es are joined by some lovely live ones, another disney donation. the wagon, not the girls. the girls are from schlitz, he said with gusto. as the last band passes an ocean of people falls in the line of march. then home for perhaps a picnic dinner and down to the lakefront for a gigantic display to end this day, a truly special day. our country's birthday. ♪ as the last of the rockets' red glare fades into the night sky, this city looks forward to next year when it celebrates a day in old milwaukee and becomes again america's fourth of july capital. >> you're watching american history tv 48 hours of programing on american history every weekend on c-span3. follow us on twitter

twitter @c-spanhistory. for a schedule of upcoming programs, and to keep up with the latest history news. each week american history tv's "american artifacts" takes you to museums and historic places. next, we travel to yorktown virginia, to witness the arrival from france of the tall sailing ship hermione. the ship is a replica of a military frigate that carried general marquis de lafayette in 1780 with a message of king louis xvi. the original hermione participated in the siege of yorktown in 1781. the journey was the beginning of a trip up the east coast of the u.s. with stops in major cities along the way. over the next hour, we will see remarks from american and french government representatives, interviews with crew members, and we will observe scenes and music from the arrival ceremony.

when we arrived on june 5th hermione was just emerging from the fog. [cannon fire]

[cheering]

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♪ [ applause ] [american national anthem playing] ♪

♪ [ applause ]

>> right turn, march left left, left right. left, left, left right. forward, march, left, left, left, right. left, left, left, right. left, left, left, right. >> i am tom shepherd, chairman of the york county board of supervisors. on behalf of my fellow board members, it is an honor to welcome you to the beautiful waterfront as we celebrate the is the arrival of the hermione, a replica of a ship that brought the marquis de lafayette to america to assist us in our fight for independence in 1780. we are all here today to welcome

the captain and the crew of the hermione and also to celebrate the human spirit and the drive to achieve, which is evident when you look at the pier and see the hermione docked. however, we are also here to celebrate a man of spirit, determination, and vision. i'm speaking of marquis de lafayette. [ applause ] when he sailed on the hermione in 1780, the marquis was no stranger to american shores. he had fought as a member of the continental army in the early years of our struggle for independence. on his return, in april of 1780, the marquis brought with him not only the promise from the king of france of additional support in the form of 6,000 troops and

seven ships, but also enduring friendship that has lasted centuries. the marquis resumed his place alongside general washington and the continental army and was among troops setting siege on the battle headquarters in yorktown in 1781. as you walk through yorktown you are walking in the footsteps of our nation's first president. and many frenchman who we owe our thanks for example, the marquis de lafayette, the comte de rochambeau and so many others. not only were they fighting in yorktown, but the hermione participated in the naval blockade and assault on the british forces from the york river. today we celebrate the french who gave so much during the forming of our nation.

the original hermione and their combined legacies. but we also celebrate the small group of individuals who first raised the possibility of reconstructing a replica of that ship called the frigate of freedom. and sailing her across the atlantic, we celebrate the people across the globe who have raised the necessary funds for building her. and we celebrate the cafeteriamen who toiled to construct the magnificent sailing vessel. finally, we celebrate the captain and crew of the hermione for a successful ocean crossing. together you have made history, and you deserve to be recognized. [ applause ] while we know that the ship was built in modern times, to us and

to yorktown it feels as though we are welcoming home an old friend. at this time, i would like to introduce our governor. it is my pleasure to his excellency, the honorable terrance r. mcauliffe the 72nd governor of the commonwealth of virginia. [ applause ] >> thank you. great to be here. >> thank you. >> thank you. good morning, everybody! all our folks here who have come from france, madam, minister, ambassador, admiral and everybody else, congressmen, welcome to the greatest state in the united states of america, the commonwealth of virginia. and if some of you poor souls are from one of those other 49 states use this as an opportunity to find a home and move here. because we truly are the

