I am Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, I was a French nobleman and military officer who volunteered to join the Continental Army, led by General George Washington, in the American Revolutionary War. I was ultimately permitted to command Continental Army troops in the decisive Siege of Yorktown in 1781, the Revolutionary War's final major battle that secured American independence. After returning to France, I became a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830 and continues to be celebrated as a hero in both France and the United States.