President James Monroe invited the Marquis de Lafayette to visit the United States, his adopted country. Lafayette’s tour of all 24 states in 1824 and 1825 drew large crowds and sparked a renewal of patriotism. During the American Revolution, Lafayette’s intense advocacy of the American cause convinced King Louis XVI of France to send troops and ships, which proved crucial to the American victory at Yorktown.
On Aug. 20, 1824, General Lafayette met with veterans and citizens at Cooke’s Hotel in Norwalk, Connecticut. The admiration engendered by the surviving veterans was recounted in the September 1, 1824, edition of the Saratoga Sentinel: “Among those assembled were several revolutionary heroes, with bosoms beating high at the thought of shaking by their hand their old beloved comrade, whose memory was associated with periods of trial and endurance, which them few who experienced, now remain to relate.”
Learn about Revolutionary War Combat Strategy. Watch the Revolutionary War Animated Map. For a summary, read An Overview of the American Revolution