Hourly History - Marquis de Lafayette: A Life From Beginning to End

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Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier is quite a name for anyone. In fact, it's the sort of name you could easily forget. You may be thinking he was just another French aristocrat, someone born to the good life and destined to wine and dine his days away, and to some extent you would be correct.

However, this French aristocrat has not been known down through history by his long name but by his title: the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette, as he was simply known, was a most extraordinary man. His life certainly deserves some looking into.

The Marquis de Lafayette made the new United States his second home for a while. He fought in the American Revolution, quite successfully. He personally knew the men who were most influential in starting this new country: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.

In the years to come, Lafayette would return to France where he would witness the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. How many men could say that?

The Marquis de Lafayette experienced so much world history. He was instrumental in much of the early history of the U.S. and of France after their revolution.

Let us take a look at this extraordinary man and his equally remarkable life. Son, husband, father, military officer, politician, almost-dictator and prisoner, Lafayette has quite the story to tell.

The Marquis de Lafayette came from an old and distinguished French family. One of Lafayette's earlier ancestors had actually commanded the army in Orleans in 1429 alongside Joan of Arc. Another ancestor had gone on the Sixth Crusade and was said to have acquired the Crown of Thorns.

Lafayette was born into this illustrious family on September 6, 1757. His father was Michel Louis Christophe Roch Gilbert Paulette du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, and his mother was Marie Louise Jolie de La Riviere. Lafayette was born in the province of Auvergne, now known as Haute-Loire, which is in south-central France.

As happened with so many of his ancestors, Lafayette's father too died in a battle known as the Seven Years War, known as the French and Indian War in the American British colonies. When Lafayette was just two years old, his father was struck by a cannonball during a battle in northwestern Germany.

The title of marquis passed to the young Lafayette, yet the estate stayed with his mother. She was so affected by her husband's death that Marie Louise went to live in Paris with her father, that leaving her young son behind in the care of his paternal grandmother, Mme de Chavaniac.

It would be years until Lafayette was summoned to Paris to live with his mother and great-grandfather in 1768. By this time, he was eleven years old. It was decided that Lafayette would continue the family military tradition.

Lafayette attended the College du Plessis, which was part of the great University of Paris, one of the oldest universities in the world. His great-grandfather enrolled him in a program that trained future Musketeers. In April of 1770 both Lafayette's mother and great-grandfather died. He was just 12 years old. When an uncle died soon after, Lafayette inherited a vast sum of money.

In 1771, when Lafayette was not quite 14 years old, he was made an officer of the Musketeers. His duties included marching in military parades and presenting himself to the king, Louis XVI, who was married to Marie Antoinette. He also continued on with his education.

When Lafayette was 14, he was introduced to a young Marie Adrienne Francois, who would become his wife two years later. She was one of five daughters that her father was looking to marry off. As the young Lafayette and Marie got to know each other, they fell in love.

Marie Adrienne Francois de Noailles was the daughter of a prominent French family as well. Lafayette and Marie were married in 1774. They remained a happy couple until her death in 1807.

It was at this time that America was preparing for war against Great Britain. England, at the time, was the most powerful country in the world and it was said that the sun never sets on the British Empire, because there were countries all around the globe who flew the Union Jack.

All through the 1760s and into the 1770s, Britain kept imposing unreasonable taxes on America without colonial input. It was at this time that many prominent Americans stepped out of the shadows to say it was now time to declare independence from their mother country.

By the early 1770s, Britain had just about taken over the state of Massachusetts, and the colonists rebelled with their Boston Tea Party in December 1774. British soldiers were housed in homes around Boston, without colonist's permission, making the atmosphere an explosive one.

There were many groups of colonial militia, such as the Minutemen, who would fly into action at a moment's notice. Flyers, speeches and people gathering together to talk about freedom and liberty was happening across the American colonies at this time.

Lafayette was still continuing his education, while newly married to his Marie. They lived with her father in Versailles. Lafayette was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Noailles Dragoons in 1773. Lafayette's father-in-law was instrumental in getting him the transfer.

In 1775, Lafayette met the Army of the East commander, the Marquis de Ruffec. Both men were fascinated by the news of what was happening in the American colonies.

Some say because Lafayette's father had been killed by the British, that he was hoping for a British defeat in America; other people say because Lafayette was newly a member of the Masons that his spirit was on fire for all courageous and noble deeds that he was hearing about. Americans were now fighting for their liberty and this resonated with Lafayette.

When Lafayette was just 18 years old, he was made a captain in the Dragoons as had been promised to him by his father-in-law. In December of 1775, his first child Henriette was born.

Also in 1775 Lafayette was admitted to the Masonic Military Lodge, where he gained firsthand knowledge of all that was going on in the American colonies. Lafayette was determined to cast his fortunes, one way or the other, with the Americans.

As the decisive year of 1776 was setting up, Lafayette became increasingly convinced that what was happening in the American colonies was all to the good. He wanted to somehow participate in their struggle.

It was at this point that the king of France Louis XVI and his foreign minister Comte Charles de Vergennes began talks with American agents. It was agreed that France would begin to send money, supplies and officers to America to help with the war effort. France believed it would lead to better relations with America, and of course, be payback to the British for what they had exacted on the French in the Seven Years War.

When Lafayette heard that French officers were being sent to America, he knew this was his chance to make a difference. Despite his young age, he was commissioned to go to America.

On December 7, 1776, the American agent Silas Deane enlisted Lafayette as a major general. Lafayette was not even twenty years old at this point.