From Benjamin Franklin to ——— Pilloust, 18 October 1784
To———Pilloust
ALS and press copy of LS in French:5 American Philosophical Society
Passy, Oct. 18. 1784
Sir,
I have this Day received the Letter you did me the honour of writing to me the eighth Instant,6 respecting the Claims of twenty Volunteers against Captain Cunningham.7 Some or other of these People have been continually applying to me personally or by Letter for near seven Years past; and, I have as constantly told them, that I had no Concern in the Equipment of that Privateer, that it was to Capt. Cunning-himself they ought to apply, and make their Demand of him, that I had no Power of compelling him to pay them, but that they might doubtless obtain what should be found justly due to them, if on his Refusal they would sue him either here or in America. I undertook to forward their Power of Attorney for that Purpose to a Friend in Philadelphia, and I did so, with a Recommendation of the Affair to his diligent Endeavours in their Favour; but as I never receiv’d any Answer, it is possible that my Letter miscarried, as many did during the War.8 Having since seen Capt. Cunningham, I mentioned the matter to him, and his Answer as near as I can recollect was to this purpose, that nothing was in Justice due from him to those Volunteers; for that as soon as they came to Sea they mutinied on pretence that they had not receiv’d the Advance Money which they said had been promised them; that finding them bad Hands and likely to be troublesome, he agreed to discharge them and give them leave to go home; and for that purpose he gave them a Prize loaded with Wood which he had taken, which they accepted and left him: but that getting all drunk, they let the Vessel run aground on the Coast of England, and suffered themselves to be taken Prisoners in that Condition by some Fishermen.9 Capt. Cunningham has since resided so long in France as to build and fit out a Ship at Nantes,1 and he has been twice at Dunkirk: And he now uses the Trade between France & America.2 If they can make good their Claims against him, it is astonishing that they did not arrest him at Dunkirk. When I hear again of his Arrival in France, I will acquaint you with it, and they may then take such Steps as they shall be advis’d to. I have the honour to be Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant
B. Franklin
[In Franklin’s hand:] Concerning Capt. Cunningham’s Volunteers
5. The ALS was evidently retained as a record. The French translation, from which the press copy was made, was presumably what was sent. The translation is in BFB’s hand, and from it we supply the name of the recipient.
6. Missing.
7. Presumably the same former Revenge crew members who had lodged complaints against Capt. Gustavus Conyngham with BF and Castries c. Jan. 30, 1781. We previously identified them as the prize crew of the Northampton; we now believe the group also included prize crew members from at least one other vessel, the Venus: XXXIV, 378–9n; Extract from the Registers of the Admiralty at Dunkirk, July 2, 1781 (APS).
8. In 1779 BF forwarded to John Jay a statement or statements made by the claimants before the admiralty at Dunkirk; the claims were referred to the Board of Admiralty. BF apparently received no response concerning the claims, and later suggested they may have miscarried: XXX, 409, 470; XXXIV, 481; JCC, XVI, 226. In August, 1781, he promised to forward the claimants’ “Procurations” to RB and enlist him to pursue the matter: XXXV, 353. The following year, BF asked Robert Livingston “to procure an Order of Congress for enquiring into their Demands, and satisfying such as shall be found just”: XXXVII, 538–9.
9. The saga of Conyngham’s troublesome crew members and the retaking of the prize Northampton by British forces varies with the retelling. The version BF relays here generally conforms to that given to him by Silas Deane in early 1781. Conyngham himself made no mention of mutiny in his June 26, 1781, statement before the Dunkirk admiralty or in his brief account to BF a week later, though he did complain that the volunteers were poor seamen—or not seamen at all—and avowed he was eager to be rid of them. In his statement to the admiralty, Conyngham blamed the recapture of the Northampton on traitorous prizemaster Benjamin Bailey, an accusation supported by a signed agreement between Bailey and his first mate to turn the prize over to the British: XXXIV, 394–6; XXXV, 218; Extract of Conyngham’s statement from the Registers of the Admiralty at Dunkirk, June 26, 1781 (National Archives); Clark, Naval Documents, IX, 522, 534–5, 539.
1. Probably the privateer that American merchants in France had proposed in 1781 to build, under JW’s direction, for Conyngham’s command. By the time the vessel was ready to sail, peace had intervened: XXXV, 303–4; Robert W. Neeser, ed., Letters and Papers Relating to the Cruises of Gustavus Conyngham, a Captain of the Continental Navy, 1777–1779 (New York, 1915), p. 12.
2. As captain of the Hannibal: XLI, 150, 576.