Page 59
History of Orange County
Town of Newburgh
Page 59
RECEPTION OF GENERAL MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE.
In pursuance of previous arrangements, on Tuesday evening, September 13, 1824, about seven o’clock, the beacons on the mountains opposite were lighted, and gave joyful proclamation that General La Fayette would arrive in this village on the morrow. The Vesuvian appearance of these fires, reflected from shore to shore in the still waters of the Hudson, in two long, trembling columns, was both grand and beautiful in the extreme.
In Newburgh very considerable preparations had been made. Two lofty arches, gaily decorated with green branches and flowers had been thrown across Water street. From one, near the store of Messrs. Reeve & Falls, were suspended the following inscriptions. Facing the north:
“Hail La Fayette, Son of Liberty, hail!
Welcome once more to the land of the free;
Where remembrance of the and thy deeds will prevail,
And thy name with Washington’s hallowed shall be.”
On the reverse, towards the south:
“Hail to the Nation’s Guest!
The Veteran Hero’s welcome here
Where Washington dismissed
His soldiers from their bright career.”
On a second, opposite the store of Mr. B. Carpenter, could be read “La Fayette and Liberty! Welcome Illustrious Chief!” In Colden street, a third displayed the following noble sentiment and language of La Fayette, shortly after the close of the Revolution: “May this great monument raised to Liberty be an encouragement to the oppressed and a warning to the oppressor.” A fourth arch, equal in tasteful construction to any of the others, was extended across Smith street, and bore under a banner the simple, but touching words: “Our Friend and Hero, La Fayette.” The fifth and last bore the memorable figures, “1776.” Opposite the house of Mr. R. Gardiner a verdant wreath stretching over the street exhibited: “Thrice Welcome La Fayette! Columbia’s bright Occidental Star.” At the Orange Hotel the Long Room had been splendidly ornamented for the occupation of the General, and he was pleased to remark that its appearance exceeded in elegance any other that he had entered in America. We are proud to repeat and record this tribute to the taste of the ladies of our village, and we are sure that they cannot desire a better reward for their exertions. At an early hour on Wednesday morning hundreds began to hasten to the village from the adjacent towns, and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, we presume that not less than ten thousand people were assembled about our streets and wharves in every direction. Four companies of cavalry under the command of Col. Charles C. Brodhead were very conspicuous. One company of infantry from Fishkill Landing, under Capt. Stevens, and another from Washingtonville, commanded by Capt. Wyatt, added touch to the parade of the occasion. Three companies of Newburgh Infantry led by Capt. Myer, and Lieuts. Smith and Carpenter, were much admired, and we cannot avoid mingling our regrets with those of every person present, that the late hour of the General’s arrival should have prevented the military display, with which, as a soldier, he would have otherwise been gratified. But the steamboat which conveyed him from New York, most unfortunately ran aground on her passage for three hours, and it was near seven in the evening when she arrived at the dock of Messrs. Reeve & Falls. The troops were drawn up ready to receive him, and his landing was announced by a national salute from a pair of six pounders. He was welcomed by the committee of arrangement, and presented to Maj. Gen. Smith and suit and to Col. J. W. Brown and officers commanding the battalion of infantry. On entering his barouche the procession moving through Colden, First, and Smith streets to the Orange Hotel; the bells rang forth a merry peal of welcome, and many houses were hastily illuminated as the troops passed, but the imposing effect of their appearance during the day was almost entirely lost.
At the door he was received by the chairman of the committee, and conducted to the Long Room, where he was presented to the Corporation of the Village, and addressed by the President, Francis Crawford, Esq., as follows:
General La Fayette,—Permit me sir, in behalf of my fellow citizens, to congratulate you on your safe arrival in our country, after an absence of more than 40 years. We still remember with gratitude, your services and sufferings, in defence of our country; your fellow citizens, anxious to see the man of whom they have heard so much, have hastened to this places to testify their attachment to your person, and acknowledge their deep sense of the obligation they owe you.
Although, Sir, at this place you will not find Washington, and your former companions in arms, you will meet an ardent people who love you.— Although you will not find (in our vicinity) those soldiers, whose enthusiastic love of liberty, led them to encounter every danger, without the hope of reward, you will meet a small remnant of that army, who, forgetting their age and wounds, have travelled to a distance from their homes, to welcome the arrival of their old commander. And you will meet the children (of those men who boasted, when living, that they had fought by your side, in Carolina, at Brandywine, at Yorktown; and were fed and clothed at your expense, when languishing with disease, or sinking under the severity of a rigorous climate.
When you first arrived in our country and offered us your helping hand, our friends were few—our enemies many and powerful; our cities and shores were occupied by hostile fleets and armies—dismay and disunion had in same measure spread through our country—but your presence re-animated our drooping spirits, our gloomy prospects disappeared; the contest was resumed with renewed ardor, and finally complete victory and success ensued. The debt of gratitude we owe to you and those men who risked their lives and fortunes in our behalf, we nor our children’s children can never repay.
Our last wish and prayer will be, that your health may be preserved; your useful life prolonged that you may long enjoy the gratitude of your American children while here, and be crowned with imperishable and immortal honors hereafter.
To which the General replied, in substance: That he returned the corporation and the inhabitants of the village of Newburgh his sincere thanks for the kind reception he met with from them, and for the remembrance of his former services. That he regretted extremely that he could not have arrived at an earlier hour. That it would have given him the greatest pleasure to have visited the house so long tenanted by the great Washington, and the ground where the American army had encamped. That he felt the greatest satisfaction at the growth of our village, and the increase of its population, and the prosperity and happiness of our country in general.