The New-Jersey gazette — Burlington [N.J.], 1782-12-11 00:00:00, page 1

Sketch of the Character of Col. John
Laurens, who fell glarioufly in the De-
fence of bis Country, August 27, 1782.
EVERY publick officer who hath fetved his
country in council or the field with firm
nefs and integrity, is entitled to publick
esteem; but there are some traits in the
character and conduft of the illustrious Col. John
Laurens, son to the late president of Congress,
that have (hone forth in the active feenes in which
he hath been employed during this contest, which
mark him in particular, and should make an im
pression of gratitude on the breasts of his country
men, and on the trad of time, which should never
be erafed.<
At the commencement of this war he had finifhed
his studies in Europe; and although he had mar
ried in England, and was happy in this the tender
est of connections, neither the charms of an amiable
woman, nor the allurements of affluence in a mar
ried state, could detain him from the service of his
country. Incapable of that deliberate and felf-in
terefted policy which would, while his father bore
an active part in the councils of America, have pre
scribed to him the part he should have taken, that
in the prosperous event of either party would have
preserved his eftatc; he could not bend and crouch
before a tyrant's throne, in ease and sloth, and tamely
lock on and fee his countrymen struggling against
every human difficulty for their freedom, the firn
pled boon that nature gives to all. When there
fore he found, that in the councils of Britain the
conquest of America was determined, and that her
ablest and most experienced officers, at the head of
powerful armies, were putting in execution her ne
farious plan, instead of making his peace with those
in power, and deprecating the vengeance which in
case of their success he knew mull fall upon his aged
father's head, superior to every consideration of in
terest, and incapable of being influenced by the ten
derest ties of private connection, he flew to the
standard of his country, and has been unwearied in
her service.
In the beginning of the campaign of 1777, he
joined the army in character of aid-de-camp to the
Commander in Chief. In the battle of Brandywine,
in the midst of danger and difficulty, he behaved
with the utmost calmness and deliberation; he car
ried the orders of the General from wing to wing,
and although he fell in with parts broke, difniem
bered, and put to route, none of these circumitances
of difficulty threw him into embarrassment, or turned
him from the line of his duty. In the battle of
Germantown he was present with those troops who
led the charge, and in eacli turn of the action in its
more fortunate stage, while the hopes of the Gene
ral were high, and the profpeCf of a glorious vic
tory warmed the breast of every soldier, among the
foremoft with the highest ardour he pref Ted upon the
enemy's rear; and in the fate of that battle, when
the army received a check from a party collected
in a house, which in its consequences induced con
fufion and disorder, at the head of a small party
with fixed bayonets, he charged upon it, nor did
he retire till he received a wound in the shoulder,
and two-thirds of his men lay dead on, the field. In
the battle of Monmouth he behaved with his usual
propriety, was active in leading the troops to the
charge, and in rallying them on the retreat: In that
of Rhode-lfland, which immediately followed, he
commanded a regiment of infantry, and for the or
der and excellent arrangement of bis corps, his firm
nefs and bravery in action, and his superior address
in favouring the views of the General in the close
of that affair, received his particular thanks.
Hitherto, in the scale of either party, the balance
rather preponderated in our favour, for if the ene
my had repulsed us in action and beat us from the
field, they had neither destroyed an army nor con-
NEW-lERSEY GAZETTE.
From the Virginia Gazette.
[Vol. V.]
WEDNESDAY, December it, 1782.
quered a state; when, therefore, in their councils
a manifeft conviction arose, that either the war in
itfelf was ruinous and unavailing, or that their sy
stem was faulty, and with a view of taking advan
tage of the internal weakness of the southern states,
they directed their arms to that quarter; with a
zeal which only warms the patriot breast, he flew
to join his efforts to those of his countrymen to pro
tea his native state. During all the operations in
that quarter, either in the manoeuvres of the Gene
ral, in the portions of his army to keep the enemy
from the town, or in the attack of parties to dis
possess them of polls, in one of which he received a
iecond wound, we find him actively employed.—
More than once he sallied from the town, and
charged the enemy advantageously polled, repelled
them, and forced them to confefs there were some
among us whose fentimetits of honour put them
above the fear of danger, and who lived only to
serve their country. After this unhappy position
which, in the more prosperous tide of their affairs,
induced not only the fall of Charleftown, and the
surrender of the garrison as prisoners of war, but
laid open the southern continent, as far as the river
Potowmack, to ravages and depredations, which
must ever hand down the name of Cornwallis in the
moR detcftable colours on the page of history, and
fix a stain on the national character of Britain : we
find some piufe in his career of glory.
Upon his exchange he was sent by Congress as
Minister to the Court of France, to negociate a par
ticular and important bufibefs; which trust he dis
charged with address, ability and dispatch. Upon
his return he was offered the thanks of Congress,
and some particular attention * therefor: This he
refufed, faying, he only fought to serve his country,
and that the approbation of his own heart, and that
of the representatives of the people, were the only
compensation he could receive.
