Washington was immediately taken with Lafayette, especially when the Marquis explained, "I am here to learn, not to teach. The redcoats outflanked Washington and were trying to surround him. When Sullivan finally retreated, Lafayette reluctantly went with him, realizing only later that he had been shot in the leg.
Washington sent his own surgeon to care for him, and when Lafayette was taken to the hospital the General told the doctors to, "Treat him as if he were my son. After Lafayette recovered, he became a valued member of Washington's close-knit military family. Lafayette in turn came to admire Washington's leadership more each day, especially during the winter at Valley Forge. Lafayette was overjoyed when news of the French alliance arrived in early But while he was feted as a hero, he was not placed at the head of the French army.
Count Rochambeau was chosen instead. By the summer of , Lafayette was back in the United States. Washington sent him to Virginia to stop British raids along the James River. When Cornwallis' forces arrived in Virginia, Lafayette harassed the British general until Washington and Rochambeau could lay siege to him at Yorktown. In October , there was no prouder soldier at Cornwallis' surrender than Lafayette. Lafayette again returned to France as a national hero.
Lafayette remembered, "Our meeting was very tender and our satisfaction was mutual. Like Washington, he favored the creation of a strong central government. But unlike Washington he recommended an immediate end to slavery. Back in France, Lafayette helped launch the French Revolution in He proudly sent the key to the Bastille to Washington, who was serving as the President of the United States. Lafayette fled from France when the revolution turned violent.
Lafayette's fortune was confiscated by the French government and many of his relatives died by the guillotine. One of Lafayette's greatest joys in his later years came in when he made a triumphant tour of the United States. He was initially rebuffed by colonial leaders, but he impressed them with his passion and willingness to serve for free, and was named a major-general in the Continental Army.
His first major combat duty came during the September Battle of Brandywine, when he was shot in the leg while helping to organize a retreat. General George Washington requested doctors to take special care of Lafayette, igniting a strong bond between the two that lasted until Washington's death. Following a winter in Valley Forge with Washington, Lafayette burnished his credentials as an intelligent leader while helping to draw more French resources to the colonial side. In May , he outwitted the British sent to capture him at Bunker Hill, later renamed Lafayette Hill, and rallied a shaky Continental attack at Monmouth Courthouse to force a stalemate.
After traveling to France to press Louis XVI for more aid, Lafayette assumed increased military responsibility upon his return to battle.
As commander of the Virginia Continental forces in , he helped keep British Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis' army pinned at Yorktown, Virginia, while divisions led by Washington and France's Comte de Rochambeau surrounded the British and forced a surrender in the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. Known as the "Hero of Two Worlds" after returning to his home country in December , Lafayette rejoined the French army and organized trade agreements with Thomas Jefferson , the American ambassador to France.
With the country on the verge of major political and social upheaval, Lafayette advocated for a governing body representing the three social classes, and drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Named commander of the Paris National Guard as violence broke out in , Lafayette was obligated to protect the royal family, a position that left him vulnerable to the factions vying for power.
He fled the country in , but was captured by Austrian forces and didn't return to France until He suffered a wound in one of his legs early in the battle but managed to calmly lead a Patriot retreat. Washington and Lafayette shared a close companionship over the course of the entire war.
In fact, Lafayette spent the harsh winter of with Washington and his men at Valley Forge , suffering along with the other Continental soldiers in the frigid, disease-ridden encampment. He helped Washington at his darkest hour when he faced an internal threat from the Conway Cabal, a plot to drive Washington from his command. Over the course of the next year, Lafayette more intensely pursued the glory he so desperately wanted.
The Continental Congress charged him with leading an invasion of Canada. However, Lafayette met with much disappointment upon reaching the launch point at Albany, New York. Continental forces there amounted to less than half the number Congress promised. Disappointed, he returned south, nearly escaping capture by the British that summer at Barren Hill, Pennsylvania and Delaware Bay. Lafayette managed to secure leave and returned home to France at the beginning of Since his departure, the crucial field of battle had moved to the south.
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