About

After serving under Rochambeau in the American War of Independence, Alexandre de Lameth was elected for the nobility of Péronne in 1789. He joined the Third Estate, supported the renunciation of privileges on 4 August, and became prominent with Barnave and Duport in the informal group known as the triumvirate. After Varennes he defended retaining Louis XVI within the revised constitutional monarchy. Serving in the Army of the North in 1792, he crossed the frontier with Lafayette and was detained by Austrian forces. He returned under the Consulate, served as a prefect, and later sat in the Restoration opposition.