I'm not American, but Lafayette was certainly successful at achieving his military and political goals. It's worth noting he had been trained in a French milit

I'm not American, but Lafayette was certainly successful at achieving his military and political goals. It's worth noting he had been trained in a French military academy for officers since 11, and was commissioned as an officer in the French Musketeers at 14. Additionally he was extremely well connected in the French nobility and clearly had the expectation that men would follow him. As for his leadership capabilities, Washington cited him in a letter to congress when he was still officially an adviser for rallying US troops during a retreat after being shot in the leg. His record is pretty good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_Lafayette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_...