Was Peter with Lafayette in Williamsburg in October 1824?

Preparing for the SDPF meeting in Williamsburg in October 2016, I was asked to find out if Peter actually came to that town with Lafayette in October 1824, during the marquis' ceremonial visit to the United States. I contacted some fifteen scholarly or historical societies in searching this information; the following reports are in accounts provided me by The Society of the Cincinnati.

In preparing to honor Lafayette during his visit to Virginia in 1824, the Governor invited Peter, along with many other notables, to join the official suite escorting the marquis. We know from Dr. Benjamin Francisco's biography of his father that Peter rode on horseback to Yorktown to be at the anniversary ceremonies. There is an eyewitness account of “an old soldier" being warmly greeted by Lafayette at Yorktown and telling him that "I fought alongside DeKalb." This almost certainly was Peter, who fought – and rescued a cannon -- at Camden where DeKalb was in command. Also, Dr. Ben's description of his own and his siblings' introduction to Lafayette by his father proves that Peter was with the marquis in Petersburg when that meeting occurred. Finally, there is a note in a news report that Peter was in Richmond at the place assigned to him during ceremonies there.

Unfortunately, none of this is direct proof that Peter accompanied Lafayette to Williamsburg. But given the facts of the Governor's invitation and Dr. Ben's biography, I am almost completely confident in stating that Peter was, indeed, at Williamsburg with Lafayette in October 1824.

~Don Pruitt, PFS Member~