Unlikely Allies
Page 34
127 “Congress have left it”: Letter, Major J. Burnett to Jeremiah Wadsworth, March 18, 1780, as quoted in Carp, To Starve the Army at Pleasure, 69.
127 John Adams described: Quoted in Cook, Dawn over Saratoga, 13.
127 One soldier complained: Quoted in Nelson, “The American Soldier,” in Ferling, The World Turned Upside Down, 47.
127 The men who had rushed off: Hatch, The Administration of the American Revolutionary Army, 93; Risch, Supplying Washington’s Army, 282-83; W. J. Eccles, “The French Alliance and the American Victory,” in Ferling, The World Turned Upside Down, 154.
128 Shortages were exacerbated: Carp, To Starve the Army at Pleasure, 67-68.
128 On March 2, 1776: Letter, Secret Committee to Deane, March 2, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 119.
129 It was roughly: Economic History Service, http://www.measuringworth.com/index.html.
129 It was essential to the success: Letter, Secret Committee to Deane, March 3, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 123; letter, Secret Committee to Deane, March 1, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 117.
129 Franklin instructed Deane: Ibid., 124-25.
130 Once Deane established: Ibid., 125.
130 Deane also knew Bancroft’s: Anderson and Anderson, “Edward Bancroft, M.D.,” 356.
130 Bancroft supported the American: Letter, Secret Committee to Deane, March 3, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 126.
131 Recognizing the need: Letter, Deane to Elizabeth Deane, March 2-3, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 119-21.
132 Only a few months earlier: Letter, Deane to Elizabeth, June 18, 1775, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 62.
132 It would be “criminal”: Letter, Deane to Elizabeth, March 2-3, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 121.
132 In closing, Deane questioned: Ibid., 123.
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134 For months Wilkes: Quoted in Postgate, That Devil Wilkes, 208.
134 King George III and his government: One possibility is that Wilkes wanted to provoke the king to take excessive measures that would alienate Parliament and test the royal proclamation against treason in court. Lander, “A Tale of Two Hoaxes,” 5-6.
135 Lord North had already arrested: Most historians believe that the alleged plot was fabricated, but the testimony against Wilkes had some corroboration, and at least one historian thinks that Sayre may have been involved in some conspiracy against the government (Sainsbury, “The Pro-Americans of London,” 423, 437).
135 In addition to d’Eon and Beaumarchais: Wilkes, Diary, October 25, 1775.
135 The Lee brothers were frequent: Cash, John Wilkes, 249.
135 The Lees came from: Hendrick, The Lees of Virginia, 77-78.
136 Arthur Lee, the youngest: Potts, Arthur Lee, 10-14, 101.
137 While Arthur was still: Potts, Arthur Lee, 88-91.
137 During his years in London: Ibid., 35-36.
137 Yet instead of being grateful: Ibid., 81, 88-89,113. However, for a brief time after Franklin decided to support independence, Lee expressed admiration for him. Ibid., 114.
138 Lee, like his brothers: Lee, An Essay in Vindication of the Continental Colonies of America, from a Censure of Mr. Adam Smith, in His Theory of Moral Sentiments. With Some Reflections on Slavery in General (London, 1764), 11-16, 37-40; Potts, Arthur Lee, 28-30; Holton, Forced Founders, 67-70.
138 Shortly after arriving in London: Cash, John Wilkes, 234-35; Sainsbury, “The Pro-Americans of London, 1769 to 1782,” 425-427.
139 In fact, Wilkes’s position: Cash, John Wilkes, 231-235; quoted in Potts, Arthur Lee, 59.
139 While Franklin excoriated Wilkes: Potts, Arthur Lee, 60.
141 Vergennes hoped that: Ibid., 152; Stockdale and Holland, Middle Temple Lawyers, 148.
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142 He would enter: Williamson, The History of the Temple, 647-48; Home and Headlam, The Inns of Court, 64-75; Hendrick, “America’s First Ambassador,” 147.
145 Wentworth had done very well: Mayo, John Wentworth, 68, 165; Wentworth, Wentworth Genealogy, vol. 3, 11.
145 Paul Wentworth was born: Wentworth, The Wentworth Genealogy, vol. 3, 7-9; Wilderson, Governor John Wentworth, 152-53; Mayo, John Wentworth, 68, 82.
