Marie Jean Paul Joseph Roche Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, or better known as just Marquis de Lafayette, was born in Auvergene on September 6, 1757. Many of his family members passed away when he was just twelve. His father died in the Battle of Minden during Seven Years War and his mother and grandmother died shortly after leaving him a great inheritance. Lafayette joined the Royal Army at the age of 14 and only two years later when he was 16, he married the 14 year-old Marie Adrienne Francoise de Noalles, who came from one of the most powerful and wealthy families in France in a pre-arranged marriage. Lafayette and Marie had a daughter; Anastasia who was born in 1777 and in 1779, their son, George Washington Lafayette was…show more content… When learning of their struggles, he came to the colonies to aid them in the war as a volunteer. Lafayette and several French officers arrived in South Carolina on June 13, 1777. It took only 13 days for him to be commissioned a major general due to his nobility and his patriotic motives. Later that summer he met George Washington and a friendship blossomed between the two gentlemen, which lasted a lifetime. That December in 1777, he traveled with his companion, Washington, to Valley Forge in Virginia. To improve his knowledge of military tactics, Lafayette stayed at Valley Forge until Washington marched on to meet the enemy in New Jersey. Lafayette requested the command of the advanced position from Lee but later resigned back to Lee. In the Battle of Brandywine Creek, as Lafayette recently arrive he was wounded by being shot in the leg while trying to rally the retreating troops. Washington made Lafayette a division commander when he fought at the Battle of Monmouth. He returned to France in the year 1778, to financially and militarily aid the Americans. In 1780, he returned to America and served in the Virginian campaign that ended with the surrender of the British at Yorktown which ended the war. In 1781 when Lafayette had decided to