Lafayette wanted revenge against Great Britain for the death of his father and the loss of French possessions in America. In 1775 Lafayette spoke of his bitterness to the comte de Broglie, who introduced him to the Baron de Kalb, a German mercenary in the French army who fought so well during the Seven Years' War he rose in rank from lieutenant to brigadier general. De Kalb was not a real Baron but just took the title to gain prestige for himself while in Paris.

In June 1776 Lafayette took a leave of absence from the army and met with Silas Deane and Arthur Lee, American Ministers in Paris, who commissioned Lafayette a lieutenant general in the Continental Army.

Lafayette directed a friend to purchase a ship to sail them to America, whereupon the friend hired a captain, crew and purchased all the necessary supplies for the voyage. On 20 April 1777, Lafayette and de Kalb sailed on LA VICTORIE for Philadelphia, but the shp captain wasn't sure where he was going and landed the two men on the coast of South Carolina at Georgetown. The sea voyage took eight weeks.

After Lafayette and de Kalb left Georgetown they purchased and rented horses for the long trip to Philadelphia, which took six weeks.

At Philadelphia, Lafayette presented his credentials as a lieutenant general to the Continental Congress, which opposed granting any more commissions to foreign mercenaries and felt only American officers who had proved themselves in battle should be promoted to general. But when Lafayette agreed to serve as a volunteer at his own expense, without salary, Congress relented and commissioned Lafayette as a major general when he was only nineteen years old!

Lafayette was shot in the leg at the Battle of Brandywine and taken to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he was nursed by Moravian Sisters. After he recovered, he was with Washington at Valley Forge the winter of 1777/78 and was successful in foraging attacks on the British. The marquis was with Washington at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey in June 1778.

In 1780 the Americans suffered a series of defeats. In May General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered Charleston, SC, Colonel Tarleton's cavalry destroyed a Virginia regiment at Waxhaw, and in August the Southern Army under Horatio Gates was defeated by Cornwallis at the Battle of Camden and de Kalb was killed.

So Washington sent Lafayette southward with 1,200 New England troops to harass Lord Cornwallis. Lafayette reached Richmond on 29 April 1781 just in time to prevent its capture by the British.

While Lafayette was in Virginia, Generals Washington and Rochambeau met in Wethersfield, Connecticut on 21 May 1781 and planned a joint French-American attack on New York City aided by the fleet of Admiral de Grasse stationed in the West Indies.

Meanwhile, Lord Cornwallis marched his troops to Williamsburg, Virginia trailed by Lafayette, who realized that Cornwallis (1) was waiting there for ships to evacuate his forces, or (2) was awaiting reinforcements. So Lafayette wrote to General Washington that the British forces could be trapped on the peninsula at Yorktown. When Washington received Lafayette's urgent letter on 9 July 1781 and two weeks later learned that Admiral de Grasse was sailing from the West Indies with some 28 sail of the line and 3,000 French troops headed for the Chesapeake Bay, he immediately abandoned his planned attack on New York City and followed Lafayette's suggestion and prepared for the march to Virginia.

Meanwhile, Lafayette, not knowing Washington had already taken action, traveled north to convince Washington of this strategy and met Washington at the Andrew Hopper House in Ramapaugh (now Darlington, New Jersey) on August 26th. Three days later Washington, Lafayette, and Rochambeau converged in Princeton, New Jersey.

On August 30, the French fleet under Admiral de Grasse arrived and on September 8th another fleet under Admiral de Barras sailed into the Bay, trapping the British army. On 19 October 1781 Lord Cornwallis surrendered. With their instruments draped with black ribbons, the British band played an old English nursery song: "The World's Turned Upside Down."

In December 1781 Lafayette sailed for France on the ALLIANCE. The people in Paris gave him an enthusiastic reception. He was feted and adored by the court and basked in national acclaim.

On 14 July 1789 a crowd stormed the Bastille in Paris and freed the political prisoners. The next day King Louis named Lafayette as Commander of the National Guard. When a crowd invaded the Palace of Versailles on October 6th, Lafayette's troops saved the king and queen from the fury of the mob.

