What do you think?
Rate this book
John Laurens and the American Revolution
Winning a reputation for reckless bravery in a succession of major battles and sieges, John Laurens distinguished himself as one of the most zealous, self-sacrificing participants in the American Revolution. A native of South Carolina and son of Henry Laurens, president of the Continental Congress, John devoted his life to securing American independence. In this comprehensive biography, Gregory D. Massey recounts the young Laurens's wartime record —a riveting tale in its own right —and finds that even more remarkable than his military escapades were his revolutionary ideas concerning the rights of African Americans.
Massey relates Laurens's desperation to fight for his country once revolution had begun. A law student in England, he joined the war effort in 1777, leaving behind his English wife and an unborn child he would never see. Massey tells of the young officer's devoted service as General George Washington's aide-de-camp, interaction with prominent military and political figures, and conspicuous military efforts at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Newport, Charleston, Savannah, and Yorktown. Massey also recounts Laurens's survival of four battle wounds and six months as a prisoner of war, his controversial diplomatic mission to France, and his close friendship with Alexander Hamilton. Laurens's death in a minor battle in August 1782 was a tragic loss for the new state and nation.
Unlike other prominent southerners, Laurens believed blacks shared a similar nature with whites, and he formulated a plan to free slaves in return for their service in the Continental Army. Massey explores the personal, social, and cultural factors that prompted Laurens to diverge so radically from his peers and to raise vital questions about the role African Americans would play in the new republic.
Massey relates Laurens's desperation to fight for his country once revolution had begun. A law student in England, he joined the war effort in 1777, leaving behind his English wife and an unborn child he would never see. Massey tells of the young officer's devoted service as General George Washington's aide-de-camp, interaction with prominent military and political figures, and conspicuous military efforts at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Newport, Charleston, Savannah, and Yorktown. Massey also recounts Laurens's survival of four battle wounds and six months as a prisoner of war, his controversial diplomatic mission to France, and his close friendship with Alexander Hamilton. Laurens's death in a minor battle in August 1782 was a tragic loss for the new state and nation.
Unlike other prominent southerners, Laurens believed blacks shared a similar nature with whites, and he formulated a plan to free slaves in return for their service in the Continental Army. Massey explores the personal, social, and cultural factors that prompted Laurens to diverge so radically from his peers and to raise vital questions about the role African Americans would play in the new republic.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2000
28 people are currently reading
325 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 22, 2016
John Laurens wasNT STRAIGHT
April 14, 2025
A splendid and thorough account of one of the American Revolution's most brash and opportunistic officers in the war, revealing to all the price that youth and naivety can cost before truly coming into adulthood and maturity. Massey's examinations of Laurens' adolescent life begs the question of what each 'Founder' or prominent member of the Revolutionary War front's life would have been like—had there been a gradual reprieve and compromise from Great Britain following its colonists' (justifiable) grievances. Indeed, with an interest and keen understanding of both the law and mercantile crafts, another one of Laurens' passions included botany, and here his subsequent talent in ecological drawings earned him praise from none other than the Royal Society while earning a valuable education abroad in Europe.
A single yet irritating flaw found (fortunately) in the first half, is that there's simply too much psychological examination and forced investigation from Massey into Laurens' own mind, self-realizations, relationships, and correspondence with his father and friends throughout his regrettably short-lived existence. Instead of allowing his audience to come to their own conclusions and findings (altogether essential to the hindsight and history of a long-forgotten past and culture), Massey uses fanciful conjecture and his own opinions of 'what John must have felt.' On the other side of the coin, Massey does a superb job in not glorifying and idolizing his subject, constantly reminding the reader of Laurens' casual attitude towards death and glory, as well as his carelessness as both a leader and beloved son:
Those who knew Laurens and had seen his recklessness in action seemed shocked only because he died at the close of the war in a skirmish over rice. They were perhaps baffled that it had not happened sooner. One French officer expressed no surprise, contending that Laurens had “fallen a victim to his too reckless valor … in a skirmish of little importance.” To be sure, Laurens cheated death more than once, but for all his vitality, he always inspired others with foreboding. After the battle of Germantown, for example, John Wells Jr., a Charleston newspaper printer, wrote to Henry Laurens: “While I wish to congratulate you on the martial achievements of my old friend your Son, I fear there is more need for Condolance, as his active enterprising Spirit must occasion his Person being often in imminent danger. I hope my fears may not be ominous.” The Chevalier de Mauduit Du Plessis, himself no stranger to foolhardiness, labeled Laurens a “Mad and rash fellow.” Indeed, John conducted himself at Chehaw Neck as he always had. Except this time the outcome was different.
