There’s something to be said for a man who made his way to the American colonies on his own dime simply because he’d read the Declaration of Independence, in French, and was inspired to fight for the rights of man.

That man was the Marquis de Lafayette and for those who’d like to know more about the Frenchman who served under General George Washington from Valley Forge to Yorktown and then returned in 1824 for a 13-month journey through 14 states, check out “Meet the Marquis de Lafayette” on Sunday, July 13 at St. John’s Church in Church Hill.

Living historian Charles Wissinger will portray Lafayette after the 1:30 p.m. reenactment at St. John’s. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in theatrical and performing arts, Wissinger was asked to join the Historic St. John’s Church cast recreating the Second Virginia Convention where Patrick Henry gave his famous speech. Within just a few months of acting in that show, he was asked if he’d ever considered doing living history presentations. That was 2003 and he’s been doing them ever since.

“Great Warrior”

Turns out Lafayette was a pretty fascinating guy. Descended from a long line of career officers, he was destined to be the same. At age 13, he attended the Collège du Plessis and later the Académie de Versailles and as a Marquis, he attended dinners and meetings with foreign ambassadors and dignitaries. At several of those engagements, he spoke with Benjamin Franklin and Silas Dean, both of whom encouraged him to find a way to get to America. He began learning English on his first voyage to the New World.

Wissinger sees Lafayette’s best qualities as also being his worst. A true redhead, Lafayette was passionate, headstrong, determined, and adventurous, all of which helped him while he was in the colonies. “But all these traits and qualities also caused him to be very outspoken,” Wissinger says. “Not everyone agreed with his points of view, and this led to several people thinking that he spoke too freely.”

The American Indians, on the other hand, had a different opinion. Tribes that fought with Lafayette in several states, including Pennsylvania and Virginia, passed down stories of how great they thought he was. The Oneida Indian Nation gave Lafayette the name “Kayewla,” which translates to “Great Warrior” in their language.

In 1824, when Lafayette was making his last grand tour of the 24 states, he stayed with several tribes. While crossing the river from Georgia into Alabama he climbed into his carriage to ride off the ship, but the carriage stopped on the wet shore. “The Indians quickly rushed to pick up the carriage and carry Lafayette further inland because they didn’t want such a great figure to have to step on poor soil,” Wissinger says. “This embarrassed Lafayette, but it illustrated the great respect that Lafayette had for the Indians, and they for him.”

Lafayette was shot in the leg at Brandywine while leading soldiers in a successful retreat. His action saved more lives to be able to fight another day. “His aides tried to remove him from the battlefield,” Wissinger says. “But he refused to leave until the last American soldier left the field.”

That kind of heroism has resulted in U.S. history holding Lafayette in the highest esteem, even today. Some historians believe that if not for Lafayette, the colonies wouldn’t have won the war because he was instrumental in battles, often using the strategy he learned from the Indians. “He used those techniques, which we associate with guerilla warfare, here in Virginia,” says Wissinger. “He also helped convince his King to come to our defense.”

Education through entertainment

Lafayette ‘s character was also on display off the battlefields. Recognizing the intelligence of an enslaved man who could read and write, Lafayette asked him to be a spy inside the British camp. That slave got close enough to British General Cornwallis that Cornwallis also recognized his intelligence and asked him to be a spy. Lafayette sent misinformation to Cornwallis while this slave gathered the real information to give to Lafayette. Wissinger refers to him as “our country’s first double agent.”

While in Richmond in 1824, Lafayette saw the man in the crowd and stopped to embrace him. This man, still enslaved, was shocked, not just by the actions of Lafayette, but that Lafayette remembered his name. “With Lafayette’s help, the man earned his freedom and asked to take Lafayette’s name as his own,” says Wissinger. “Lafayette was honored and freely gave him his last name: James Armistead Lafayette.”

Wissinger is convinced that Americans aren’t learning American history. He points to how school teaches us names and dates to memorize for tests, but teachers aren’t always given the opportunity to elaborate. The result? Many people find history boring.

“I educate through entertainment to keep history alive,” he says. “And if, after seeing my presentation, watching the movie ‘Glory,’ the miniseries ‘Band of Brothers,’ or the musical ‘Hamilton,’ people are inspired to go out and do their own research to learn the real events behind the stories, then I’ve done what I set out to do.”

“Meet the Marquis de Lafayette” takes place on Sunday, July 13 at 2:45 p.m. at St. John’s Church, 2401 East Broad Street. Tickets