Bacon's Bridge, South
Carolina, 19 May, 1782.
My Dear General,
I am much obliged to you for honoring my bill in favor of
General Lincoln. It includes the whole sum expended, on your account, in
France. The plan, which brought me to this country, was urged with all the zeal
which the subject inspired, both in our Privy Council and Assembly; but the
single voice of reason was drowned by the howlings of a triple-headed monster, in
which prejudice, avarice, and pusillanimity were united. It was some degree of
consolation to me, however, to perceive that truth and philosophy had gained
some ground; the suffrages in favor of the measure being twice as numerous as
on a former occasion. Some hopes have been lately given me from Georgia; but I
fear, when the question is put, we shall be outvoted there with as much
disparity as we have been in this country.*
The reports of the prompt evacuation of Charleston I always
thought groundless, and should have much sooner inferred the probability of
such an event from the language of the debates in the British Parliament than
from the conduct and arrangements of General Leslie. The late disaster of the
Count de Grasse, in the West Indies, makes me more incredulous on the subject
than ever. General Leslie confines himself to the most circumspect defensive
conduct, which he is not likely to change, as he recently detached the
nineteenth and thirtieth regiments to Jamaica. This renders the campaign perfectly
inactive here, and, above all, insipid to the light troops, which I at present
command.
I presume your Excellency has not yet determined your plan
for the ensuing campaign, and that it must depend on the cooperation of our
allies. I earnestly desire to be where any active plans are likely to be executed,
and to be near your Excellency on all occasions in which my services can be
acceptable. The pursuit of an object which, I confess, is a favorite one with
me, because I always regarded the interests of this country and those of the
Union as intimately connected with it, has detached me more than once from your
family; but those sentiments of veneration and attachment with which your
Excellency has inspired me, keep me always near you, with the sincerest and
most zealous wishes for a continuance of your happiness and glory. Give me
leave to say that I am ever, my dear General,
Your Excellency's
faithful Aid,
John Laurens.
_______________
* The plan here alluded to was that of raising a regiment of
negroes. Washington's Writings, Vol. VIII. p. 323.
SOURCE: Jared Sparks, Correspondence
of the American Revolution, Volume 3, p. 505-7
