A collection of all the facts that, I, your @Marquissword, have tweeted during my 2015 journey aboard the Hermione.
Day 98:
On 5/20/1834, I grasped the locket bearing my wife’s portrait & sailed off our earthly plane.
Day 97:
Back home in France, after the Revolutionary War, I became a champion of American trade!
Day 96:
I was a man of letters, often writing 4-5 per day. But these days, I’m all atwitter! LafCol letter: http://tinyurl.com/nl2689s
Day 95:
Was briefly under house arrest when I returned to FR in 1779, so my defied king could save face.
Day 94:
The USS Brandywine (renamed for battle where I was wounded) transported me home in 1825. Thanks JQA!
Day 93:
As the Hermione was otherwise occupied, I returned to France in 1781 aboard the USS Alliance.
Day 92:
In 1825, the steamboat ferrying me to Marietta sank. Then I fell in the Ohio! http://tinyurl.com/ns5tb6r
Day 91:
As part of plot to discredit me (& GW), U.S. Board of War sent me off to invade Canada in 1778.
Day 90:
I once regifted a gator to President John Quincy Adams who kept it in a White House bathtub.
Day 89:
On my 1824-5 tour of the U.S., I made a point to visit all 24 states, including newbies ME & MO!
Day 88:
After dropping me off, my frigate did reconnaissance on British forces in what is now Castine!
Day 87:
I mixed royal white & Paris red & blue in a cockade and inspired the French flag!
Day 86:
I once rode to Boston through the night (50 miles in 7 hrs) to smooth FR-US military relations!
Day 85:
In 1825, I had the great honor of laying the cornerstone to the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston
Day 84:
The first Hermione landed in Boston in 1780 with revolutionary news!
@LafCol print: http://tinyurl.com/q8h3ffd
Day 83:
First US/FR offensive went poorly in #Newport. Rebounded afterwards! @LafCol map: http://tinyurl.com/qcho6dv
Day 82:
In 1780, G Washington sent me to Newport to liaison with newly arrived French fleet!
Day 81:
I had the joy of sharing my final triumphant 1824-25 U.S. tour with my son Georges Washington.
Day 80:
Mssrs. Bollman & Huger risked their lives to try to break me out of Austrian prison in 1794.
Day 79:
In 1824, I was the 1st foreign dignitary to address the House of Representatives in its chamber.
Day 78:
As I was so impassioned by the spirit of ’76, it was only apropos that I should pass at age 76.
Day 77:
Badly wanted to take NYC back from Brits. Cooler heads (GW!) & smarter strategies (VA) prevailed
Day 76:
My final 4th of July in America was in NYC. 190 years later, I’m back!
Day 75:
On Hermione trip #1, winds snapped our main mast five days in & we had to temporarily retreat!
Day 74:
Became a “freeman & citizen of the city of New York” in 1784!
LafCol print: http://tinyurl.com/q2hlkcv
Day 73:
When I arrived in 1777 aboard La Victoire, NYC had already fallen to the Brits. Stamp: http://tinyurl.com/q9mdbxg
Day 72:
I came to the US at 19 aboard a used La Victoire. I returned at 22 aboard my King’s fine Hermione!
Day 71:
Given French reform after Seven Years’ War debacle, America was my only hope for military glory.
Day 70:
In 1781, a Philadelphia congress effectively made me the first ambassador-at-large to the U.S.
Day 69:
The Brits had me surrounded on the outskirts of Philly in 1778, but I outwitted them & escaped!
Day 68:
I arrived in PHL to claim my military commission in 1777 (at age 19). Call me the Spirit of ’77!
Day 67:
I refused the Legion of Honor medal from Napoleon because his government was undemocratic.
Day 66:.
On 100th anniversary of my final US Tour, Baltimore dedicated my monument: http://tinyurl.com/nctdew6
Day 65:
In France, I rode a legendary white steed, Jean LeBlanc. LafCol print: http://tinyurl.com/pmj44pu
Day 64:
As my father died when I was 2, my dear General Washington was my most important father figure. LafCol print: http://tinyurl.com/qy5oww9
Day 63:
My final U.S. tour lasted 13 months & covered 24 states! Top that, Mötley Crüe! LafCol map: http://tinyurl.com/phjeneh
Day 62:
I devised a new way of moving troops that got 1000 men from Baltimore to Richmond in <10 days.
Day 61:
If not for aid of Baltimore’s merchants, my 1781 VA campaign never happens & it’s still tea time
Day 60:
In 1784, the Maryland General Assembly declared me a natural born citizen. Merci, MD!!
Day 59:
My last glimpse of my dear friend General Washington was on the outskirts of Annapolis in 1784
Day 58:
My self-deprecating sense of humor helped win over my American colleagues
Day 57:
Fayetteville, North Carolina was first city to be named for me! http://tinyurl.com/os3e9pq
Day 56:
The U.S. awarded me 23,000 acres near Tallahassee, FL in 1825 as an act of good will.
