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 had convinced French King Louis XVI to send troops and ships, which proved crucial to the American victory at Yorktown.
After laying the cornerstone in Savannah for a memorial dedicated to Revolutionary War heroes General Nathanael Greene and General Count Casimir Pulaski, Lafayette departed for Milledgeville, the capital of Georgia from 1804 to 1868. While in Milledgeville from March 27 to 29, 1825, he met with Governor George Troup at an elaborate reception and feast on the Capitol grounds, and met the man who helped carry him off the battlefield at Brandywine, where he had been wounded. Volunteer companies from neighboring counties came to pay tribute, reinforcing Lafayette’s status as the “Guest of the Nation."
Learn about Revolutionary War Combat Strategy. Watch the Revolutionary War Animated Map. For a summary, read An Overview of the American Revolution.