John Laurens

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John Laurens

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

John Laurens 1754-82, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Charleston, S.C.; son of Henry Laurens. In 1777 he joined George Washington's staff as a volunteer aide-de-camp, fought at Brandywine and in subsequent battles, and was promoted (1779) to lieutenant colonel in recognition of his bravery and ability. The intemperate criticism of Washington by Charles Lee caused Laurens to challenge Lee and fight an inconclusive duel. Going to the South, Laurens was captured (1780) when the British took Charleston, but was soon exchanged. In 1781 he was sent on a special and successful mission to France to procure money, arms, and supplies. He showed conspicuous gallantry in the Yorktown campaign and drew up the terms for the surrender of General Cornwallis. He accompanied Nathanael Greene on a mopping-up campaign in the Carolinas and was killed in a minor skirmish.

Bibliography: See his Army Correspondence, 1777-78 (1867, repr. 1969); biography by D. D. Wallace (1915, repr. 1967).

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Laurens, John

The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military | 2001 | © The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Laurens, John (1754–82) Revolutionary War officer, born outside Charleston, South Carolina. Laurens was aide-de-camp to George Washington, whom he served as secretary and translator to French allies. He fought at Brandywine and Germantown (both 1777), Monmouth (1778), and later, when the British invaded the South, in Georgia and his native South Carolina (1779). In 1781 Laurens, who was fluent in French, traveled to France and successfully negotiated for money for military supplies by avoiding the diplomatic route and going directly to Louis XVI. Later that same year he took part in the siege of Yorktown, leading a difficult bayonet attack on British fortifications and afterwards taking part in negotiating the British surrender.

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John Laurens and the American Revolution.
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HENRY LAURENS: THE SOUTHERN MAN OF CONSCIENCE IN HISTORY
Magazine article from: South Carolina Historical Magazine; 4/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...the time of the Revolution. Laurens's letter managed to acknowledge...catalogue, pointed out that the Laurens letter, "written to his son John only a few weeks after the...son, I abhor slavery."7 Laurens's letter was followed by...
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Magazine article from: The Journal of Southern History; 8/1/2002; ; 700+ words ; ...cannot account for the fact that Laurens was a political moderate and a reluctant...socioeconomic status. Both Gadsden and Laurens achieved wealth as Charleston merchants...example, Gregory D. Massey's John Laurens and the American Revolution (Columbia...
The Papers of Henry Laurens, Vol. XV: December 11, 1778--August 31, 1782
Magazine article from: The Virginia Quarterly Review; 1/1/2001; ; 543 words ; ...release on Dec. 31, 1781, Laurens spent the next months attempting...report of the tragic death of Laurens's eldest child, John, in a skirmish near Charleston...publication of Volume 15, the Laurens Papers continues to serve as...
Christopher Gadsden and Henry Laurens: The Parallel Lives of Two American Patriots.(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Journal of Southern History; 8/1/2002; ; 700+ words ; ...cannot account for the fact that Laurens was a political moderate and a reluctant...socioeconomic status. Both Gadsden and Laurens achieved wealth as Charleston merchants...example, Gregory D. Massey's John Laurens and the American Revolution (Columbia...

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