Which French military officer commanded American troops at the Battle of Yorktown alongside George Washington?

Marquis de Lafayette commanded American troops at Yorktown alongside George Washington.

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, was a French aristocrat who volunteered for the American cause as a young man. He became a major general in the Continental Army and developed a close relationship with Washington. At Yorktown, Lafayette commanded American forces defending the outer positions and helped contain Cornwallis's army.

Lafayette's role is sometimes confused with that of Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau. Rochambeau commanded the French expeditionary army, while Lafayette was a French volunteer serving as an American general. Their forces cooperated under Washington's overall command.

Lafayette returned to France after the Revolution and later supported constitutional and liberal causes there. His symbolic importance crossed the Atlantic: during his 1824–1825 tour of the United States, he was welcomed as a surviving hero of the American Revolution.