Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette was born in 1757 in Auvergne in the south of France.  His family was wealthy and were purported to have a famous military background.  His father was killed when he was two at the Battle of Minden by a British led coalition.  His mother would live in Paris while he would stay in the chateau and be raised by his father’s mother.  In 1768 he would move to Paris to be with his mother and receive an excellent education.  In 1771 he would be commissioned in the Musketeers and then later made a Captain in the Dragoons.

By 1776 the American War of Independence between the fledgling United States of America and Britain was gaining attention in France.  Seeking revenge for their losses in the Seven Year War Louis XVI and his ministers saw the possibility of checking British power.  The French decided to send support to the Revolutionaries across the Atlantic.  Lafayette volunteered to go and he was promoted to Major General.  His ambitions were scotched however when Britain threatened war if the French supported the rebels.  Lafayette would bide his time spending some of 1777 in London.  He would finally pay for his own sailing ship La Victoire and set sail across the Atlantic.

Upon arrival in America he would make his way to Philadelphia where his happiness to serve without pay in the rebel Army saw him commissioned as a Major General.  He would meet George Washington and the two became close friends with Lafayette serving on the commander in chief’s staff.  He would fight at the Battle of Brandywine being injured in the process his bravery was noted by Washington and he was given command of a division which he led to some success.  France would formally recognise American Independence in March 1778. Soon a full French fleet would arrive in July 1778.

He would be allowed to return to Paris in 1779 where he was given a hero’s welcome by Paris.  He would meet the King and be presented with a ceremonial sword from the Continental Congress. Lafayette planned a joint attack on Britain with the Spanish navy.  The attack was unsuccessful.  Liaising with Benjamin Franklin he managed to create a force of 6,000 soldiers under General de Rochambeau to once again return to America.  In France he would be made the Continental Congress’s first Foreign Secretary.  He would be involved in numerous battles against the British and would be present when Cornwallis was forced to surrender at the Battle of Yorktown on the 19th October 1781.

He would once again return to France where he was greeted with adulation.  He would see the birth of his second child Marie-Antoinette Virginie adding to the first who had been named George Washington. Lafayette would take part in the negotiations which led to the formal ending of the war with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.  

Unfortunately for France her funding of the rebellion in America led an already enfeebled economy towards bankruptcy.  To solve this crisis Louis XVI would call the Estates General.  Lafayette was elected as representative of the Second Estate.  The first major obstacle that would face the Estates is how they would vote by Estate or by head.  Lafayette believed that it should be by head.  When the Third Estate called on the others to join a trickle of clergy would join them.  Soon enough however a trickle turned into a flood and Lafayette would join what became the National Assembly.

Lafayette was drafted in to become the commander in chief of the National Guard of France.  It was at a crucial moment in the context of the revolution as the Bastille had just been stormed.  The King hoped Lafayette would be able to bring stability to the situation.  Lafayette heroic past and his entwinement with enlightenment values made him the ideal candidate to draft a constitution which would codify the achievements of the revolution.  With the help of Thomas Jefferson he created the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.  

The complexities of Lafayette’s position would become apparent when on the 5th October a crowd of women fisher women marched to Versailles to complain about the lack of bread.  Many National Guardsmen followed the women in solidarity Lafayette accompanied them in the hope of controlling the rapidly evolving situation.  Lafayette appeared to mollify the situation by bringing the royal family out onto the balcony.  As the crowd insisted that they move to Paris Lafayette was powerless to stop the wishes of the crowd.  Instead he would accompany the royal family to their new residence of the Tuileries Palace in Paris.

In July 1790 he would take a leading role in the Festival of Federation swearing an oath alongside his National Guard to uphold the constitution and be faithful to the King.  Over the course of the next year tensions rose as many began to question how far the King truly was acting in the nation’s interest.  By April 1791 Lafayette was struggling to control his National Guardsmen as they turned the royal family back from attending mass against their commander’s orders.

Lafayette’s position became even more questionable when the royal family escaped on the 20th June 1791.  That the royal family were quickly returned did little to appease many who Lafayette as complicit in the plot or incompetent.  In July 17th thousands met to sign a petition calling for the abolition of the monarchy.  Lafayette sought to bring control over the situation, the resulting confrontation saw the National Guardsmen firing on the crowd leading to the death of up to fifty people on the Champs De Mars.  Lafayette’s position amongst the radicals could have been lower.

