From Benjamin Franklin to Paul Bentalou, 15 May 1780
To Paul Bentalou6
Copy: Library of Congress
Passy, May 15. 1780.
Sir,
The Buckskin not belonging to the United States, but to private Persons, I have no authority to order a Passage for you in that Ship, as you desire. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient & most humble Servant
Captain Bentalon, chez Mr. Changeur7 Negt. rue Rousselle à Bordeaux
6. A captain in Pulaski’s Legion and close friend of his, he was wounded at Savannah, came to France to recuperate, and was now planning his return to America: XXVIII, 298 (where we followed the JCC in mistakenly saying he was wounded at Charleston); Heitman, Register of Officers, p. 84; Bentalou to ——— Bessière, April 4, 1780 (APS). He eventually did return to the U.S., where he served in both the Quasi-War with France and the War of 1812: W.W. Abbot et al., eds., The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series (6 vols. to date, Charlottesville, 1987–), I, 191n.
7. One of the major commercial houses of the city: Paul Butel, Les négociants bordelais, l’Europe et les Iles au XVIIIe siècle (Paris, 1974), p. 308.