Two hundred years ago today the Marquis de Lafayette, as part of a tour of the rapidly-expanding United States, visited the capital of Alabama, Cahawba. Sitting at the convergence of the Alabama and Cahawba rivers, this river city was the center of Alabama political life, and this was perhaps its high water mark — hosting the last of Washington’s generals! (Alas, later in the year the state capital would move owing to flooding and mosquito-born diseases.) In celebration, the Alabama Historical Commission arranged for a reenactment of his visit to Cahawba, with volunteers dressed in period or “eh, it’ll pass muster” dress pretending to be the townspeople of Cahaba, and other volunteers dressed as dignitaries of the day, including the mayor and secretary of state. The event had a good turnout, and Selma and Dallas County’s current dignitaries put in a showing. The Marquis was greeted by the Alabama National Guard playing “Lafayette’s March”, penned by someone with a Cahawba connection. While talking to the “Marquis”, I learned that Louisana had a role in the land war during the Revolution, something I should check out. I was delighted to run into some of my former history professors from Montevallo. Cahawba remained a significant town in Alabama during the prewar era, but steadily lost more influence to its rising neighbor Selma, who in 1866 claimed the title of county seat from Cahawba: today it is a ghost town and archaeological park.