On 10 August 1792 the monarchy was overthrown, Danton took control, and the Assembly impeached Lafayette. Knowing he would be executed if he returned to Paris, Lafayette deserted his command and fled into Belgium, which at the time was part of the Austrian Netherlands. Here Lafayette was arrested by a patrol and taken to Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor. The emperor accused Lafayette as a Republican and against monarchies, thereby committing Lafayette to life in prison.

King Louis XVI was executed on the guillotine in January 1793, and Queen Antoinette in October. Lafayette's son escaped to New York City, but his wife and two daughters were captured and taken to Paris. Meanwhile, Lafayette was helpless since he was confined in a dark cell in the Omultz Fortress in Austria.

Adrienne's great uncle and great aunt, the duc and duchess de Mouchy; her mother the duchess d'Aven; her grandmother; and her sister the vicomtesse de Noailles all suffered death on the guillotine.

Just five days after the execution of Adrienne's family, the Reign of Terror ended when Robespierre himself was sent to the guillotine.

After Adrienne and her daughters were freed she took them to Austria in October 1795, where she threw herself at the feet of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, and pleaded for the release of her husband. But the emperor refused, claiming Lafayette was a Republican and against the monarchy. So Adrienne asked to share, with her two daughters, her husband's prison cell in the fortress and the emperor agreed.

When Adrienne and her daughters entered the rat-infested dungeon, the musty smell and forbidding dampness dulled her spirits, but now she could share her life with her beloved Gilbert and give him love, comfort, hope, and encouragement. Soon her daughters caught an infection and Adrienne became ill with blood poisoning.

The emperor arranged to have Adrienne taken to a hospital, but she refused to leave her beloved Gilbert and remained in the damp and musty dungeon with her husband and daughters for the next two years.

After Napoleon defeated the forces of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1797, Lafayette and his wife and daughters were released from prison. Meanwhile, Adrienne's health suffered for years due to her confinement in the dungeon, and on Christmas Eve 1807 she died at age 48, having spent 33 years with her beloved Lafayette. Knowing her devotion, Lafayette promised never to remarry, and he never did. According to her wishes, Adrienne was buried in the little Picpus Cemetery in Paris.

In 1824, President James Monroe invited Lafayette to visit the United States. In August, Lafayette began his triumphal tour of New York City, where he received a hero's welcome. He visited all 24 states of the Union, from Maine to Georgia and from New Jersey to Missouri. With Lafayette were his son, George Washington Lafayette, and his secretary, Auguste Levasseur, who kept a daily journal of Lafayette's trip. On August 16th Lafayette was escorted from the battery in a carriage drawn by four white horses to City Hall, where he received a thunderous welcome.

While in his carriage and placed on a barge with his horses, Lafayette was taken to Brooklyn and cheered by thousands. In the crowd was a 15-year-old boy named Walt Whitman who never forgot that exciting moment.

After he left New York on August 20th, the marquis had supper at the Sun Tavern in Fairfield, Connecticut and spent the night at the Washington Hotel in Bridgeport. In New Haven he was greeted by Governor Oliver Wolcott, Jr. and while there visited Yale College.

When Lafayette arrived in Providence, Rhode Island on Monday, August 23rd, he was entertained at a reception and dinner.

On August 25th, Lafayette attended commencement exercises at Harvard College, then traveled to Quincy, Massachusetts where he called on former President John Adams, now aged 88 and very feeble according to Lafayette's secretary.

On 1 September 1824, Lafayette entered Portsmouth, New Hampshire and was entertained at a banquet and ball. On his return to New York, the Marquis left Middletown, Connecticut on the steamer OLIVER ELLSWORTH and traveled down the Connecticut River into Long Island Sound.

On Monday, September 6th, Lafayette visited Columbia College. That evening a dinner was held at the City Hotel in honor of Lafayette's 67th birthday. On the 15th the marquis boarded the steamboat JAMES KENT for a trip up the Hudson River to Albany, but the promoters of the trip booked so many people that Lafayette, his son, and his secretary had to share a cabin with Revolutionary War veterans General Morgan Lewis and Colonel Nicholas Fish.

At Albany, a triumphal arch was topped by a large stuffed eagle that flapped its wings (somehow mechanized) as Lafayette was greeted by Governor Joseph C. Yates and entertained at a supper and ball.

