LAFAYETTE: Many places throughout the United States bear his name, including nearby Lafayette Township right here in McKean County.
So, who was Lafayette?
Kenneth C. Crowe II of the Times Union, Albany, N.Y., shed some light on the man in a recent article.
“Two hundred years ago, a man so famous he was known by one name like a modern megastar, toured the U.S.
Lafayette.
‘Our estimate is 6 million people saw Lafayette. He was a bigger rock star than even the Beatles. He was the original rock star,’ said Chuck Schwam, executive director of The American Friends of Lafayette.
A hero of the American Revolution and the Continental Army’s last living general, the French nobleman who volunteered for the revolutionary cause returned to travel around the U.S. for 16 months in 1824 and 1825 at the invitation of the U.S. government. He was greeted by about 80,000 people when he arrived in New York City. This year, bicentennial celebrations are underway in communities through which Lafayette traveled.
He was never called by his full name in the U.S. — Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette. Here he was always just Lafayette.
When U.S. Army troops celebrated July 4, 1917, in Paris during World War I, they marched to his grave. The phrase ‘Lafayette we are here’ captured the emotions of an American Army arriving in World War I to fight beside the French, their country’s Revolutionary War allies.
Lafayette went beyond being a military hero who served with Gen. George Washington in fighting for U.S. independence.”
Lafayette 200, the celebratory committee formed by The American Friends of Lafayette, plans 250 events over 400 days to cover Lafayette’s travels. For more, visit lafayette200.org.
