Marquis de Lafayette – The UncommonWealth

The Marquis de Lafayette and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Revolutionary War

The Marquis de Lafayette's farewell tour of America in 1824–1825 inspired an unprecedented outpouring of affection for the aging hero of the Revolutionary War. During…

Lee Ann TimreckOctober 7, 2026

Newspapers

Lafayette’s 1824 Visit to the United States: Return of a Revolutionary War Superhero

Whether an exactly true account or not, the above dispatch from Boston reported in the Richmond Enquirer is just one small example of the extensive…

Errol SomayNovember 22, 2024

Education & Programming

What’d I Miss?: Diving Deeper into the History Behind Hamilton

While Lin Manuel Miranda’s blockbuster musical hit Hamilton takes some artistic liberties with our American Colonial past, there is a lot of history packed into…

Library of VirginiaJuly 1, 2020

Manuscripts & Special Collections

No Retreat No Surrender? Not so Much: Yorktown Day

Yorktown Day marks the anniversary of the 19 October 1781 surrender of British forces to General George Washington ending the Revolutionary War. To celebrate, the…

Cassandra FarrellOctober 19, 2016

“Lafayette, we are here!”

Twenty years ago, a small group of businessmen and former diplomats conceived a plan to build an authentic replica of the French frigate Hermione, the…

Sandra TreadwayMay 27, 2015