Top 10 Facts about Marquis de Lafayette

Photo Source: Wikimedia

Top 10 Facts about Marquis de Lafayette

Marquis de La Fayette was a French aristocrat and a military officer, who is a war hero in two different Nations.

La Fayette was born on 6 September 1757 in south-central France; he was a son of Michel Louis a colonel of Grenadiers and Marie Louis.

He was born into a wealthy land-owning family in Chavaniac in the province of Auvergne in south-central France.

From an early age, La Fayette followed his family traditions and was commissioned as a military officer at the age of 13.

Here are the top facts about him.

1. Marquis de Lafayette had Military Background

Photo by Washington and Lee University from Wikimedia

Most of Marquis de la Fayette’s entire life was spent on military activities. His bravery and his liking of war seemed to run into his blood, perhaps inherited from his family’s reputation for courage and chivalry.

His father was killed on the battlefield On 1 August 1759, after he was struck by a cannonball while fighting a British-led coalition at the Battle of Minden in Westphalia.

Other members in his family with military backgrounds were his maternal great-grandfather who was King Louis XV’s personal horse guard. And his paternal uncle Jacques-Roch died while fighting the Austrians at Milan in the War of the Polish Succession.

2. Marquis de Lafayette was from a Rich Family

Lafayette was born into a wealthy land-owning family in Chavaniac in the province of Auvergne in south-central France.

After his father died, Lafayette was raised by his mother who had inherited his father’s big estate. 

Upon the death of his mother and his grandfather, the 12-year-old Lafayette inherited his father’s estate and a handsome yearly income of 120,000 livres.

3. Marquis de Lafayette Became an Army General at the age of 19

Photo by Peter d’Aprix from Wikipedia

After the American Revolution war broke out, Lafayette became convinced that the American revolutionary cause was noble, and so he traveled to America to fight for the cause.

He had never set foot on a battlefield before he sailed to America. He presented himself to George Washington and volunteered to fight without pay.

Lafayette was made a major general, and was wounded during the Battle of Brandywine but still managed to organize an orderly retreat of his troops.

He was later given more senior positions in the Continental Army and served with distinction until the war ended with the British surrender.

4. Marquis de Lafayette was a Human Rights Defender

After Lafayette sailed back to France after the war ended in America, he was appointed to the assembly of Notables. He was later elected a member of the Estates-General of 1789, where representatives of three French traditional orders met.

He helped to write the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen with the assistance of Thomas Jefferson, who he had met while fighting in America.

The document was inspired by the United States Declaration of Independence, which invoked natural law to establish basic principles of the democratic nation-state. He also advocated the end of slavery, in keeping with the philosophy of natural rights.

5. Marquis de Lafayette was Imprisoned for over 5 Years

Image by Ary Scheffer from Wikimedia

In 1792, Lafayette was the commander in chief of the French national Guards. Radical revolutionaries ordered his arrest after they disagreed with his policies.

Lafayette managed to evade the arrest and escaped to Austria Netherlands. He was arrested there by Austrian troops and was sent to prison where he spent more than five years.

He returned to France after Napoleon who was the de-facto leader of the French government at the time negotiated for his release.

However, he refused to join Napoleon’s government but became a liberal member of the chamber of deputies in 1814. He held the position for most of the rest of his life.

6. Marquis de Lafayette returned to the United States

President James Monroe and Congress invited Lafayette to visit the United States in 1824. He was a state guest at the celebrations of the nation’s 50th anniversary.

He arrived in New York on 15 August 1824, accompanied by his son Georges Washington and his secretary Auguste Levasseur. They were welcomed by a group of Revolutionary War veterans who had fought alongside him many years before. 

Lafayette stayed in the United States for one year, and he visited all of the united states. Congress gifted him a large sum of money and a tract of land in Florida.

He returned to France aboard a ship that was originally called the Susquehanna but was renamed the USS Brandywine in honor of the battle where he shed his blood for the United States.

7. Marquis de Lafayette was Against Slavery

Photo by Magnus Manske from Wikimedia

Lafayette was a firm believer in basic human rights and therefore a staunch opponent of slavery.

He made his position clear on the slavery issue through letters he addressed to his friends and colleagues such as Washington and Jefferson.

Lafayette proposed that no slave should be sold or bought, but rather they should work as free tenants on the owner’s plantations.

He spent his life as an abolitionist, proposing that slaves be emancipated slowly and recognizing the crucial role that slavery played in western economies.

8. Marquis de Lafayette was Joined by his Family in Prison

During Lafayette’s imprisonment in Vienna, his wife and her two daughters traveled to Vienna for an audience with Emperor Francis of Austria.

They asked for permission to join and live with Lafayette in prison, which was granted. The family spent the next two years in prison together.

The family was released after two years due to Napoleon’s intervention. They were escorted to the Bohemian border where they were handed over to the American consul in Hamburg.

9. Marquis de Lafayette was Wounded on the Battlefield

Lafayette was sent into action for the first on 11 September 1777 at the Battle of Brandywine. He went with Third Pennsylvania Brigade under Brigadier Thomas Conway.

After a fierce battle with the British troops, Lafayette was shot in the leg. He managed to pull back his troops in an orderly manner, before finding treatment for his wound.

Lafayette was praised for his bravery and was recommended for the command of a full division.  He returned to the battlefields two months later after recuperating and was given command of a full division.

10. Marquis de Lafayette Named his Son George Washington

General George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army, met Lafayette for the first time in Philadephia. Washington was very much impressed by his enthusiasm and they became friends immediately.

Lafayette remained at Washington’s side during the entire war until the final decisive battle at Yorktown in 1881. 

In 1779 the marquis named his newly born son Georges Washington de Lafayette in honor of the American revolutionary.