How could a Frenchman play a vital role in America's independence? The Marquis de Lafayette was born in Chavaniac in 1757 and died in Paris in 1834. He was a French general and political leader who passionately supported the American Revolution, even before France entered into an alliance with the United States. The Continental Congress appointed him major general in 1777. Lafayette was wounded at Brandywine in September 1777 and endured the cruel winter at Valley Forge with Washington and his troops. He died in 1834 of pneumonia. Marie Jean Paul Joseph Roche Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis of Lafayette, was born on 6 September 1757 into a noble military family. Lafayette's father was killed during the Seven Years' War, and his mother and grandmother both died in 1770, leaving him a very wealthy inheritance. In 1771 he joined the royal army for France, and in 1773 he married fourteen-year-old Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles. He fled France during the French Revolution and, inspired by tales of how the American colonies were fighting for their independence from Great Britain, ...