Who was Lafayette?
The eventual “hero of two worlds,” Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, was born of nobility in France in 1757. Lafayette’s father was killed by the British in the battle of Minden in 1759, and the young Lafayette inherited a castle, a fortune, and the title of Marquis. As he reached his adolescence, Lafayette was one of the richest men in France and its most eligible bachelor. In 1774, through an arrangement, Lafayette married Adrienne de Noailles, daughter of a most powerful and well-connected French family. She was twelve and he fourteen when the marriage was arranged. More than anything else, Lafayette wished to be a soldier and avenge his father’s death. Unfortunately, when he came of age, France wasn’t at war with England. So, in 1777, Lafayette—disobeying the King’s orders—bought his own boat and sailed for America to fight against England and finally fulfill his dream. Upon his arrival, the twenty-year old summarily informed George Washington that he was ready to command troops. Si
