During the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette volunteered from France to help America win its independence from England. He served as an aide to George Washington and was later promoted to general. In 1824, he began a 13-month tour of the 24 United States. At Arlington House, George Washington Parke Custis hosted the Marquis, then the last remaining Revolutionary War general and an advocate for human rights for the enslaved, for religious freedom, and for equality for women.