James Armistead Lafayette Serves as Double Agent

James Armistead, an enslaved Virginian, served as a double agent for the Marquis de Lafayette during the Yorktown campaign, infiltrating British General Cornwallis's headquarters and providing crucial intelligence about British troop movements that contributed to the American victory at Yorktown. After the war, the Marquis de Lafayette personally testified to his service, helping secure his freedom from the Virginia legislature in 1787.