Descriptive Summary | |
Repository: | Georgia Historical Society |
Creator: | Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834. |
Title: | Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier Lafayette letter |
Dates: | 1786 |
Extent: | 0.05 cubic feet (1 folder) |
Identification: | MS 0902 |
The Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) was a French patriot who enlisted in the Continental Army with the rank of Major-General. He was second-in-command to General Washington. He also participated in the French Revolution until 1790 when he was forced out of the country under the rule of the Jacobin party. He returned to France in 1800 and was active in French and European politics until he died in 1834.
This letter from Lafayette to General Henry Knox, written in Paris on November 26, 1786 pays tribute to General Nathanael Greene, another Revolutionary war hero, who died earlier that year. Lafayette also mentions his extreme admiration for and his faith in the leadership of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. A handwritten copy is filed with the original letter.
Custodial History
Samuel C. Fessenden acquired this letter from Henry Knox's daughter, Lucy Thatcher, while on a visit to the Knox mansion in Thomaston, Maine. He passed the letter on to his son who donated it to the Georgia Historical Society.
Preferred Citation
[item identification], Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier Lafayette letter, MS 902, Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Samuel Fessenden through C. D. Owens, 1886.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Georgia Historical Society. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Division of Library and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Georgia Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Item 1: Lafayette to General Henry Knox, Paris, 1786 November 26 | |||||||||||||
A handwritten copy is filed with the original letter. | |||||||||||||