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Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

Marquis de Lafayette
Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette.PNG
Lafayette as a lieutenant general, in 1791. Portrait by Joseph-Désiré Court
Birth name Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette
Nickname(s) The Hero of the Two Worlds (Le Héros des Deux Mondes in French)
Born (1757-09-06)6 September 1757
Chavaniac, France
Died 20 May 1834(1834-05-20) (aged 76)
Paris, France
Buried at Picpus Cemetery
Allegiance  Kingdom of France (1771–1777, 1781–1791)
 United States of America (1777–1781)
Kingdom of France (1791–1792)
 French First Republic
Kingdom of France (1830)
Service/branch
Years of service 1771–1792
1830
Rank
Battles/wars

American Revolutionary War

French Revolution

War of the First Coalition
July Revolution
Awards Order of Saint Louis
Relations
Other work
Signature Marquis de La Fayette Signature.svg

American Revolutionary War

French Revolution

Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (French pronunciation: ​[maʁki də la fajɛt]; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), in the U.S. often known simply as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War. A close friend of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830.

Born in Chavaniac, in the province of Auvergne in south central France, Lafayette came from a wealthy landowning family. He followed its martial tradition, and was commissioned an officer at age 13. He became convinced that the American cause in its revolutionary war was noble, and travelled to the New World seeking glory in it. There, he was made a major general, though initially the 19-year-old was not given troops to command. Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, he still managed to organize an orderly retreat. He served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. In the middle of the war, he returned home to lobby for an increase in French support. He again sailed to America in 1780, and was given senior positions in the Continental Army. In 1781, troops in Virginia under his command blocked forces led by Cornwallis until other American and French forces could position themselves for the decisive Siege of Yorktown.


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