It's one of those historic lines that sends chills up my spine!
First......today is the anniversary of the death of a man monumental in American history.
1. Marquis de Lafayette, in full Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, Lafayette also spelled La Fayette, (born September 6, 1757, Chavaniac, France—died May 20, 1834, Paris), French aristocrat who fought in the Continental Army with the American colonists against the British in the American Revolution. Later, as a leading advocate for constitutional monarchy, he became one of the most powerful men in France during the first few years of the French Revolution and during the July Revolution of 1830.
Britannica.com
Later, the 'Revolution' turned on Lafayette.
2. The Champ de Mars massacre took place on 17 July 1791 in Paris at the Champ de Mars against a crowd of republican protesters amid the French Revolution. Two days before, the National Constituent Assembly issued a decree that King Louis XVI would retain his throne under a constitutional monarchy. This decision came after Louis and his family had unsuccessfully tried to flee France in the Flight to Varennes the month before. Later that day, leaders of the republicans in France rallied against this decision, eventually leading royalist Marquis de Lafayette to order the massacre ....
en.wikipedia.org
3. It is on the very site of that massacre that the Eiffel Tower was built.
4. Whatever the result of Lafayette's later time in France, he was a hero of our revolution.
That fact was memorialized in the words of General of the Armies John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front in World War I, 1917–18.
The forces were sent to pay back a debt to Lafayettte......
5. On July 4, 1917 he visited the tomb of French Revolution and American Revolution hero Marquis de La Fayette and (according to Pershing) said, "Lafayette, we are here!" to honor the nobleman's assistance during the Revolutionary War.
Reading that story as a child sent chills up my spine.
Still does.
First......today is the anniversary of the death of a man monumental in American history.
1. Marquis de Lafayette, in full Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, Lafayette also spelled La Fayette, (born September 6, 1757, Chavaniac, France—died May 20, 1834, Paris), French aristocrat who fought in the Continental Army with the American colonists against the British in the American Revolution. Later, as a leading advocate for constitutional monarchy, he became one of the most powerful men in France during the first few years of the French Revolution and during the July Revolution of 1830.
Britannica.com
Later, the 'Revolution' turned on Lafayette.
2. The Champ de Mars massacre took place on 17 July 1791 in Paris at the Champ de Mars against a crowd of republican protesters amid the French Revolution. Two days before, the National Constituent Assembly issued a decree that King Louis XVI would retain his throne under a constitutional monarchy. This decision came after Louis and his family had unsuccessfully tried to flee France in the Flight to Varennes the month before. Later that day, leaders of the republicans in France rallied against this decision, eventually leading royalist Marquis de Lafayette to order the massacre ....
Champ de Mars massacre - Wikipedia
3. It is on the very site of that massacre that the Eiffel Tower was built.
4. Whatever the result of Lafayette's later time in France, he was a hero of our revolution.
That fact was memorialized in the words of General of the Armies John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front in World War I, 1917–18.
The forces were sent to pay back a debt to Lafayettte......
5. On July 4, 1917 he visited the tomb of French Revolution and American Revolution hero Marquis de La Fayette and (according to Pershing) said, "Lafayette, we are here!" to honor the nobleman's assistance during the Revolutionary War.
Reading that story as a child sent chills up my spine.
Still does.