On Saturday, September 18th, Lafayette's party, including Gov. Yates and ex-governors DeWitt Clinton and Morgan Lewis, was carried in five boats on the canal to Troy, where a parade for Lafayette was led by members of the local Masonic Lodge (Lafayette was a Mason).

While here the marquis visited the Troy Female Academy founded by Emma Hart Willard.

On 23 September 1824, Lafayette crossed the Hudson River on the JAMES KENT to Jersey City, New Jersey, where he was received by Governor Isaac H. Williamson at Lyon's Hotel and escorted by a detachment of militia to Newark to be serenaded by children. Then he was taken to Elizabeth where he attended a reception at River's Hotel.

At Princeton Lafayette was entertained at the college for a noontime dinner. After he left Trenton, the marquis rode to Bordentown, where he visited with Joseph Bonaparte, former king of Spain.

When he arrived in Philadelphia on September 29th, Lafayette was greeted by a long parade that included 160 Revolutionary War veterans drawn in large cars (wagons). After Lafayette left Philadelphia by boat, he arrived at Chester at dusk on October 5th and was entertained by the ladies of the town, who cooked and served the meal. The next day, at Chadd's Ford, the marquis visited Brandywine Battlefield where he had been shot in the leg.

Lafayette attended a reception in Wilmington on the 6th, then left at 5:50 for New Castle to attend the wedding of Dorcas Van Dyke and Charles Irenee du Pont.

At Frenchtown, Lafayette embarked on the steamboat UNITED STATES for Baltimore. When they reached Fort McHenry, the marquis was greeted by veterans of the War of 1812 and by old Revolutionary War soldiers. Lafayette rested in Baltimore for five days, then was given a farewell dinner under a massive tent. He spent the night in Rossburg.

Upon his arrival on October 12th, Lafayette was taken to The White House, where he was welcomed by President James Monroe. While here, Lafayette visited Martha Parke Custer Peter, the widow of Thomas Peter. She was the granddaughter of Martha Washington.

After a banquet in Alexandria, the marquis returned to Washington, then sailed down the Potomac River on the steamship PETERSBURG with John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War. Lafayette visited the tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon, then left for Yorktown, where he was greeted by Chief Justice John Marshall.

Lafayette visited Williamsburg, then stopped off on October 22nd to inspect the 65-gun NORTH CAROLINA. At Richmond on the 26th, the marquis was received by 40 Revolutionary War veterans and attended the horse races.

On 2 November 1824 Lafayette stayed with former President Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. At a banquet at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, the marquis was seated between former presidents Jefferson and James Madison. Lafayette was Jefferson's guest for nine days, then he visited Fredericksburg, where a parade and dinner were held in his honor.

On November 23rd, Lafayette dined in The White House with President and Mrs. Monroe.

As a result of the French revolution and his five years of imprisonment, Lafayette lost all of his fortune except for his farm La Grange and had been borrowing money to sustain himself. Whereupon, on 20 December 1824, Congress voted Lafayette $250,000, payable over ten years, and a grant of federal land in Florida, situated between what is now Gainesville and Tallahassee.

During his long stay in Washington, D.C., the marquis made numerous side trips. On his return trip from Philadelphia he traveled through Lancaster County and arrived at York on 2 February 1825, where he was greeted by church bells and attended a banquet.

After he left Washington, D.C., Lafayette was greeted in Raleigh by Governor Hutchins G. Burton and on March 2nd attended a dinner and ball at North Carolina State University.

On 6 March 1825, Lafayette crossed the border and arrived at Cheraw at 11:00 PM, where some 15,000 citizens awaited his arrival.

On March 8th Lafayette arrived at Camden, where he laid the cornerstone of a monument to Baron de Kalb, who had been killed there. At Columbia, the marquis visited South Carolina College and attended a grand ball. On the 12th, as Lafayette entered Charleston, he was greeted by the firing of cannon and ringing of church bells. Lafayette embarked on the steamship HENRY SHULTZ. When the vessel landed at Beaufort, cannons roared.