greatest. and if you're not at least spend all the money while you're here. welcome to yorktown. welcome to virginia. captain, it's great to be with you. dorothy and i just had an opportunity to tour the ship. she is spectacular. there are about 79 crew that came over. the original crew is about 250. it's amazing what you can do with a little modern technology. but it was a crew of about 79. and there are about 50 volunteers on that ship that came over. so i know we gave the captain a great round of applause. but they're all up on that ship sitting there. let's hear it for the crew that came over here. [ applause ] and captain, we thank your wisdom and forethought for obviously coming to yorktown first to the commonwealth. you will be heading off to mt. vernon and those tiny little states in maryland and pennsylvania and massachusetts, those irrelevant states. so captain, we commend you on

your brilliant choice of states to come to first. as we know, the original frigate that carried marquis de lafayette to america was built in 1779 and bragged a 32-gun artillery. it did not, as i just toured have two 400 horsepower italian engines that the frigate is now packing today. but at the time that ship could outsail and outgun any ship on the seas when it was on the sea. it was the pride of the french navy and the british navy was jealous of that ship. [ applause ] remember, i'm irish heritage. for americans, the arrival of this fantastic ship came with a promise of more ships and more frenchmen to fight alongside us on our cause and fight for liberty.

those men and ships were essential to our victory at yorktown. this was great news for general george washington particularly because the pledge of assistance was brought by one of his closest friends. the marquis first came to america in 1777 when he was just 19 years old. he was orphaned as a toddler. the marquis soon developed an affectionate bond with general washington, who at the time was 25 years his senior and did not have any children of his own. during the revolution, the marquis wore the blue uniform of major general in the continental army. it was more than just a young flashy aristocrat making a statement as washington quickly recognized. washington shared with the marquis even the most sensitive information that was withheld from other military officers, and the marquis kept a very close eye on the troops. in one case warning the general that a particular officer was

being extremely obnoxious in virginia. the letters and their friendship continued long after the revolution was over. indeed, general washington confided that he typically answered the marquis' letters as soon as they arrived. the marquis worried about the struggles of a new nation trying to define itself. washington worried about the young frenchman's safety in the turmoil that was going on in europe. the marquis pestered washington to please accept the presidency while washington insisted that the office of the presidency, quote, has no enticing charms. if they only knew. there were letters welcoming the marquis' new son who was named george washington lafayette. in another letter washington admitted that he was reluctant to visit his friend in paris because he did not speak the language and feared that the french women would find him

awkward. the two men even corresponded over their experience and in subjects of the famous french sculptor udon. and today both of those priceless works as you know, are in our rotunda in the capitol in richmond. the two men also debated profoundly serious issues confronting our nation. the marquis tried to persuade washington to free his own slaves in an effort to encourage a national emancipation. washington agreed with the goal but did not believe the country would accept it, and he let this crucial opportunity pass without acting. the marquis was brave enough and wise enough to see in his friend and in this new nation a greater good that we were able to willing to see in ourselves. we settled for less. the marquis' great sadness and our own regret for far too many years.

i'd like to think today that washington and his good friend would be pleased at the progress since this ship first arrived in america. but they would also urge us to continue our work, folks to make this commonwealth and this nation the place where all virginians and all americans have equal opportunities to success. six months before the marquis set sail on his return to america, washington wrote "your forward zeal in the cause of liberty, your singular attachment to this infant world and your strict and uniform friendship for me has ripened the first impregtss of esteem into such perfect love and gratitude that neither time nor absence can ever impair." the ship we welcome here today to virginia is the product of 17 years of dedication to the cause of liberty by so many individuals on both sides of the atlantic. it is also a tribute to a

friendship between two men and two countries. that has lasted for centuries. we celebrate this day with the assurance that we are both stronger and better because of that friendship. thank you for being here today and to the french thank you for all that you have done for the united states of america. thank you. [ applause ] now, ladies and gentlemen, i would like to introduce mr. miles young. he is president of the friends of the hermione lafayette in america. he lives in new york, his adopted home. and when he speaks, you will understand what i mean by adopted. and is chairman and ceo of ogilvie and mater, one of the

most historic advertising and communication companies in the world. mr. young? [ applause ] >> your excellency the governor and chairman shepherd, madam the story of the hermione operates at many levels. on one level, it symbolizes a tipping point in history. the journey which brought the news to general washington of wholehearted french support to the american insurgents. how appropriate it is that the hermione has arrived here in yorktown because that news led to the decisive presence of the expedition here at the end game of the revolutionary war where the hermione on the seaside and lafayette on the landside were reunited. but at another level, it is the story of modern day audacity. lafayette's motto "why not?"

