Yorktown with the surrender of British forces under
Lord cornWallis (19 October 1781), and Lafayette
again returned to France.
Back in his home country, Lafayette was an avid
proponent of an alliance with the new nation of the
United States. In 1782, he was named as the quarter-
master general of a joint Franco-Spanish mission to
British Canada, and the following year he was given the
rank of maréchal de camp (major general). He toured
America to large crowds in 1784 and Europe in 1785.
In America, where he was welcomed as a hero, he served
as a special French representative to the American In-
dian tribes, participating in a peace conference as well.
Growing political unrest in France led to Lafayette’s
election to the Assembly of Notables in 1787 and the
Estates-General in 1789. He was elected as vice presi-
dent of the French National Assembly and later named
as commander of the militia when the Bastille, the
noted French prison, fell to antiroyalist rebels on 14 July
1789, the beginning of the French Revolution. Despite
his fame, Lafayette soon became unpopular, especially
when he ordered his forces to fire into a crowd to end a
riot in 1791. Named commander of an army division to
defend the nation against an invasion by Austrian forces,
he spent only a short period at the front when he was
relieved of his command on suspicion of supporting the
royalists and ordered to return to Paris. Sensing that his
life was in danger, he instead crossed the border, where
he was captured by Austrian forces. It was not until
1797 that he was freed through the efforts of the French
general naPoleon bonaParte. Returning to France
two years later, he retired.
Later in life, Lafayette returned to the world of
French politics when he was elected to several terms in
the Chamber of Deputies starting in 1815, and in 1830
he served as a leader of the moderates during the so-
called July Revolution (1830). His leadership led to the
installation of Louis Philippe as the king of France that
year. He revisited the United States in 1824, when he
was welcomed warmly and voted a large cash award by
Congress. In 1831, he wrote on and supported revolu-
tions in Poland and Italy.
Lafayette died in Paris on 20 May 1834 at the age
of 76. Despite the fact that he was born and had died
in France, and that he had spent only a few years in
the service of the newly formed United States, he is re-
membered more in his adopted land than in his own. In
1917, when the American Expeditionary Force landed
in France to assist Allied forces in the First World War,
the American commander, John Pershing, said upon
his arrival, “Lafayette, we are here.” In 2002, the U.S.
Congress passed a resolution making the marquis de La-
fayette an honorary American citizen.References: Buckman, Peter, Lafayette: A Biography
(New York: Paddington Press, 1977); Gottschalk, Louis
Reichenthal, Lafayette between the American and French
Revolution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1950);
Adams, John Quincy, Oration on the Life and Character
of Gilbert Motier de Lafayette.... (Washington, D.C.:
Printed by Gales and Seaton, 1835); Blanchard, Amos,
American Military Biography, Containing the Lives and
Characters of the Officers of the Revolution who were most
Distinguished in achieving our National Independence. Also,
the life of Gilbert Motier La Fayette (Cincinnati: E. Dum-
ing, 1834); Loveland, Anne C., Emblem of Liberty: The
Image of Lafayette in the American Mind (Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 1971).Lambert, John (1619–1684) English general
John Lambert was born the son of the squire at Cal-
ton Hall in the small village of Kirkby Malham near
Skipton, Yorkshire, England, in 1619. Little is known
of his early life, except that he studied the law. When
the English Civil War began in 1642, Lambert joined
the Yorkshire Parliamentarians as a captain serving
under Ferdinando, the second baron Fairfax of Cam-
eron, and his son, Sir Thomas fairfax. He became an
important military leader for the Parliamentarians, es-
pecially in early battles at Hull (October 1643); Nant-
wich, Cheshire (25 January 1644); Bradford, Yorkshire
(March 1644); and Marston Moor (2 July 1644), a
battle that left the forces of Parliament in control of
northern England. Lambert showed his compassion-
ate side when he released the head of the garrison at
Bradford, who, he discovered, was distantly related to
his wife. When Fairfax left his command to lead the
so-called New Model Army, Lambert succeeded him as
commander of the northern forces. He was later given
the command of a regiment of foot, and in 1647 he
advanced to the rank of major general.
Long-standing grievances between those in Parlia-
ment and the army fighting for them came to a head in- Lambert stepped forward to breach these differ-
ences. Working with Henry Ireton (1611–51), a mem-
lAmbeRt, John