La Fayette was born at the chateau of Chavaniac in Auvergne, France, on the 6th of September 1757.
His father was killed at Minden in 1759, and his mother and his grandfather died in 1770, and thus at the age of thirteen he was left an orphan with a princely fortune.
La Fayette chose to follow the career of his father, and entered the Guards.
La Fayette was nineteen and a captain of dragoons when the English colonies in America proclaimed their independence.
At the first news of this quarrel, " he afterwards wrote in his memoirs, " my heart was enrolled in it. "
The count de Broglie, whom he consulted, discouraged his zeal for the cause of liberty.
At this moment the news arrived of grave disasters to the American arms.
La Fayette's friends again advised him to abandon his purpose.
Even the American envoys, Franklin and Arthur Lee, who had superseded Deane, withheld further encouragement and the king himself forbade his leaving.
But the ship was sent11xvi.
Though two British cruisers had been sent in pursuit of him, he landed safely near Georgetown, S. C. , after a tedious voyage of nearly two months, and hastened to Philadelphia, then the seat of government of the colonies. When this lad of nineteen, with the command of only what little English he had been able to pick up on his voyage, presented himself to Congress with Deane's authority to, demand a commission of the highest rank after the commander-in-chief, his reception was a little chilly.
Deane's contracts were so numerous, and for officers of such high rank, that it was impossible for Congress to ratify them without injustice to Americans who had become entitled by their service to promotion.
Next day La Fayette met Washington, whose lifelong friend he became.
His first battle was Brandywine (q. v. ) on the 11th of September 1777, where he showed courage and activity and received a wound.
I do not know in what light Congress will view the matter, but it appears to me, from a consideration of his illustrious and important connexions, the attachment which he has manifested for our cause, and the consequences which his return in disgust might produce, that it will be advisable to gratify his wishes, and the more so as several gentlemen from France who came over under some assurances have gone back disappointed in their expectations.
His conduct with respect to them stands in a favourable point of view-having interested himself to remove their uneasiness and urged the impropriety of their making any unfavourable representations upon their arrival at home.
"Of La Fayette's military career in the United States there is not much to be said.
His retreat from Barren Hill (May 28, 1778) was commended as masterly; and he fought at the battle of Monmouth (June 28, ) and received from Congress a formal recognition of his services in the Rhode Island expedition (August 1778).
The treaties of commerce and defensive alliance, signed by the insurgents and France on the 6th of February 1778, were promptly followed by a declaration of war by England against the latter, and La Fayette asked leave to revisit France and to consult his king as to the further direction of his services.
In fact, he went on a mission rather than a visit.
is infinitely esteemed and beloved here, and I am persuaded willdo everything in his power to merit a continuance of the same affection from America. "
He won the confidence of Vergennes. La Fayette was absent from America about six months, and his return was the occasion of a complimentary resolution of Congress.
He immediately obtained leave to return to France, where it was supposed he might be useful in negotiations for a general peace.
He had been promoted (1781) to the rank of marechal de camp (major-general) in the French army, and he received every token of regard from his sovereign and his countrymen.
In 1787 he took his seat in the Assembly of Notables.
He showed Liberal tendencies both in that assembly and after its dispersal, and in 1788 was deprived, in consequence, of his active command.
In 1789 La Fayette was elected to the states-general, and took a prominent part in its proceedings.
He was chosen vice-president of the National Assembly, and on the 11th of July 1789 presented a declaration of rights, modelled on Jefferson's Declaration of Independence in 1776.
On the 15th of July, the second day of the new regime, La Fayette was chosen by acclamation colonel- general of the new National Guard of Paris.
He also proposed the combination of the colours of Paris, red and blue, and the royal white, into the famous tricolour cockade of modern France (July 17).
Before this, disgusted with enormities which he was powerless to prevent, he had resigned his commission; but so impossible was it to replace him that he was induced to resume it.
In February 1790 he refused the supreme command of the National Guard of the kingdom.
He took a prominent part in the celebration of July 14, 1790, the first anniversary of the destruction of the Bastille.
After suppressing an imeute in April 1791 he again resigned his commission, and was again compelled to retain it.
He commanded the troops in the suppression of another emeute, on the occasion of the proclamation of the constitution (September 18, 1791), after which, feeling that his task was done, he retired into private life.
This did not prevent his friends from proposing him for the mayoralty of Paris in opposition to Petion. When, in December 1791, three armies were formed on the western frontier to attack Austria, La Fayette was placed in command of one of them.
On the 19th of August 1792 the Assembly declared him a traitor.
Napoleon, however, though he had a low opinion of his capacities, stipulated in the treaty of Campo Formio (1797) for La Fayette's release.
He was not allowed to return to France by the Directory.
He returned in 1799; in 1802 voted against the life consulate of Napoleon; and in 1804 he voted against the imperial title.
He then revisited America (July 1824 - September 1825) where he was overwhelmed with popular applause and voted the sum of $200, 000 and a township of land.
During the revolution of 1830 he again took command of the National Guard and pursued the same line of conduct, with equal want of success, as in the first revolution.
He had what Jefferson called a " canine appetite " for popularity and fame, but in him the appetite only seemed to make him more anxious to merit the fame which he enjoyed.
He was away from Paris during the revolution of July 1830, but he took an active part in the " campaign of the banquets, " which led up to that of 1848.
He died in December of the next year.
Besides, La Fayette is sensible, discreet in his manners, has made great proficiency in our language, and from the disposition he discovered at the battle of Brandywine possesses a large share of bravery and military ardour.
He was brave to rashness; and he never shrank from danger or responsibility if he saw the way open to spare life or suffering, to protect the defenceless, to sustain the law and preserve order.
La Fayette married at sixteen Marie Adrienne Frangoise de Noailles (d. 1807), daughter of the due d'Ayen and granddaughter of the due de Noailles, then one of the most influential families in the kingdom. They had one son and three dauthers.
