Beaumarchais, Pierre-Augustin-Eugène (son), 46–48
Beaumont, Mademoiselle de. See Eon, Chevalier/Chevalière d’
Bécu, Jeanne. See Du Barry, Madame
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 208
Bennington, battle of, 137
Bertier, 180–81
Bibliothèque du Roi, 157, 158, 171
Boismarché, manoir de, 28
Bonvouloir, Achard de, 102–6
Boston: Boston Massacre, 49–50, 50; Boston Tea Party, 66, 71; British evacuation of, 111
Boswell, James, 95
Bourbon kings, 74–75, 171
British army in America, 104–5
Broglie, General Charles-François, comte de, 85
Bureau of Interpreters, 15
Burgoyne, General John, 135, 142–43
Burke, Edmund, 101
Canada, 14, 101, 106, 138
Caribbean, 101, 110
Carlos III (king), 41, 101, 111
Carmichael, William, 145–46
Caron, André-Charles (father), 20, 40, 44, 48, 61, 78
Caron, Pierre-Augustin. See Beaumarchais, Pierre-Augustin Caron de
Caron, “Tonton” (sister), 44, 61
Catherine the Great (czarina), 85, 153
Champs de Mars, 36
charades, 46
Charles V (king), 174
Charles X (king). See Artois, comte d’
Chaulnes, duc de, 55–56
Chinon, 46–47
Choiseul, Étienne-François, duc de, 15–18, 16, 70, 87
Churchill, John, duke of Marlborough, 150
Clavijo y Fajardo, Don José, 40–41
Comédie Française, 54
Committee of Secret Correspondence (Congressional), 103, 117, 122, 125
Condé, prince de, 185
Conti, prince de, 65
Continental Army, 1, 90, 102, 114–15, 142, 159
Continental Congress, 1, 5, 103–4, 115; conflicts in, 5; flight to Baltimore, 2, 115, 132; formation of “Continental Army,” 90; refusal to pay Beaumarchais for arms shipments, 142, 144–46, 151, 159, 201–2, 211; offers settlement, 212
Contrat Social, Le (Rousseau), 29, 82, 155
Conway, Thomas, 126, 146
Corneille, Pierre, 82
Cornwallis, General Lord, 133–34, 159
Coudray, Major Philippe de, 129–31
Courier d’Europe, Le, 72
Danton, Georges-Jacques, 178, 196, 197
Deane, Silas, 117–29, 119, 134–35, 141, 144–45, 159
Declaration of Independence, 1, 114
Declaration of … Taking Up Arms, 91
Delarue, André-Toussaint, 203–4, 207
Deux Amis, Les, 47, 129
Dickinson, John, 95, 103
Diderot, Denis, 64
Dinwiddie, Governor Robert, 13
Directory, 202
droit du seigneur, 70, 163
Du Barry, Count Guillaume, 70
Du Barry, Madame (Jeanne Bécu), 68–72, 70, 76
Dubourg, Docteur Barbeu, 117–21, 126–28
Dunmore, Earl of, 106
Durand, Monsieur (Beaumarchais alias), 116, 128
Duvergier, Monsieur, 112–13
École Militaire, 36–37, 38
Eiffel Tower, 36
Encyclopédie, 64
enragés, 187
Eon, Chevalier/Chevalière d’ (Charles Geneviève d’Eon de Beaumont), 84–87, 86, 91–94
Estaing, Admiral Comte Jean-Baptiste d’, 145, 150–51, 170
Estates General, 177
Eugénie (play), 44–45, 64, 129, 213
Falstaff, 82
Fier Roderigue, 147–48, 148, 150–51, 170
Figaro, 49, 50–54, 59–60, 62, 67, 71, 81–82, 88, 124, 182–83, 203
Fleury, Cardinal, 8–9
Florida, 110
foreign aid to America. See France
Fort Duquesne, 14
Fort Ticonderoga, 111
Fort Washington, 3
Foulon, Monsieur de, 180
France: plot to undermine Britain, 87–88; aid to America, 92, 96–99, 101–2, 112–13, 104–5, 159–60; war with Britain, 147; recognizes American independence, 156; Austria, Prussia, Denmark, Poland, Spain declare war on, 191, 192; Britain, Holland declare war on, 197
Franco-American treaties, 143
Francquet, Madeleine-Catherine (de Boismarché), 26–28
Francy, Jean-Baptiste Théveneau de, 125, 131, 141, 142, 144
Franklin, Benjamin, 1, 91, 103, 114, 117, 126–28, 127, 134, 140–41, 144–45
Frederick the Great, 141, 153
French and Indian War, 12–14, 101. See also Seven Years’ War
French empire, government plot to restore, 87–88
French Revolution, 177–81, 185, 186–88, 190–94, 196–99
