21Intelligence from Brest, 12 January 1778 (Franklin Papers)
, Feb. 1; Dull, French Navy, pp. 96 n, 102 n. had in fact sailed for America on Jan. 6 with Simeon Deane and his dispatches: Dull, French Navy, p. 93 n.
22To Benjamin Franklin from the Marquis d’Argenson, 24 January 1778 (Franklin Papers)
The Sieur de Pellevée is said to have lived near Caen and to have been a former auxiliary officer in the French navy. He specialized in Anglo-French trade and, according to the same source, had not only spent 20 years in England but had married the Bishop of Ely’s daughter: Louis-Pierre Manuel,
23The Franco-American Treaty of Alliance, 6 February 1778 (Franklin Papers)
Vergennes learned on Feb. 4 that Spain would not at that time be a party to the treaties; see Dull, French Navy, pp. 94–101.
24Franklin and Silas Deane to Arthur Lee, 26 February 1778 (Franklin Papers)
’s 26: Dull, French Navy, p. 356.
25To Benjamin Franklin from the Duchesse de Melfort, 26 February 1778 (Franklin Papers)
Lord Henry Benedict Drummond was a chevalier de St.-Louis and a captain in the French navy by the time he died in 1779:
26To Benjamin Franklin from Joseph-Etienne Bertier, 3 March 1778 (Franklin Papers)
...-du-Faou near Carhaix. News comes slowly to a small, isolated town, and he has just learned that Frenchmen are allowed to offer their services to America. He has been through eighteen campaigns as a surgeon in the French navy.
27Gérard to the American Commissioners, 17 March 1778 (Franklin Papers)
...had informed Britain of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the two countries were breaking diplomatic relations; Stormont had already announced his recall, and on the 17th the French Ambassador was ordered home from London. See Dull, French Navy, pp. 103–5.
28To Benjamin Franklin from the Comte de Louitz(?), 21 March 1778 (Franklin Papers)
...Christ and His Prophet foretold. On the 24th Nicephore Clerget, a Capuchin priest from Besançon but in Gien-sur-Loire, explains that he wants to go as chaplain on a ship now that his two brothers are in the French navy. He can leave in a fortnight if Franklin will get him permission from Sartine.
29To Benjamin Franklin from [ ——— Montécot], 26 March 1778 (Franklin Papers)
...the other hand, would hold the work force together until the end of the war and furnish revenue to recoup some of the purchase money. On May 13 D. Monttessuy, a Parisian banker who supplies the French navy with wood, sailcloth, rope, and tar, offers with Sartine’s approval to furnish the same goods to the United States. On June 11 Sikes, also in Paris, offers to demonstrate a pantograph or...
30To Benjamin Franklin from the Duc de La Rochefoucauld, 27 March 1778 (Franklin Papers)
Deane was in fact bound for Toulon, not Brest. La Rochefoucauld’s regiment, along with others, was on the move toward Norman and Breton ports to stimulate British fears of invasion: Dull, French Navy, p. 112 n.