describes this well. why not build a completely authentic replica of a french 18th century frig gate and sail her to the united states? that was the question even a little bit crazy that a few visionaries asked almost 20 years ago. >> you know, i'm a historian by academic background. i read history. i suppose i could be called a businessman right now. i profoundly believe in the value of the humanities and the importance of history. so people who say we only need science graduates in my view are very, very wrong. history is a living thing, but it has to be worked at and it has to be taught. there is a great danger that this story was being forgotten. if you speak to most americans, they do not remember that there were more french people here fighting in yorktown that there were americans in 1781. they don't remember that it was

that support of louis xvi who entrusted a message through lafayette to washington to a war that other was going to be lost. bringing those things back to people's memory, public history public memory is to me something fascinating. so when the project was originally conceived it was always imagined that she would sail to america to repeat the voyage in a sense that the original hermione made, to come here and to fight here. the ship took a long time to build. but at some stage in the last third of the period, an american group started to go here. and then i was asked to come in. i came in two years ago. and since then, we've set up committees in 11 ports. so our job is to raise money. we've had to raise about $3 million to pull it off. we've had to arrange the port visits. we've had to liaise with the ports, the governments. we've had to create an educational and cultural program around it. we've had to create a website, a social media program, and all

the things that make into it a genuine public history project. it started in people's minds in the late '90s. because the original hermione had fought here. it went back to france. it then went to the indian ocean and it fought in the battles of costa madras returned to france fought in the revolutionary wars, and then it founded on a reef off the coast of brittanie. in the late 90s the remains were found again. but they weren't sufficiently extent to permit some sort of raising. but it was enough to provoke an idea, well, what is this ship? and why couldn't we reconstruct it? then it was taken up. roche fort was the original french naval docks. the first hermione was built in roquefort. the mayor of rochefort saw this as an economic regeneration project.

the idea developed from there. it got some backers outside of rochefort and a erik orsenna, the famous author became the figurehead. actually, the man was right. 400 million came in to rochefort and put the town back on the map again. it's an interesting example of how heritage can pay. it was very difficult to build because some of these skills are not very obvious. and the decision had always been made that this should be a very authentic replica. so there are some concessions to modernity. there is an engine there is some radar. there is a force by security guards and health and safety. there are some metal bolts in the substructure of the hull but otherwise very, very little compromise. you to find thousands of french oak trees. and they have to be shaped like this so they could form the hull. well, in the old french naval forests, they were trained to grow the right way.

they were grown along water courses so they would naturally bend. then you need a joint. you need a tree that grows like that but has a joint like that. you only use the seconds. so how do you find those? in today's world? it took ten years to find the oak, the french oak that made the ship what it is. there are some other skills that have disappeared. some of them came from sweden because sweden does have a tradition of creating authentic tour ships. goatburg, for instance. but otherwise a lot of skills around rochefort, the sail making the rigging, for instance, the cannons were founded in the original cannon foundry. so it took time because the decision was made not to compromise. >> how can you crystallize the importance of lafayette for american history? >> at one level he was an american founding father.

