Marquis de Lafayette

Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834) was a French general and political leader. Born to an aristocratic family, Lafayette entered the army at a young age. Enthusiastic over the news of the American Revolution, he defied France’s official neutrality and left his country to join George Washington’s army. When he arrived in Philadelphia in 1777, Congress appointed him a major general. He quickly became a close friend of Washington’s and shared the hardships of Valley Forge. After traveling to France in 1779 and 1780 to negotiate for French aid, he distinguished himself at the Battle of Yorktown, where the British General Cornwallis surrendered in 1781.

The Marquis de Lafayette returned to France after the war and played a prominent role in politics and the military early in the French Revolution, but became disillusioned and fled the country in 1792. He was captured and imprisoned in Austria and did not return to Paris until 1799. In 1824, Lafayette made a triumphal tour of the United States. A few years later he participated in a third revolution, the July Revolution of 1830, when the French king, Charles X, was forced to abdicate.