When the young Frenchman, Marquis de Lafayette, learned of the struggle of the Americans and their endeavor to secure independence, he resolved to come to the colonies to aid them in their efforts. He landed near Charleston , South Carolina , June 13, 1777, and later in the summer he arrived in Philadelphia - the Congress welcomed him as he came to serve without pay and also as a volunteer. Since he represented the highest rank of French nobility and his motives were so patriotic in the American cause, the Congress commissioned him a Major General on the 31st of July.