Similarly, Massey expertly breaks down Laurens' brash and youthful attitude during both the Conway Cabal and Charles Lee's fall from grace at Monmouth. Here, Massey takes the time to not make excuses for this apostle of George Washington, giving pertinent examples and reasons as to why Laurens (and Hamilton) went to great lengths to defend their commander-in-chief's honor as fellow aide-de-camps—at times conniving in spirit and bordering on adoration. In following Laurens' life from beginning to end, there's a sense that he should have never been gifted the positions in the Continental ranks that he was allowed, and that he was rather unremarkable as a soldier when compared to Massey's fascinating explorations into his (failed) role as diplomat in France and eventual spymaster in the Southern theater of war. In the end, by risking his men's lives for next to nothing other then self-vanity and a last chance at "victory", Massey has proven that John's untimely death overshadowed a fleeting life that arguably went unfulfilled, complete with poor judgment and an unstable temperament.
A single yet irritating flaw found (fortunately) in the first half, is that there's simply too much psychological examination and forced investigation from Massey into Laurens' own mind, self-realizations, relationships, and correspondence with his father and friends throughout his regrettably short-lived existence. Instead of allowing his audience to come to their own conclusions and findings (altogether essential to the hindsight and history of a long-forgotten past and culture), Massey uses fanciful conjecture and his own opinions of 'what John must have felt.' On the other side of the coin, Massey does a superb job in not glorifying and idolizing his subject, constantly reminding the reader of Laurens' casual attitude towards death and glory, as well as his carelessness as both a leader and beloved son:
Those who knew Laurens and had seen his recklessness in action seemed shocked only because he died at the close of the war in a skirmish over rice. They were perhaps baffled that it had not happened sooner. One French officer expressed no surprise, contending that Laurens had “fallen a victim to his too reckless valor … in a skirmish of little importance.” To be sure, Laurens cheated death more than once, but for all his vitality, he always inspired others with foreboding. After the battle of Germantown, for example, John Wells Jr., a Charleston newspaper printer, wrote to Henry Laurens: “While I wish to congratulate you on the martial achievements of my old friend your Son, I fear there is more need for Condolance, as his active enterprising Spirit must occasion his Person being often in imminent danger. I hope my fears may not be ominous.” The Chevalier de Mauduit Du Plessis, himself no stranger to foolhardiness, labeled Laurens a “Mad and rash fellow.” Indeed, John conducted himself at Chehaw Neck as he always had. Except this time the outcome was different.
Similarly, Massey expertly breaks down Laurens' brash and youthful attitude during both the Conway Cabal and Charles Lee's fall from grace at Monmouth. Here, Massey takes the time to not make excuses for this apostle of George Washington, giving pertinent examples and reasons as to why Laurens (and Hamilton) went to great lengths to defend their commander-in-chief's honor as fellow aide-de-camps—at times conniving in spirit and bordering on adoration. In following Laurens' life from beginning to end, there's a sense that he should have never been gifted the positions in the Continental ranks that he was allowed, and that he was rather unremarkable as a soldier when compared to Massey's fascinating explorations into his (failed) role as diplomat in France and eventual spymaster in the Southern theater of war. In the end, by risking his men's lives for next to nothing other then self-vanity and a last chance at "victory", Massey has proven that John's untimely death overshadowed a fleeting life that arguably went unfulfilled, complete with poor judgment and an unstable temperament.
March 19, 2018
Spoiler alert! Laurens is gay.
August 16, 2020
I read this book because... wait for it... Hamilton. :) It seems to be the definitive biography of John Laurens. It is very thorough, but a bit dry. Interestingly, the author writes in the preface:
When I was working on this book nearly two decades ago, I wanted to write a narrative that would engage the reader in Laurens’s exciting life. Thinking it would improve the book’s readability, I made a conscious decision to write decisively about this very decisive and impulsive historical figure, which meant that I often resisted using qualifiers such as maybe or perhaps, particularly in assessing his motivations, and in deciphering what factors influenced his repeated reckless behavior. In retrospect, I realize that the choice to make decisive statements sometimes drained the book of one of history’s most mysterious and enduring qualities: that so much of our knowledge of the past is provisional and ultimately unknowable. And I issue now a disclaimer that did not appear in the book’s first edition: My arguments about the factors that influenced Laurens to be impetuous in public and private life are more conjectural than my language makes them appear. I believe that I come close to capturing the tension between aspirations and achievements that so shaped Laurens’s choices, but ultimately he, like any figure of the past, will always remain slightly beyond the historian’s grasp.
