51The American Commissioners to Sartine, 12[–15] October 1778: résumé (Franklin Papers)
Two British frigates captured by the French: Dull, French Navy, p. 357.
52John Langdon to the Commissioners, 21 October 1778 (Adams Papers)
), Sartine referred the Commissioners to Leray de Chaumont, the principal agent for the company that supplied masts to the French Navy.
53John Langdon to the American Commissioners, 21 October 1778: résumé (Franklin Papers)
...British Navy was mostly furnished with masts from this port; lately I have sent to Boston all the masts for d’Estaing’s squadron. Please mention to the naval minister or any appropriate person that I will furnish the French navy with masts if someone in France will contract. My commission is 5% for the cargo and disbursements and 5% on the sale of articles sent for payment.
54Edmé Jacques Genet to John Adams: A Translation, 29 October 1778 (Adams Papers)
French Navy and Amer. Independence
55Intelligence from Havana and Other Places, 13 November 1778 (Franklin Papers)
, 92, later 108): Dull, French Navy, pp. 135, 353.At the last moment Ternay’s orders for India were countermanded, and he was sent to the West Indies: Dull, French Navy, pp. 159–60.
French Navy and Am. IndependenceFrench Navy and Am. Independence
57To Benjamin Franklin from Horatio Gates, 4 December 1778 (Franklin Papers)
The chevalier de Raimondis, a Provençal, was the sixth of his name to serve in the French navy or galleys: G. Lacour-Gayet,
58The American Commissioners to Sartine, 25 December 1778 (Franklin Papers)
110n), and his letter offered to provide the French navy with masts:
59The American Commissioners to Vergennes, [before 9 January 1779]: résumé (Franklin Papers)
Dull, French Navy, pp. 125, 128–35, 362–3.Dull, French Navy, pp. 131–2, 137, 141. The final proposal, unlike the earlier ones, would not have required the British to evacuate their forces; the British refused even this:
60Vergennes to the American Commissioners, 20 January 1779 (Franklin Papers)
667: 61.) Delays caused by having to wait for convoys were the price both American and French ships had to pay for protection from privateers; it was impossible for the French navy to provide protection for individual ships everywhere. See Villiers,