At this period the Commander in Chief had iy
vefted York, and the allied armies of America and
France were arranged round it : after making a re
port to Congress of his negociations abroad, a few
days threw him into the army; here the General
employed him, and in this siege we find him heading
one of those columns which Itormed and took one
of their principal redoubts.—[He was also one of
the Commissioners on the part of General Walhing
ton, for fettling the terms of capitulation, previ
ous to the surrender of Earl Cornwallis.] —From
that period, the affairs of tlie enemy to the south
ward returned in a contrary direction; and whate
ver influence this event might induce in the coun
cils of the different European countries, it became
the particular business of Congress to dispossess them
of all the posts they held on this continent; upon
this principle a detachment of the army was ordered
to the southward, and Colonel Laurens presented
himfelf again to join his aid to that of his country
men, for the recovery of Charleftown.
At several stages of this war, he has solicited per
mission to embody the slaves against the enemy, and
lately offered to present the state with a hundred
and fifty of his own property, upon condition they
would make him up a regiment—but this request,
upon views of policy, has been constantly refufed.
His object in this has been as well to emancipate
that unhappy class of people, as to raise a refpe&a
ble force for the publick service.
Some time since a detachmerQpf the enemy hav
ing advanced into the country, and General Gift,
commanding the infantry, being ordered to meet
them, Colonel Laurens, although for some days pre
ceding the action he had been confined to his bed
with a high fever, arose, headed his corps, led it
to the charge, and while gallantly fighting at the
head thereof, received a wound of which he died
in the field.
It will be unnecefTary to anticipate the grateful
emotions which must arise in the breast of every vir-
* This information I received from a, member
of Congrefs,but übetber be meant of Congress col
leCively, or individual members, cannot fay.
THE
The following is tra^f^ted from the Leyden
Gazette, of ^uguft it.
The news of the departure of Mr. Fitzherbert,
which is confit med from many parts, brings doubts
on the true sentiments and intentions of the new
prime Minister of Great-Britain, especially if it be
considered, that by his full powers, Mr. Fitzher
bert is authorized to treat with the FOUR powers
at war with Great-Britain, expreflions which the
Couit of London had forborne to insert in those
Mr Grenville was invested with, as implying an
acknowledgment that the United States of Ame
rica had taken rank among the independent powers.
In fad, now, that the most obstinate and molt
blind of abettors of the Brittannic cause, acknowledge
the absolute impossibility to bring back the United
States under the English domination; it is a mat
ter of furprize and astonishment, that the neutral
powers, if they earnestly desire the peace of
Christendom, do not interpose jointly to cut the
gordian knot, which is the only obstacle that pre
vents a blefling so desirable to humanity. To indi
cate the easiest way to attain to this, is the object
of the following memorial, which we have been rc
quefted to insert:
1 his war, which has already continued so many
years, has spread over so many nations, has been
attended with so many inhuman and Shocking cir
cumstances, that any man who is possessed of the
least grain of humanity, must wish to fee an equit
able peace restored to mankind. Agreeably to this
every' one profeffes to with for peace; Great-Bri
tain on one fide; France, Spain, Holland, and A
nierica. on the other, make the fame declaration :
1 he neutral powers express the fame desire, and
some even take much pains to bring it into effeft,
by opening negociations, and offering their media
tion for the restoration of peace, if not general, at
least particular. Nevertheless the nations at war
with England appear all equally to be sensible,
that a separate peace would only retard a general
one, and this would do more hurt than good.
This opinion is, without doubt, very just; the only
matter then requisite to this purpose, is to point
out the measures evidently the most conducive to a
general peace.
Never was a nation in a more critical situation
than England is at this time. Ireland, with all
other countries abroad, that are under the domina-'
tion of England, are diffatisfied, and ready to fol
low toe example of the American United States,
by breaking all connection with her: The Englifn
nation itfelf is divided between the old and new
Ministry, and consequently the old and new system;
AO that neither of the parties has influence enough
to bring into resolution some decisive measure. °lt
is not impossible, though it be improbable, that in
files a ciifis, a sense of companion to England
(especially if some new inducement should take
place) may arise in the hearts of some of the neu
tral powers, which, in process of time, may move
them to take a part in this war, and thus set all the
rest of Europe in a flame.
America, in such a case, of all the nations' in the
universe, would have the leatl to fear, and perhaps
the more to gain. 'But peace, after all, would he
more acceptable to her than an accident that would
prove so fatal to so many nations! What meafuies
must now be adopted to bring it about? Thus the
grand queftiun still returns.
If England could be unanimous in the only wife
tuous citizen in favour of this illuftiious young man,
whose untimely death we all have reason to lament;
and while I join the publick opinion in admiring his
dilintereft zeal for the rights of mankind, his great
and unwearied services to his country, his gallantry
in the field, and his ability and address in negocia
tion, together with those more domeftick virtues
which distinguish him in the characters of the com
panion, the husband, and the son, and endear him
to the bosom of private life; I am happy thus to
perform my last duties to the memory of a friend.
A.
[Numb. 259.]