Upon his arrival at Savannah on 19 March 1825, Lafayette was welcomed with a salute by the Chatham Artillery. On the 21st, Freemasons met with Lafayette as he laid the cornerstones to General Nathaniel Greene and Casimir Pulaski. After Lafayette reached Augusta on the 23rd, the town celebrated for 48 hours, leaving the marquis in a state of exhaustion.

When Lafayette crossed the Chattahoochee on the 31st, Indians leaped about him, danced, and gave a loud cry. While Lafayette was still inside, Indians lifted his carriage onto their shoulders and marched to their village. Lafayette was escorted by Indian Chief Chilly McIntosh to Montgomery, where he was greeted by Governor Israel Pickens. After attending a Masonic party on April 7th at Mobile, Lafayette attended a ball and danced with the ladies.

Lafayette boarded the steamboat NATCHEZ and on the 13th was given a 13-gun salute as the vessel passed Fort Planquemine. In New Orleans, at the Place d'Arms, a triumphal arch 60 feet high greeted Lafayette. He visited Baton Rouge and was greeted on the 18th by a discharge of cannon at Natchez, where the marquis attended a ball.

At St. Louis on April 29th, Lafayette was greeted by Governors Wm. Clark of Missouri and Edward Coles of Illinois (who had liberated his slaves).

While cruising down the Mississippi, the NATCHEZ stopped at the village of Kaskaskia, then at the mouth of the Ohio River at present-day Cairo. Passengers boarded the smaller MECHANIC, which steamed down the Cumberland.

At nashville on 4 May 1825, Lafayette was greeted by General Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans, then attended a public dinner.

While ascending the Ohio River, the MECHANIC struck a rock and sank. The passengers, including Lafayette, were rescued by the PARAGON, which took the marquis to Louisville on May 11th.

On May 19th, at Cincinnati, the marquis was treated to a fireworks display, then attended a ball with some 500 present.

At midnight Lafayette boarded the steamboat HERALD, which made a stop at Wheeling where festivities were held in Lafayette's honor.

Lafayette boarded a boat on the Monogahela River on May 29th to Braddock's Field, then the militia escorted him to Pittsburgh, where he was received by hundreds of schoolchildren.

On June 2nd, Lafayette visited Allegheny College at Meadville and the next day was honored at a banquet at Erie attended by veterans of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

After he left Erie late on June 2nd, the marquis tried to get some sleep as the carriage rode over bumpy roads. Then there was a discharge of cannon at Fredonia which startled Lafayette. As he looked out of his carriage he saw hundreds of lighted candles suspended from trees and in houses. After he alighted from his carriage, the marquis was escorted into town by men and boys with lighted candles on one side of the road and women and girls with lighted candles on the other side. According to the diary of his secretary, Lafayette was overwhelmed by the reception and, for the first time on the trip, he broke down and cried.

Lafayette boarded a steamer at Dunkirk for Buffalo, where he arrived on June 4th and received a hero's welcome. On June 6th the marquis had dinner at Fort Niagara and then was escorted to Lockport, terminal of the Erie Canal. At Lockport the marquis was shown the Erie Canal, which had been cut through solid rock to a depth of 25 feet. Then Lafayette boarded the barge ROCHESTER.

On June 7th Lafayette spent the night in Rochester, then traveled through Geneva, Waterloo, Syracuse, and Rome to Utica, where he boarded the canal packetboat GOVERNOR CLINTON drawn by white horses down the canal.

On June 11th Lafayette attended receptions at Little Falls and Schenectady, then arrived at Albany, where he stayed at Cruttenden's.

After he left Albany Lafayette stopped at Pittsfield and Worthington, then passed through Worcester, arriving at Boston on June 15th where he was received by Governor Levi Lincoln. On the 17th there was a giant parade led by survivors of the Battle of Bunker Hill with Lafayette in a calash drawn by six white horses and 7,000 citizens in the parade. Lafayette was permitted to take some soil from Bunker Hill.

On 21 June 1825 Lafayette left Boston and was escorted by cavalry through Reading, Andover, and Pembroke. He was met at the New Hampshire border and escorted to Concord, where he was honored at a dinner attended by some 600 guests.