Day 55:
I am only 1 of 8 people to have been declared an honorary citizen of the U.S..
Day 54:
During my first 10-day Mt. Vernon visit, we left the grounds but once — to dine in Alexandria
Day 53:
I cannot tell a lie. George Washington was my male role model. And above all, my dear friend.
Day 52:
Forced into civilian life, I transformed my estate, La Grange, into the French Mount Vernon
Day 51:
My ancestor, Gilbert de Lafayette III, led Joan of Arc’s army in Orléans.
Day 50:
I made my way to Morristown and Gen. Washington after 1780 Hermione arrival
Day 49:
Alexander Hamilton edited some of my letters. Got by with a little help from my friends!
Day 48:
Social reformer & abolitionist, Fanny Wright, joined me for much of 1824-5 U.S. tour.
Day 47:
Hermione & I both had key roles in Cornwallis’ Yorktown surrender. She by sea. Me by land.
Day 46:
It took the threat of a massive French-Spanish armada (66 ships & 25K troops!) to end the war
Day 45:
My grandmother’s generosity with the local peasants (& their gratitude) spurred my republicanism
Day 44:
I was drawn to the American rebel cause after hearing King George’s own brother promote it!
Day 43:
My rapid mastery of guerrilla warfare tactics overcame Cornwallis’ superior numbers in VA
Day 42:
I invested the equivalent of $1.6 million in the American revolutionary cause.
Day 41:
(Unlike now!), I loathed my first ocean crossing to U.S. Read my letter: http://tinyurl.com/pvxu8am
Day 40:
Three decades after my dear wife passed, I died with a locket bearing her picture around my neck
Day 39:
My Freemasonry membership helped engender trust with my dear general Washington.
Day 38:
I convalesced in Bethlehem after my Brandywine wounding. Merci, my dear Moravians!
Day 37:
In school, I defined an ideal horse as one that threw off its rider. Self-determination!
Day 36:
My dear wife’s decision to join me in prison stirred hearts & earned me freedom. Adrienne!!!
Day 35:
My U.S. military role was to be only ceremonial, but I proved myself & earned my own command
Day 34:
I taught myself English on my first sailing to America at 19 and was fluent within a year
Day 33:
I helped one of my wartime spies win his freedom from slavery in 1787: http://tinyurl.com/lzlk4k6
Day 32:
Hailing from the French countryside, I was more at home in America than in Paris
Day 31:
My land was taken when I refused to back an unconstitutional revolutionary French government
Day 30:
Fighting in an American officer uniform (& not French) endeared me to General Washington
Day 29:
149 of my letters to George Washington are in Lafayette College’s Skillman Library.
Day 28:
Father’s felling by a British cannonball flamed my desire to aid the American fight for freedom
Day 27:
I adopted the phrase “Cur Non” (“Why Not?”) for my coat of arms.
Day 26:
I was a key figure in a quick, relatively bloodless movement to dethrone Charles X.
Day 25:
Lafayette College awarded me the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service in 2010.
Day 24:
I named a son George Washington and made the general his godfather.
Day 23:
I used my own credit to buy clothing and supplies for men under my command in America.
Day 22:
I threatened to resign to help thwart an effort to replace Gen. George Washington.
Day 21:
A potential mutiny plot was thwarted on my first return voyage to France in 1779.
Day 20:
Still recovering from a wound, I was at Valley Forge during the legendary winter of 1777-78.
Day 19:
I became a popular hero in France & admired by Voltaire after being wounded at Brandywine.
Day 18:
At the Battle of Brandywine, I was shot in the leg, fell from my horse & lifted back by an aide
Day 17:
My first ship to America, La Victoire, was a merchant vessel of 220 tons and a crew of about 30.
Day 16:
My beloved wife, Adrienne, defended me and was imprisoned & nearly executed by French radicals.
Day 15:
In gratitude for my advocacy, American farmers sent me a block of cheese weighing 500 lbs.
Day 14:
I was captured by the Austrian army in 1792 and imprisoned for 5 years
Day 13:
Having lost my dad at age 2, I developed a father-son relationship with Gen. George Washington.
Day 12:
I was a central figure in both the 1789 & 1830 French revolutionary uprisings.
Day 11:
In fighting for constitutional monarchy, I abandoned my lifelong friendship with King Charles X
Day 10:
Congress made me an honorary U.S. citizen in 2002. What an honor!
Day 9:
Via “Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen” I helped propel the French Revolution.
Day 8:
For negotiating peace, I was given the honorary name Kayewla by the Iroquois.
Day 7:
Lafayette College is the only American College named after me.
Day 6:
I was successful in restoring some civil rights to French Protestants
Day 5:
I married my wife, Adrienne, at age 16.
Day 4:
I also voiced support for revolutions in Greece, Poland, Italy, and South America
Day 3:
I endorsed the views of leading women writers and reformers of my day.
Day 2:
I was a member of anti-slavery societies in France and America
Day 1:
My full name is Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.