Garrick, David, 45
Gates, General Horatio, 138
Gazetier cuirassé, Le (The Journalist in Armor), 68
George III (king), 1, 15, 89
George IV (king), 85
Gluck, Christophe Willibald, 172
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang, 64
Goëzman, Madame, 60, 62–64
Goëzman, Valentin, 60, 62–64
Grasse, François-Joseph-Paul, Admiral Comte de, 159
Gravier, Charles, comte de Vergennes. See Vergennes, comte de
Grenville, George, 15
Grimm’s Correspondence, 173
Gudin de La Brenellerie, Paul Philippe, 33–35, 54–56, 67–68, 88, 116, 167, 184, 188–94, 204–5
Gustave III (king), 87
Hamilton, Alexander, 201–2, 211
Hancock, John, 90–91, 114
Harrison, Benjamin, 103
Henry, Patrick, 16
Hessian troops, 133–34
Hippopotame, 147–48, 148
Hôtel des Ambassadeurs de Hollande
(Hôtel de Hollande), 115, 182, 184
Houret de la Marinière, Amélie de, 184, 194
Howe, Admiral Lord Richard, 1, 111 Howe, Major General Sir William, 1, 115, 135, 138
Italiana in Algeri, L’, 208
Jay, John, 103, 151, 152, 177, 211
Jefferson, Thomas, 114, 211
“Je suis Lindor” (song), 52, 53, 162
Johnson, Samuel, 95
Johnson, Thomas, 103
Jones, John Paul, 139–40
jureurs, 188
Kalb, “Baron” Johann de, 17–18, 126
King George’s War, 36
Knox, Henry, 111
La Blache, comte de, 48, 54–55, 60–61, 79
La Croix, Mme. la Marquise de, 42
Lafayette, Marquis de, 126, 182, 184, 187, 207
La Harpe, Jean-François, 80–81
Lake Champlain, 135, 136
Lake George, 135, 136
La Vrillière, duc de (Captain General of the Court for the Conservation of the King’s Pleasures), 39, 54, 56–61, 71
Lee, Arthur, 95–97, 96, 100, 113, 117–22, 125, 134, 140, 144–45
Lee, Francis Lightfoot, 122
Lee, Richard Henry, 114
L’Enfant, Pierre Charles, 126
Lenormant d’Étioles, Charles, 11–12, 29–30, 59
Lenormont d’Étioles, Constant, 58–59
Lepaute, Monsieur, 22–24, 54, 62
Leroux, L’Abbé, 59
Leszczynska, Marie (Queen), 9
Lévêque, Geneviève-Madeleine Watebled, 46–48
Lexington, battle of, 88, 89
Lindor. See Barbier de Séville, Le
Livingston, Robert, 114
Locke, John, 171
Long Island, battle of, 114
Louis XIV (“the Great”), 8
Louis XV, 8–12, 10, 24, 31–32, 65, 67, 69–73, 79, 85–87, 99
Louis XVI, 8, 74–79, 87, 97–100, 100, 105, 111, 129, 144, 163–71, 181–88, 196–97, 197
Louis XVII, 197
Louis XVIII, 165, 169
Louise, Princess (Bourbon), 31, 37, 44
Loui
siana, 14
Louvre, 175
Madison, James, 211
Madrid, Beaumarchais’s trip to, 41–44
“Malbrough,” 150, 151
Mariage de Figaro, Le, 160–69, 162, 164, 171, 183, 207–8, 213
Marie Antoinette (queen of France), 72–74, 75, 78, 81, 99, 170–72, 187, 197
Marie de Medici (queen), 39
Marie Theresa (Empress of Austria), 74, 77–78
Marlborough, duke of, 150
Maurepas, Prime Minister Comte Frédéric de, 153, 171
mémoires, 62–64
Ménard, Mademoiselle, 55
Mercure, 134, 137
Mercure de France, Le, 25
Mère Coupable, La, 172, 205, 213
Mexico, 110
Mississippi River, 110
Molière, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, 82
Monroe, James, 211
Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de La Brède, 39
Montgomery, General Richard, 106
Montreal, 106
Morande, Théveneau de, 68–72, 89
Morgan, General Daniel, 138
Morris, Gouverneur, 180–81, 186
Morris, Robert, 133
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 168, 207–8
Napoléon (Bonaparte), 175, 205
National Assembly, 183, 191, 192
National Convention, 194
National Guard, 184, 187, 207
Necker, Jacques, 157
North, Lord (British prime minister), 143
Nouvelle France, La, 8
Nozze de Figaro, Le (opera), 168, 207–8
Olive Branch Petition, 91
Orléans, Bishop of, 42
Orléans, House of, 75
Otis, James, 15
Pacte de Famille, 109–10