Lafayette passed through Derry Depot to Maine where a delegation escorted him to Portland, arriving on June 24th and where he was greeted by Governor Parris. On June 28th the marquis crossed the border into Vermont and attended a banquet in Montpelier. At Burlington on the 29th he was greeted by Governor Van Ness and laid a cornerstone at the University of Vermont. While boarding the PHOENIX on Lake Champlain for New York, the marquis received a 13-gun salute.

After spending about two weeks in New York, Lafayette rode to Philadelphia, where he attended the dedication of the water works on the Schuylkill River and marveled at its power and simplicity in supplying water for some 120,000 civilians. He was the guest of honor at a dinner.

Lafayette boarded the steamboat DELAWARE, which stopped at Wilmington and arrived at Baltimore on July 30th. The marquis was escorted to Washington, where he stayed at the Executive Mansion as the guest of President John Quincy Adams.

It is interesting to note that Lafayette knew and supped with the first seven presidents of the United States--with Washington during the Revolutionary War, and on this trip with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and the future president Andrew Jackson.

On September 7th Lafayette boarded the ship BRANDYWINE for France. The trip to La Havre took 24 days.

Cannons were fired as Lafayette disembarked at La Havre. On 9 October 1825 the marquis reached his farm, La Grange, where he was feted at a gala party by 4,000 guests.

Lafayette died on 20 May 1834 at age 78 and was buried next to his wife in the little Picpus Cemetery in Paris. The soil he had brought back from Bunker Hill Monument was poured over his grave.

When General John J. Pershing arrived in France with the American Expeditionary Army during World War I, he exclaimed: "Lafayette, we are here!"

The U.S. flag has been flown over his grave continuously for over 160 years, repeatedly replaced when tattered. When the Germans took Paris during World War II the U.S. flag over Lafayette's grave was not disturbed.

"For those present who have water, coffee, or tea, please raise your cups or glasses in a toast to that hero who fought for our independence, suffered under the Holy Roman Emperor for his love of liberty for the common man, and won the hearts of the American people. LAFAYETTE!"

FOR SOME INTERESTING ANECDOTES ABOUT LAFAYETTE ON THIS WEBSITE, SEE BELOW.

" La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. It was written and composed
by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle on April 24, 1792.

Arise children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us tyranny's
Bloody standard is raised
Listen to the sound in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers
They are coming into our midst
To cut the throats of your sons and consorts

To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions!
March, march
Let impure blood
Water our furrows

What do they want this horde of slaves
Of traitors and conspiratorial kings?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons?
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage
What methods must be taken?
It is us they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!

What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our courts!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our warrior sons
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would have themselves be
The masters of destiny

Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward
Against you we are all soldiers
If they fall, our young heroes
France will bear new ones
Ready to join the fight against you

Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors
Bear or hold back your blows
Spare these sad victims

That they regret taking up arms against us
But not these bloody despots
These accomplices of Bouillé
All these tigers who pitilessly
Ripped out their mothers' wombs

We shall enter into the career
When our elders will no longer be there
There we shall find their ashes
And the mark of their virtues
We are much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins
We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or joining them

Drive on sacred patriotism
Support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty
Join the struggle with your defenders
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone
So that in death your enemies
See your triumph and our glory!

UPDATE:

Note from P.G. Carl K. Hoffmann of the Ft. Lauderdale Chapter [since transferred to the Saramana Chapter] in response to the e-mail from H. Lynn Breaux which follows his note: "Our FLSSAR Compatriots and others might like to know where to reach his 3rd great grandson. He is handsome and his wife is a beautiful Spanish lady from Cartegena, Columbia. We met them at the May 1998 meeting of the French Society in Paris. They were engaged at that time and she was taking Fench lessons so she could assume the title of Countess. Best Wishes, CKH 04/05/02"

"It is with great pleasure that I transmit to you the announcement of the birth in Paris of Caroline du Pusy de Lafayette on March 26,2002. She is the second child of Count Gilbert du Pusy de Lafayette and Countess Irasema de Lafayette. Caroline is a descendant of the Lafayette and Rochambaud family lines.

Anyone wanting to send letters/cards of congratulations, please contact me for specific mailing instruction.