but it doesn't really tell you the guts of the thing. he was a youth, a crazy youth who had the idea that the american war was a good, just war. came across as a teenager befriended washington. he then fought gallantly. he became something of a confidante of washington. washington trusted him. used him a little bit as a spy within the camp to tell him if other people were being defeatist or gossiping or whatever. and then washington entrusted him to go in a sense on a lobbying mission back to france. you know lafayette's motto was "why not?" so he had this sense of nothing is impossible. an enormous sense of self-confidence. that spirit, that can-do spirit is something like in my view of the american spirit, the american dream. so he operates at a number of different levels at the kind of more normal level but also

something a little bit spiritual about what sort of person he was that he could defy all odds in a way. ♪ he had a checkered life after that. he was a personality in the revolution. and in some senses, he was quite famous and admirable. he is the one who was present at the bastille. he sent george washington a key which is still in the hallway in mt. vernon. but another point in the revolution, he kind of bottled out, i would say a little bit

and he trimmed and he wasn't quite sure where he was. he more or less lost the king and queen their lives. he could have protected them. they had protected him actually in the past. so he didn't come out so well in the revolution. but then he went of course to prison. he was captured by the austrians, sent to prison, terrible conditions. his amazing wife adrienne went and joined him with their two daughters, one named virginie after virginia. she got ill as a result of, that eventually died. they all went back to france. napoleon shuffled them off to the countryside. didn't want to have anything to do with them. just wanted to keep him quiet. had no love for the restored monarchy. but when phillipe came to power, lafayette had a second period of greatness. he was instrumental certainly in the early phases of the july monarchy as a liberal. and of course he came back to the states in 1824-'25.

he had a heroic suit here. i'm in the advertising business. and that is one of the great marketing programs in history, the marketing, the branding of lafayette on his return to the united states. you could buy everything from a shoe brush to a comb with his name on it. i think there are other 40 towns or cities named after lafayette, streets, squares, blah blah blah. so he became i think at that point an american icon and america recognized this amazing role that he played. ♪ >> in every nation, the sailors

had different songs for different tasks. so there are songs to put the sails, songs to arrive songs to start and departures and songs for arrivals. and so we choose between hundreds, we choose five, which was the one we preferred. and with a lot of pleasure to sing it. we sing it when we are running out in parties you know, because the advantage of a sailor song is you can sing it very loud. you can yell it. and if you sing not very well, it's okay, it's okay. ♪

[ applause ] >> how did you find yourself here doing this? >> i visited the ship once and they told well, we are looking for a crew. and for me that was kind of a dream, a kid's dream because i grow up in city in brittany and this is a city of france. so it's just a stone city with ramparts. and i spent hours and hours playing with that kind of ship in mind, you know, looking at the sea and dreaming to see one coming. and it came. she came. and i'm on in. it's really a kid's dream that comes true. >> were you on the crossing? >> yeah, yeah i was on the crossing. i boarded in spain, las palmas.

and so we did the 34 days which is four days better than the first hermione. but she didn't have engines we had. so equality between the two. >> i am from france. i'm 32. i spent the past eight years living in canada. and every time i've took the plane to go back and forth, i thought one daily do that as a real immigrant and come by boat. i never -- i never imagined i would do that on a tall ship, square rigging tall ship. i had everything to learn and i learned absolutely everything on that boat. and it's amazing.

how much we have learned and how much we have accomplished in such a short amount of time. >> woodrow west from central pennsylvania. one of the really amazing things of sailing ships of just this period and just before ships are machines that move by human hands. and everything we do here, we're all doing by hand. we make the rope. well tie the rigging together. well set the sails, we go aloft we douse the sails. so it's all really just a human speed across the ocean. and this ship, she is a little faster than 2 1/2 knots. we had her cooking along. but still, it's not much faster than human speed. and today's lifestyle is very, very fast. we're always moving. we're always trying to do things. we're catching up with people. and there is none of that at sea. we're just going. we're in our own community. and we have to learn old things again. >> and you don't have a choice

but live in the moment. and that's something we rarely have the luxury to do when we are on land. >> and of course from the historical standpoint, the importance of this ship is because it could have been any ship that was rebuilt by the town of rochefort but they chose hermione and there is the relationship to the states and their importance of the relationship with washington. i can it's a tremendous moment for all of us, particularly like those franco americans to understand that great things happened from this ship being built, from it being sailed across by the 320 i think that were aboard that ship when she came, to the understanding that those two countries came to. and the thing that came to me which i had not learned in school was that lafayette was 19 when he first crossed the ocean, and he taught himself english on that crossing to return with

this ship. and it was astounding to me what a young individual like him with the opportunities granted that he had was able to accomplish. and i think to my children i extended that lesson. and i hope that when people come to visit the ship they reflect a little bit about what is possible to accomplish with a small number of people and even a small number of young people if they set their mind to it. >> it's about accomplishing your dreams. >> yeah. yeah. a lot of people on board had dreams to do this. >> yeah. and sometimes you don't allow yourself to dream or to dream that you would accomplish your dreams actually. that's what we're doing here. that's a good lesson for everyone. >> so what made you get involved in sailing hermione from france to america? >> because i'm from the place. >> larochefort? >> yes.

