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Sep 29, 2023 · Marquis de Lafayette is important to United States history for the role he played in the American Revolutionary War, helping gain the nation’s independence from Great Britain. He went on to be an advocate for constitutional monarchies and the abolition of slavery.
- Randal Rust
- Overview
- Early life and the American Revolution
Marquis de Lafayette (born September 6, 1757, Chavaniac, France—died May 20, 1834, Paris) French aristocrat who fought in the Continental Army with the American colonists against the British in the American Revolution. Later, as a leading advocate for constitutional monarchy, he became one of the most powerful men in France during the first few yea...
Lafayette was born into an ancient noble family in the Auvergne region of central France. Orphaned in his early teens, he had already inherited an immense fortune by the time he married Adrienne de Noailles, the daughter of the influential duc d’Ayen in 1774. He joined the circle of young courtiers at the court of King Louis XVI but soon aspired to win glory as a soldier. Hence, he traveled at his own expense to the American colonies, arriving in Philadelphia in July 1777, 27 months after the outbreak of the American Revolution. With no combat experience and not yet 20 years old, Lafayette was nonetheless appointed a major general in the Continental Army, and he quickly struck up a lasting friendship with the American commander in chief, George Washington. The childless general and the orphaned aristocrat seemed an unlikely pair, but they soon developed a surrogate father-son relationship. It was as thus that Lafayette distinguished himself among a large colourful group of European soldiers of fortune and idealists—among them Frederick William, Freiherr von Steuben, of Prussia and Tadeusz Kościuszko and Kazimierz Pułaski of Poland—who had joined the Continental Army to fight for American independence. The more Washington saw of the young Frenchman, the more impressed he was and the closer the two became.
Lafayette served on Washington’s staff for six weeks, and, after fighting with distinction at the Battle of the Brandywine, near Philadelphia, on September 11, 1777, he was given command of his own division. He conducted a masterly retreat from Barren Hill on May 28, 1778. Returning to France in February 1779, he worked with American emissaries Benjamin Franklin and John Adams to help persuade the government of Louis XVI to send additional troops and supplies to aid the colonists. Lafayette arrived back in America in April 1780 with the news that 6,000 infantry under the command of the comte de Rochambeau, as well as six ships of the line, would soon arrive from France. He was given command of an army in Virginia, and in 1781 he conducted hit-and-run operations against forces under the command of Benedict Arnold. Reinforced by Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne and milita troops under Steuben, Lafayette harried British commander Lord Charles Cornwallis across Virginia, trapping him at Yorktown in late July. A French fleet and several additional American armies joined the siege, and on October 19 Cornwallis surrendered. The British cause was lost. Lafayette was hailed as the “Hero of Two Worlds,” and on returning to France in 1782 he was promoted to maréchal de camp (brigadier general). He became an honorary citizen of several states on a visit to the United States in 1784.
- Marc Leepson
The Marquis de Lafayette. Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette was born in 1757. Before his second birthday, his father, Michel de Lafayette, was killed at the battle of Minden during the Seven Year's War.
Feb 14, 2020 · The Marquis de Lafayette was a French aristocrat who joined the American Revolutionary War at his own request, becoming one of America’s most successful leaders in combat and General George Washington’s most loyal companion.
Oct 19, 2024 · Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, known as the Marquis de Lafayette, was a French aristocrat who served as a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution and later played a key role in the French Revolution.
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, better known simply as the Marquis de Lafayette, was born into an extremely noble family in Chavaniac, France in 1757. By 1770, he had amassed a large inheritance after the deaths of his mother, father, and grandfather.
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Oct 20, 2015 · The future hero of the American Revolution was born Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette in an expansive chateau in Chavaniac, France, on September 6, 1757....
