The First Meeting of Washington and Lafayette—Philadelphia, early August 1777. When the 19‑year‑old French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, arrived in Philadelphia, a wary General George Washington was skeptical of yet another foreign officer seeking glory. Lafayette quickly won him over by refusing pay and declaring, reportedly, “I am here to learn, not to teach.”
His humility—and his readiness to spend his own fortune to equip Continental troops—cemented a rapid bond. Washington came to regard the brilliant young Frenchman as an adopted son, forging a transatlantic alliance that would contribute decisively to American victory at Yorktown.
