11To Benjamin Franklin from the Chevalier de Brus, 6 May 1777 (Franklin Papers)
...when the British captured Martinique during the last war. On June 2 he writes again, virtually repeating himself, and says that he will come on the 4th for an answer. On June 1 Bruslé, a surgeon in the French navy, inquires from Paris whether Franklin is interested in a young lieutenant who was
12The American Commissioners to the Comte de Vergennes, 7 May 1777 (Franklin Papers)
captured a South Carolina ship; Versailles in turn ordered its patrols to give protection on demand. Dull, French Navy, pp. 64–5, 70–1; Stevens,
13Memoir and Supplemental Observations, [before 18 June and before 3 July 1777?] (Franklin Papers)
, 448–69; Dull, French Navy, pp. 83–6.
14The American Commissioners to Vergennes, 12 August 1777 (Franklin Papers)
Dull, French Navy, pp. 77–8; Clark,
15The American Commissioners to Henry Johnson, 28 August 1777 (Franklin Papers)
Dull, French Navy, pp. 78–80.
16William Bingham to the American Commissioners, 28 November 1777[–4 December 1777] (Franklin Papers)
..., despite British objections, sailed from France in October. The departure of the Spanish “galleon” (the treasure fleet) was delayed, thereby eliminating any possibility that Spain would join the Franco-American alliance the following spring. Dull, French Navy, pp. 81, 94–5.
17Conrad-Alexandre Gérard to the American Commissioners, 5 December 1777 (Franklin Papers)
, pt. 1 (Philadelphia, 1982), pp. 29–32, and French Navy, pp. 83–101.
18The American Commissioners to the Committee for Foreign Affairs, 18 December 1777 (Franklin Papers)
Spain considered a treaty with the U.S. premature, and declined to take any action until her fleets returned: Dull, French Navy, pp. 100, 102.
19The American Commissioners’ Interview on January 8 with Gérard: Four Documents, 1778 (Franklin Papers)
For the background of this decision see Dull, French Navy, pp. 94–100.
20A Proposed Article for the Treaty of Alliance with France, [on or before 27 January 1778] (Franklin Papers)
...at the same time permit France to invoke its treaty with Austria; if Vienna, as expected, did not comply, Versailles would have cause to remain aloof in the event of an Austro-Prussian war over Bavaria. Dull, French Navy, p. 113.