will be publishing a series of columns by Richard Ingram, a longtime resident of LaGrange and Chair of Friends of Lafayette.

Week of March 17, 1825

The Farewell Tour

Lafayette departed Charleston early, March 17, aboard the steamboat “Henry Shultz.”  He had promised Congressman James Hamilton Jr. he would stop at Edisto Island.  He had been expected on the 17th, but the tide was out at Church Flats, and Captain Lubbock had to anchor offshore.  They arrived at 10:30 AM, March 18th, welcomed by two thirteen-gun salutes, and escorted to the William Seabrook mansion, which still stands, for a three-hour visit.  William Seabrook and his second wife Elizabeth Emma had their third child on February 22; the child was baptized the morning of Lafayette’s arrival by Reverend William States Lee, christened Carolina Lafayette Seabrook, in Lafayette’s honor and in his presence.  Shortly thereafter Lafayette and company sprinted to Bay Point, the other side of the island, where they were to catch up with the “Henry Shultz,” which had circled.  They boarded at 5:30 PM after a three hour wait, heading for Savannah.

At the mouth of the Savannah River at sunrise Lafayette saw an alligator for the first time.  Captain Lubbock shot the eight-footer and had it returned to the steamer for Lafayette’s inspection.

The “Henry Shultz” arrived at the Savanna bluffs mid-morning, March 19.  Lafayette was taken by barge to shore, helped up the bluff where he was greeted by veterans who escorted him in the Great Parade.  His base of operation was the Owens-Thomas House, now a museum on Oglethorpe Square, 124 Abercorn Street, known then as the Richardson House.  He spoke to the crowd from the balcony.

The following day a reception by French residents at 10 AM was followed by dinner with George McIntosh Troup, Georgia’s 32nd governor, known as the “Hercules of States’ Rights.”  His mother Catherine McIntosh was aunt to Creek Chief William McIntosh who signed the Treaty of Indian Springs February, 1825, ceding Muscogee lands to the United States.  The Muscogee-Creek National Council ordered his execution on that account, which was carried out April 30, 1825.  His son Chilly McIntosh almost died in the conflagration of execution.  Lafayette would meet Chilly McIntosh on the last leg of the Georgia limb of the tour.

On March 21, the local Masonic Society escorted Lafayette at 9 AM to Johnson Square where he dedicated the cornerstone of the monument to Major General Nathanael Greene.  Greene was second in command of the Continental Army.  The procession moved to Chippewa Place where Lafayette dedicated the cornerstone of the monument to Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski, father of the American cavalry; the memorial has since been moved to Monterey Square.  After a banquet at 3 PM, Lafayette boarded the SS Altamaha at 5 PM for a forty-four-hour cruise up the Savannah River to Augusta.  He arrived at near 4 PM on March 23rd.

Lafayette wrote Col. Bumford that the little dog Quiz, a Bumford gift to Lafayette, had escaped just before leaving Savannah.  Bastien Wagner, Lafayette’s valet, delayed embarkation until the dog was found and safely returned to ship.  Lafayette had become much attached to Quiz.

At Augusta Governor Troup hosted a reception, followed by dinner and a ball.  Lafayette spent the night at Planter’s Hotel.

The next day he visited Hamburg, South Carolina, across the Savannah River from Augusta.  It was founded by Henry Shultz (the same name as the steamboat on which Lafayette travelled from Charleston to Savannah).  It was a commercial center whose rapid ascent made it an inspiring example of free enterprise.  Difficult times were to come.

Back at Augusta in the afternoon, a reception at City Hall, followed by a public dinner and a ball at Planter’s Hotel.