James Armistead Lafayette

In 1781, a Black man worked in a British army camp in Virginia. He served food to the officers. He listened to them talk. His name was James Armistead. He was really a spy for the American army.

Working for Both Sides

Armistead was born into slavery around 1748. A person in slavery is owned by someone else. He has to work for no pay. His owner was William Armistead. In 1781 he went to work for General Lafayette. Lafayette led the American army in Virginia. He sent Armistead to spy on the British.

The British did not think an enslaved man could be a spy. So they let him walk around their camp. They even asked him to spy on the Americans.

So Armistead was a double agent. A double agent pretends to work for one side. He really works for the other side. He told the British things that were not true. Then he told Lafayette what the British were planning.

The Trap at Yorktown

In August 1781, the British army moved to Yorktown. Yorktown is a town by a river in Virginia. Armistead took papers out of the British camp. The papers showed the British planned to stay there.

American and French soldiers marched to Yorktown. They surrounded the town. French ships blocked the river. On October 19, 1781, the British gave up. Yorktown was the last big battle of the war.

Freedom Comes Later

The war did not free Armistead. He went back to his owner's farm. In 1784 Lafayette wrote a letter about his work. Armistead sent the letter to Virginia's lawmakers. He asked them to set him free. At first they did nothing. He asked again in 1786. In 1787 they set him free.

He took the last name Lafayette. He bought a small farm in New Kent County. In 1818 the state gave him money every year for his service. In 1824 Lafayette came to Richmond. He saw James in a crowd and hugged him. James Lafayette died in 1830.

In the summer of 1781, a Black man worked as a servant at the British army's headquarters in Virginia. He served food to the officers and listened to them talk. His name was James Armistead. He was a spy for the American army.

Working for Both Sides

Armistead was born into slavery around 1748 in New Kent County, Virginia. His enslaver was William Armistead. In 1781, with his enslaver's permission, he went to work for the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette was a French general who led the American army in Virginia. He sent Armistead into the British camp as a spy, a person who secretly gathers information.

The British did not think an enslaved man could be a spy. So they let him move around their camp. They even asked him to spy on the Americans for them. That made Armistead a double agent, a spy who pretends to work for one side while working for the other. He told the British things Lafayette wanted them to believe. He carried secret messages for Lafayette and took papers out of the British headquarters.

The Trap at Yorktown

In August 1781, the British general Lord Cornwallis moved his army to Yorktown, a town on the York River. The papers Armistead took showed that Cornwallis planned to stay there. American and French armies marched to Yorktown and surrounded it. French warships blocked the river. Cornwallis could not escape. On October 19, 1781, he surrendered, which means he gave up and handed over his army. Yorktown was the last big battle of the war.

Freedom Comes Later

The end of the war did not free Armistead. He went back to William Armistead's farm. In 1783 Virginia passed a law that freed enslaved men who had fought as soldiers. The law said nothing about spies. In 1784 Lafayette wrote a letter that said James had done "essential services" for him. Armistead sent the letter to Virginia's lawmakers and asked for his freedom. They did not vote on it.

He asked again in 1786. This time the lawmakers passed a law to free him. The last vote came on January 1, 1787. He took the last name Lafayette. Around 1816 he bought a forty-acre farm in New Kent County. In 1818 the state gave him a pension, money paid every year for his service in the war. When Lafayette visited Richmond in 1824, he saw James in a crowd and hugged him. James Lafayette died in 1830.

In the summer of 1781, a Black man came and went from the headquarters of the British army in Virginia. He waited on the tables where the officers ate and listened to them talk about the war. The British took him for a servant. His name was James Armistead, and he was a spy for the Continental Army.

Working for Both Sides

Armistead was born into slavery around 1748 in New Kent County, Virginia, and was enslaved by William Armistead. In 1781, with his enslaver's permission, he volunteered to serve under the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who commanded the Continental Army in Virginia. Lafayette sent him into the British lines to gather intelligence, information about the enemy's soldiers and plans.

Accounts differ on how he got in. Some say he told the British he had run away from his owner and wanted to work for them, while others say he came and went as a servant or laborer and no one asked questions. The British did not believe an enslaved man could be a spy, so they let him move through their camp.

The British also asked him to spy on the Americans for them. That made Armistead a double agent, a spy who pretends to work for one side while secretly working for the other. He told the British what Lafayette wanted them to hear. He carried Lafayette's secret messages to other agents behind the British lines, and he smuggled papers out of the headquarters of General Charles Cornwallis, the British commander.

The Trap at Yorktown

In August 1781, Cornwallis moved his army to Yorktown, a port on the York River, and began to build defenses. The papers Armistead carried out showed that Cornwallis meant to stay there, and Lafayette sent the news north to General George Washington. American and French armies marched south and surrounded the town, while French warships blocked the river. Cornwallis could not get away by land or by sea. On October 19, 1781, he surrendered his army. Yorktown was the last major battle of the war.

