#JOHN LAURENS POST

[hammyham-o-o]

Favorite thing that John Laurens did historically?

Guys, I gotta admit, for such a huge John Laurens fan (both musical version and historically) I barely know about ANYTHING he did irl other than write essays against slavery, recruit 3000 men for the first all black military regiment, witness wayyy too many of his siblings die, be in love with hamilton, and be a kickass soldier. (Oh and the whole marrying out of pity and then never visiting his daughter thing. And the sexism, but I'd rather not dwell on that -_-)

AND THE TURTLE DRAWINGS MUAHAHAHA (guys I'm kidding I know he wasn't actually obsessed with turtles, but he did love art and nature, right?)

WAIT I THOUGHT OF SOMETHING OMG-

So I once read a Tumblr post about historical John Laurens being left handed (there's an amazing depressedrevolutionariesinlove comic about this too !!), and more specifically about one time when he got injured in his right shoulder in the midst of battle, and just tossed his sword to his left hand and absolutely ANNIHILATED the soldiers he was fending off. Imagine their absolute SHOCK when they think they've won because "hahaha his sword hand is knocked out" and then BOOM he's even better with his left? 😂

I'd link the post if I remembered where it was from arghhh, possibly @john-laurens? (GREAT blog by the way)

I also read part of the SALTIEST letter from Laurens to Kinloch once, but unfortunately don't remember where I could find it or what exactly it was about, other than this man's passive agressivness was through the ROOF lol (does anyone know what I'm talking about?)

So, in hindsight after writing this essay (😭), I do know quite a bit about John Laurens... but I still feel like there's SOOO much I don't know (and plz correct me if I got anything wrong in this post!) Also, I'd LOVE to hear any funny or notable stories you guys have about him!! :D

What's your favourite historical John Laurens moment (moots and random people who see this)??

Maybe we could make a chain!!! :DDD

Also just a lil note in closing, my favourite thing about him historically is probably his bravery, passion for justice/abolitionism, and love for hamilton because live laugh lams <3

[im-what-killed-the-dinosaurs]

[your-everyday-theatre-kid]

sooo um I did a silly

THESE ARE SO FUCKING FUNNY AND MOST OF THEM ARE REALLY REAL TOO AHH HELP-

Every character from Hamilton put into the Character Headcanon Generator...BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOUR WELCOME

[papers-pamphlet]

Hi.

[lovebeatriceplz]

WHO KEEPS MAKING THESE??( Cs I want you to know that I love you)

[harmonikauvegajto]

Very crappy John laurens death-day thingy I didn’t get to color yet because life…but I’ll post a fully colored ver soon ;3

[dinnerand-diatribes]

currently experiencing the 5 stages of grief as i realize i’m re-entering my hamilton phase

[yrobdtsrv-rei]

I've recently hyperfixated on lams for more than a week straight, so, yeah...

[lamslover]

I made an edit woah

[personthatdrawssometimes]

this is a Hamilton fanart account now 👹

[ratsnu]

If it isn't too much of a bother could you draw/doodle some Lams arrrt? thank you sooo much

also I LOVE YOUR ART UR SO AMAZING AND TALENTED

-Lylah

i havent opened my asks in a hot sec im sorry 😞 and thank you!!!!! ur too sweet 🥹

i did a quick sketch for u tho!

[crazy-shits-post]

Such a tweak YOU KNOW HIS ASS WAITED IN THE TENT LIKE "I'm readyyyy Laurenssssss 🧎‍♂️" WHILE DRINKING PINK LEMONADE HE WOULD'VE LOVED SKINNY JEANS

WAITED FOR HIS MISKI SHIRT IN THE MAIL LIKE CMON

[your-everyday-theatre-kid]

LAMS FANART I'VE COLLECTED OVER TIME

*I own absolutely NONE of them, credits to the original artists, y'all are amazing!! <3*

I have more but this post will be WAY too long..

AHHH I FUCKING LOVE LAMS

THEY ARE SO CUTE OMG THEY DESERVE EACH OTHER OMG OMG JOHN IS ALWAYS SO FUCKING HAPPY AROUND HIM AHHH

THE FANART IS ALL SO CUTE MY FAV FAN ARTIST IS SZIN I LOVE THEM ALL PEOPLE ARE SOO TALENTED

[jennicatzies]

*steals laurens*

THIS IS MINE >:D

*skitters away*

What the hail where are you going with him ⁉️⁉️

[pub-lius]

Hyper niche question for my autism warrior: What was the perception of aide-de-camps during the AmRev like? I assume it would be viewed as a softer position - though of course, the extent would vary depending who your CO was - but many did see action and a few were reassigned so they could fight

Hey y’all… how y’all doing… i know its been yet another period of many moons since ive posted or answered (i hope this information is still relevant btw), but ive had a lot going on with getting a job, finding colleges, my mommy issues, travel, etc. anyway, im back, and im here to tell you about my main men

It actually was not viewed as a softer position at all! The station of aide-de-camp was highly desirable for several reasons, which i will describe approximately right now

1) people had to compliment you a LOT to get in

Most of the results I got from my research on this ask were letters of recommendation for potential aides-de-camp. Letters of recommendation were high honors for any station, especially for that of a military capacity. According to my favorite source on the American Revolution (which you should know by now), George Washington’s Indispensable Men by Arthur S. Lefkowitz, it was practically impossible to get a job as an aide-de-camp if you did not have a widely positive reputation or a letter of recommendation from someone reputable (or both if you wanted to clerk for the Commander-in-Chief).

