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.
Lafayette visited Raleigh, North Carolina, on March 2, 1825, where he was met at Crabtree Creek Bridge by the North Carolina militia with cannon fire and a formal escort into the city. Governor Hutchins Burton welcomed Lafayette at the Governor’s Mansion. Afterwards, he visited the North Carolina State Capitol, where he admired Antonio Canova’s marble statue of his good friend and comrade, George Washington, dressed as a Roman general. He pronounced it a good likeness. The statue was commissioned by the state of North Carolina in 1815 and completed by 1820. This work was the only one Canova created for the United States.
Learn about Revolutionary War Combat Strategy. Watch the Revolutionary War Animated Map. For a summary, read An Overview of the American Revolution.