Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert (Motier) du Motier de La Fayette (1757 - 1834)

Born 6 Sep 1757 in Château de Chavaniac, Saint-Georges d'Aurac, Auvergne, France

Ancestors

Husband of Marie Adrienne Françoise (Noailles) de Noailles — married 11 Apr 1774 in Paris, Île-de-France, France

Descendants

Died 20 May 1834 at age 76 in Paris, Seine, France

Problems/Questions Profile manager: France Project WikiTree [send private message]

Gilbert (Motier) du Motier de La Fayette is managed by the France project. Join: France Project Discuss: france

Biography

Major General Gilbert (Motier) du Motier de La Fayette served with Continental Army Generals during the American Revolution.

Gilbert (Motier) du Motier de La Fayette is Notable.

Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette (1757-1834), French aristocrat and military officer, was a general in the American Revolution, a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789, and in the July Revolution of 1830.

Origins

Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, Marquis de Lafayette was born on 6 September 1757 to Michel Louis Christophe Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, colonel of grenadiers, and Marie Louise Julie de La Rivière, at the château de Chavaniac, in Chavagnat (now Chavaniac-Lafayette), near Le Puy-en-Velay, in the province of Auvergne (in the département Haute-Loire since the French Revolution). His 8th great-grandfather was Marshal of France Gilbert de Lafayette III, a companion-at-arms who led Joan of Arc's army in Orléans. Lafayette's great-grandfather was the Comte de La Rivière, commander of the Mousquetaires du Roi, or Black Musketeers, King Louis XV's personal horse guard. According to legend, another ancestor acquired the Crown of Thorns during the 6th Crusade. Lafayette's uncle Jacques-Roch died fighting the Austrians and left the marquis title to Lafayette's father. Lafayette's father, struck by a cannonball while fighting a British-led coalition at the Battle of Minden in Westphalia, died on 1 August 1759. Lafayette was raised by his aunts and his paternal grandmother, Mme de Chavaniac.

His mother Julie de La Rivière died in April 1770, soon followed by her father. This left the young Lafayette an orphan and the heir of a large fortune. He was summoned to Paris by his great-grandfather Rivière, and there a marriage was arranged between Lafayette and Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles, one of the daughters of the duc d'Ayen. The couple was married on 11 April 1774 in the church of Saint-Roch in Paris. ^[1] The couple had four children:

1. Adrienne-Henriette-Catherine-Charlotte (15 December 1775-3 October 1777, Paris)
2. Anastasie-Louise-Pauline (born 1 July 1777, Paris)
3. Georges-Louis-Gilbert, known as Georges-Washington, born 24 december 1779, Paris
4. Antoinette-Marie-Virginie (born 17 september 1782)^[2].

The Noailles family was prominent at court, and Lafayette was introduced in 1774. He did not fit well however, and his father-in-law's attempts to secure him a good position failed. He was happy to leave the Court and pursue a military career.

American Revolution

In 1775, Lafayette became convinced that the American Revolution reflected his own beliefs. When he heard that French officers were being sent to America, he demanded to be among them. On 7 December 1776, Lafayette was enlisted as a major general. This initial plan was cancelled, but Lafayette finally left for America aboard the Victoire, a ship he had bought with his own money, on 25 March 1777. He landed on North Island near Georgetown, South Carolina on 13 June 1777.

Lafayette's first battle was at Brandywine on 11 September 1777. He was wounded during the Battle but still managed to organize an orderly retreat, and he served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. In the middle of the war, he sailed for home to lobby for an increase in French support. He returned to America in 1780 and was given senior positions in the Continental Army. In 1781, troops under his command in Virginia blocked forces led by Cornwallis until other American and French forces could position themselves for the decisive Siege of Yorktown.

Career in France

After returning to France in 1782, he was welcome as a hero, and made a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis. He was appointed to the Assembly of Notables in 1787. He became a personality of the French Revolution (1789) where he participated in the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man (Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen). He tried to steer a middle course through the Revolution. Lafayette was opposed to the Jacobins and in 1792 his situation became increasingly difficult, until he was proclaimed "traitor to the nation" on 19 August 1792. He fled to the Austrian Netherlands but was arrested by Austrian troops at Rochefort. He remained imprisoned for five years in Prussia, where he was joined by his wife in 1795. They were released in 1797, in large part thanks to Napoléon (then General Bonaparte), but were only able to return to France in 1800.

