“Your Friend and Brother Soldier”: Lafayette’s 1824 Visit to Staatsburgh

The Hero of Two Worlds

On a late September morning, the steamship James Kent laid anchor in the shadow of Staatsburgh House. Stepping off the dock, 67-year-old French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette made his way up the hill to the Lewis family mansion. His host for the day, Staatsburgh’s founder Morgan Lewis, served with the French nobleman in the American Revolution. This year, 2024, marks the 200^th anniversary of Marquis de Lafayette’s triumphant visit to the United States—and Staatsburgh.

The original Staatsburgh, c. 1806.
P. Lodet, 1806 drawing from the Hudson River Sketchbook. 
Courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY.

The Staatsburgh House he saw that autumn morning—September 16, 1824 to be exact—was replaced by the Gilded Age mansion we see today by Morgan Lewis's great-granddaughter Ruth Livingston Mills, and thus would be unrecognizable to the aged general. Yet through family stories and written narratives, we can reconstruct some of Lafayette’s visit to Staatsburgh; explore what his visit meant to both the residents of this estate and the young nation at large, and reflect on how Lafayette remains a part of Staatsburgh today.

Marquis de Lafayette,
dressed in his major general uniform,
c. 1779-1780.

Lafayette’s journey to Staatsburgh began in France. Born into the French aristocracy, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, the Marquis de Lafayette, first came to the United States in 1777 after the outbreak of the American Revolution. The 19-year-old was soon appointed as a major general in the Continental Army and served with General George Washington – who became a surrogate father to the orphaned nobleman. Together with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, Lafayette petitioned his government, and his king, Louis XVI, to support the Americans’ fight for independence from Britain. In 1781, British Lord Cornwallis’s forces were routed by troops under command of Gen. Lafayette in Yorktown, Virginia. Following the siege of Yorktown, Cornwallis surrendered and the war was effectively over. Lafayette was hailed as the “Hero of Two Worlds.”

It is unclear when--or if--Lafayette ever met Morgan Lewis during their service in the American Revolution. Lewis left his legal studies at Princeton in 1775 to volunteer for the Continental Army, rising from a Captain in the New York Militia to Chief-of-Staff for General Horatio Gates during the battles of Ticonderoga and Saratoga in 1777 to Deputy Quartermaster General for the Department of New York for the rest of the conflict. If the two men met, it would likely have been in 1778 when Lewis and Lafayette were both in Albany, New York. Lafayette was summoned to Albany by the War Board, headed by General Gates, for a potential invasion of Canada. Lafayette found his potential troops “ragged, hungry, cold and unpaid” and would likely have met with the Deputy Quartermaster for New York, Colonel Lewis, to discuss outfitting the expedition. However, no record or mention of a meeting exists, so we can only speculate at this point.

On the other hand, Lafayette explicitly mentions meeting the future Mrs. Lewis during “our young days at Albany.” Livingston family lore offers further details surrounding their meetings during the war. The dashing young officer was introduced to Gertrude Livingston, before her engagement to Morgan Lewis, during several balls, including one following the Battle of Brandywine. Lafayette seems to have been quite taken with Ms. Livingston, remaining “at her side” during one evening’s gala. 

A Guest of the Nation

Marquis de Lafayette, c. 1824, 
by Ary Scheffer.

Nearly 50 years later, the generation of Revolutionary War heroes was waning. With General Washington gone, President James Monroe invited his former comrade-in-arms and longtime friend, the last surviving major general of the Revolutionary War—Lafayette—to tour the young nation he helped liberate. From July 1824 to September 1825, Lafayette traveled over 6,000 miles on stagecoach, canal barge, and horseback to all 24 states currently in the union, plus the District of Columbia. At every stop along his tour—from major cities to country towns—the aristocrat was greeted with a hero’s welcome. Countless monuments and commemorations were bestowed upon the Frenchman by a grateful American public.

Lafayette's military escort at Castle Clinton, Manhattan.

America, and New York in particular, was going through rapid change. The Erie Canal was nearing completion when Lafayette traveled along its waters towards Albany. The Oneida nation, welcomed as allies during America’s fight for independence, were now excluded as part of Lafayette’s official tour. Warring political parties, including the Democrats and the Whigs, were gaining traction. Sectionalism—north v. south, urban v. rural, Atlantic coast v. frontier—in politics threatened to rip the young republic apart. New York’s great artists and authors, from James Fenimore Cooper to Thomas Cole, were reflecting on what they perceived as earlier, simpler times in America’s pre-industrial past. Lafayette, as a direct link to that shared past, who served in all theaters of the war across the east coast, and claimed no citizenship of any American region, was thus a unifying figure for all Americans in 1824.