Revision is an essential part of the historical process. Not surprisingly, historians sometimes revise their own views or wish they could revise things they have written. If I had the opportunity for a do-over, there are three areas of my biography of John Laurens that I would change. In chronological order they are the presentation of the John Laurens-Alexander Hamilton relationship, the account of the siege of Savannah, and the assessment of Laurens’s diplomatic mission to France. In retrospect, I should have been equivocal rather than decisive in asserting that the Laurens-Hamilton friendship was platonic. Whether or not their relationship was homosocial or homosexual is a matter of debate that can not be definitively resolved.
January 10, 2020
This book is well researched and well put together in a detailed and careful fashion. I have deleted the previous comment I made while an impulsive high schooler who had no idea what I was talking about or what historians/historiographers do. LGBTQ people have always existed, however putting modern labels on people who died long before they were created and had such a different mindset is ill advised and altogether impossible to be correctly determined as in order for a label to be correct, the person themselves has to say it is. I commend Gregory Massey for focusing on recorded history rather than speculating on what was possibly hidden, as that leads down a path of assumptions that can never be known unless someone digs up verifiable proof, which is almost certain to never happen for because John Laurens seemed to have at least some amount of self preservation. While I do appreciate people acknowledging that there have always been people attracted to the same sex, in some cases the speculation would just seem off track and out of place, this is one of those cases. I can tell a lot of time and effort went into making this book the best it can be. That time and effort was well worth it, this is a great biography.
April 26, 2017
A mostly forgotten hero
I read this book primarily as research for some historical fiction I am writing, but I found myself engrossed well beyond the scope of my research. It is a humane and intriguing portrait of an idealist ahead of his time. Highly recommended.
I read this book primarily as research for some historical fiction I am writing, but I found myself engrossed well beyond the scope of my research. It is a humane and intriguing portrait of an idealist ahead of his time. Highly recommended.
December 20, 2019
Since I began pursuing my amature interest in Revolutionary America, John Laurens always seemed to stick in my mind as an intriguing, idyllic, and ultimately tragic figure. I'm grateful to Massey for giving Laurens the attention he deserves. Massey is prone to the sort of admiration which John's own peers also granted him in life and death...and which draws readers like us to this biography today. Yet he is frank about Laurens' repeated recklessness and ultimate failure. A well rounded biography, which gives color to Laurens as a man—contradictory at times, driven by patriotic ideals, naive, hard headed, and undeniably endearing.
Many comments I've read about this book express frustration over how Massey dealt with the Laurens-Hamilton relationship. For one, though sympathetic to these frustrations, this small point in Laurens' life should not be overly emphasized. In my copy of this book, Massey's Preface actually expresses regret in having presented their relationship as indisputably platonic; he takes a more ambiguous view. I agree with this ambiguity since we lack any real historical evidence as to the extent of their relationship. Massey is careful to point out, as a historian, how the darkened lens of time allows us only a premature view into the lives of these men.
That being said, I am of the opinion that whatever their relationship, Laurens essentially neglected it in favor of serving his country. Having abandoned wife and child to pursue the cause of independence, Laurens was constantly preoccupied by gaining honor and military glory, as well as promoting his black regiment plan. His persistence and narrow-mindedness come through as the defining characteristics of his life, for better or worse.
Many comments I've read about this book express frustration over how Massey dealt with the Laurens-Hamilton relationship. For one, though sympathetic to these frustrations, this small point in Laurens' life should not be overly emphasized. In my copy of this book, Massey's Preface actually expresses regret in having presented their relationship as indisputably platonic; he takes a more ambiguous view. I agree with this ambiguity since we lack any real historical evidence as to the extent of their relationship. Massey is careful to point out, as a historian, how the darkened lens of time allows us only a premature view into the lives of these men.
That being said, I am of the opinion that whatever their relationship, Laurens essentially neglected it in favor of serving his country. Having abandoned wife and child to pursue the cause of independence, Laurens was constantly preoccupied by gaining honor and military glory, as well as promoting his black regiment plan. His persistence and narrow-mindedness come through as the defining characteristics of his life, for better or worse.
