Sartine to the American Commissioners, 12 November 1778: résumé
Sartine to the American Commissioners7
Copies: Massachusetts Historical Society, Library of Congress (two), National Archives
<Versailles, November 12, 1778, in French: M. de Fleury has informed me that in 1776 his only son went to America to serve in Washington’s army, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was captured at Fort St. Augustine, where he is in a deplorable condition. Please consider the father’s request that this young officer of distinction be included in the first exchange.8>
7. Published in Taylor, Adams Papers, VII, 209.
8. François Teissedre de Fleury was still unaware that the news of his son’s capture was false: XXVII, 320–1. Another plea on the young man’s behalf came from De Beze, a captain in the infantry. He wrote on Nov. 16 to obtain for Fleury’s parents, “qui pleurent sans cesse un fils cheri et estimable,” the letters their son had written. APS.