His father was killed in the Battle of Minden in 1759, his mother also died the same year. From them he received a large inheritance. From his father he received the title Marquis and a castle, and from his mother a princely fortune.
At the age of 16, he married Marie Adrienne de Noallies and became a new member of one of the greatest families in France at that time. He trained at the military academy at Versailles and at age 19 became a captain in the French army. News came from the American colonies that they were declaring their independence from England. Lafayette was overjoyed and, defying royal command, he bought a boat and sailed to America to fight for the new republic. He arrived in South Carolina in 1777.
Silas Deane, an American agent, gave him a commission to be a major general of the Continental Army. Congress did not want to honor his contract but he was working for free so what could it hurt? He was put under the command of George Washington. Washington did not know what to do with him because he spoke little English. In his first American battle at Brandywine river he was wounded in hand-to-hand combat.
His most important accomplishment was inducing the French to sign the treaty of alliance with the colonies. Without this America could not have won the war. He returned to France to aid the alliance, but came back to America in time to help with the Virginia campaign and the final movement that led up to Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown in 1781. In 1789 he returned home and was elected to the Estates-General, where he helped form a Declaration of Rights which closely resembled the Declaration of Independence.
He planned to overthrow the Jacobins and support a limited monarchy. On Aug. 10, 1792 the monarchy was overthrown and he was proclaimed a traitor. He fled to Belgium to escape arrest and the guillotine. He was imprisoned in Austria for 5 years from 1792 to 1797. He returned to America and Congress gave him a large sum of money and a sizeable tract of land.
He died in Paris in 1834. He was an important man who fought for liberty and played an important role in three revolutions.
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