The American Friends of Lafayette

10/18/2026

Negotiating the Terms of Surrender in Yorktown

Commissioners meet at the Moore House. The British send Lt. Col. Thomas Dundas and Major Alexander Ross. The allies send the Viscomte do Noilles (Lafayette's brother-in-law) and Colonel John Laurens.

The British argue the terms for many hours, but to no avail.

The Articles of Capitulation were terms for the surrender of Cornwallis's British army. The 14 articles directed the surrender from the disposition of the troops, artillery, and arms, to even the surrender ceremony itself.

By the afternoon of October 19th, 1781, both commanders had signed the Articles of Capitulation, and the defeated British army was marching out from Yorktown to lay down their arms, ending the last major battle of the American Revolution.

Source: https://www.nps.gov/york/learn/historyculture/mooorehouseandarticle.htm

10/17/2026

How did the French military help secure American independence, and how did the victory at Yorktown reshape the global balance of power?

Today’s program at the Gloucester Fine Arts Museum featured Major General (ret.) Vincent de Kytspotter, who explored the French-American military campaign from 1777 to 1783 and the lasting significance of the Siege of Yorktown.

An armored cavalry officer by training, MG (ret.) de Kytspotter served 37 years in the French military, including nine years in the United States as Deputy Defense Attaché and Military Adviser in Washington and New York. He recently published a book examining the decisive French-American victory at Yorktown in October 1781.

Moving beyond traditional narratives, his presentation examined the Franco-American alliance and how this pivotal partnership reshaped the global balance of power and altered Europe’s geopolitical landscape.

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the program offered a timely opportunity to revisit the defining chapter in French-American history and the military partnership that helped shape the modern world.

10/17/2026

Lafayette Visits Washington's Tomb at Mount Vernon

"Lafayette descended alone in the vault, and a few minutes thereafter reappeared, with his eyes overflowing with tears. He took his son and me by the hand, and led us into the tomb... We knelt reverentially near his coffin, which we respectfully saluted with our lips; rising, we mingled our tears with his.”

In the years of the early republic, Washington’s tomb served as an important site of pilgrimage. One of the earliest prominent visitors to Washington’s tomb was the Marquis de Lafayette.

Lafayette visited Mount Vernon several times during 1824 and 1825 as part of his celebrated Triumphal Tour of America. However, the Nathaniel Currier print is inaccurate, as Lafayette’s visit to Mount Vernon occurred 13 years before Washington’s re-internment in the New Tomb, which is shown in the print. Lafayette instead would have paid his respects to Washington at his original burial spot. (shown here)

10/17/2026

October 17, 2024: The Last Goodbye to George Washington

The American Friends of Lafayette, Mount Vernon Staff, and Lafayette to commemorated the bicentennial of Lafayette’s visit to George Washington’s tomb in 2024.

Lafayette. Words at the Tomb of Washington. [Mt. Vernon, October 17, 1824]
“The feelings, which on this awful moment oppress my heart don’t leave me the power of utterance. I can only thank you, my dear Custis for your precious gift and pray a silent homage to the tomb of the greatest and best of men, my paternal friend.”

Lafayette thanks George Washington’s adopted son, George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857), for giving him a sprig of Cyprus plucked from the tomb of George Washington. An 1829 account by Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette’s personal secretary, describes Lafayette’s 1824 visit to Washington’s grave:
“the tomb is scarcely perceived amid the somber cypresses... Lafayette descended alone in the vault, and a few minutes thereafter reappeared, with his eyes overflowing with tears. He took his son and me by the hand, and led us into the tomb... We knelt reverentially near his coffin, which we respectfully saluted with our lips; rising, we mingled our tears with his”.

https://www.facebook.com/HistoricMountVernon/


Photos by Jan O’Sullivan

10/17/2026

Marquis de Pumpkin 🎃 and Gourd Washington

Great work on these fabulous carvings Jon Bennett and Wrigley.

10/16/2026

Cornwallis Decides to Try to Escape from Yorktown (and Failed)

On October 16, the British tried two desperate moves.

Early that morning, they attacked the allied center, attempted to silence a French Battery, but the French cannons were firing again in less than six hours.

Late that night, they tried to evacuate Yorktown by crossing the York River in small boats to Gloucester Point. A violent windstorm arose at midnight, however, scattering the boats and forcing an abandonment of the escape.

Realizing the situation was hopeless, Cornwallis sent forth a British drummer on October 17, followed by a British officer with a white flag and note indicating a request for a cease fire. A number of notes passed between Cornwallis and Washington that day as they set the framework for the surrender.

sources: https://allthingsliberty.com/2020/04/what-they-saw-and-did-at-yorktowns-redoubts-9-and-10/

https://www.nps.gov/york/learn/historyculture/history-of-the-siege.htm

10/16/2026

10/15/2026

Speaking of… the Yorktown Campaign.

Join us Saturday, October 17, as Major General (Ret.) Vincent de Kytspotter, PhD, launches FAMG’s new Speaking of… series with a look at the Yorktown Campaign, the Battle of the Capes, and the Siege of Yorktown.

We’re delighted to kick off the series alongside the Gloucester Museum of History and Gloucester Tourism, bringing even more of Gloucester’s story into the conversation.

Saturday, October 17 | 2 PM
Fine Arts Museum of Gloucester

📅 Saturday, October 17
🕑 2:00 PM
📍 Fine Arts Museum of Gloucester

Come curious. The conversation starts here.