The Ancient Governor Lewis

Depiction of the James Kent steamship on
the North (Hudson) River, c. 1825.
Courtesy of HistoricalChina.com.  

Just one month into his grand tour, Lafayette traveled north aboard the steamboat James Kent - capable of sleeping 80 comfortably - from New York City. On board, fellow Revolutionary War veterans Morgan Lewis and Colonel Nicholas Fish occupied staterooms next to Lafayette's. Alongside the aged veterans was Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette’s personal secretary. His chronicle of Lafayette’s tour in Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825: Or, Journal of a Voyage to the United States describes their voyage. Levasseur commented "there is nothing so beautiful as the banks of the Hudson" noting the valley's "high mountains ... covered with wood, or displaying their naked rocks." Yet, Levasseur also complained that the noise from the cannons of passing villages, cheering on the passage of the French general, kept the passengers awake most nights!

The steamboat docked at 2:30am in Poughkeepsie on September 16. Lafayette was greeted later that morning at the Forbus House on Cannon Street by the village trustees, including Matthew Vassar. Later, he enjoyed a breakfast at the Poughkeepsie Hotel with a party of 65 people, before embarking for Staatsburgh.

The old Poughkeepsie Hotel.
Courtesy of the Poughkeepsie Public Library District.

The Frenchman and his entourage continued their voyage north to visit "the family of the ancient governor [sic] Lewis," noted Levasseur, who "reside in a beautiful dwelling." The James Kent anchored at Lewis' private dock later that same morning. Katharine Schuyler Baxter, in her memoir A Godchild of Washington, recalls a light, informal lunch was ready for Lafayette upon his arrival to Staatsburgh, where he remained with Lewis and his family for several hours. 

An enslaved person performing domestic duties.
"The Old Sideboard: (1876). 

Yet, the Lewis family were not the only people Lafayette encountered during his brief visit to Staatsburgh. From the moment the major general stepped through the doorway, he would have been interacting with any number of enslaved or free people of African descent. New York was still a slave state in 1824; Staatsburgh counted three enslaved people, alongside two freemen and a freewoman, in the 1820 census. Lafayette is regarded as an early abolitionist and civil rights advocate since his days in the American Revolution – a war for independence that did not grant independence to all. His thoughts or reactions to enslaved people in New York are not recorded, but Lafayette was a vocal opponent to the institution during his travels in the south. At James Madison’s Montpelier estate, for example, Lafayette argued for “the right which all men without exception have to liberty.”

Unfortunately, the names and roles of those Black men and women denied “the right … to liberty” at Staatsburgh in 1824 have not been recorded. Belinda and Stephen, a mother and son both enslaved by Morgan Lewis for much of their lives, were possibly present in 1824; Belinda performing duties such as cooking or cleaning in the back of house, while Stephen, as Morgan Lewis’s man-servant, may have been present for any needs of the former governor or his guests. The free Black community of Dutchess County likely held a high regard for the Frenchman—notably one family, the Williams, named their son in honor of Lafayette—thus we can only speculate about the opinions of Stephen, Belinda, and others present that autumn morning. Lafayette, no doubt, detested the institution of slavery.

Men of Letters

After 13 months in the United States, Lafayette returned to his native France. For years afterwards, the nobleman maintained contact with his comrade-in-arms, Morgan Lewis. At least two letters survive written by Lafayette to Lewis.

Morgan Lewis's official gubernatorial
portrait, attributed to Henry Inman.

In December, 1828, writing from his estate, La Grange, Lafayette discussed national and international affairs with Lewis, including the "excessive rancour [sic]" of the 1828 US presidential election between Andrew Jackson and incumbent John Quincy Adams and an overview of British, French and Russian opinions of an independent Greek state. Turning to a personal matter, Lafayette mentioned that his son, George Washington Lafayette, had recently become a grandfather. The Frenchman asked his American counterpart to share with Mrs. Gertrude Lewis "the most affectionate regards of an old friend who has loved her from the time of our young days at Albany through a very long period of years, and whose profound attachment to her will last to his last breath." He must have still remembered those nights spent together at elegant balls all those decades ago.

