ETTE, Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motier, MARQUIS DE, French soldier and states man: b. Chavagnac, near Brioude, Auvergne (in the present department of. Loire), 6 Sept. 1757; d. Paris, 20 May 1834. He belonged to an eminent family of France. He was edu cated in the College of Louis le Grand in Paris, in 1774 entered the army as an officer of the Guards, and on hearing of the Declaration of Independence by the American colonists deter mined to lend them his assistance. In 1777 he left France for America with 11 companions, among whom was Baron De Kalb, set sail from Pasages, Spain, in a yacht equipped by himself, and arrived at Georgetown, S. C., 14 April. He proceeded to Philadelphia, and to the Congress there in session volunteered his services without pay. On 31 July he was commissioned major general, and not long after 'became a member of Washington's staff. He was severely wounded at Brandywine (11 September), while rallying the American forces from a retreat; was appointed to the command of an expedition for the proposed invasion of Canada, never executed owing to lack of means, and in April 1778 was ordered to join Washington at Valley Forge. On 19 May he was surprised by General Grant with 5,000 troops at Barren Hill (12 miles from Valley Forge), where he had taken post with 2,100 troops and five cannon. Though nearly surrounded by a superior force, he suc ceeded in extricating himself, recrossing the Schuylkill and reaching Valley Forge in safety. He received the thanks of Congress for his conduct at Monmouth (28 June), where he fought brilliantly under Lee. War between France and England having broken out, La fayette returned (January 1779) to place him self at the disposal of the French government ; obtained for the American cause financial as sistance and the reinforcement of a fleet and 6,000 troops under Rochambeau, and 11 May 1780 rejoined the American army. He was shortly afterward stationed at Tappan with a light infantry corps of observation, and was a member of the court of general officers by which Major Andre was tried and condemned to death (29 September). On 20 Feb. 1781 he was sent by Washington with 1,200 New Eng land and New Jersey troops to aid in the de fense of Virginia. Reinforced, he pursued Cornwallis from near Charlottesville to York town, thus contributing to the decisive opera tions by which the war was virtually concluded. He sailed from the United States in December 1781, but revisited America in 1784, when he was enthusiastically received. Lafayette was called to the Assembly of the Notables in 1787, and was elected a member of the States-General, which took the name of National Assembly (1789). Two days after the attack on the Bastile he was appointed (15 July) commander in-chief of the National Guard of Paris, and gave them the tricolor cockade. It was through his means that the lives of the king and queen were saved from the mob that had taken pos session of the palace at Versailles (5-6 Octo ber). After the adoption of the Constitution of
1790 he resigned all command and retired to his estate of La Grange. He had previously re signed his title, the abolition of titles having been decreed by the National Assembly. The first coalition against France (1792) soon called him from his retirement. Being appointed one of the three major-generals in the command of the French armies, he established discipline and defeated the Austrians and Prussians at Philippeville, Maubeuge and Florennes, when his career of success was interrupted by the factions of his country.
During the Reign of Terror commissioners were sent to arrest him, but he escaped to Flanders. Having been captured by an Aus trian patrol (19 August), he was delivered to the Prussians, by whom he was again trans ferred to Austria. He was carried with great secrecy to Olmfitz, where he was subjected to much privation and suffering, and whence he was not released until 25 Aug. 1797. He returned to his estate at La Grange, and taking no further part in public affairs devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He sat in the French Second Chamber from 1818-24 and from 1825 30 was leader of the opposition. In August 1824 he landed at New York on a visit to the United States, upon the invitation of the Presi dent at the request of Congress, and was re ceived in every part of the country with the warmest expression of delight and enthusiasm. Congress voted him $200,000 and a township of land, his own fortune having been mostly lost by confiscation during the Terror. During the Revolution of July 1830 be was appointed gen eral-in-chief of the National Guard of Paris, and though not personally engaged in the event, was, through his activity and name, of the greatest service. When the National Guard was established throughout France, after the ter mination of the struggle, he was appointed their commander-in-chief. Of Lafayette, Ed ward Everett said: ((Who, I would ask, of all the prominent names in history, has run through such a career, with so little reproach justly or unjustly bestowed.)) At the celebration of the centennary of the surrender at Yorktown a rep resentative of his family was present as the guest of the nation. Early in 1917 the historic chateau in which Lafayette was born was pur chased by the French Heroes Fund, an Ameri can organization, to he restored and perpetu ated as a memorial and museum of American and French patriotic emblems. Consult 'Me moires et Manuscrits de La Fayette' (8 vols., Paris 1837-40) ; Sarrans, 'General Lafayette and the French Revolution of 1830> (2 vols., London 1832) ; Tower, 'The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution' (2 vols., Philadelphia 1895) ; Tuckerman, 'Life of La fayette' (New York 1889) ; Whitman, 'Lafay ette in Brooklyn' (New York 1905).