so rochefort is very near. and i saw the ship building. i saw like a whale skeleton. >> right. >> a whale skeleton. that's a great way to put it. >> yes. >> a naked whale skeleton. >> yes. and i was already thinking i would like to sail on that ship so i applied very early. and then i applied again, applied again. and the ship was in europe and getting mast. and i applied again. and this time it worked. it was great, yes. i didn't believe. >> like why not? >> yes. if you don't ask you will never have. >> just like lafayette. >> yes. sure. and it's a pleasure to be part of that. >> it's an honor to have you here and your whole ship's company. >> yes. everybody is so happy to have

time to visit the usa. >> for me it's been a dream that has taken about 40 years to accomplish. i have wanted to cross the atlantic for that long. and when the opportunity to crew aboard the ship came around, i started to train for it. i started to learn more about square riggers that i had never sailed on before. for me this was a goal to accomplish. and i feel great that i'm here. >> what's it like being in the middle of the atlantic on a ship like this? >> you know, it gives you a lot of time to think and a lot of time to reflect upon what you do during the rest of the time that you're ashore. and it's also an opportunity to get to know the group that's aboard, the community that forms aboard a ship is really fascinating to watch it evolve and to find the understanding that people come to, the 80 people aboard to how you're going run the ship and how you're going to work with each other to make it an enjoyable

experience. and it does. we've created strong bonds from friendships that i know will last for a very long time. >> we had gusts but not so strong, 30 to 75 knots. and strongest was 45 knots. but only shrunk. and at that time, everybody was so excited, we have the weather now. okay let's go to tie the sails. that was great. yes.

>> no there were no women aboard the original ship. i know there used to be women on ships that were going through cape horn, wives actually. but there were not working to maneuver the ship. it's pretty -- it's pretty cool that there are women on this ship today. we are 33% of the crew is made of women, yeah.

and the captain usually works. his mate is a woman as well. and i know he likes that because it counts -- it counts the crew. i think it's easier to manage a crew not made just out of men for too long. ♪ ♪

>> it gives me great pleasure. representing france, i am delighted to introduce minister royale the minister of ecology, sustainable development and energy. she has held the position since 2014. miss royale has occupied several ministerial posts between 1992 and 2000. she chaired from april 2004 to 2014, and has remained a regional counselor since may 2014. ms. royale holds a degree in economics and was the runner-up to the french presidency in 2007. madam royale. [ applause ]

>> governor mrs. mcauliffe, congressman whitman captain. [ speaking french ] dear friends of hermione ladies and gentlemen, i am very happy to join you here today in welcoming the hermione on behalf of the president of the french republic and the french government. and as minister in charge of the sea and sustainable development. may i add how proud i am that this extraordinary adventure came to fruition in part thanks to the support of my region. today a dream becomes reality. a dream of thousands of

volunteers led by benedict donnelly. involved for more than ten years. a dream of territories and their citizens the department of maritime and the city of rochefort. a dream for 50 small portions specialized in all handicraft to rebuild the ship the way it was in 1870. the island work and the foundry of guns. a dream for four million visitors to the sites of the building over the last ten years. a dream for the vacationer students whom i asked to make the furniture for the ship.