November 24, 2024
This could be titled "History of a fuck-up." He got himself killed in a pointless skirmish at the end of the war because he was hell-bent for glory. His military career was notably undistinguished. He was reckless in all his battles. When given a command, he continually put his men in needless danger, earning him the enmity of his troops. His personal life was a mess. He knocked up some girl in England before the war, then spent his life pretending he wasn't married. When in France on a diplomatic mission, he couldn't be bothered to see her because he was too busy pissing off the French. His claim to fame nowadays is being a bit player in the musical Hamilton.
The author, Massey does a workmanlike job on Jonn Laurens's career. But because his achievements were so scanty, he pads the book with a history of his father, Henry Laurens, who was a president of the Continental Congress. Massey has a bad habit of further padding by sprinkling pedantic psychological commentary throughout the text.
In the first edition, Massey strongly denies the possibility that Hamilton and Laurens could have had a homosexual relationship. It's an understandable stance. Dudes back then wrote about their friendships in effusive language that strikes the modern reader as pretty damn gay. In the second edition, Massey wrote an introduction in which he basically says, "I suppose it's possible that Laurens and Hamilton got it on. Your guess is as good as mine."
Massy spends a lot of time on John Laurens's attempt to arm South Carolina slaves to bolster his home state's defense. Laurens does deserve credit for being more forward-thinking than other slave owners. Yeah, that's right, he's yet another slaveowner who hates slavery. To Massey's credit, he does note how Laurens treated his own personal slave very shabbily, dressing him in rags while he constantly wrote Dad for more money so he could look good in front of the troops. Massey seems too credulous to Henry Laurens's insistence that his own slaves would rather be enslaved than free. Historians just don't do well when dealing with immorality. Their profession disdains intemperance and moral outrage in their prose. It's a good stance to have - without it, historians would be indistinguishable from talking head on cable news. Even still, it does get tiresome to read biography after biography of slaveholders where historians say, "yeah, this guy I'm writing about was a slaveholder, oh well."
The author, Massey does a workmanlike job on Jonn Laurens's career. But because his achievements were so scanty, he pads the book with a history of his father, Henry Laurens, who was a president of the Continental Congress. Massey has a bad habit of further padding by sprinkling pedantic psychological commentary throughout the text.
In the first edition, Massey strongly denies the possibility that Hamilton and Laurens could have had a homosexual relationship. It's an understandable stance. Dudes back then wrote about their friendships in effusive language that strikes the modern reader as pretty damn gay. In the second edition, Massey wrote an introduction in which he basically says, "I suppose it's possible that Laurens and Hamilton got it on. Your guess is as good as mine."
Massy spends a lot of time on John Laurens's attempt to arm South Carolina slaves to bolster his home state's defense. Laurens does deserve credit for being more forward-thinking than other slave owners. Yeah, that's right, he's yet another slaveowner who hates slavery. To Massey's credit, he does note how Laurens treated his own personal slave very shabbily, dressing him in rags while he constantly wrote Dad for more money so he could look good in front of the troops. Massey seems too credulous to Henry Laurens's insistence that his own slaves would rather be enslaved than free. Historians just don't do well when dealing with immorality. Their profession disdains intemperance and moral outrage in their prose. It's a good stance to have - without it, historians would be indistinguishable from talking head on cable news. Even still, it does get tiresome to read biography after biography of slaveholders where historians say, "yeah, this guy I'm writing about was a slaveholder, oh well."
June 15, 2023
There are certainly good parts of this book such as the information regarding Henry Laurens's relationship with his son John Laurens, but there is so many things that the author seems puzzled to explain. I noticed the author tending to assert that Laurens was heterosexual and instead just homosocial, and I also noticed the author tended to skim over Laurens's rather severe depression. I was surprised to see the author use a quote from one of Laurens's letters to Kinloch yet skip over Laurens and Kinloch's relationship. Laurens's letters with Kinloch show some of his earliest views on slavery and some of Laurens's most expressive letters apart from his own with Hamilton. Laurens's own romantic interest in men can probably show through his father's comment on his son's lack of interest in women and Laurens's letters to Kinloch and Hamilton. There are some things one can pick apart with the Laurens-Manning relationship assessments as Laurens even admitted he never loved Martha Manning and married her out of pity in a letter to his uncle. Now the author seems to have been unable to skip over Laurens's relationship with Hamilton. The author asserts this relationship was purely platonic even as Jack refers to Alexander in the same manner as his own wife in their letters, and the only other letters that share this affectionate tone are Laurens's letters with Kinloch. It's not exactly a new idea that Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens had an affair as even Allan McLane Hamilton and Ron Chernow thought their friendship seemed a bit more than that.
