Historical Figures Codexery

Marquis de Lafayette

Hero of the Two Worlds: French aristocrat who fought for American independence and French liberty.

Marquis de Lafayette

Joseph-Désiré Court · via Wikipedia: Marquis de Lafayette · Public domain

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, was born on 6 September 1757 at the Château de Chavaniac in Auvergne.[1] He longed for military glory and was not impressed by status or riches.[2]

Quick Facts

Rank
Major general (U.S.); Lieutenant Général (France)
Children
4, including Georges Washington
Service years
1771–1792 (1830)
Branch
  • French Royal Army
  • Continental Army
  • National Guard (France)
Allegiance
  • Kingdom of France (1771–1777, 1781–1792, 1814/15–1830)
  • United States (1777–1781)
  • French First Republic (1792)
Birth name
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier
Nickname
The Hero of the Two Worlds (Le Héros des Deux Mondes)
Born
6 September 1757

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Lafayette's father died by a cannonball at the Battle of Minden in 1759, making the boy marquis and Lord of Chavaniac.[3] He was enrolled in a program to train future Musketeers and later received a commission as a lieutenant in the Noailles Dragoons in April 1773.[4][5] At age 14 he was matched with 12-year-old Adrienne de La Fayette, and the couple married in 1774.[6][7] After hearing about the American revolt, Lafayette felt his heart was dedicated to the revolutionaries' cause.[2][8]

He bought the ship Victoire with his own money and sailed for America, landing in South Carolina on 13 June 1777.[9][10] Congress commissioned him a major general on 31 July 1777 after he offered to serve without pay.[11] Lafayette returned to France in January 1779 and was given a hero's welcome despite a brief house arrest.[12][13] He helped launch the French Revolution in 1789 and later fled France when the revolution turned violent.[2]

What the cited sources add

According to that source, Lafayette's fortune was confiscated and many of his relatives died by the guillotine.[2] The same account notes that Lafayette made a triumphant tour of the United States in 1824, which was one of his greatest joys in later years.[2]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Clary, pp. 7–8. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. "Marquis de Lafayette" The George Washington Presidential Library at Mt. Vernon https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/. facts only, no text reused. mountvernon.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gottschalk, pp. 3–5.; Gottschalk, pp. 3–5.; Unger, loc. 383.; Clary, pp. 11–13. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leepson, pp. 8–9.; Unger, loc. 425. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leepson, p. 12.; Lane, p. 10. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lane, pp. 7–8. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Unger, loc. 491–506; Leepson, pp. 10–11. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Unger, loc. 581–598.; Clary, p. 28. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Holbrook, pp. 19–20.; Demerliac, p. 190 no 1887 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Murga, "Siguiendo la estela del marqués de Lafayette", Noticias de Gipuzkoa, 3 February 2020; "Motier, Mario Pablo José Roque Ibo Gilbert de", Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia; Leepson, p. 26.; Demerliac, p. 190 no 1887; Holbrook, p. 17.; Holbrook, pp. 15–16.; Glathaar, p. 3. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cloquet, p. 37.; Unger, loc. 864, 1023–1053.; Unger, loc. 940–955. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leepson, pp. 62–67. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Marquis de Lafayette" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Holbrook, pp. 15–16.; Leepson, pp. 67–68.; Clary, p. 243. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Marquis de Lafayette (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Rulers & Leaders

Maurice, Prince of OrangeMichiel de RuyterMaarten TrompTadeusz KościuszkoCasimir PulaskiPyotr BagrationMohamed Farrah AididYaa AsantewaaHenry H. ArnoldP. G. T. BeauregardClaire Lee ChennaultGeorge Armstrong Custer

Elsewhere in Historical Figures

Jules Hardouin-Mansart · Artists & ComposersCharles Baudelaire · Notable FiguresAbd al-Rahman I · Notable FiguresAnthony the Great · Religious FiguresDavid Beckham · Sports FiguresSandra Bullock · Writers & Journalists

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →