[3][4] 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.

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.

"[6] After Arnold departed north in the spring of 1781, James remained in Virginia and continued his work at the camps of Lord Charles Cornwallis.

[3][7] James Lafayette acquired two parcels 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).

Lafayette visited Yorktown, as well as George Washington's grave at Mount Vernon and also gave a speech to the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond.

[12] Sources differ as to whether James A. Lafayette died in Baltimore or New Kent County in 1830 (the year he picked up his last pension payment),[1] or in Virginia in 1832.

John Blennerhassett Martin painted his portrait about the time of Heath's book, and distributed copies with the Marquis de LaFayette's testimony concerning his service.