James Armistead Lafayette (c. 1748–1830), an enslaved African American, served as a double-agent spy for the Continental Army under the Marquis de Lafayette during the American Revolutionary War. His intelligence reports helped shape the American and French strategy at the decisive Siege of Yorktown.
He worked for Lafayette as a courier, laborer, and spy. Posing as a runaway slave, James joined former Continental Army officer Benedict Arnold's camp in Portsmouth, Virginia ostensibly as a spy for the British. This role allowed Armistead to gain Arnold's confidence, in part by guiding British troops through local roads. "The ex-slave, who later renamed himself James Armistead Lafayette in the general's honour, served as a double agent against the British under the avowedly anti-slavery Lafayette."
After Arnold departed north in the spring of 1781, James remained in Virginia and continued his work at the camps of Lord Cornwallis. Now employed by the British as a courier, James traveled between their camps and often overheard officers speak openly about their strategies. He prepared written reports, and delivered them to other American spies. In this way, he relayed much information about the British plans for troop deployment and their arms. His espionage was instrumental in helping American and French forces force the surrender of Cornwallis' army during the siege of Yorktown.
Much later, after gaining his freedom from slavery, James Lafayette acquired two parcels of land totaling about forty acres in New Kent County in 1816 and became a relatively wealthy farmer in the area with his (second) wife and several children (including a son). He also became a slaveowner.
In 1818, Lafayette applied to Virginia's legislature for a pension based on his Revolutionary War service. He eventually received $60 (equivalent to $1,262 in 2025) for present relief and a $40 annual pension ($841).
