Marquis de Lafayette in Trenton

Congress received a letter from the Marquis de Lafayette on December 6, requesting an opportunity to take formal leave December 11, before returning to France. It was referred to a three-man committee chaired by John Jay of New York, which reported back on Thursday, December 9. They recommended appointment of a committee, consisting of one member from each state, to receive Lafayette. A further motion directed that a letter to the King of France be drafted, "to be signed by his Excellency the President of Congress, expressive of the high sense, which the United States in Congress assembled, entertain of the zeal, talents and meritorious services of the Marquis of Fayette (sic), and recommending him to the favour and patronage of his Majesty." The New Jersey Legislature, for its part, received Lafayette in joint session the same day. The New-Jersey Gazette of December 27 reported the texts of the Legislature's address and Lafayette's reply.

[credit: engraving from Benson J. Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, Vol. II, 1850]