34 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
BULLETIN 
LANDING OF GEN. LAFAYETTE AT CASTLE GARDEN, AUGUST 1824 
The tower at the right of the picture, jocularly referred to by Washington Irving as “the churn,” 
appears only in the older views of The Battery. It must have disappeared during the late ‘20s. 
From a drawing by Imbert, engraved by Sam’l Maverick. 
view, these splendid images, and he may form 
some idea of the coup d’oeil of this spectacle. .. . 
“At Lafayette 
entered the Castle, accompanied by his suite, 
and 
TENTS ese) ts 
about ten o'clock, General 
escorted by the committee of arrange- 
“Throughout the whole evening, the company 
amused themselves with cotillions, eighty sets 
being frequently on the floor at the same time, 
the dances being called, and closed by the 
bucleseee 
“At two o'clock in the morning, the General 
took leave of the company, and embarked on 
board the James Kent, in waiting for him at the 
Castle, being beautifully illuminated, and 
adorned with banners. . . 
“London boasts of its Vauxhall; Paris of its 
Champ d’Elysses; Naples, of San Carlos; but 
foreign gentlemen present, admitted that they 
never had seen anything to equal this féte, in 
the several countries to which they belong.” 
Making due allowance for the author’s en- 
thusiasm, it was evidently quite a demonstration 
for a city still able to find elbow room on the 
lower end of Manhattan Island. The Battery 
was then the social center of New York, Father 
Knickerbocker had not yet put on his seven 
league boots for the strides which were to leave 
Castle Garden socially far behind. Seventy 
years later when reconstructed into an aquarium 
its popularity returned. 
The following notes on the military history 
of the building are from documents sent by the 
War Department to the Director of the Aquarium 
in 1906. 
some of the earlier descriptions, it seems best 
In view of the fact that errors exist in 
to quote verbatim: 
“1. Many of the letters and reports of the 
period during which Castle Clinton was under 
construction and which would probably give in- 
formation concerning the progress of the work, 
are missing. The following extracts and notes 
furnish all the data found. 
“9. “As soon as a proper title can be obtained 
a foundation should be made round the Bastion 
of the Old Battery, where the Flag staff is placed 
extending about forty or fifty feet from the pres- 
ent. And upon this foundation, a Casemated 
Battery should be constructed in such manner, 
that the Gun upon the right, will take the North 
river, while that upon the left will range along 
the Courtine of the old Battery.’ (Instructions 
of the Secretary of War to Lieut. Col. J. Wil- 
liams, July 21, 1807, 58510/115.) 
“3. ‘On discovering the extent of the Water 
Lots granted to individuals for the purpose of a 
