Revolutionary War Service Richard Lawrence was commissioned Captain of the Newtown Troop of Horse at the start of the Revolutionary War. In 1776, he was captured by Loyalists and confined at the Provost Prison in New York City. His health deteriorated, and he was eventually allowed to return home, where he died on 21 November 1781. Before his death, he received news of Cornwallis’s surrender and reportedly expressed satisfaction that the American cause had triumphed.

Letter of Amy Berrien Lawrence, March 2, 1776 A letter written by his wife, Amy Lawrence, shortly before Richard was forcibly taken to the Provost Prison, survives among the Sackett Family manuscripts. It is addressed to “Mrs. Hannah Delancy at Cortlands Manor”:

March ye 2d 1776 My Dear Cousin, The receipt of yours of ye 26th of last month gave me a great deal of pleasure as it ascertained me of your existence… My Mr. Lawrence is very sick, and brother Daniel is very ill, and brothers Joseph and Thomas are both in a bad state of health… Our house is filled with soldiers, forts are erecting, batteries forming… Your brothers I hope will be preserved through all the dangers… Be pleased to give my duty, with Mr. Lawrence's to our Honored Uncle and Aunt and accept a large share to yourself… Your loving cousin, Amy Lawrence.