Photograph: Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) – Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, undated lithograph.
For those who love history, you’ll be interested in this about the Marquis de Lafayette, the namesake of our neighboring city of Lafayette, LA:
June 13
Learn Our History Today: On June 13, 1777, during the American Revolution, a young French aristocrat Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, arrived on American shores with the intention of serving in the Continental army under the famed George Washington. Lafayette had been ordered by the French King Louis XVI to remain in France and not attempt to join the Americans as this action was sure to inflame the British, but the Marquis slipped out of the country anyways.
Upon landing in America, he immediately made his way to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and asked for a commission as a General, which Congress was reluctant to grant due to his extremely young age; only nineteen. His offer to serve without pay eventually won their respect, and he was given a commission as Major General. When he arrived in the camp of General Washington, the future President was skeptical of this foreign officer who could not even speak English; however, Lafayette quickly gained his respect at the Battle of the Brandywine.
There he galloped into a crowd of retreating Continentals and rallied them (albeit in French) sending them back against the British. From that point on, Lafayette was one of Washington’s most trusted officers and some say that the general even considered Lafayette to be something like the son he never had.
Lafayette provided invaluable service at many a battle, including Monmouth Courthouse, Barren Hill, and the Rhode Island campaign. He would later prove even more valuable to the American cause when he returned to France and pushed for the government to give more and more support to the American colonies.
About Lafayette, LA: Founded as Vermilionville in 1821, incorporated in 1836, the town officially changed its name to Lafayette in 1884. Today it is a growing city and remains the seat of Lafayette Parish in Louisiana.
Note: Information from Learn our History — This day in History.