Freedom Comes Later

The war's end did not free Armistead, and he went back to William Armistead's farm. In 1783 Virginia passed a law that freed enslaved men who had served as soldiers, but it said nothing about spies. On November 21, 1784, Lafayette wrote a certificate, a signed statement, that said James "has done essential services to me while I had the honour to command in this state." Armistead sent it to the Virginia General Assembly with a request for his freedom. The Assembly put the request aside without a vote.

He asked again in November 1786, and this time the lawmakers agreed. The House of Delegates passed the act on December 25, 1786, and the Senate passed it on January 1, 1787. The state also paid William Armistead for the loss of his labor.

After he was freed he took the last name Lafayette. Around 1816 he bought about forty acres in New Kent County and farmed it. In 1818 he asked the General Assembly for help in his old age, and it granted him $60 and a pension of $40 a year for his service in the war. When Lafayette toured the United States in 1824, he saw James in a crowd in Richmond, called him by name, and embraced him. James Lafayette died in 1830.

In the summer of 1781, a Black man moved in and out of the British army's headquarters in Virginia without being stopped. He waited on the tables where the officers ate and listened to them talk about the war. The officers took him for a servant and let him come and go as he pleased. His name was James Armistead, and he was a spy for the Continental Army.

Choosing a Side

Armistead was born into slavery around 1748, probably on the property of William Armistead in New Kent County, Virginia. By 1781 the war had reached Virginia, and enslaved people there faced a choice. In 1775 the royal governor, Lord Dunmore, had promised freedom to enslaved men who left their owners to fight for the British, and thousands had crossed to the British lines since then. Armistead did not, and that spring, with William Armistead's consent, he volunteered to serve under the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who commanded the Continental Army in Virginia.

Working for Both Sides

Lafayette sent him into the British lines to gather intelligence, information about the enemy's soldiers, supplies and plans. Accounts of his cover story differ. Some say he told the British he was a runaway looking for work. Others say he passed through the lines as a servant, laborer or teamster, and waited tables at the headquarters of General Charles Cornwallis, the British commander in Virginia. Both accounts agree on what happened next. The British did not think an enslaved man could be a spy, and they asked him to report on the Americans for them.

That made Armistead a double agent, a spy who pretends to work for one side while secretly working for the other. He told the British what Lafayette wanted them to believe about the American army. He carried Lafayette's secret messages to other agents behind the British lines, and he smuggled papers out of Cornwallis's headquarters that showed the British meant to stay at Yorktown. On July 31, 1781, Lafayette told General George Washington that a "Correspondant of Mine Servant to Lord Cornwallis" was sending him news from the British camp. The letter does not give the servant's name, and some historians think it was Armistead.

The Trap at Yorktown

In August 1781, Cornwallis moved his army to Yorktown, a port on the York River, and set his soldiers to digging defenses. Lafayette's smaller force watched the town and sent its reports north. Washington and the French general Rochambeau marched their armies south from New York, and a French fleet sailed into Chesapeake Bay and blocked the mouth of the river. By the end of September, American and French soldiers surrounded Yorktown on land and French warships closed it off by sea. Cornwallis could not break out, and no British fleet came to rescue him. On October 19, 1781, he surrendered his army. Yorktown was the last major battle of the war, and in 1783 Britain signed a treaty recognizing American independence.

Freedom Comes Later

The war's end did not free Armistead, and he went back to William Armistead's farm. In 1783 Virginia's General Assembly passed a law freeing enslaved men who had served as soldiers in the war. The law said nothing about spies, so it did not cover him. On November 21, 1784, in Richmond, Lafayette signed a certificate, a written statement meant to be shown to others. It said that James "has done essential services to me while I had the honour to command in this state" and that his reports "were industriously collected and most faithfully deliver'd." Two weeks later Armistead sent the certificate to the Assembly with a petition, a formal written request, for his freedom. The Assembly ended its session before the committee reported, and the petition was never decided.

He petitioned again on November 30, 1786. The petition opened by saying that he believed all people have a right to freedom. It said that he had "often at the peril of his life found means to frequent the British Camp," and it asked that his owner be paid for the loss of his labor. The House of Delegates passed an act freeing him on December 25, 1786, and the Senate agreed on January 1, 1787. In March the state paid William Armistead 250 pounds.

A Free Man in New Kent County

After he was freed he took the last name Lafayette, and he signed his name James Fayette. No record from his lifetime calls him James Armistead. Later writers assumed he had used his enslaver's name, which is why he is usually called James Armistead Lafayette today. Around 1816 he bought about forty acres in New Kent County, where he farmed and raised a family. In December 1818, at about seventy years old, he petitioned the General Assembly again, this time for help in his old age. The Assembly granted him $60 at once and a pension of $40 a year for his service in the war.

In October 1824, Lafayette came to Richmond during his tour of the United States. A Richmond newspaper reported that the general recognized James in the crowd, called him by name, and embraced him. About that time the artist John B. Martin painted his portrait and printed copies of it with the words of Lafayette's certificate. The original certificate and the 1784 petition are lost, so the certificate's words survive only in such copies. In the spring of 1830 James Lafayette sold printed copies of the certificate in Norfolk and in Washington. He died in Baltimore on August 9, 1830.