The Death of Colonel John Laurens,
August 27, 1782

s the American War for Independence drew to a close, with the battle of Yorktown being a decisive victory the previous year, a young luminary of the conflict rose from his deathbed where he was suffering from malaria, saddled his horse, called out his men and gave chase to a straggling British force sighted on the outskirts of his encampment.

John Laurens (1754-1782)

Some historians have speculated with uncanny surety that Lt. Colonel John Laurens sought out a martial death that day, others that his judgement was impaired by fever, while his friends and contemporaries at the time remarked that such ferocious drive was well in keeping with his character. Whichever the case, the death of this now relatively unknown patriot shook the country, and the lamentations that passed back and forth between America’s most distinguished leaders over his fall shed light on the loss of a remarkable young man with a promising future.

Born into one of Charleston, South Carolina’s most affluent Huguenot families, John Laurens grew up with all the advantages of Britain’s colonial peacetime rule: plantation life and prosperous trading funded his comforts and ensured he was given the most thorough of educations. In all things he was equipped by his father—the estimable Henry Laurens—for a life spent as a man of considerable influence.

Mepkin Plantation in Charleston, SC, home of the Laurens family

The remarked-upon partiality his father showed to John Laurens in his youth, if it indeed existed, was understandable considering that John was his first child out of thirteen to survive to maturity, and whose appearance was said to greatly reflect that of his mother, who also died birthing their last child.

When the winds of rebellion began to blow in the American colonies, John Laurens was away on the European continent finishing his studies, some of which included the law and military school in Geneva. He was in London overseeing his younger brother’s education when the American Declaration of Independence was read out to an infuriated British crowd. Immediately he wrote to his father for leave to join him in America and lend his aid to the new cause. He was forbidden to do so. The conflict was too fresh and unpredictable and in the estimation of many it would be short lived.

By the spring of 1777 the war was only growing in its fury and, ignoring his father’s letter of forbiddance, John Laurens secured his brother’s safety with English family members, bid farewell to a secret wife of five months and their unborn child, and hitched a ride across the Atlantic on one of his family’s trading vessels—a narrow escape as trade would soon grind to a halt and blockades would become commonplace between the warring countries.

Henry Laurens during his tenure as President of the Continental Congress

He arrived in Philadelphia in time to find Washington’s retreating army stationed there, and soon his own father, Henry Laurens, the newly appointed President of the Continental Congress. His father, irate at John’s impulsive presumption in returning home, refused his son a commission, but Providence had it so that John Laurens was sent a letter of invitation by George Washington to serve as his aide-de-camp.

General George Washington (1732-1799)

Laurens was without an officer’s commission, but being almost over qualified in his education, he was almost immediately recognized as one of Washington’s “indispensable men” on the general’s staff. There he met and befriended notables such as a young Alexander Hamilton, whose estimation of Laurens vacillated between envy and admiration, and the Marquis de Lafayette who required Laurens’ patient translation of colonial English into his aristocratic French. These three would often be referred to as “the gay trio” as they were so inseparable, irrepressible and served as the nexus for much of Washington’s martial “family”, as he referred to his own staff officers.

John Laurens would later learn that his father had actually been behind his good positioning on Washington’s staff, a secretive and loving attempt to try to secure for his son a place of honor and safety in the conflict. Young Laurens, however, had other wishes—a burning desire to be viewed as more than a rich and aristocratic secretary to the General, and pursued with astounding ferocity each opportunity of gaining battlefield merit that presented itself. He fought at Brandywine, where his tenacious bravery earned him this comment by Lafayette in a letter home to his wife:

“It was not his fault that he was not killed or wounded that day, he did everything that was necessary to procure one or t’other.”

The Brandywine Battlefield today

At the battle of Germantown a little over a week later, Laurens was shot through the shoulder at point blank range while trying to set fire to a large stone mansion occupied by British troops. Washington had lost considerable amounts of men trying to breach the place with no success before Laurens decided to put his torch to it. According to the report of a French Chevalier witnessing the scene:

“He rushed up to the door of Chew’s House, which he forced partly open, and fighting with his sword with one hand, with the other he applied to the wood work a flaming brand, and what is very remarkable, retired from under the tremendous fire of the house.”