Paine, Tom, 196
Paix ou la Guerre, La, 97–99, 100
Palais de Luxembourg, 39
Palais des Tuileries, 175, 179, 187
Palais Royal, 178, 180, 187
Pancoucke, Charles, 153
parades, 44, 208, 213
Pâris-Duverney, Joseph, 36–38, 37, 40, 42–43, 46–47, 60, 92
Parliament (British), 89
peace efforts (Anglo-American), 114, 143
Peace or War policy statement, 97–99, 106
Philadelphia, 138
Pompadour, Madame de, 11,12, 24, 29, 44, 59, 69
Pontleroy, Sieur, 15–17
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 131
Pulaski, Kazimierz, 126
Quebec, 106
Racine, Jean, 82
rapporteur, 54, 60, 62
Reed, Joseph, 1, 115, 133
Réflexions, 106–7
refusés, 188
Revere, Paul, 50–51
Richelieu, duc de, 211
Robespierre, Maximilien, 187, 189, 191, 198–99
Robin Hood, 79
Rochambeau, General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de, 159
Rochford, Lord, 42, 88–89, 91
Roderigue Hortalez et Cie., 112, 115–17, 142, 159, 211
Roman Catholic Church, 185, 187–88
Romeo and Juliet, 53
Ronac, Monsieur (anagram for Caron; Beaumarchais alias), 71, 76–78, 88, 128 Rosine. See Barbier de Séville, Le
Rossini, Gioacchino, 207–8
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 29, 49, 82, 171
Royal Academy of Sciences, 23–24
Rutledge, Edward, 2
Saint-Antoine, Faubourg (Paris slum), 175, 184
Saint-Lazare prison, 169–71
Salieri, Antonio, 172
Santo Domingo, 131
Saratoga, battle of, 138–39, 142–43
Sartine, Antoine Gabriel de (d’Alby), 57, 58, 59, 66, 74–77
Scènes, 44
Schönbrun Palace, 74
School for Rakes, The, 45
seguedilla, 43, 208
Seine, 134
Seven Years’ War, 14–15, 46, 85, 125
Sherman, Roger, 114
Smith, Adam, 95
Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, 84
Sons of Liberty, 49, 89
Sophia Charlotte (queen), 85
Sophie, Princess (Bourbon), 31, 37, 44
Spain: Beaumarchais’s trip to, 41–44; aid to Americans, 101–2, 109–10, 113
Sparks, Jared, 122
Stark, General John, 137
Steuben, Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von, 141–42
Stormont, Lord, 126, 128–29
sugar islands, 101
Sullivan, John, 114
Sully, plan de, 157–58
Sweden, 87
Talleyrand, 205
Tancredi, 208
Tarare, 172–75, 202, 213
tax riots: in America, 16–17; in England, 17
Terror, the, 199
Terweren (Zeeland) guns plot, 188–200, 204
Théâtre Français, 54, 64, 81, 83–84, 205
Thomas, General John, 111
Thomson, Charles, 114
Treaty of Paris, 125
Trenton, battle of, 133–34
Turkey, 87
Vergennes, comte de, 1, 5, 6, 87–8, 91–115, 121, 129, 135, 144, 157–59, 171. See also Réflexions
Versailles, Palace of, 24, 25, 177
Victoire, Princess (Bourbon), 31, 37, 44
Vienna, 74
Vincennes, chateau de, 184
Voltaire, 64, 152–55, 154, 165, 171
Walpole, Horace, 64
Washington, George, 1, 4, 13–14, 36, 90–91, 102–4, 133, 159
White Plains, 3
Wilkes, John, 89, 91–2, 95
Willermaulaz, Marie-Thérèse de (Madame de Beaumarchais), 68, 69, 79, 116, 129, 172, 188, 191, 198–204
Yorktown, battle of, 159
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Unger, Harlow G., 1931–
Improbable patriot : the secret history of Monsieur
de Beaumarchais, the French playwright who saved the
American Revolution / Harlow Giles Unger.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-58465-925-9 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-61168-216-8 (e-book)
1. Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de, 1732–1799.
2. Dramatists, French — 18th century — Biography.
3. Diplomats — France — Biography. 4. France — History — 18th century. 5. United States — History — Revolution, 1775–1783 — Participation, French. I. Title.
PQ1956.U54 2011
842'.5 — dc22
[B]
2011014242
Improbable Patriot Page 24