Lafayette

This 1890 statue of Major General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette asking French National Assembly to help the Americans in their Revolution by Jean Alexandre Joseph and Marius Jean Antonin Mercie stands in Lafayette Square in Washington, DC.

"In 1777, Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette (1787-1834) defied French King Louis XVI and sailed his ship, La Victoire, to America to join the Americans in their fight for independence. He was appointed a Major General and became George Washington's aide-de-camp and took part in the Battle of Brandywine, the winter at Valley Forge, and the Rhode Island campaign. In 1778, he went back to France where he successfully persuaded the French to assist American forces. Comte de Rochambeau was appointed commander of the French forces, Comtes d'Estaing and de Grasse were appointed leaders of naval forces. At Yorktown, Virginia, Rochambeau and Washington led troops from the north while Comtes de Barras and Grasse took command of the coast, and Lafayette cornered the British so that they could not escape. The British forces under Cornwallis were forced to surrender. Following the war, Lafayette returned to France, but came back to America twice in later years and each time was enthusiastically received. Because he had spent over $200,000 of his own money during the Revolution, Congress granted him $200,000 and a township of land in Louisiana and Florida, though not citizenship. The monument was erected by the Government at a cost of $50,000." -- SIRIS

 

TO
GENERAL
LA FAYETTE
AND HIS
COMPATRIOTS
1777-1783

BY THE CONGRESS
IN COMMEMORATION
OF THE SERVICES'
RENDERED BY
GENERAL LAFAYETTE
AND HIS COMPATRIOTS
DURING THE STRUGGLE
FOR THE
INDEPENDENCE
OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA

 America

 

Comte de Rochambeau and the Chevalier du Portail 

 

Comte d'Estaing and Comte de Grasse