George Washington and General Lafayette

A Research Guide

1777, June 13. Lafayette arrives at Georgetown, South Carolina.

1777, July 31. Congress appoints Lafayette a Major General in the United States Army.

1777, Aug. 1. Lafayette is presented to George Washington at a dinner party in Philadelphia.

1777, Sept. 9-11. Both Lafayette and Washington fight at the Battle of Brandywine. Lafayette, who was not supposed be in combat, fought on the front lines and was shot in the leg.

1777, Dec. 1. Congress grants Lafayette a command in the United States Army.

1777-1778, winter. Both Lafayette and Washington survive the hard winter at Valley Forge with their troops.

1778, June 28. Lafayette and Washington both serve at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey.

1779, Dec. Lafayette names his newborn son George Washington Lafayette.

1781, Sept. 28-Oct. 19. Lafayette and Washington both fight at Yorktown where Cornwallis surrenders to Washington.

1783, Spring. Henry Knox creates Society of the Cincinnati, a hereditary organization open to all French and American officers above the rank of colonel. Both Lafayette and Washington were members of this organization, as well as the Fraternity of Masons.

1784, Aug. 19. Lafayette visits Washington at his home, Mount Vernon.

1784, Nov 18. Washington meets Lafayette in Richmond, Virginia, to escort him to Mount Vernon.

1784, Nov./Dec. Lafayette visits Washington at Mount Vernon. It was to be Lafayette’s last meeting with Washington before the latter’s death in December 1799.

1824, Oct. 17. Lafayette visits Mount Vernon and George Washington’s tomb.

1825, Aug. 29-30. Lafayette visits Mount Vernon.

Gifts From Lafayette to George Washington

Chair & Hunting Horn

1784 – Masonic apron embroidered for Washington by Madame Lafayette

1785 – Two hounds

1787 – Mules

c1787 – Two golden pheasants

1790 – Key to the Bastille and sketch of the prison by Cathala

Gifts from George Washington to Lafayette

1786 – Barrel of Virginia hams

1787 – Two red birds and two wood ducks

1790 – Shoe Buckles

Sources Used:

Bjelajac, David. Washington Allston, Secret Societies, and the Alchemy of Anglo-American Pai nting. Cambridge U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 0521431530

Fitzpatrick, John C., editor. The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799 ... of Congress [39 volumes].

Headley, P.C. Life of General Lafayette, Marquis of France, General in the United States Army, etc. New York: Leavitt & Allen Bros., 1856.

Idzerda, Stanley J., Anne C. Loveland, and Marc H. Miller. Lafayette, Hero of Two Worlds: The Art and Pageantry of His Farewell Tour of America, 1824-1825. Hanover, NH : The Queens Museum, 1989. ISBN 0874514894

Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union Mount Vernon, Virginia, The. "Souvenir of the French Revolution." Mount Vernon Annual Report 1987, (1988): 26-36.

Rhodehamel, John. "Of horse, mules and jacks." Fairfax Chronicles 6, no. 1 (1982):1-2.

Richardson, Edgar P., Brooke Hindle, and Lillian B. Miller. Charles Willson Peal and His World. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1983.