Early Career

Lafayette was born in Château Chavaniac, his family's estate in the region of Auvergne. Gilbert, as the boy was called, was two years old when his father was killed in battle. When his mother and her father died, the young marquis, at 13, came into a large inheritance. He went to the Collège du Plessis and trained for the army at the Military Academy at Versailles. At 16, Lafayette married Marie Adrienne de Noailles, whose family was one of the most influential in France, and he was commissioned a cavalry captain.

Eager for glory, Lafayette spurned a career at the royal court. The revolt of the British colonies in America stirred him. “At the first news of this quarrel, my heart was enrolled in it,” he later recalled.