Learning About Lafayette: America’s French War Hero

By Olivia Webb, Spring 2024 Bowley Scholar

The Marquis de Lafayette was a prominent figure during the American Revolution, though he was not an American. He was born into French aristocracy in 1757, at Chavgnac Castle. He served in the Musketeers, the personal guard of the King of France, until he developed an interest in the philosophical ideals of liberty. Though he was only 20 years old, the American colonists’ fight for ‘the rights of man’ enticed him to travel across the Atlantic and join their cause.

When he arrived in America, Lafayette presented himself to the Continental Congress to offer his military services and leadership. Despite his youth and lack of combat experience, Congress commissioned him as a major general in the Continental Army. The army’s commander, General George Washington, recognized Lafayette’s willingness, and passion, and liked the fact that he was, like Washington, a Freemason. The young Frenchman became a member of the commander’s staff.

The Battle of Brandywine, fought on September 11, 1777, was Lafayette’s first major combat experience. He also played a crucial role in helping to get more resources for the Revolutionary War from the French. Lafayette also fought at the Battle of Barren Hill (now called Lafayette Hill) on May 20, 1778. This battle helped prevent British forces from securing communication and supply routes into Philadelphia. Later on, Lafayette rallied a Continental Army attack at the Battle of Monmouth, leading to a stalemate. Near the end of the American Revolution, Lafayette became the commander of the Virginia Continental forces and led a division of troops in the successful siege of Yorktown in 1781. This was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War, in which the combined American and French armies compelled British General Cornwallis to surrender.

The Marquis de Lafayette and James Monroe first met at the Battle of Brandywine; Lafayette was shot in the leg and went to the nearby Birmingham Church to get attention for his wound. Monroe accompanied Lafayette because he had a basic understanding of French, which would continue to improve during his friendship with the Marquis. The friendship began more officially while they were both at Valley Forge during the long winter of 1777 to 1778. Their similar ages and shared interests created an everlasting bond between the two men.

Lafayette returned to France in 1781. He was commissioned a major general by King Louis XVI (16) but served the cause of liberty in the French Revolution. During this time, Lafayette gifted the key to the Bastille to his mentor, George Washington. While in France, Lafayette advocated for a new type of governing body that would represent all three social classes. In 1789, he drafted the Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen.

When violence began in 1789, Lafayette was named commander of the Paris National Guard, which made him more vulnerable to the different factions vying for power. In 1792, Lafayette fled France and was eventually taken by Austrian forces, where he would remain for the next seven years and not be able to return to France until 1799. In 1795, while James Monroe was serving as the American Minister to France he and his wife Elizabeth, freed the Marquis’s wife, Madame Adrienne de Lafayette, from imprisonment by the French government. There is also another Monroe Minute that goes into more detail about this, entitled “Monroe Minute: Elizabeth Kortright Monroe,” it helps explain more of how Elizabeth helped in Madame de Lafayette’s freedom.

President Monroe wanted to honor his longtime friend by inviting him to tour the United States in 1824. Forty-seven years after their time together at Valley Forge, Lafayette accepted Monroe’s invitation and sailed to New York aboard the American ship Cadmus. Lafayette arrived in America on August 15, 1824, where he was welcomed with a salute by artillery. In his annual message to Congress on December 7, 1824, Monroe stated “In August he [Lafayette] arrived at New York, where he was received with the warmth of affection and gratitude to which his very important and disinterested services and sacrifices in our revolutionary struggle so eminently entitled him.” An estimated 50,000 people greeted the “Hero of Two Worlds,” a preview of the large crowds he would encounter over the next two years. James Monroe said that “a sentiment of gratitude has manifested in his favor throughout every portion of our union, and affectionate invitations have been given him to extend his visits to them.”

Lafayette visited many places in America throughout his tour, starting in New York and heading southward, and finally heading to the Capital, Washington D.C. He made a stop at Mount Vernon to pay his respects to Washington, who had died in 1799. He also received a hero’s welcome to Fredericksburg, Virginia in November 1824. Lafayette visited New England two times, in August 1824 and the summer of 1825. In 1825, James Monroe and the Marquis de Lafayette saw each other for the last time in person, when they and Thomas Jefferson were invited to a reception at the University of Virginia where Lafayette praised the university for its revolutionary curriculum. The tour in all lasted over a year with Lafayette returning to France on September 7, 1825.

After his tour of America, Lafayette continued as a revolutionary leader in France. In 1830, King Charles X dissolved the National Assembly and suspended the free press. Lafayette took control of the National Guard to aid revolutionaries who put up barricades on Paris Streets. King Charles X abdicated, and Lafayette was given the chance to become dictator of France, though he turned the position down. Instead, Lafayette backed Louis-Phillipe to be the constitutional monarch. The new king had little enthusiasm for reform and Lafayette became a leader of the liberal opposition to the ruler during his final years.

Lafayette lived to the age of 76, dying on May 20, 1834, from pneumonia. He was laid to rest next to his wife in Pipcus Cemetery, Paris, France. His son Georges covered his father’s coffin with dirt collected from Bunker Hill during Lafayette’s American tour, fulfilling the wish of the “Hero of Two Worlds” to be buried in American and French soil.

Would you like to learn more about Lafayette and James Monroe’s friendship? Check out our YouTube channel to watch our latest program “Founding Friendships: James Monroe and Marquis De Lafayette”.