1To John Jay from Alexander McDougall, 13 February 1776 (Jay Papers)
...to the Use of the British Navy. To Which Are Added, An Abstract of the Theory of Ship-Building; An Essay on Naval Discipline, by a Late Experienced Sea-Commander; A General Idea of the Armament of the French Navy; With Some Practical Observations
The French navy was far from ready. The British, nevertheless, were sufficiently alarmed to have inaugurated a general press the previous October. Dull, French Navy, pp. 66–8; Gruber,
3The American Commissioners to the Committee of Secret Correspondence, 17[–22] January 1777 (Franklin Papers)
The preparations that were actually being made were less impressive; see Dull, French Navy, pp. 63–4.
French Navy and Am. IndependenceFrench Navy and Am. Independence
5From Benjamin Franklin to John Jay, 4[–28] October 1779 (Franklin Papers)
On Oct. 4 a committee of senior military officers ordered the invasion attempt abandoned for the year, partly because mortality from the illness was increasing: Dull, French Navy, pp. 164–5....failed to materialize. Vergennes also demanded Spanish financial assistance if an invasion of England were to be again attempted and the Spaniards were unable to provide it: Dull, French Navy, pp. 166–...
6To John Jay from William Carmichael, 25 May 1780 (Jay Papers)
French Navy and Am. Independence
7To John Jay from William Carmichael, 14 August 1780 (Jay Papers)
French Navy and Am. Independence
French Navy and Am. Independence
9To John Jay from Silas Deane, 16 October 1780 (Jay Papers)
French Navy and Am. Independence
10Continental Congress to the American Peace Commissioners: Two Commissions, [15 June 1781] (Franklin Papers)
, pp. 325–8; Dull, French Navy, pp. 214–15. See also Vergennes to