Two years later, in 1830, one of Morgan Lewis's granddaughters visited Paris with friends. Lafayette regretfully wrote to the aging Lewis that he received news of their arrival only after the American party had departed the city. Lafayette wished to make contact with the party traveling through Switzerland, but "a most impudent attack" upon France "roused the Parisians to arms" - likely referring to the July Revolution of 1830. The proud Frenchman assured his American friend "our victory has been complete" in the establishment of a "republican monarchy" under Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans (who would himself be overthrown in the later Revolution of 1848). He signs off "your friend and brother soldier"

Eugène Delacroix, "Liberty Leading the People" (1830).
An allegorical painting of the July Revolution of 1830.

Kings to Commoners

The Staatsburgh House Lafayette saw that autumn morning, replaced by the Gilded Age mansion we see today, would be unrecognizable to the aged general. Following a devastating 1832 fire, Staatsburgh was completely rebuilt into a Greek revival-style mansion. Lewis’s great-granddaughter, Ruth Livingston Mills, in 1895 further remodeled the 1832 family home into a 79-room Beaux-Arts mansion. Our recent essay, “Is That Napoleon?” highlighted the French dictator’s likeness throughout the Millses’ home. As a woman who vied to be Queen of New York Society, Ruth Mills seemed to surround herself with images of French royalty. Napoleon's likeness projects a sense of royalty and power that Mrs. Mills no doubt tried to emulate during her entertaining. Yet, seeing the emperor's image in the home of an American patriot (Morgan Lewis) would have angered Lafayette, who resigned in protest from politics during the reign of Napoleon I.

(Not to be confused with friends Napoleon and Lafayette, two hounds from Disney’s “The Aristocats”!)

There appears to be one small reminder of Lafayette’s visit at Staatsburgh. Hanging on the north wall of the library is small watercolor portrait of the general. The elegant portrait shows the Frenchman as a distinguished 18^th century officer dressed in a blue uniform with a high stiff red collar and gold epaulets, topped with a black tri-corn hat and his hair braided into a ‘soldier’s queue.’ A small handwritten inscription reads Mr. D. Lafayette dessine par Valliere ex dragon du Colonel Generlen en 1789 (Monsieur de Lafayette drawn by Valliere formerly dragoon of the Colonel General in 1789).

The identity of “Valliere” remains a mystery. However, Lafayette mentions someone of the same name in his letters to Morgan Lewis. He wrote “He [George, Lafayette’s son] and Mons. Le Vallière, who leaves me to become a partner in the library trade, request to be gratefully and affectionately remembered” in 1828, later noting in 1830 “Le Vallière has been dangerously wounded” (presumably during the July Revolution).

A small handwritten inscription reads 
Mr. D. Lafayette dessine par Valliere ex dragon
du Colonel Generlen en 1789

The origins of this image are just as shrouded in mystery. Was it a memento of Morgan Lewis’s or a later acquisition by his great-granddaughter to demonstrate the legacy of Staatsburgh? The watercolor’s frame has the label "Chenue Emballieur, 5 Rue de la Terrasse PARIS." Chenue appears to be a high-end Parisian art-moving company from 1760. The Smithsonian noted "Chenue Emballeur is a well-known art moving company that 'served kings to commoners'."  This same label appears on frames in the Getty, Smithsonian and National Gallery collections. Interestingly, a 1956 Poughkeepsie Journal article detailing the finding of lost Lafayette letters from the era features the portrait prominently with the caption “Marquis de Lafayette, from a charming water-color portrait which the young French solider gave to his friend, Morgan Lewis of Staatsburg.” No source is given for that claim.

Clipping from the Poughkeepsie Journal. 
July 15, 1956.

Regardless of its origin, Mrs. Mills chose to hang the portrait among the other reminders of her family’s service in the cause for American independence. Familiar names and faces surround Marquis de Lafayette in Staatsburgh’s library: letters from George Washington, the surrogate father of the orphaned nobleman; a bust of Benjamin Franklin, who aided Lafayette in petitioning Louis XVI’s aid; portraits of Mrs. Mills’s great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Lincoln, and Lord Cornwallis, Lafayette’s friend and foe (respectively) at Yorktown; and lastly a portrait of Morgan Lewis, his host in 1824.

Even 200 years later, Marquis de Lafayette is among his “friends and brother soldiers” at Staatsburgh.