With the outbreak of war against Prussia and Austria on the 20th April 1792 Lafayette as general of one of the revolutionary armies sought to hone his troops into a cohesive fighting force.  As desertions soared amongst the aristocrats and disorganisation hobbled the war effort Lafayette suggested the Assembly consider peace talks.  Lafayette was not only seen as a dangerous counter revolutionary by many he had also ceased to understand the swift moving currents of the revolution.  On the 28th June he condemned the radical groups that he believed were destroying French society these groups however were in control of Paris.  When his demand for the people to rise up were met with indifference he suddenly had a moment of realisation and fled Paris.

When the monarchy was overthrown on the 10th August 1792.  The radicals who Lafayette had condemned a mere month before were now in power.  Danton (now Justice Minister) issued a warrant for Lafayette’s arrest.  Lafayette hoping perhaps to reach America entered Belgium only to be taken prisoner by the Austrians.  He would be held prisoner until Napoleon Bonaparte managed to gain the release of French prisoners at Olmutz ending five years of imprisonment.

Although he would thank Napoleon he would refuse to have anything to do with his rule.  He declined the chance to be Minister to the United States.  He would also vote against Napoleon becoming Consul for Life.  He spent the era of Bonaparte leading a comparatively quiet life.  When Napoleon abdicated in 1814 Lafayette would oppose the return of the monarchy in the corpulent form of Louis XVIII with the restrictive nature of the suffrage for the new Chamber of Deputies.  When Napoleon returned from Elba in 1815 Lafayette would reject the returning Emperors overtures to return to government.  With the monarchy restored Lafayette would offer support to various democratic organisations across Europe.  He would also return to America to celebrate the young nation's fiftieth birthday.  He would be hailed right across the nation as he toured from state to state.

On returning to France he found Louis XVIII had died and Charles X had ascended to the throne.  Charles was a different beast to his older brother Louis.  He quickly instigated a series of reforms aimed at winding the clock back to a revival of a more absolutist monarchy including dissolving the National Guard.  Lafayette was one of the leading opponents of the King and won election to the Chamber of Deputies in 1827.  When in July 1830 Charles brought in the Ordinances of Saint-Cloud to disenfranchise the middle classes and remove completely the Chamber of Deputies.  The Deputies would continue to meet however and soon the people of Paris took to the barricades.  Lafayette seized the moment and joined the protesters on the barricades.  Lafayette would once again become commander of the National Guard and was even offer the opportunity to become ruler of France an offer he refused.  With Charles fearing that he would meet the same fate as his eldest brother he abdicated.  It was decided to offer the throne to Louis Philippe who would become the last King of France.

When more conservative elements dominated the Chamber of Deputies the National Guard was once again dissolved.  Lafayette would speak out against the King who he saw descending into despotism.  Lafayette died on the 20th May 1834 his death was met with great mourning both in France and America.

Germaine De Staël on Lafayette.  Taken from Considerations on the Principle events of the French Revolution, Germaine De Staël, Liberty Fund, (2008) p182

M. de la Fayette, having fought from his early youth for the cause of America, had early become imbued with the principles of liberty which form the basis of that government.  If he made mistakes in regard to the French Revolution, we are to ascribe them all to his admiration of the American institutions, and of Washington, the hero citizen who guided the first steps of that nation in the career of independence.  La Fayette, young, affluent, of noble family, and beloved at home, relinquished all these advantages at the age of nineteen to serve beyond the ocean in the cause of that liberty, the love of which has decided every action of his life.  Had he had the happiness to be a native of the United States, his conduct would have been that of Washington: the same disinterestedness, the same enthusiasm, the same perseverance in their opinions, distinguished each of these generous friends of humanity.  Had General Washington been, like the Marquis de laFayette, commander of the national guard of Paris, he also might have found it impossible to control the course of circumstances; he also might have seen his efforts baffled by the difficulty of being at once faithful to his engagements to the King, and of establishing at the same time the liberty of his country.

