#maarten platje

[illustratus]

The Sea Wolf Attacks: Lord Cochrane's HMS Pallas engages the French frigate La Minerve and her squadron, Isle d'Aix, 14th May 1806 by Maarten Platje

[clove-pinks]

Victory at Bermuda, the Capture of HMS Dominica by American Privateer Decatur. 5 August 1813, Maarten Platje.

[ltwilliammowett]

The Arctic Whalers by Maarten Platje (1967-)

[unsubconscious]

Maarten Platje, 'Early departure'. Looe, Cornwall, 1920s

[clove-pinks]

Thank you for tagging me! I have overthought this to the extreme, and I still don't have a clear answer. While there was really no military action that took place in South Carolina during the War of 1812 (besides a few skirmishes off the coast), if this son of John Laurens had pursued a military career he could have ended up almost anywhere!

In fact, the first thing that popped into my mind when I starting pondering South Carolina in the War of 1812 is Wade Hampton I, who bungled the invasion of Canada and led the US forces to defeat at the Battle of the Chateauguay. The South Carolina military leaders and congressional War Hawks (including John C. Calhoun) were also pro-slavery and bigtime enslavers, and I have to wonder if John Laurens's hypothetical son would share any of his father's anti-slavery beliefs. Ideologically, he could really be at odds with the pro-war faction, who as a general rule were also very anti-Indigenous and bent on conquering more land for settlement and displacing any Indigenous inhabitants.

Maybe, if he was a little more egalitarian and worldly, Laurens's son would go Navy instead of Army. The US Navy was about 20% Black sailors in this time period. The privateer Decatur, shown here capturing HMS Dominica in a painting by Maarten Platje, was built in Charleston, South Carolina.

Do you think it would change much in John Laurens’ life and his legacy if he had a son instead of daughter?

Idk if THAT much, but.. It can be interesting👀.... I personaly think his son would be a solider too, and fight in the war of 1812.... 👀

What an interesting hypothetical!

I don't think much would have changed in John's life, since abandoning his wife and child seemed more a rejection of family life in general than anything specifically against Frances being a girl. In the 18th century, upper-class boys and girls were raised pretty similarly up until about four or five (and even wore similar kinds of smock dresses), so I don't think gender played much of a role in John's thoughts (however infrequent) about his family.

A son would have been a more direct assurance of family legacy, so that might have made John or his family more interested in the child's welfare, but that doesn't change that fact that the further along the war progressed, the less opportunity there was to do anything about Martha and her child being stranded in England – given that John was at war, Henry was in congress or in prison, and the rest of the Laurenses were scattered between London and France. South Carolina was occupied and thus unsafe for a famous rebel's family, and there wasn't any kind of family home to send them to anyway.

As for John's legacy after his death, it's really impossible to say because of so many unknown factors – would his son have taken after his family's republican values or rejected them? Would he have married well or also eloped, like Frances did? What career would he have had? Would he have crumpled under the pressure of being the son of the American paragon-martyr of ideal masculine virtues?

If he had become a soldier, he would have had huge shoes to fill, which is either something you embrace with fervour or get drowned by.

As for the War of 1812, I'm going to be cheeky and pass that question on to our resident expert, @clove-pinks – what role, if any, would a 35-year-old South Carolinian fella have played in the War of 1812?

[alineuponthewind]

The Capture of HMS Frolic - Maarten Platje

[angrybell]

The Great Chase by Maarten Platje

USS Constitution escaping the Royal Navy, June 1812.

[royaumesoublies]

USS United States vs HMS Macedonian25 October 1812, by Maarten Platje 2018

[nebris]

"USS CONSTITUTION vs HMS JAVA, After the Battle," by Maarten Platje, 2018.

[clove-pinks]

Maarten Platje, USS Constitution vs HMS Java, After the Battle, 2018.

[ltwilliammowett]

HMS Agamemnon passing Dover, 1793, by Maarten Platje (1967-)

[ltwilliammowett]

Details from “Morning Departure: Sir Edward Pellew’s HMS Arethusa leads the Western Frigate Squadron out of Falmouth Bay, April 1794”, by Maarten Platje, 2024

[ltwilliammowett]

The last brushstrokes on the canvas ‘The China Cipper Falcon’, by Maarten Platje, 2025

[ltwilliammowett]

USS Constitution passing Boston Light (wip), by Maarten Platje, 2024

[ltwilliammowett]

The Arctic Whalers, by Maarten Platje (1967-)

[ltwilliammowett]

The finishing touches are being put on the ‘Battle of the Chesapeake’, by Maarten Platje, 2025