James Armistead

James Armistead was perhaps the most well-known Black spy of the American Revolution. Armistead was also a double agent. After joining the Continental Army, he was assigned to Lafayette, who became aware of Armistead’s extensive local knowledge and, as a regular visitor to the city, his familiarity with the British garrison in Yorktown.

Posing as a runaway enslaved person, James Armistead crossed British lines into Yorktown and began collecting intelligence for Lafayette. To discourage local British troops from being diverted to Yorktown, he also passed disinformation about non-existent Continental forces – cleverly prepared in Lafayette’s own handwriting for the British to recognize. That ploy, along with Washington’s own efforts to deceive British forces in New York City and tie down the main army, effectively deterred the British from relieving or reinforcing the besieged garrison at Yorktown.

After the war, although Virginia enacted a manumission act in 1782 allowing for the freedom of any slave who had fought in the Revolution, James Armistead remained the property of William Armistead. This was because according to the law at the time, James had served as a spy, not a soldier, and did not carry a gun, therefore he wouldn't be given freedom. However, James persisted and succeeded with the support of William Armistead – again in 1786 a member of the House of Delegates – and Lafayette's personal 1784 testimonial as to James's service. On January 9, 1787, Virginia's governor signed a petition that both houses of the assembly had passed, and Virginia later compensated Armistead for James' appraised value. Upon receiving his freedom, James added "Lafayette" (or "Fayette") as his surname to honor the French general.

During his lifetime, James Armistead's heroism was mentioned in a two-volume book of historical fiction by James E. Heath,Edge Hill: or the Family of the Fitz Royals.(1828) The French artist Jean-Baptiste Le Paon included a Black servant in French livery in a portrait he painted of the Marquis de LaFayette in 1785, which some think was intended to represent this man.

Name: James Armistead, James Armistead LaFayette

Born: 1748 or 1760

Died: 1830 or 1832

Contributions in the American Revolution: Reported the activities of Benedict Arnold and Lord Cornwallis. Fed the British false information while disclosing very accurate and detailed accounts to the Americans.