146 Paul Wentworth returned: Wentworth, The Wentworth Genealogy, vol. 3, 7-9, 12, 170-72; Cuthbertson, The Loyalist Governor, 48-50; Wilderson, Governor John Wentworth, 152-53; Mayo, John Wentworth, 68, 82.
146 When Lee was a hungry law student: Riggs, “Arthur Lee,” 268, 273; May 27, 1775, Hutchinson, The Diary and Letters, vol. 1, 434-35; January 20, 1777, Hutchinson, The Diary and Letters, vol. 2, 129; Van Tyne, “French Aid Before the Alliance of 1778,” 38-39; Potts, Arthur Lee, 133, 152; letter to Col. Worthington, March 6, 1775, Hutchinson, The Diary and Letters, vol. 1, 398; According to Potts, Wentworth lived in Lee’s flat in 1774. More likely Wentworth was an occasional overnight visitor.
147 Instead, while Lee secretly conspired: Potts, Arthur Lee, 133, 135; Sosin, Agents and Merchants, 222.
147 As one historian noted: Trevelyan, The American Revolution, 337.
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148 November brought miserable weather: Morton and Spinelli, Beaumarchais and the American Revolution, 30; Homberg and Jousselin, D’Eon de Beaumont, 183.
148 D’Eon celebrated the completion: Lander, “A Tale of Two Hoaxes,” 1017-18.
148 Nursing a cough: Cox, The Enigma of the Age, 101; Morton and Spinelli, Beaumarchais, 30; Kates, Monsieur d’Eon Is a Woman, 230.
149 As he and Lee had agreed: Letter, Beaumarchais to Louis XVI, October-November 1775, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 75-81. Although this letter is dated February 1776, in the Deane Papers, vol. 1, 100-15, Shewmake points out that it is referenced in another memorandum dated December 15, 1775, and so must have been completed before then. Shewmake also points out that this memorandum was found in the papers of the controversial French ambassador to the United States, Genet, who probably used it to try to solicit the support of the United States during the French Revolution (Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 38-39).
149 Vergennes reacted coolly: Murphy, Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, 232-34.
149 The king felt morally: Kates, Monsieur d’Eon Is a Woman, 230-31.
150 He begged Vergennes: Letter, Beaumarchais to Vergennes, November 24, 1775, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 81.
150 The fact that Vergennes passed: Price, Preserving the Monarchy, 22-23.
150 In Beaumarchais’s memorandum: Letter, Beaumarchais to Louis XVI, December 7, 1775, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 82-87.
151 He warned the king: Letter, Beaumarchais to Louis XVI, December 13, 1775, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 88.
151 A few days later he complained: Letter, Beaumarchais to Louis XVI, December 15, 1775, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 89.
151 An Englishman once addressed: Kite, Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence, vol. 2, 51.
151 One London paper reported: Kates, Monsieur d’Eon Is a Woman, 243, quoted in Morning Post, December 9, 1776; Cox, The Enigma of the Age, 103-4.
152 D’Eon began to suspect: Kates, Monsieur d’Eon Is a Woman, 231, citing d’Harvelay to Vergennes, November 14, 1775, Archives de ministère des Affaires étrangères, Correspondance, Angleterre, Supplement 16:446. By the spring of 1777, the London Chronicle (May 5) reported that the betting on d’Eon’s gender totaled about 120,000 pounds. London Chronicle, as cited by James Oldham, “Judicial Activism in Eighteenth Century English Common Law in the Times of the Founders,” Green Bag (Spring 2005): 269, 275. Thus, it seems unlikely that Beaumarchais and Morande alone would have invested as much as 100,000 pounds. Also Clark, Betting on Lives, 48.
152 In a fit of pique: Kates, Monsieur d’Eon Is a Woman, 232.
153 “[As] to our approaching marriage”: Letter, d’Eon to Beaumarchais, December 1775, Beaumarchais, Correspondance, vol. 2, 157-58.
153 Beaumarchais wrote to d’Eon: Letter, Beaumarchais to d’Eon, January 18, 1776, Kates, Monsieur d’Eon Is a Woman, 235-36.
