Artist: Edwin White (1817-1877), 1859
Medium: Oil on canvas
MSA SC 1545-1113

A French nobleman by the name of Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette served as a major-general in the Continental Army under George Washington and became his close friend. Though he was not present for Washington's resignation, Lafayette made several trips to Annapolis during and after the war and was described by one Annapolis lady as "quite the thing." In 1784, in gratitude for his service, Maryland named Lafayette and his male heirs as natural-born citizens of the state.

Lafayette is buried in Paris under soil from Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Many cities throughout the United States are named in honor of him and his contribution to American independence.