Marquis de Lafayette
The Hero of Two Worlds · September 6, 1757, Chavaniac, Auvergne, France - May 20, 1834, Paris, France
A French aristocrat who sailed to America at age 19 to fight in the Revolution, Lafayette became one of Washington's most trusted generals. He later played a central role in the early stages of the French Revolution, drafting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Life and legacy
Gilbert du Motier was born into one of the wealthiest aristocratic families in France. Orphaned young and inheriting an enormous fortune, he was drawn to the American cause by idealism and a desire for glory. In 1777, at just nineteen, he defied the French king's orders and sailed to America, offering to serve without pay. Congress commissioned him a major general, and Washington, initially skeptical, quickly grew to love Lafayette like a son.
Lafayette proved his worth at the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, where he was wounded in the leg but rallied retreating troops. He endured the brutal winter at Valley Forge alongside Washington's army and played a key role in the campaign that led to Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown in 1781, trapping the British army in Virginia until French naval and ground forces arrived for the decisive siege.
Returning to France as a hero, Lafayette became a leading figure in the early French Revolution. He commanded the National Guard, helped draft the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen with advice from Thomas Jefferson, and presented the key of the Bastille to Washington as a symbol of the new liberty. However, as the Revolution radicalized, Lafayette found himself caught between royalists and Jacobins. In 1792, declared a traitor by the radicals, he fled France and was imprisoned by the Austrians for five years.
Napoleon freed Lafayette but the two never became allies; Lafayette distrusted Napoleon's authoritarian ambitions. After the Bourbon restoration, Lafayette remained a symbol of liberal opposition. In 1824-1825, he undertook a triumphant tour of all 24 American states as "the Guest of the Nation," greeted by enormous crowds and the aging veterans of the Revolution.
Lafayette played one final revolutionary role in the July Revolution of 1830, when his support helped install Louis-Philippe as a constitutional monarch. He died in 1834 and was buried in Paris under soil from Bunker Hill, forever linking him to both the American and French struggles for liberty.
Key accomplishments
- Volunteered for the American Revolution at age 19 and became a major general
- Fought at Brandywine, Valley Forge, and the decisive Siege of Yorktown (1781)
- Drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)
- Commanded the French National Guard during the early French Revolution
- Played a kingmaker role in the July Revolution of 1830
Quotes
Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.
On the success of the American Revolution
When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of the rights and the most indispensable of duties.
Declaration of the Rights of Man, Article 35 draft (1793)