After his return to France, Lafayette withdrew to his château, La Grange-Bléneau (Courpalay, Seine-et-Marne). Lafayette was opposed to Napoléon becoming Emperor and refused several distinctions offered by the new regime.

He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1815 and from 1818 to 1823. In 1824, having lost the election, he accepted President James Monroe's invitation to the United States: he visited all 24 states in the union and met a rapturous reception. "During Lafayette's visit, congress passed a bill presenting in him with $200,000 and a huge tract of land in Florida." (From the booklet "LaFayette Friend of America" published by the John Hancock, mutual life, insurance company of Boston. copyright 1928.)

Lafayette would again play an important political role during the July Monarchy (1830). Initially supporting the new King, Louis-Philippe, Lafayette turned against him when Louis-Philippe became autocratic.

On 20 May 1834, Lafayette died at 6 rue d'Anjou-Saint-Honoré in Paris (now 8 rue d'Anjou in the 8th arrondissement of Paris) at age 76 ^[3]. He was buried next to his wife at the Picpus Cemetery under soil from Bunker Hill, which his son Georges sprinkled upon him.

Legacy

Lafayette is nicknamed "the Hero of two worlds" for his accomplishments in the service of both France and the United States.

There are eighteen counties in the United States named for the Marquis: Fayette, County, Alabama; Fayette County, Georgia; Fayette County, Illinois; Fayette County, Indiana; Fayette County, Iowa; Fayette County, Kentucky (originally in Virginia); Fayette County, Ohio; Fayette County, Pennsylvania; Fayette County, Tennessee; Fayette County, Texas; Fayette County, West Virginia; Lafayette County, Arkansas; Lafayette County, Florida; Lafayette County, Mississippi; Lafayette County, Missouri; Lafayette County, Wisconsin; Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. LaGrange County, Indiana is named for the Marquis de Lafayette's ancestral estate. Additionally, a number of U.S. Cities were named in his honor, the first being Fayetteville, North Carolina. Interestly, Fayetteville, Arkansas, is not one of those cities. It is named after Fayetteville, Tennessee, which is named for the Marquis.

In 1952, the United States Postal Service released a three-cent stamp to honor the 175th anniversary of his first arrival in America. ^[4]

Descendants

Gilbert de Lafayette has descendants through his three surving children:

1. Georges-Washington, married to Emilie Destutt de Tracy;
2. Anastasie, married to Juste-César de Faÿ de Latour-Maubourg, and ancestress of the current King of the Belgians through the Ruffo di Calabria family; and
3. Virginie (named in honor of the state of Virginia), married to Louis de Lasteyrie du Saillant.

Député de la Constituante (1789-1791), des Cent-Jours (1815), de la Seconde Restauration et de la Monarchie de Juillet (1818-1823, 1827-1834) ^[5].

Sources

1. ↑ Reconstituted Marriage Act: Reconstitution chronologique des actes de mariage (série V.2E), 1568-1859, Mariages 1769-1774, FamilySearch record
2. ↑ Notes prises aux archives de l'état-civil de Paris, par Henri-Paul-César de Chastellux, J.-B. Dumoulin (Paris) 1875, page: 447, consulté le 4 septembre 2017
3. ↑ Acte de décès (extrait): Reconstitution chronologique des actes de décès (série V.2E), 1630-1859 Décès avril-23 juin 1834 N° de film 007833027 image 1612 (FamilySearch, Jul 2019)
4. ↑ Daniel Piazza, "Lafayette issue (1952)," Smithsonian National Postal Museum.
5. ↑ Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, Mandats, site de l'Assemblée Nationale

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
• Descendants of Gilbert du Motier
• Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, biographie sur le site de l'Assemblée Nationale, extraite du Robert & Cougny (en français)
• This WikiTree profile is referenced from Wikidata: Item Q186652, en:Wikipedia
• Gen Marquis de Lafayette on Find A Grave: Memorial #1641 Retrieved 07:57, 31 December 2016 (EST).
• For an extensive account of his visit to the United States in 1824-1825, see Wikipedia: Visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States
• The Lafayette Trail is a non-profit site devoted to commemorating his visit to the United States.
• Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834 The Online Books Page. Edited by John Mark Ockerbloom. (History of Major-General Lafayette. Hundreds of sources online.) UPenn Library. Accessed 20 Jun 2021.
• Unger, Harlow Giles, Lafayette, Wiley, 2002 ISBN-10: 0471468851, ISBN-13: 978-0471468851. Fairfax County Public Library