The attack on Chew’s House during the Battle of Germantown

Two days after this battle, on October 6, 1777, with his arm still in a sling made from his officer’s sash, Washington awarded him an officer’s commission with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and expectations he would continue his administrative duties.

Laurens endured the deprivations of Valley Forge with the rest of the army and was essential in keeping his father Henry, then President of Congress, directly informed of both the dire straights of the army but also the multitude of inter-army coups enacted against Washington at the time.

Washington’s Headquarters at Valley Forge

During this period he also pursued a childhood interest that had grown into a firm conviction while in the company of English abolitionists—the incorporation of “black battalions” of slaves into the Continental Army in return for their freedom. He repeatedly sent detailed proposals of this to Congress and to his father:

“I have hinted to you, my dearest Father, my desire to augment the Continental Forces from an untried Source....[The raising of black battalions would]...advance those who are unjustly deprived of the Rights of Mankind [and]...reinforce the Defenders of Liberty with a number of gallant soldiers.”

It was a bold crusade to undertake for a South Carolinian officer who stood to inherent one of the largest plantations in the nation. It was primarily considered impossible and ignored, save by Washington who added his weight in admiration for the scheme.

Washington at the Battle of Monmouth

Laurens would go on to fight in the disastrous battle of Monmouth where the infamous General Charles Lee, having already been bought and bribed into treason by the British, left the Continental Army out to dry. Lee was later court-martialed for his conduct that day, a proceeding during which he repeatedly insulted General Washington personally and the cause as a whole. But his greatest abuses were hurled at John Laurens who was the most damning witness against his conduct that day.

General Charles Lee (1732-1782)

In December of the same year Laurens—still smarting under the massacre of the army and Lee’s persecution of Washington—challenged General Lee to a duel, and against all common sense or etiquette in regards to rank, Lee accepted. The duel did not proceed as usual, instead it reflected the personal animosity of the challengers: they never faced away from each other as was customary but instead strode near to each other and fired when within six paces of the other. Laurens came away unhurt and Lee with a side wound. Both being unsatisfied with the outcome, they determined to reload and try again and were in the process of doing so when cooler heads intervened and insisted honor had been satisfied. Lee would later say of the event that he came away with “an odd sort of respect for Laurens.”

A Colonial-era pistol duel of honor

In 1779 South Carolina came under attack and Laurens left the northern campaigns to join in the defense of his native state. On his way to South Carolina, Laurens stopped by Philadelphia to once again petition Congress for support of his plan to enlist slaves into Continental service. With dire circumstances in the south, Congress resolved, “That it be recommended to the states of South Carolina and Georgia, if they shall think the same expedient, to take measures immediately for raising three thousand able-bodied negroes.” This would unfortunately never come to full fruition. Charleston would fall after a lengthy siege and Laurens, with almost 5,500 other American troops, were forced to surrender to the British in May of 1780.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) during his time in France

Upon being exchanged after months of captivity, John Laurens was then appointed by Congress to be envoy to the French court. His credentials were simple—he spoke fluent French and was in possession of Washington’s complete confidence. It was hoped his charming ferocity would be a beneficial supplement to Benjamin Franklin’s perceived lackadaisical pursuit of French loans.

Franklin enjoying the society life of Paris

When six weeks in France had elapsed with no results, the restless Laurens called on the French minister of foreign affairs, the Comte de Vergennes. He made plain-spoken demands for money, weapons, uniforms, and ammunition for the American cause. Vergennes replied:

“Colonel Laurens, you are so recently from the Head Quarters of the American Army, that you forget that you are no longer delivering the order of the Commander-in-Chief, but that you are addressing the minister of a monarch.”

Undeterred, Laurens proceeded to pick a fight with and duel a French officer of the court who was in turn so impressed, he obtained Laurens a direct audience with King Louis XVI. At a reception where it was procedure for individuals to be presented to the king to merely bow and pay their brief respects, the bold and gregarious Laurens approached King Louis and haggled a ten million livre loan from him, derived from the Dutch and underwritten by the French.

