John Laurens John Laurens ( October 28 , 1754August 27 , 1782 ) was an American soldier and statesman from South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War , best known for his efforts to help recruit slaves to fight for their freedom as soldiers , in addition to his critical views against slavery , which set Laurens apart from many of his compatriots of the time . Although Laurens gained approval from the Continental Congress in 1779 to recruit a brigade of 3 , 000 slaves by promising them freedom in return for fighting , he was killed in the Battle of the Combahee River in August 1782 . Early life and education . Laurens was born in 1754 to Henry Laurens and Eleanor Ball in Charleston , South Carolina ; both their families were planters who had grown wealthy through cultivation of rice based on slave labor . Henry Laurens ran one of the largest slave trading houses in the country with his partner Richard Oswald . John was the eldest of the five children who survived infancy . John and his two brothers were tutored at home , but after the death of their mother , their father took them to England for their education . John completed his studies in Europe , first in London in 1771 , then in Geneva , Switzerland in 1772 . As a youth , John expressed considerable interest in science and medicine , but he yielded to his father ' s wish that he study law . In August 1774 he returned to London to do so . His father returned to South Carolina but refused to let John return until completing his legal studies two years later . In the summer of 1777 , after the Revolutionary War had started , Laurens accompanied his father to Philadelphia , where the senior man was to serve in the Continental Congress . Despite the father ' s objections , the younger Laurens continued on to General George Washington ' s camp as a volunteer at the age of 23 . Career . 1777 – 1780 . Laurens joined the Continental Army and following the Battle of Brandywine , was made officially an aide - de - camp to General Washington with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel . He served with the Baron von Steuben , doing reconnaissance at the outset of the Battle of Monmouth . He became close friends with his fellow aide - de - camp , Alexander Hamilton and the General Marquis de Lafayette . He showed reckless courage at the battles of Brandywine , Germantown in which he was wounded , and Monmouth , where his horse was shot out from under him . After the battle of Brandywine , Lafayette observed that , " It was not his fault that he was not killed or wounded . . . he did every thing that was necessary to procure one or the other . " As the British stepped up operations in the South , Laurens promoted the idea of arming slaves and granting them freedom in return for their service . He had said , " We Americans at least in the Southern Colonies , cannot contend with a good Grace , for Liberty , until we shall have enfranchised our Slaves . " In early 1778 he proposed to his father to use the 40 slaves he stood to inherit as part of a brigade . Henry , now President of the Continental Congress , granted his wish , but his reservations made John postpone the project . In March 1779 Congress approved the concept , commissioned John Laurens as Lieutenant Colonel , and sent him south to recruit a regiment of 3000 blacks . He won election to the South Carolina House of Representatives , and introduced his black regiment plan in 1779 and 1780 ( and again in 1782 ) , meeting overwhelming rejection each time . Governor Rutledge and Christopher Gadsden opposed him . Laurens ' belief that blacks shared a similar nature with whites and could aspire to freedom in a republican society set Laurens apart from other leaders in revolutionary South Carolina . In 1779 , when the British threatened Charleston , Governor Rutledge proposed to surrender the city with the condition that Carolina become neutral in the war . Laurens strongly opposed the idea , and Continental forces repulsed the British . That fall he commanded an infantry regiment in General Benjamin Lincoln ' s failed assault on Savannah , Georgia . John Laurens became a prisoner in May 1780 after the fall of Charleston and was shipped to Philadelphia . As he was on " parole " , he was able to see his father before the elder embarked for the Netherlands in search of loans . ( Henry Laurens ' ship was seized by the British and he was imprisoned at the Tower of London . ) Exchanged in November , John Laurens was appointed by Congress in December as a special minister to France . 1781 – 1782 . In March 1781 , Laurens gained French assurances that their navy would support American operations that year . He also arranged a loan and supplies from the Dutch before returning home in May . Laurens was reported to have told the French that without aid for the Revolution , the Americans might be forced by the British to fight against France . He returned home in time to see the French fleet arrive and to join Washington at the siege of Yorktown . He was given command of a battalion of light infantry on October 1 , 1781 , when its commander was killed . He led the battalion under Lt - Col . Alexander Hamilton in the storming of redoubt redoubt No . 