John Laurens (1754 – 1782) was an American soldier and statesman from South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War, best known for his criticism of slavery and his efforts to help recruit slaves to fight for their freedom as U.S. soldiers. He was an aide-de-camp to General Washington.
In 1915, David Duncan Wallace (1874-1951) published a book on John Laurens' father "The Life of Henry Laurens." Appended to this book was a 30-page sketch of the life of Henry's son John Laurens. It is this sketch that has been reprinted here for the convenience of the interested reader. (Note that Henry Laurens succeeded John Hancock as President of the Congress. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and President of the Continental Congress when the Articles were passed on November 15, 1777.)
John Laurens was a close friend to Alexander Hamilton and the two corresponded on matters such as the fate of Major John Andre, as detailed in the book "The Fate of Major André: A Letter from Alexander Hamilton to John Laurens," in which the character and the last moments of Andre are well depicted and is considered one of Hamilton's best known productions.
John Laurens was captured by the British and upon his release, was unwillingly appointed by Congress in December 1780 as a special minister to France. Preferring to return to the South, he had originally refused the post and proposed Alexander Hamilton as the better candidate. Laurens was ultimately persuaded by both Hamilton and Congress to accept the post.
In this book, Wallace writes of John Laurens:
"The combination of military talent, intellectual brilliancy and maturity of character which marked him hardly find a parallel among his associates save in his friend and fellow-officer on Washington's staff, Alexander Hamilton. If both these, remarkable youths had been spared, we have every reason to believe that Laurens also would have acquitted himself nobly in the constructive work of the next two decades. Quick in his mental operations, handsome, socially accomplished, highly educated, endowed with large wealth, eminent position and the prestige of a great father, he had the prospect of the career of a powerful leader. A splendid full-length life-size portrait (presented in 1911) now hangs in the hall of the South Carolina House of Representatives."
The author David Duncan Wallace was Professor of History and Economics in Wofford College Member South Carolina Historical Society.