King Louis XVI of France (1754-1793)

His job well done, he sailed back to America in August 1781 to rejoin Washington’s staff, aboard two ships loaded with money and military supplies. He arrived just in time to participate in the providential victory at Yorktown. There he helped lead the final assault against Redoubt #10 along with Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette. He personally took British commander Lord Cornwallis prisoner, and helped negotiate his exchange for his father, President Henry Laurens, who had been imprisoned in the Tower of London after an unfortunate capture at sea.

Yorktown did not signal the end of the war for John Laurens as it did for many. Instead he went south again, served in his state legislature and joined General Nathanael Greene’s army in driving out the last of the British from the Carolinas.

Major General Nathanael Greene (1742-1786)

As the war came to a close, it seemed Laurens was certain to be one of the predominant leaders of the new nation. His good friend, Alexander Hamilton, who had resigned from the army after Yorktown and was appointed to the Continental Congress in 1782, wrote to Laurens:

“Peace made, My Dear friend, a new scene opens. The object then will be to make our independence a blessing... Quit your sword my friend, put on the toga, come to Congress. We know each others’ sentiments, our views are the same; we have fought side by side to make America free, let us hand in hand struggle to make her happy.”

Instead, stricken with a sudden and debilitating illness, Laurens still rose on the morning of August 27, 1782, ignored his orders to maintain a defensive position and instead ordered a pursuit of a spotted detachment of British infantry. It proved to be a trap, laid by Carolinian loyalists. Laurens was struck by several musket balls and fell from his horse, mortally wounded, dying shortly after at the age of twenty-seven. His men fled the field but later returned under the orders of General Kosciusko and retrieved Laurens’ body. He was buried the next day at a nearby plantation owned by childhood friends.

Word of his death spread like wildfire, devastating his wartime friends, grieving Generals Washington and Greene who held him in affectionate regard, and even the Royal Gazette published this glowing eulogy:

“When we contemplate the character of this young gentleman, we have only to lament his great error on his outset in life, in espousing a public cause which was to be sustained by taking up arms against his Sovereign. Setting aside this single deviation from the path of rectitude, we know no one trait of his history which can tarnish his reputation as a man of honor, or affect his character as a gentleman.”

Entrance to Mepkin Plantation, boyhood home and final resting place of John Laurens

Meanwhile, his father remained in London, tragically unaware of this newest loss. He was set to join John Adams and other American representatives in Paris to finish the peace treaty between the two countries. John Adams learned of John Laurens’ death first, and rushed to write the poor father before he learned of it from British newspapers. The resulting correspondence is one of the most tender but resilient examples of condolence imaginable. It reflects beautifully both the character of the fallen and of the men who produced sons of such character that they unflinchingly served their God and their fellow man no matter the personal cost:

“I feel for you, more than I can or ought to express. Our Country has lost its most promising Character, in a manner however, that was worthy of her Cause. I can say nothing more to you, but that you have much greater Reason to Say in this Case, as a Duke of Ormond said of an Earl of Ossory, ‘I would not exchange my son for any living Son in the World.’”

Grave of John Laurens

Image Credits: 1 John Laurens (wikipedia.org) 2 Mepkin Plantation (wikipedia.org) 3 Henry Laurens (wikipedia.org) 4 Eleanor Ball Laurens (wikipedia.org) 5 Marriage Certificate (wikipedia.org) 6 Henry Laurens (wikipedia.org) 7 George Washington (wikipedia.org) 8 Lafayette (wikipedia.org) 9 Alexander Hamilton (wikipedia.org) 10 Brandywine Battlefield (wikipedia.org) 11 Chew’s House, Germantown (wikipedia.org) 12 Valley Forge HQ (wikipedia.org) 13 Battle of Monmouth (wikipedia.org) 14 Charles Lee (wikipedia.org) 15 Duel (wikipedia.org) 16 Benjamin Franklin (wikipedia.org) 17 Franklin in Paris (wikipedia.org) 18 Louis XVI of France (wikipedia.org) 19 Three Colonels (wikipedia.org) 20 Nathanael Greene (wikipedia.org) 21 Hamilton (wikipedia.org) 22 John Laurens (wikipedia.org) 23 Mepkin Entrance (wikipedia.org) 24 John Laurens’ Grave (tripadvisor.org)