153 Beaumarchai
s could not complain: Letter, d’Eon to Beaumarchais, January 30, 1776, Kates, Monsieur d’Eon Is a Woman, 237-40; Spinelli, “Beaumarchais and d’Eon”; Lander, “A Tale of Two Hoaxes,” 1019; Cox, The Enigma of the Age, 104-5.
155 D’Eon’s worst suspicions: Kates, Monsieur d’Eon Is a Woman, 241-43.
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156 That winter was one of the coldest: Currie, Frosts, Freezes and Fairs, 11, 55.
157 The Secret Committee in Philadelphia: Letter, Secret Committee to Arthur Lee, November 30, 1776, Franklin, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 22, 281.
157 Lee and Beaumarchais discussed: Letter, Beaumarchais to Louis XVI, February 29, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 96-97.
157 Beaumarchais laid out four possibilities: Letter, Beaumarchais to Louis XVI, February 29, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 97-99.
158 In reality there was little evidence: Dull, A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution, 57.
159 Only six days later: Letter, Deane to Elizabeth Deane, March 16, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 126-27.
159 For several frustrating weeks: Letter, Robert Morris to Deane, April 4, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 131.
159 In the meantime, Congress sent: Letter, John Hancock to Deane, April 3, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 131.
160 From Canada, Deane’s friend: Letter, Benedict Arnold to Deane, March 30, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 128-31.
160 To make matters worse: Alden, A History of the American Revolution, 190.
161 More than a month passed: Letter, Deane to Robert Morris, April 27, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 134-35.
162 The foreign minister prepared: Dull, Diplomatic History, 57-59; Murphy, Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, 234-35.
162 On the one hand, he denounced: Letter, Vergennes to Ministers, March 17, 1776, Stevens, Facsimiles, vol. 13, no. 1316; Wharton, Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence, vol. 1, 337-39.
163 The French minister of war: Wharton, vol. 1, 339; Price, Preserving the Monarchy, 49-51.
163 Vergennes responded to Turgot’s: Wharton, The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, vol. 1, 335-36; Bemis, The Diplomacy of the American Revolution, 26-27. There is some dispute about the date of Vergennes’s memorandum. Cornélis de Witt dated it to March 1776 in the appendix to his Thomas Jefferson (1860). Subsequently, Henri Doniol dated it to the end of 1775 in his Histoire de la participation de la France à l’établissement des Etats Unis d’Amérique. Subsequent scholarship by John J. Meng proved that it was written in April 1776. Meng showed that Vergennes was influenced by Beaumarchais’s memoranda of February 1776 (Meng, “A Footnote to Secret Aid in the American Revolution,” 791-95).
163 Louis XVI had no sympathy: Bemis, The Diplomacy of the American Revolution, 22, 27-28.
164 After a few weeks: Price, Preserving the Monarchy, 50-51.
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166 Hunter wrote: Letter, William Hunter to Deane, April 15, 1776, Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society 23, 19-20.
167 After nearly four months: Letter, Deane to Robert Morris, June 23, 1776, Franklin, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 22, 487-90; James, Silas Deane: Patriot or Traitor? 11-12; Clark, Silas Deane, 43-44; Alsop, Yankees at the Court, 46.
168 He found a wine merchant: “Accounts of Silas Deane, 1776-1781,” Silas Deane Papers, Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room.
168 Deane found himself: “Refutation of the Calumny of Henry Laurens, 1784,” Deane Papers, vol. 5, 331.
169 “I could not therefore solicit”: Ibid.
169 Instead, he was compelled: Ibid., 332.
169 Though Franklin thought: Letter, Deane to Secret Committee, August 18, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 195; letter, Stormont to Weymouth, August 21, 1776, Stevens, Facsimiles, vol. 13, no. 1350.
169 Deane wrote that Paris: Letter, Deane to Secret Committee, August 16, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 212.
