In the preface to his biography of Lafayette, historian Harlow Giles Unger says this, and I will admit that upon a first reading, there were tears welling up in my eyes: “Lafayette was the last of the world’s gallant knights, galloping out of Arthurian romance, across the pages of history, to rid the world of evil. Later, in 1824, during Lafayette’s triumphant return and grand tour of the United States, he encountered Armistead at Yorktown and publicly embraced him. Lafayette wrote a letter on Armistead’s behalf, and he was finally granted his freedom in 1787.
Armistead expected to be freed in exchange for his meritorious service after the Treaty of Paris in 1783, but that did not happen. Risking his life, Armistead agreed to become a spy for the American side in exchange for his freedom, and the information he provided was instrumental in the victory over Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Washington expressed admiration but politely declined, although he did later arrange for the freedom of his slaves through his will.ĭuring his tenure here, Lafayette befriended an enslaved man named James Armistead and recruited him to pretend to go over to the British, who had promised freedom to any enslaved person who agreed to join them.
In 1783, he suggested to his beloved George Washington that he should join Lafayette in an experiment in which they would jointly purchase a plantation and then train and educate the enslaved to the point where they could be freed and then hired back as laborers.
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