2-949-825 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

James Armistead Lafayette - Facsimile of the Marquis de Lafayette's original certificate commending James Armistead Lafayette for his revolutionary war service, with portrait after John B. Martin., 1784-11-21. Lafayette was an enslaved African American who served the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War under the Marquis, and later received a legislative emancipation. As a double agent, he reported the activities of Benedict Arnold after he had defected to the British, and of Lord Cornwallis during the run-up to the Battle of Yorktown. He fed the British false information while disclosing very accurate and detailed accounts to the Americans.