After seeing much action, he became an aide-de-camp to General Horatio Gates.
Laurance received an officer's commission in the First New York regiment.
Delegate to the Constitutional Convention.
In 1786, Van Rensselaer was made a major of the militia.
He was elected as a Federalist Congressman from Pennsylvania from 1819 to 1823.
Commissioned major general in the New Jersey militia in 1794, during the Whiskey Rebellion.