Germaine De Staël on Lafayette and the Declaration of Rights.  Taken from Considerations on the Principle events of the French Revolution, Germaine De Staël, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis (2008) p184

On the 11th of July, before the Third Estate had obtained their triumph, M. de la Fayette addressed the Constituent Assembly and proposed a declaration of rights, nearly similar to that which the Americans placed at the head of their constitution, after conquering their independence….

The French declaration of rights in 1789 contained the best part of those of England and America; but it would have perhaps been better to have confined it, on the one hand to what was disputable and on the other to what would not have admitted of any dangerous interpretation.

Lafayette on July 11th 1789 in the Constituent Assembly on the Declaration of Rights of man.  In in The French Revolution and Human Rights a brief documentary history, Bedford/St Martins, Boston New York (1996)  p72

The first (reason for a declaration) is to recall the sentiments that nature has engraved on the heart of every individual and to facilitate the development of them, which is all the more interesting in that, for a nation to love liberty, it suffices that it be acquainted with it, and for it to be free, it suffices that it wishes it.

The second reason is to express these external truths from which all institutions should be derived and to become, in the labours of the representatives of the nation, a loyal guide that always leads them back to the source of natural and social right…

The merit of a declaration of rights consists in truth and precision; it should say what everyone knows, what everyone feels.  It is only this idea, Sirs, that could have engaged me to offer the draft that I have the honour of presenting to you.

Letters XI from Helen Maria Williams detailing her visit to Versailles after the events of October 1789 Taken from Letters Written in France, Broadview Literary Texts, Ormskirk (2002) p98-99

We are just returned from Versailles, which I could not help fancying I saw, in the background of that magnificent abode of a despot, the gloomy dungeons of the Bastille, which still haunt my imagination, and prevented my being much dazzled by the splendour of this superb palace.

We were shown the passages through which the Queen escaped from her own apartment to the King’s on the memorable night when the Poissardes visited Versailles, and also the balcony at which she stood with the Dauphin in her arms, when after having remained a few hours concealed in some secret recess of the palace, it was thought proper to comply with the desire of the crowd, who repeatedly demanded her presence……..

All the bread which could be procured in the town of Versailles, was distributed amongst the Poissardes; who, with savage ferocity, held up their morsels of bread on their bloody spikes, towards the balcony where the Queen stood, crying in a tone of defiance, “Nous avons du Pain!” (We now have bread)

During the whole of the journey from Versailles to Paris, the Queen held the Dauphin in her arms, who had been previously taught to put his infant hands together, and attempt to soften the enraged multitude by repeating, “Grace pour maman.” (Spare mama).

Mons. De la Fayette prevented the whole Gardes du Corps from being massacred at Versailles, by calling to the incensed people, “Le Roi vous demande grace pour ses Gardes du Corps.” (The King begs of you to spare his body guard).  The voice of Mons. De la Fayette was listened to, and obeyed.

The Marquis de Bouille on Lafayette.  Taken from Memoirs Relating to the French Revolution by the Marquis de Bouille, Cadell and Davies, London (1797) p127

La Fayette was at the head of this party, which then governed in consequence of the advantage that general had obtained over the duke of Orleans the 5th of October.  But La Fayette was incapable of executing what he had undertaken. He was a romantic hero, who, though principal in a conspiracy of the most criminal nature, wished to preserve the appearance of probity, honour, and disinterestedness; in short, he wished to pass for the mirror of chivalry. By a combination of fortunate circumstances, rather than by any talents of his own, he had attained a degree of elevation that might have enabled him to dictate laws, to give a government to France, and to have raised his fortune to the highest pitch an individual can aspire to: but instead of this he ruined himself like a madman, and in his fall implicated the king, the monarchy, and the whole nation.

Madam Campan (one of the Queen’s lady in waiting) on a possible rescue by Lafayette.  Taken from Memoirs of the Court of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, Complete Madame Jeanne-Louise-Henriette Campan, Echo Library, Teddington (2007) p231

A plan was presented to the Queen, in which it was proposed by a junction between LaFayette’s army and the King’s party to rescue the royal family and convey them to Rouen.  I did not learn the particulars of this plan; the Queen only said to me upon the subject that M. de La Fayette was offered to them as a resource; but that it would be better for them to perish than to owe their safety to the man who had done the most mischief, or to place themselves under the necessity of treating with him.