The Last Adieu: Lafayette's Triumphant Return, the Echoes of Revolution, and the Gratitude of the Republic

“Memories of the Revolution have come back to life…”

In the summer of 1824, the aging Marquis de Lafayette, defeated politically and distraught over the fate of liberty in Europe, set sail one last time from France for America after an absence of forty years.

Across the sea waited a nation transformed: Thirteen colonies were now twenty-four states, stretching from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi River. The number of Americans had more than tripled; their industry and creativity had ushe...