I found one letter of recommendation from j*hn ad*ms that i think serves as a very good example of the sort of statements that could land you a seat at a Continental officer’s writing desk:

“There is another Gentleman of liberal Education and real Genius, as well as great Activity, who I find is a Major in the Army; his Name is Jonathan Williams Austin. I mention him, sir, not for the Sake of recommending him to any particular Favour, as to give the General an opportunity of observing a youth of great abilities, and of reclaiming him from certain Follies, which have hitherto, in other Departments of Life obscurd him.”

-John Adams to George Washington, June 19-20, 1775, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Founders Online, Washington Papers)

Those are my italics btw. These compliments are carefully chosen to suit the honor culture that was so pervasive throughout the 18th century and first half of the 19th century. A liberal education at the time was very hard to come by, and would be of great importance in a clerical position. Great activity also helps, because you dont want some lazy ass writing to Congress under your name, or god forbid George Washington himself, you might get hung (not really). The mention of youth is also intentional, since young men have always been preyed upon by the military. I think it’s especially noteworthy the final phrase of “reclaiming him from certain Follies”, which indicates that he might have previously had a negative reputation- whether it was warranted or not, im not sure.

2) the pay was fucking fire

For this we’re going to be utilizing my super amazing math scores that im renown for throughout the math community (yall dont know about my math tumblr), and we’re going to be using Alexander Hamilton as our lab rat, as per usual.

Alexander Hamilton joined Washington’s staff in early 1777 where a regular aide-de-camp (not a military secretary) made $33 dollars a month, which averages to about $1.10 a day. Meanwhile, according to the University of Missouri, the highest paid laborer in Massachusetts in the same year made $0.50 a day, which is about $15 a month, others making as little as about $0.22 a day, so around $7 a month. If you’re looking for ratios, by the end of the war, a pound of raisins was around $0.30. So, the highest paid Massachusetts laborer could save up every paycheck from 1777 to 1782 and buy 324 pounds of raisins, and Alexander fucking Hamilton could waltz up next to him and buy 712.8 pounds of raisins and rub it in his sad, poor face. And he wouldn’t even share because he was a congressman by that time and congressmen HATE THE POOR.

Disclaimer: Hamilton’s numbers dont include the time he quit the office bc I didn’t feel like googling how long he was away for and also i dont care. And yeah he probably would share his raisins with the guy, Hamilton was pretty nice, but i dont think he’d buy 712.8 pounds of raisins in Massachusetts anyway. Or maybe he would, I dont fucking know, stop asking me questions

3) it gave you a lot of street cred

There are many instances of aides-de-camps rising to higher status after their service, but i dont give a fuck about those nerds going into politics and law and stuff.

Most people now only know about Washington’s aides (or if you’re really autistic you know Lafayette’s too), but at the time, being an ADC to any general would get you fairly well known in society. General Sullivan’s aides seem to have been pretty well known and admired, as they are frequently mentioned in John Adams’ correspondence with other congressmen, as well as that of Benjamin Franklin with French diplomats all the way across the Atlantic.

But I imagine you’re also wondering (or at least i am) about what the everyday enlisted man thought of the ADCs, and that answer doesn’t really change. Of course, the men sitting out in the rain and mud without food for the past week are going to be envious of the guys who get to sleep in a house, but their quarters weren’t the most comfortable either. Aides-de-camp were probably the most connected out of the disconnected officers, if that makes sense. They weren’t fraternizing with the enlisted, but they were seen by them more frequently than the generals, and they were the ones advocating for the needs of the enlisted men. Even if they didn’t have any battle experience whatsoever (which really was never the case, i cant think of an aide who WOULDNT have seen battle), they would still be respected by the men as hardworkers and the only people who might actually get them food and clothes.

Thank you for the ask! I really enjoyed researching it and my family had a great time joking about me hunched over my ipad reading through the national archives while we all watched jeopardy, misspelling like every other word because its hard to type on an ipad. Im going to try to be more active, so please feel free to send further questions! I forgot how cathartic research is for me so id be very happy to do more. I have one more ask in my inbox i’ll try to get done sometime in the next few days. Love yall!

[poppitron360]

Okay so morning me is here and she has to do some damage control bc I just sent texts to at least 5 people last night telling them that I love them jesus fucking h christ I was so high.

For context, no I was not on drugs, I just saw Hamilton Live.

In the front row.

We booked it a year in advance, I had a poster counting down the days (and 2024 is a leap year so I had to wait one extra day).

I met the cast at the stage door.

I managed to get one of the rose petals Herc throws during Helpless.

I may or may not have told the guy playing Laurens that I wrote fanfiction.

Angelica was a fucking queen.

Hamilton waved at me during the curtain call.

Burr said he noticed how I was mouthing along to every word.

I forget whether it was Jefferson or Laurens that shook my hand because my brain had stopped working.

I fucking cried the whole time.

That was the greatest day of my fucking life. Idk how I survived.

Pictures of the stage/my programme/the rose petal

Here’s the posts I’ve made counting down the days: