Pierre Charles L'Enfant, self-identified as Peter Charles L'Enfant while living in the United States, was a French-born American military engineer who designed the basic plan for Washington, D.C. (capital city of the U.S.) known today as the L'Enfant Plan (1791).Early life and educationL'Enfant was born in Paris, France on August 2, 1754, the third child and second son of Pierre L'Enfant (1704–1787), a painter with a good reputation in the service of King Louis XV of France, (1710-1774, reigned 1715-1774), and Marie L'Enfant, the daughter of a minor official at court. In 1758, his brother Pierre Joseph died at the age of six, and Pierre Charles became the eldest son. He studied art at the Royal Academy in the Louvre, as well as with his father at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. He left school in France to enlist in the American Revolutionary War on the side of the rebelling colonials.Military serviceL'Enfant was recruited by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais to serve in the American Revolutionary War in the United States. He arrived in 1777 at the age of 23, and served as a military engineer in the Continental Army with Major General Lafayette. He was commissioned as a captain in the Corps of Engineers on April 3, 1779 to rank from February 18, 1778.
