
Marquis De Lafayette, French Military #3

by Science Source
Title
Marquis De Lafayette, French Military #3
Artist
Science Source
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Entitled "Lafayette's baptism of fire" showing Lafayette on hill, in front of dead British soldier, alongside drummer boy, in front of his troops. Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, Marquis de Lafayette (September 6, 1757 - May 20, 1834) was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought for the US in the American Revolutionary War. He came from a wealthy landowning family. He followed its martial tradition, and was commissioned an officer at age 13. Convinced that the American cause in its revolutionary war was noble, Lafayette travelled to the New World seeking glory in it. He was wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, and served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. 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. Lafayette was also a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. He helped write the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, with the assistance of Thomas Jefferson. After the storming of the Bastille, Lafayette was appointed commander-in-chief of the National Guard, and tried to steer a middle course through the French Revolution. In August 1792, the radical factions ordered his arrest. Fleeing through the Austrian Netherlands, he was captured by Austrian troops and spent more than five years in prison. Lafayette died in 1834, at the age of 76, and is buried in Picpus Cemetery under soil from Bunker Hill. For his accomplishments in the service of both France and the US, he is sometimes known as "The Hero of the Two Worlds". Reproduction of painting by E. Percy Moran.
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December 14th, 2015
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