Three On The Base Of The General Lafayette Memorial
by Cora Wandel
Title
Three On The Base Of The General Lafayette Memorial
Artist
Cora Wandel
Medium
Photograph
Description
Comte de Rochambeau and the Chevalier du Portai are on the the western base of the Major General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette Memorial in Lafayette Square across the street from the White House in Washington, DC. Lafayette asked his fellow french men, Rochambeau and Portai, to come join him in the American Revolutionary War. The woman in the bottom left corner of the photograph is on the southern base of the memorial. She appears to be looking up at the two men, but she is actually looking at the top of the memorial at the lofty statue of Lafayette.
Born in France in 1757, Lafayette was born into an aristocratic family and came to America to serve in the Revolutionary War. He became a major-general under George Washington in the Continental Army. Among his Revolutionary War accomplishments, he served and was wounded in the Battle of Brandywine, but despite his wounds he led the Continental Army to victory in that battle. Lafayette also led his men to an impressive victory in the Battle of Rhode Island. Even though Lafayette would become an American citizen, when he died in 1834 he was buried in his native homeland of France, under soil from Washington's grave at Mount Vernon.
The bronze statue of Lafayette, which is not visible in this photograph, and the clearly visible two men and woman, along with other statues built on all four side of the base, were made by Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguiere in 1890, and has been on the southeast corner of Lafayette Square since 1891.
There is an inscription on the base of the memorial that reads: "To General Lafayette and his Compatriots, 1777 - 1783."
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November 28th, 2016
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