Philadelphia artist John Archibald Woodside was born in 1781, the same year that French and American troops marched through the city, passing the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) on their way to victory at Yorktown, Virginia. Nearly half a century later, a crowd of perhaps 100,000 people gathered to welcome the Marquis de Lafayette on his return to the scenes of his military service in the cause of American independence. This painted silk parade banner (signed and dated by the artist) was carried in a procession through the city’s streets by the "Victuallers of Philadelphia" — the butchers who supplied the residents, taverns, and inns with meat.