The First Meeting of Washington and Lafayette (1777)

At the age of 19, the Marquis de Lafayette crossed the Atlantic and joined General Washington’s Continental Army. Inspired by the promise of liberty made by the new nation’s Founding Fathers, and despite a royal decree prohibiting French officers from serving in America, Lafayette purchased his own ship, La Victoire, and landed on the coast of Georgetown, South Carolina on June 13, 1777, despite objections from his family and King Louis XVI.