Lt. Col. John Laurens, hero, shot and killed August 27, 1782
By Brent Breedin
Editor's note:Brent Breedin has

had a varied journalistic

career in and out of his native

South Carolina, including five

years (1998- 2002) as historian

for King Publishing Company's

White House Weekly newsletter.

No nation can afford to bury prematurely its best and brightest. This is especially true of a young, sparsely populated country like the United States of America 225 years ago as the American Revolution wound down. Yet, in the wee hours of an August 27, 1782, morning along South Carolina's Combahee River, Lt. Col. John Laurens, age 27, was shot and killed while leading a small contingent of men into a British ambush.

Young Laurens of French Huguenot descent was the son of Henry Laurens, one of Charleston's wealthiest men and a prominent leader in S.C.'s independence movement.

Elected to represent his state in the Continental Congress in early 1777, Henry became president later in the year and served in that capacity through 1778.

John Laurens grew up in luxury on his father's Mepkin Plantation outside of Charleston and in the Laurens's homes in the city proper. As he approached his 17th birthday in October 1771, he would accompany his father to Geneva, Switzerland, where he would commence five years of higher education, three in Switzerland and two in England's Middle Temple studying law.

His hunger for involvement in the American Revolution was realized about the same time his father became president.

In October 1777, he became one of General George Washington's aides, providing vital services to the new nation's commander- in- chief. Like other members of Washington's "official family," Laurens spent much time as a secretary and language interpreter.

Author Alice Curtis

Desmond in her Sword and

Pen for George Washington

notes that the six or seven aides on Washington's staff "checked accounts, spent endless hours in the saddle delivering orders, also arranged for the location of headquarters and the procuring of food, arms, and supplies for the American troops. Even in the midst of a campaign, a dozen or more letters had to be written out in longhand each day."

Laurens was cited for bravery in his first battle at Brandywine in Pennsylvania, was present throughout the winter at Valley Forge, was wounded in New Jersey, and captured by the British in Charleston.

Following a prisoner exchange, he went to France and played a key role in getting vital financial aid from Louis XVI. He returned to Washington's staff in time for more heroics at the Battle of Yorktown.

He left Washington's staff in early 1782 to join General Nathanael Greene in S.C. in search of more fighting. In one of his last letters from best friend Alexander Hamilton, Laurens was urged to get involved in the political process for the nation's good. He never got that opportunity, probably to the detriment of his state and country.