REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] LAURENS, John (1754-1782), Continental officer, aide-de-camp to Washington . Autograph letter signed ("John Laurens"), TO MAJ. GEN. BENJAMIN LINCOLN (1733-1810), Headquarters, Morristown, 6 December 1779. 7 pages, folio, inlaid .
REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] LAURENS, John (1754-1782), Continental officer, aide-de-camp to Washington . Autograph letter signed ("John Laurens"), TO MAJ. GEN. BENJAMIN LINCOLN (1733-1810), Headquarters, Morristown, 6 December 1779. 7 pages, folio, inlaid . WASHINGTON, DE GRASSE AND THE SOUTHERN CRISIS A lengthy and dramatic war-date letter, showing Laurens--and Washington--making urgent preparations for the defense of the Southern states. "The Committees of Correspondence were perfectly disposed to do whatever shd depend on them, for the relief and reinforcement of the Southern Department. I represented to them in the strongest terms the fatal consequences of a land march--the danger of losing so many valuable continental Soldiers..." Laurens urged Congress to find as many vessels as possible to transport the troops by sea "in time to avail themselves of the Comte de Grasse's convoys." He then went to West Point to meet with Washington. "The General was no sooner acquainted with the feeble state of the department and the peculiar weakness of S. Carolina than he was anxious to afford every succor compatible with the general interest." Washington told Congress on 30 November that he would detach the Virginia line and a North Carolina brigade southward. But there was much uncertainty, Laurens tells Lincoln, about the location of de Grasse's fleet. "...If he be destined for the West Indies he may convoy our troops without deviating from his regular course." He thinks the French minister, the Chevalier de la Luzerne, "is sensible how important this service is to the common cause." In a postscript he lists the naval forces now at New York harbor. A remarkable letter by this brave officer, who distinguished himself in action at Brandywine, Germantown (where he was wounded), Monmouth (after which he shot Charles Lee in a duel), and the Carolina campaign. He served briefly as an aide to Franklin in Paris but returned to play a key role in the decisive charge during the Battle of Yorktown. He died in one of the last engagements of the war, at Combahee Ferry in South Carolina, in August 1782. LETTERS BY JOHN LAURENS ARE RARE. ONLY 3 HAVE APPEARED AT AUCTION IN THE LAST 40 YEARS.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] LAURENS, John (1754-1782), Continental officer, aide-de-camp to Washington . Autograph letter signed ("John Laurens"), TO MAJ. GEN. BENJAMIN LINCOLN (1733-1810), Headquarters, Morristown, 6 December 1779. 7 pages, folio, inlaid .
REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] LAURENS, John (1754-1782), Continental officer, aide-de-camp to Washington . Autograph letter signed ("John Laurens"), TO MAJ. GEN. BENJAMIN LINCOLN (1733-1810), Headquarters, Morristown, 6 December 1779. 7 pages, folio, inlaid . WASHINGTON, DE GRASSE AND THE SOUTHERN CRISIS A lengthy and dramatic war-date letter, showing Laurens--and Washington--making urgent preparations for the defense of the Southern states. "The Committees of Correspondence were perfectly disposed to do whatever shd depend on them, for the relief and reinforcement of the Southern Department. I represented to them in the strongest terms the fatal consequences of a land march--the danger of losing so many valuable continental Soldiers..." Laurens urged Congress to find as many vessels as possible to transport the troops by sea "in time to avail themselves of the Comte de Grasse's convoys." He then went to West Point to meet with Washington. "The General was no sooner acquainted with the feeble state of the department and the peculiar weakness of S. Carolina than he was anxious to afford every succor compatible with the general interest." Washington told Congress on 30 November that he would detach the Virginia line and a North Carolina brigade southward. But there was much uncertainty, Laurens tells Lincoln, about the location of de Grasse's fleet. "...If he be destined for the West Indies he may convoy our troops without deviating from his regular course." He thinks the French minister, the Chevalier de la Luzerne, "is sensible how important this service is to the common cause." In a postscript he lists the naval forces now at New York harbor. A remarkable letter by this brave officer, who distinguished himself in action at Brandywine, Germantown (where he was wounded), Monmouth (after which he shot Charles Lee in a duel), and the Carolina campaign. He served briefly as an aide to Franklin in Paris but returned to play a key role in the decisive charge during the Battle of Yorktown. He died in one of the last engagements of the war, at Combahee Ferry in South Carolina, in August 1782. LETTERS BY JOHN LAURENS ARE RARE. ONLY 3 HAVE APPEARED AT AUCTION IN THE LAST 40 YEARS.
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Create an alert![REVOLUTIONARY WAR] LAURENS, John (1754-1782), Continental o...](http://www.christies.com/lotfinderimages/D56363/revolutionary_war_laurens_john_continental_officer_aide-de-camp_to_was_d5636306g.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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