To George Washington from Benjamin Franklin, 19 March 1780
From Benjamin Franklin
Passy [France] Mar. 19th 1780.
Sir,
I beg leave to introduce to your Excellency’s Acquaintance & Civilities, Monsr le Chevalier De Chastelleux; Major General in the French Troops, now about to embark for America, whom I have long known and esteem’d highly in his several Characters of a Soldier, a Gentleman, & a Man of Letters.1 His excellent Book on Publick Happiness shews him the Friend to Mankind,2 and as such intitles him wherever he goes to their Respect & good Offices. He is particularly a Friend to our Cause, and I am sure your Excellency will have great Pleasure in his Conversation.3 I have the honour to be, with great Respect Your Excellency’s most obedt & most humble Servant
B. Franklin
LS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC: Benjamin Franklin Papers. A note on the letterbook copy indicates that this letter also was sent to Joseph Reed, president of the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council (see Franklin to Reed, 19 March 1780, in , 32:135).
1. François-Jean de Beauvoir, chevalier de Chastellux (1734–1788), a professional soldier and intellectual, came to the United States as a major general under Lieutenant General Rochambeau. (For biographical details, see , 1:2–25.) Fluent in English, he developed a friendly relationship with GW and served as a vital intermediary between Rochambeau and GW during the combined operations of the Continental and French armies before, during, and after the British surrender at Yorktown, Va., in October 1781 (see Chastellux, Travels in North America, 2:365–75). Chastellux remained GW’s correspondent after returning to France in early 1783. He published the first complete and authorized edition of the journals that he kept while in the United States as Voyages de M. le Marquis de Chastellux dans l’Amérique septentrionale Dans les années 1780, 1781 & 1782 (Paris, 1786), 2 volumes. Upon his brother’s death in 1784, Chastellux became marquis.
2. Franklin is referring to Chastellux’s An Essay on Public Happiness, Investigating the State of Human Nature, under each of Its Particular Appearances, through the Several Periods of History, to the Present Times (London, 1774), 2 vols., an English translation of his original De la félicité publique. ou Considérations sur le sort des hommes Dans les différentes Epoques de l’histoire (Amsterdam, 1772), 2 volumes.
3. GW acknowledged this letter of introduction while at New Windsor, N.Y., on 20 Dec. and thanked Franklin for acquainting him “with a Gentleman of [Chastellux’s] merit, knowledge, and agreeable manners” (PPAmP).
Chastellux had arrived at Newport, R.I., on 11 July 1780 and first met GW on 23 Nov. at the general’s headquarters in Preakness, N.J. (see , 1:63, 101–6).