In 1824 and 1825 Marquis de Lafayette, the French nobleman who volunteered and became an invaluable leader during the American Revolution and was then the war’s last surviving major general, toured the United States in a celebrated “Farewell Tour.”
He visited several sites in the Mohawk Valley, his third time there.
On June 4, 2025, he gave a speech at the Eagle Tavern on Lafayette Square in Buffalo. He visited Niagara Falls the next day and then set out along the mostly completed Erie Canal across New York, stopping along the way, including at Fort Stanwix, and arriving in Schenectady on June 11th.
Lafayette in the Mohawk Valley in 1778
In 1778, Lafayette was sent to Albany by the newly reconstituted Board of War, which had lost confidence in George Washington‘s ability to lead the Continental Army and sought to undermine his leadership – the board was led by General Horatio Gates.
Without informing Washington, Gates and the Board developed a plan to for a large-scale raid into Canada, with Lafayette in charge.
“While giving the command to a French officer would mean that the French-Canadians would respond more favorably to the operation, the board had additional motives in mind. They assigned one of their supporters, General Thomas Conway, to be Lafayette’s second in command,” writes Fort Stanwix Park Ranger Bill Sawyer.
“The board’s true intent was much the same as what they were attempting to do to Washington: Conway would assume full command of the invasion and Lafayette would simply be a figurehead to gain French-Canadian support.”
Lafayette proved loyal to Washington however, and refused to take part unless he approved the plan.
“Lafayette arrived in Albany on February 17 to find that little to nothing had been done to gather men and supplies, and as time dragged on, members of congress began questioning the operation’s merits,” according to Sawyer. “Perhaps worst of all, it appeared the British had full knowledge of the plan.”
Lafayette penned a letter to Washington, fuming “I am sent, with a great noise, at the head of the army to do great things. The whole continent, France, and what is the worst, the British army will be in expectation.”
While Lafayette awaited a final decision regarding the expedition he attended a meeting with representatives of the Six Nations (Haudenosaunee, Iroquois) in Johnstown (now in Fulton County) on March 5th.
Lafayette presented a request that the Oneida and Tuscurora send 300 warriors to join Washington’s army at Valley Forge. (You can read more about that here).
The planned raid into Canada was cancelled on March 15th and Lafayette returned to Washington’s side in April.
Lafayette at Fort Stanwix in 1784
Future President James Madison’s friendship with Lafayette began in September 1784 when Madison had a chance encounter in Baltimore with Lafayette, who was on his way to negotiate a treaty with the Iroquois at Fort Stanwix and invited Madison to travel with him.
As Madison wrote to his father from Philadelphia, “I fell in with the Marquis & had his company thus far. “He presses me much to fall into his plan, and I am not sure that I shall decline it. It will carry me farther than I had proposed, but I shall be rewarded by the pleasure of his company and the further opportunity of gratifying my curiosity.”
The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was intended to serve as a peace treaty between the Americans and the Iroquois, as well as secure other Indigenous lands farther west, which the Iroquois had gained by conquest during the Beaver Wars in the last century.
Indigenous leader Joseph Brant started the negotiations by saying “We must observe to you, that we are sent in order to make peace, and that we are not authorized, to stipulate any particular cession of lands.”
Brant lest early for a planned trip to England and Cornplanter and Captain Aaron Hill signed the treaty in which the Iroquois Confederacy ceded all claims to the Ohio territory, a strip of land along the Niagara river and all land west of mouth of Buffalo creek. In Pennsylvania, the land acquired in this treaty is known as the “Last Purchase.”
The Six Nations council at Buffalo Creek refused to ratify the treaty, denying that their delegates had the power to give away such large tracts of land and asked the Americans for return of the deeds.
The Northwestern Indian Confederacy also disavowed the treaty because most of the Six Nations did not live in the Ohio territory. The Shawnee, Seneca-Cayuga, Lenape (Delaware) and several other tribes in the Ohio area also rejected the treaty. You can read about the treaty negotiations here.
Madison and Lafayette’s month-long road trip (from September 3 to October 8) turned out to be a bonding experience. Soon afterwards, Madison wrote a frank assessment of the Marquis’s character to his close friend Thomas Jefferson, using a cypher or code in case the letter was read by anyone else:
“The time I have lately passed with the M. has given me a pretty thorough insight into his character. With great natural frankness of temper he unites much address with very considerable talents, a strong thirst of praise and popularity. In his politics he says his three hobby horses are the alliance between France and the United States, the union of the latter and the manumission of the slaves. The two former are the dearer to him as they are connected with his personal glory. The last does him real honor as it is a proof of his humanity. In a word I take him to be as amiable a man as his vanity will admit and as sincere an American as any Frenchman can be; one whose past services gratitude obliges us to acknowledge, and whose future friendship prudence requires us to cultivate.”
Madison saw Lafayette as both talented and glory-seeking, someone who deserved America’s gratitude and someone whose friendship could be politically useful.
When Madison later edited his papers for publication during his retirement, he crossed out “a strong thirst of praise and popularity” and changed “as amiable a man as his vanity will admit” to “as amiable a man as can be imagined” – even altering the coded words in the hope that no one would realize his initial impression of Lafayette was somewhat mixed.
A New Exhibit and Upcoming Events
The Rome Historical Society (RHS) is kicking off an entire month celebrating the history of the Marquis de Lafayette. The initiative is part of the American Friends of Lafayette’s full-scale reenactment of this return tour, with events all over America along the original route, to celebrate its 200th anniversary.
Lafayette month at Rome Historical Society is all building up to the return to Rome NY of the Marquis “himself” on June 9th. From now through May 22, the Historical Society will have a temporary traveling exhibit detailing the life and contributions of Lafayette on display, bolstered by rarely-seen Revolutionary War artifacts from their own collection.
On May 21, 5:30 pm, the Historical Society will be hosting (via video uplink) an educational presentation on Marquis de Lafayette by the National President of the American Friends of Lafayette, Alan Hoffman.
His presentation “Lafayette in America 1777 to 1781 and 1824 to 1825” will teach audiences both the details of his service to our nation in the Revolution, and what his return tour looked like, when he returned decades later to travel the United States as a celebrated hero.
On June 9, 200 years to the day, “Lafayette” returns to Rome New York. At 4:30 pm a new Lafayette Trail historical marker will be unveiled at Arsenal House (514 W Dominick Street).
From 5:30 until 6:15 pm a renowned Lafayette interpreter will be at Rome Historical Society (200 Church Street) to meet and greet the public, doing a Q&A session as “himself” engaging audiences with a personal touch of history and fun.
At 6:15 pm Lafayette will lead the public from RHS on a walking tour first to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers of the American Revolution to honor the resting place of those defenders of Fort Stanwix who lie in anonymity, then concluding at Fort Stanwix.
The walking tour totals less than a quarter mile. The evening ends with a soiree at Arsenal House, one of the oldest buildings in Rome which will begin about 7 pm. Further details on that event are forthcoming.
For more information on the American Friends of Lafayette visit www.Lafayette200.org.
Read more about Lafayette in New York.
Illustrations, from above: 1823 portrait of Lafayette, now hanging the House of Representatives chamber by Arey Scheffer; Albany Lafayette Park historical marker; and a map of the 1784 Stanwix Treaty (NPS).
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