June 9, 1778

Background

On September 6, 1757, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, was born in Chavaniac, France to a family of noble military lineage. Inspired by the stories he had heard, Lafayette sailed to the newly declared United States in 1777 to join the colonists’ struggles against British oppression. Colonial leaders refused his help at first, but his passion and offer of free service impressed them. He was named a major-general in the Continental Army. Lafayette proved his intelligence and worth as a leader in the continental army after the winter in Valley Forge with George Washington, helping to garner more French support for the colonial side. In May 1778, he evaded the British sent to arrest him Bunker Hill and rallied a Continental attack at Monmouth Courthouse which ended in a stalemate. Lafayette then traveled to France to persuade Louis XVI for more aid for the colonies. Upon his return to America and the war in 1780, he was given increased military responsibilities becoming the commander of the Virginia Continental forces in 1781. In this role, he helped keep Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis’ army at Yorktown, Virginia, while Washington and France’s Comte de Rochambeau’s forces surrounded the British and forced their surrender in the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.

 

I [handwritten] the Marquis de la fayette Major General in the Continental Army [end of handwriting] do acknowledge the UNITED STATES of AMERICA to be Free, Independent and Sovereign States, and declare that the people thereof owe no allegiance or obedience to George the Third, King of Great-Britain; and I renounce, refute, and abjure an allegiance or obedience to him; and I do [handwritten] Swear [end of handwriting] that I will, to the utmost of my power, support, maintain and defend the said United States against the said King George the Third, his heirs and successors, and his or their abettors, assistants and heirs and adherants, and will serve the said United States in the office of  [handwritten] Major General [end of handwriting] which I now hold, with fidelity, according to the best of my skill and understanding.

Marquis delafayette

[handwritten in left corner]

Sworn before me

this 9th day June 1778

G. Washington[1]


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Open Anthology of The American Revolution Copyright © 2021 by Laura Lyons McLemore and Sarah Mazur is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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