James Armistead Lafayette (born 1748 or 1760 – died 1830 or 1832) was an enslaved African American who served the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War under the Marquis de Lafayette, and later received a legislative emancipation. As a double agent, he reported the activities of Benedict Arnold after he had defected to the British, and of Lord Charles Cornwallis during the run-up to the siege of Yorktown. He fed the British false information while disclosing very accurate and detailed accounts to the Americans. Early life James was born to an enslaved mother either in North Carolina or Virginia. He became the property of Colonel John Armistead of New Kent County, Virginia. Well before the Colonel's death in 1779 he became the first slave owned by and personal manservant of Armistead's son William. Most sources believe that he was born in 1748, though others put his birth around 1760. James' owner taught him to read and write. Legislative emancipation Although Virginia enacted a manumission act in 1782 allowing for the freedom of any slave who had fought in the Revolutionary War, James Armistead remained the property of William Armistead. This was because the next year (1783) another law specifically freed only slaves who had been issued firearms (i.e. whose owners had used them as substitutes for army service). James had served as a spy, not a soldier, and did not carry a gun. Thus his first petition for emancipation was not passed even by a legislative committee before the session ended. 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 James’s petition, which both houses of the assembly had passed. Virginia later compensated Armistead for James' manumission. Upon receiving his freedom, James added "Lafayette" (or "Fayette") as his surname to honor the French general. Later life James Lafayette acquired two parcels totaling about forty acres in New Kent County in 1816 and became a relatively wealthy farmer in the area. In addition to his (second) wife and several children (including a son), he bought three slaves to work his land. In 1818, Lafayette applied to Virginia's legislature for a pension based on his Revolutionary War service. He eventually received $60 for present relief and a $40 annual pension, which