81From Benjamin Franklin to Arthur Lee, 3 May 1779 (Franklin Papers)
and Landais. It sailed from Brest on May 1, picked up additional ships at La Rochelle, and reached Martinique on June 27: Auphan, “Communications,” p. 345; Dull, French Navy, p. 160.
82From John Adams to Edmund Jenings, 4 May 1779 (Adams Papers)
French Navy and Amer. Independence
83To Benjamin Franklin from Sartine, 4 May 1779 (Franklin Papers)
Almost all French ships of the line were committed to either the West Indies or the pending invasion of England; for their distribution see Dull, French Navy, pp. 362–3. In the autumn of 1779, d’Estaing, returning from the West Indies, violated orders by attacking Georgia:
84To Benjamin Franklin from Ralph Izard and Arthur Lee, 6 May 1779 (Franklin Papers)
’s letter to Lee of May 3 and Dull, French Navy, pp. 125, 146, 159–60, 363.
85To Benjamin Franklin from Joseph Priestley, 8 May 1779 (Franklin Papers)
...natural philosopher, who had been trained as a Jesuit in Rome, traveled widely as a diplomat, and settled in Paris in 1773, at which time he was appointed Director of Naval Optics of the French Navy and made a French citizen. Priestley and Boscovich had discussed their work during Priestley’s visit to Paris in 1774. In 1778, the two men debated metaphysics in an exchange of letters, sparked...
86To Benjamin Franklin from John Paul Jones, 14 May 1779 (Franklin Papers)
, Jones’s squadron eventually contained three warships lent by the French navy, the frigate
87From Benjamin Franklin to the Committee for Foreign Affairs, 26 May 1779 (Franklin Papers)
During 1779, the French navy cost some 150,000,000 ); expenses over the preceding three years had also been heavy: Dull, French Navy, pp. 345–50; J.F. Bosher, ...was able to convince Louis XVI that France had no choice but to pay whatever price Spain asked; the French Navy had failed to win a decisive victory and henceforth would be badly outnumbered by the British Navy unless it received the...
88To Benjamin Franklin from Bordot, 2 June 1779 (Franklin Papers)
A 26-gun frigate recently launched at Rochefort: Dull, French Navy, p. 357. The news of her captures was reported in the June 18 issue of the
89To Benjamin Franklin from Dumas, 9 June 1779 (Franklin Papers)
… (London, 1919), pp. 119–21; Dull, French Navy, p. 150.
90To Benjamin Franklin from Dumas, 11 June 1779 (Franklin Papers)
By this time large quantities of wood ordered by the French navy were accumulating at Amsterdam and Hamburg, awaiting convoy through the Strait of Dover: Dull, French Navy, p. 174.