170 Marveling at Britain’s: Letter, Vergennes to de Noailles, March 21, 1777, Stevens, Facsimiles, vol. 15, no. 1488.
170 Spying on foreigners: Letter, Vergennes to Beaumarchais, April 26, 1776, Stevens, Facsimiles, vol. 13, no. 1329.
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171 While originally the face value: Calculations based on McCusker, How Much Is That in Real Money? 73-75. In 1776, 200,000 Continental dollars spent in the United States might have purchased as much as $4.9 million today, according to the Economic History Resources available at www.eh.net/ehresources/howmuch/dollarq.php. That calculation, however, may not reflect the willingness of a French creditor to accept Continental dollars in 1776.
172 When Deane presented: Letter, Deane to Robert Morris, September 30, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 286.
172 On July 8: “Narrative of Edward Bancroft,” August 14, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 179 (hereafter, Bancroft Narrative).
173 As charming as he was: Letter, Deane to Secret Committee, August 18, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 209-10; Stevens, Facsimiles, vol. 9, no. 890.
173 The following day Deane and Bancroft: Bancroft Narrative, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 181.
174 He told Deane that Vergennes: Morton and Spinelli, Beaumarchais, 54-55.
174 When Deane, Bancroft, and Dubourg arrived: Letter, Deane to Secret Committee, August 18, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 198; Bancroft Narrative, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 178-80.
174 Deane began by informing: Letter, Deane to Secret Committee, August 18, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 201.
175 Vergennes responded that an open: Ibid., 196-99.
175 Vergennes expressed his personal: Bancroft Narrative, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 177, 179-80.
175 The minister extended to Deane: Ibid., 180; “Our French Allies,” Harper’s, (April 1871), 753, 757.
175 Vergennes told Deane that he should maintain: Letter, Deane to Secret Committee, August 18, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 200-201.
175 First, Vergennes informed Deane: Ibid., 202; Morton and Spinelli, Beaumarchais, 54-56.
176 Dubourg was puzzled: Letter, Deane to Secret Committee, August 18, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 202.
176 Deane followed his meeting: Bancroft Narrative, August 14, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 180.
176 On the morning of July 20: Ibid., 182-83.
176 Deane asked if France: “Refutation of the Calumny of Henry Laurens, 1784,” Deane Papers, vol. 5, 386-87.
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178 An envelope addressed: Letter, Beaumarchais to Deane, July 14, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 145-46.
179 They agreed that in exchange: Roderigue Hortalez & Co. to Secret Committee, August 18, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 158.
179 Beaumarchais boasted to Deane: Ibid., 159.
180 Though he was virtually unknown: Ibid., 159; letter, Beaumarchais to Vergennes, October 14, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 169.
180 In fact, Beaumarchais remained frustrated: Letter, Beaumarchais to Vergennes, September 25, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 166.
180 He knew that he could offend: Letter, Beaumarchais to Vergennes, December 9, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 178; letter, Beaumarchais to Vergennes, November 9, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 173.
180 A week after Deane’s first: Letter, Deane to Secret Committee, August 18, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 209-10.
181 Bancroft also contacted: Mayo, John Wentworth, 68, 165; Wentworth, The Wentworth Genealogy, vol. 3, 11. Bemis, “The British Secret Service and the French-American Alliance,” 474, 475.
182 He had written: Bancroft Narrative, August 14, 1776, Deane Papers, vol. 1, 177- 84.
182 While Deane had agreed to pay: Ibid., 474, 475-77; Edward Bancroft’s memorial to the Marquis of Carmarthen, September 17, 1784, as quoted in Bemis, “The British Secret Service and the French-American Alliance,” 492-94; Bessie Bies, “Edward Bancroft: A British Spy,” Dissertation, University of Chicago, Department of History (1908); “Engagement of Dr. Edwards to correspond with P. Wentworth,” December 1776, Stevens, Facs
imiles, vol. 3, no. 235.
182 Charles Wentworth, vows: Bancroft, The History of Charles Wentworth, Esq. (1770), vol. 3, 93.
CHAPTER 21
184 Exasperated by French: Letter, Beaumarchais to Vergennes, November 12, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 174; letter, Beaumarchais to Vergennes, July 26, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 150.
184 By August, Rodriguez Hortalez: Letter, Beaumarchais to Deane, July 22, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 146; letter, Beaumarchais to Vergennes, July 25, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 148-49; letter, Rodriguez Hortalez & Co. to Secret Committee, August 18, 1776, Shewmake, For the Good of Mankind, 157.