Selig on the Path from L’Hermione to Yorktown, 11 July

The Shirley-Eustis House in Roxbury is welcoming the French ship Hermione on 11 July with a lecture by Robert A. Selig titled “En Avant on Water and on Land: Lafayette, L’Hermione and the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route.”

On 28 April 1780, l’Hermione with the marquis de Lafayette on board sailed into Boston Harbor with news that the comte de Rochambeau [shown here] was on his way with enough French troops to decide the outcome of the American War of Independence.

In June 1781, Rochambeau’s troops joined their American allies under General Washington for the march to Yorktown where Lafayette was already waiting for them. L’Hermione joined them in late September. Their travels form the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail.

Selig is the National Park Service’s project historian for that historic trail. His talk thus ties together the Hermione’s crossing with Lafayette in 1780 to the decisive campaign of the next year.

That lecture starts at 2:00 and is free to all. There’s parking on the streets around the mansion.

Just before the lecture, the Shirley-Eustis House will host a special reception from 12:30 to 1:45 P.M. Tickets for that fundraising event are $25 per person, and space is limited. To reserve a space, call 617-442-2275 or email governorshirley@gmail.com.