In his 1825 Farewell Tour of America, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Vermont on June 28-29. A few months from now, our state will celebrate the bicentennial of his visit. In anticipation, this month’s Pause-Midi featured two speakers discussing America’s favorite fighting Frenchman.
General Lafayette was truly an American Idol in the 19th century, says Alan Hoffman. the translator of Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825, a first-hand account of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour of America. The proof is that 80 counties, cities, and towns were named after him, as well as streets and roads. In his presentation, Hoffman will describe the full extent of Lafayette’s reputation and explore its origins. This extraordinary reputation was based on his military record in the Revolution, his friendship with Washington, his continued support for American interests, his storybook life, and perhaps most important, his Farewell Tour, when he visited all 24 states and Washington City as the last surviving major general of the Continental Army.
Alan R. Hoffman has degrees in history from Yale and law from Harvard; he practiced law in Boston for 50 years. An avid reader of early American history, he “discovered” Lafayette in 2002 and spent two years (2003 to 2005) translating Auguste Levasseur’s Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825, the firsthand account of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour written by his private secretary. Hoffman has lectured widely on Lafayette—over 260 talks—and has spoken in the 24 states (and Washington, DC) that Lafayette visited during the Farewell Tour. Hoffman currently serves as president of the American Friends of Lafayette and president of the Massachusetts Lafayette Society. He is editor of The Gazette of The American Friends of Lafayette. He has been designated a scholar in the New Hampshire Humanities’ “Humanities to Go” program.
Peter Reilly discussed the extreme enthusiasm with which Americans greeted Lafayette on his farewell tour. He presented a brief summary of his life and the national and international situation that accounts for the exceptional welcome he received.
Peter Reilly has been studying Lafayette and his farewell tour since 2016, when he first thought of commemorating the tour’s bicentennial. In August and September 2024 he oversaw 30 events in Massachusetts. Since then he has been working with groups in Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont to commemorate the 1825 event, forthcoming from June 13 to 29, 2025.
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