10 . Young Laurens was the principal spokesman for negotiating General Cornwallis ' s surrender . Laurens returned to South Carolina and served General Nathanael Greene by creating and operating a network of spies that tracked British operations in and around Charleston . In August 1782 , he learned of a British force movement to gather supplies and left his post to join Mordecai Gist in an attempt to intercept them . He was killed in the Battle of the Combahee River when he was shot from the saddle . Gravely wounded , Laurens was succeeded in his command by his friend and fellow opponent of slavery , Tadeusz Kosciuszko , a Polish nobleman . Death . Laurens was killed in battle on August 27 , 1782 , at the age of 27 , only a few weeks before the British finally withdrew from Charleston . He was buried on the Stock plantation . After his father Henry Laurens returned from his own imprisonment in London , he had his son ' s remains moved to his plantation , called Mepkin , near Moncks Corner . During the mid 20th century Mepkin Plantation was owned by Henry Luce and Clare Boothe Luce . It was later adapted as a Trappist monastery , Mepkin Abbey . George Washington , in particular , was saddened upon learning of the death of Laurens , stating fondly : In his general orders , Nathanael Greene , in announcing the death of Laurens , said : Alexander Hamilton , a friend of Laurens , said of his death : Personal life . Marriage and family . In late 1776 , in London , Laurens married Martha Manning , the daughter of one of his father ' s London agents . In December he sailed for Charleston , leaving Martha behind and pregnant . Their daughter was born in February 1777 . Connection to Thomas Paine . According to Daniel Wheeler ' s " Life and Writings of Thomas Paine , Volume 1 " ( of 10 , Vincent & Parke , 1908 ) pp . 26 – 27 : Thomas Paine accompanied Colonel John Laurens to France and is credited with initiating the mission . It landed in France in March 1781 and returned to America in August with 2 . 5 " livres " in silver , as part of a " present " of 6 million and a loan of 10 million . The meetings with the French king were most likely conducted in the company and under the influence of Benjamin Franklin . Upon return to the United States with this highly welcomed cargo , Thomas Paine " " positively objected " " that Washington should propose that Congress remunerate him for his services for fear of setting " " a bad precedent and an improper mode " " . According to an account by Elbert Hubbard in the same volume ( p . 314 ) , Paine organized " " the Bank of North America to raise money to feed and clothe the army , and performed sundry and various services for the colonies . " " Henry Laurens ( John Laurens ' father ) had been ambassador to the Netherlands but was captured by the British on his return trip there . When exchanged for General Cornwallis in late 1781 , the senior Laurens proceeded to the Netherlands to continue loan negotiations . Historians have questioned the relationship of Henry Laurens and Thomas Paine to Robert Morris as Superintendent of Finance and his business associate Thomas Willing . The latter became the first president of the Bank of North America in January 1782 . Laurens and Paine accused Morris of war profiteering in 1779 , and Willing had voted against the Declaration of Independence . The credit for obtaining the critical loans in 1781 and 1782 , and first " organizing " the Bank of North America for approval by Congress in December 1781 should certainly include Henry or John Laurens and Thomas Paine . Relationship with Alexander Hamilton . There are also modern reports circulated that John Laurens had a homosexual relationship with Alexander Hamilton . These reports are based upon letters Hamilton wrote Laurens during a period in which Laurens was absent from the camp . In preparing a biography , Hamilton ' s family actually crossed out parts of letters they each sent one another . Whether their relationship was sexual or not is unknown — sodomy was a punishable offence in all thirteen colonies at the time . It is likely that the truth will never be known . It is important to understand that the language in the letters was not uncommon among those of the same sex in this historical period . However , Hamilton was never as emotionally open with any other man in his lifetime , and the depths of sentiment are equalled only in letters he wrote to his wife Eliza . On the other hand , Hamilton knew no other peer in similar rank , age , and war experience with which to share a deep platonic relationship . Additionally , whether Laurens reciprocated these feelings is unknown , but it is unlikely , given not only the lack of any letters confirming it , but also Laurens ' strong relationship with his father . Washington ' s comment that during their many months together he had found Laurens " without flaw , " and Hamilton ' s apparent surprise to learn , after John resigned from Washington ' s staff , that John had a daughter . Legacy . Laurens County , Georgia is named after Laurens , in his honor . In late 2003 , Gregory D . Massey , from the University of South Carolina , wrote about Laurens for " Archiving Early America " :