Then there is Laurens's troubling reckless behavior and tendency to fall into depressions. Massey seems to be at a loss to explain Laurens's allusions to suicide and his recklessness. The author doesn't really get into the idea that Laurens's death may have been suicide, but I'm unsure if that is more of the author's interpretation of Laurens trying to get glory at the last moment possible or not wanting to get into such a subject.
There is valuable information on Laurens's childhood and his own personal relationships with his family, so it is not as if there is only bad in this book.
Then there is Laurens's troubling reckless behavior and tendency to fall into depressions. Massey seems to be at a loss to explain Laurens's allusions to suicide and his recklessness. The author doesn't really get into the idea that Laurens's death may have been suicide, but I'm unsure if that is more of the author's interpretation of Laurens trying to get glory at the last moment possible or not wanting to get into such a subject.
There is valuable information on Laurens's childhood and his own personal relationships with his family, so it is not as if there is only bad in this book.
September 14, 2020
This was an interesting read on a little-known character in SC and US history. However, I didn't especially enjoy the writing. The author tends to be repetative, getting stuck on a particular turn of phrase (i.e., "man of feeling," which at one point he used three times in the space of a few sentences).
The second part of the book was much stronger than the first, owing no doubt to the lack of sources on Lauren's childhood. The author admits that he at times had to tell the story via John's father's (Henry Laurens) perspective because of that lack of sources, but the first part of the book feels stretched and forced.
Still, a worthwhile read on a flawed man who I suspect might have done much to end slavery sooner had he lived.
The second part of the book was much stronger than the first, owing no doubt to the lack of sources on Lauren's childhood. The author admits that he at times had to tell the story via John's father's (Henry Laurens) perspective because of that lack of sources, but the first part of the book feels stretched and forced.
Still, a worthwhile read on a flawed man who I suspect might have done much to end slavery sooner had he lived.
January 9, 2020
Really solid, straight-forward biography. Not overwhelming with details and well paced after a slow start discussing the origins of the Laurens family. Not only discussed the events of his life but also gives you a pretty good glimpse into John Laurens the man and who he wanted to be.
Also he was 100% not gay and the fact that all these reviews state he is just shows how messed up our country is today and how badly we miss men like Henry and John Laurens.
Also he was 100% not gay and the fact that all these reviews state he is just shows how messed up our country is today and how badly we miss men like Henry and John Laurens.
November 11, 2019
A great read about a SC Revolutionary War Patriot. I can only imagine the contributions John Laurens could of made if he had not died an early death.
This book contained a lot of information that I did not know. I highly recommend this book to those who interested in reading about the American Revolution.
This book contained a lot of information that I did not know. I highly recommend this book to those who interested in reading about the American Revolution.
March 31, 2021
I recommend this book, it was very good. The only thing that really bothered me was that the author didn’t really say that some people believe hamilton and laurens were more than friends but that honestly doesn’t really matter that much because you can disagree with him and that won’t ruin any of the book.
January 8, 2024
Good biography of one of George Washington's aides. Solid coverage of his early years, time studying in Europe, serving Washington, and death as a soldier. I wish more were covered about his (secret) marriage in London and his child - and impact to him - though sources for this may be scarce.
October 17, 2019
Great biography on Washintons aide-de-camp John Lauren's and his father, Henry Lauren's, first President to lead Congress during the Revolutionary War.
May 14, 2021
okay. keeps insisting hamilton was only a friend.
March 29, 2022
A chronicle of a man dedicated to the success of the American Revolution whose impetuousness often caused him grief; a man of virtue with abundant glaring flaws.
November 10, 2023
would’ve been better if i didn’t have to learn so much about henry laurens to learn about john laurens. otherwise really interesting man
May 1, 2025
a good in depth view of an American that should be much more widely read. John's death I believe sent this country in a different direction.
April 3, 2023
Kiedyś miałam problem do tej książki i dalej mam, ale teraz przekonują mnie argumenty przeciwko abolicjonizmowi Johna, chociaż nie podoba mi się ignorowanie kontekstu, który jest w stanie mojej skromnej opinii nieco "stępić" argumenty autora.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews