When the Marquis de Lafayette first came to America in 1777, he arrived as a 19-year-old French aristocrat eager to join the fight for American independence, which he did as one of George Washington’s generals, serving with distinction through the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. When he last came to America in 1824, he arrived to a nationwide hero’s welcome during a 13-month tour of all 24 states then in the union, which included a visit to Fort McHenry.
On the afternoon of Monday, October 7, 2024, Lafayette returns to Baltimore as a reenactor, arriving by boat at Fort McHenry as part of a bicentennial celebration that will visit the same states on the same schedule as Lafayette’s 1824 visit to America. The American Friends of Lafayette have planned five days of events in Baltimore in honor of the French statesman and defender of democratic principles in this country and around the world.
Lafayette’s 1824 tour was a big deal to the new nation. “It was like the Pope coming to America,” said Scott Sheads, former National Park Service historian at Fort McHenry. “Over 50,000 citizens lined the Fort Road to get a glimpse of Lafayette as he traveled from Fort McHenry into Baltimore for a series of events.”
At the Fort, Lafayette met with other veterans of the American Revolution and was honored at a reception inside the actual field tent that George Washington had used throughout the war, which was brought to the Fort for the occasion. The original Star-Spangled Banner flag that had flown over the Fort during the 1814 British bombardment was also on display, according to Sheads.
The Lafayette bicentennial begins on August 16 in New York City and wraps up on September 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C. A variety of Baltimore events are planned for October 5-9, including a bus tour of Lafayette’s 1824 route through the city, a wreath-laying ceremony at the Lafayette statue next to the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon Place, and a ticketed “farewell soiree” with period music at the Peale Museum.
The reenactment of Lafayette’s arrival at Fort McHenry on October 7 begins at 1:30pm with a parade led by the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps. A replica of Washington’s Revolutionary War tent will be set up on the Fort grounds, and the National Guard’s U.S. Army #229 Band and local singers will perform music played for Lafayette two hundred years ago. The tent, on loan from Philadelphia’s Museum of the American Revolution, will be open to the public on October 5 and 6 during regular Fort hours.
Visit the Lafayette bicentennial website for more information about the nationwide events and the Lafayette Bicentennial-Baltimore Facebook page for local events. – Steve Cole
This article originally appeared in the August 2024 issue of the South Baltimore Peninsula Post community newspaper.
South Baltimore Peninsula Post 
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