Arlington House salutes Marquis de Lafayette, 200 years after his triumphant visit
Casually work the name Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier into a conversation, and you're likely to get blank stares from all but the most intense history buffs.
But substitute his better-known aristocratic title — the Marquis de Lafayette — and many will know of whom you speak, even if they might not know the intricacies of his long, complex and decidedly eventful life.
On Monday (Oct. 14), Arlington House marked the 200th anniversary of a visit by the French noble who helped secure American independence, bringing him to life both literally and figuratively.
The commemoration was held two centuries to the day that Lafayette had attended an evening reception at the plantation house as part of a 13-month journey across the U.S. totaling 6,000 miles with stops in all of what then were the 24 states.
"We're following his footsteps exactly as they happened," said Charles Schwam of American Friends of Lafayette , which is sponsoring commemorative events across the route.
'Sublime' Backdrop to 1824 Visit
Arlington House that October 1824 evening was illuminated with candles in order to be "sublime and imposing" for the visit, said Elizabeth Reese, who has penned "Marquis de Lafayette Returns: A Tour of the National Capital Region" and spoke at the Oct. 14 ceremony.
Arlington House had been constructed at the dawn of the 19th century on behalf of George Washington Parke Custis , the step-grandson of George Washington and later father-in-law to Robert E. Lee.
At the time of the 1824 visit, the Custis family was both the nation's — and Lafayette's — closest remaining link to George Washington (who died in 1799), Reese said. George Washington Parke Custis had turned Arlington House into "almost a shrine to the memory" of the nation's first president, she said.
Lafayette at just 19 years old had volunteered his services and was commissioned a major general in the Continental Army, assisting Americans in achieving independence — something the French monarchy was happy to support in its eternal quest to weaken Great Britain, a perennial adversary.
Washington, the army's commander, had been "initially a little unimpressed" with the young Frenchman, but his respect and personal affection toward him grew during the long years of war, Reese said.
Lafayette in 1824 was invited to revisit the U.S. by President James Monroe. His planned three-month stay extended to more than a year, and he again was a guest at Arlington House several times in 1825 before his return to France.
Schwam said Lafayette's lifetime commitment to human rights — he found Americans' acceptance of slavery and its treatment of native peoples abhorrent — made him "a man we should be looking up to."
'Enduring Friendship of Two Great Nations'
On hand for Monday's commemorative event was French Air Force Maj. Gen. Bertrand Jardin, the defense attache at the Embassy of France in Washington.
"It was more than a journey," Jardin said of Lafayette's 1824-25 tour. "It was a tribute to the enduring friendship of two great nations."
Also on hand was Ben Goldman, who re-creates Lafayette in public appearances. In the role, he told several visitors that his noble title was something he had given up.
"I prefer 'general'," Goldman's Lafayette replied when asked by an attendee how he should be addressed.
The program was hosted by the Arlington House Foundation , a non-profit organization that partners with the National Park Service to provide interpretive services at Arlington House, which today is surrounded by the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.
The Arlington Historical Society and American Friends of Lafayette served as co-hosts of the event, with support from the National Park Service.
Lafayette (1757-1834) was, among many things, a survivor. After his return to France in the 1780s, he found himself enmeshed in political machinations in the run-up to the French Revolution, ultimately fleeing the country in the interest of keeping his head securely attached to the rest of his body .
Lafayette was imprisoned for political reasons from 1792-97 by the Austrian and Prussian governments before Napoleon secured his release . In old age he was a key player in the July Revolution of 1830 that replaced the reactionary Charles X with the more liberal Louis Philippe on the French throne.