a dream i will want all our american friends to share. thanks to the dedication of the team. many thanks to yorktown for its warm welcome. and to the hermione crew, to its captain, to its experienced sailors and to each 100 young volunteers. lafayette was hardly 20 years older when he crossed the atlantic for the first time to side with the american insurgents. in paris, he pleaded for the cause of the country he would forever consider his second homeland. he returned on board hermione bringing with him the good news. the eminent arrival of troops and warships sent by france. the victory of yorktown obtained

by the american and french troops fighting together sealed the fate of the war. upon returning to france in 1782 lafayette fervently shared his admiration of american institutions. he named his son george washington and christened one of his daughters virginie in homage to the valiant virginians. the voyage of hermione was the pivotal moment that founded this fraternal alliance between the united states and france. an alliance that never failed each time vital stakes were at play. first the cause of freedom in the new world.

then in two different conflicts the liberation of france and of europe. as president obama said when the new hermione sailed from the coast of france for more than two centuries the united states and france have stood united in freedom we owe to one another. from the fields where revolution was won to the beaches where the liberation of a continent began generations of our peoples have defended the ideals that guide us overcoming the darkness of oppression and injustice with the light of liberty and equality time and again. now, mr. governor --

[ applause ] mr. governor i will -- the declaration of the rights of men and of the citizens that i gave to the hermione crew when she sailed from rochefort last april. this founding text was largely inspired by your declaration of independence. it was lafayette who first proposed to our constituent in 1789 that it adopt the declaration of rights. i wanted to symbolically bring this important text to the land that gave it its impetus.

as lafayette wrote for freedom to thrive, men will always have to rise up and shake off indifference and resignation. long live our friendship. thank you. [ applause ] [ applause ] ♪

>> the french! [ applause ] ♪ ♪

>> how did you prepare to do

this trip? >> well, as i'm working, i cannot be here every day and every time. so when i've got time, when i've got some or holidays or weekend, i come about 4 or 500 kilometers from paris and i camp nearby with the other members of the crew and we spend some days preparing the ship for the crossing and learning how it works. making knots and building the rigging and so you learn like that. the sailors learn you and show you -- we have exceptional crew. regular crew there. really great great great. we have a bussen who worked on a ship like that in sweden.

but at the same time artist crew member an may tos and so you learn very past with people like him. >> my day job is sailing ships like this. i've worked with the man that designed and built this rigging and so for like 8 or 10 months i worked with him. a few weeks before sailing i was invited to come aboard the ship and go across the atlantic. >> how difficult is the work? >> depends on what age you are. and the weather. what we said earlier is really important. >> it's the team work. individually and even in a group of five or six people you go up on one of these it's not going to happen. the main sail is 800 kilograms dry and wet it's a ton.

it takes 30 to 35 pop working together in order to get the sail. it's the ability -- it's probably one of the hardest things to do. especially when the wind is blowing and gets down to sign language, body language it's -- that was one thing i did not anticipate being an issue. it's very, very important. >> there's lots of different jobs to do on the ship. do you have favorite jobs to do on the ship? >> yeah, your 47 meters up in the air.

just there's nothing around you but air. sail below you and you're standing on a 20 millimeter foot rope and yeah your life is depending on the ropes that hold you up there. so for me it's relaxing and calming to be in that place. >> the only moment of alone time you can get on board is also when you're on watch and you're at the end of the bow and you're by yourself. sometimes at night. and you spend just one hour by yourself at the -- you're outside the ship actually. and it's beautiful and it's quite. that's a nice moment as well. >> i concur with them and for me helming the ship was a wonderful

experience because she's so reactive and gentle at the helm. the visibility that you have from the after deck out on to the ship it distracted me some what and now i want to go up the next wave. but she sails beautiful and it was a lot of fun. >> why is it important to do what you're doing? >> well it's quite a difficult question because it's spatial relationships between the two countries i think and this -- -- but personally i hope that people are just going to dream. they're just going to feel they

want to come here because it's possible we have three american on board. we can do it. i hope the kids will dream and their parents will know the maritime culture all over the world. to me it's more than a diplomatic question between france and usa. it's really more than that. it's cultural and just you know, for minute just a minute of pleasure. some people leave and i don't know what it is in america but in france when we tell or talk about it they're just smiling and this really -- this really please us. that's why i hope.

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