From John Thompson: a Petition
AD: American Philosophical Society
<[Brest, c. June 27, 1778], in the third person: He was a gunner
on the Lexington when she was captured on December [September]
19, 1777, following an engagement in which he lost
his leg. After five months in hospital in England he escaped to
Dunkirk, and Franklin provided him with clothes. On May 3
he left for Nantes to get home, but was driven ashore in Brittany
and went to Brest, where the French commissary gave
him a little money and the intendant sent him to hospital. He
is still there, and the surgeon’s certificate will show that he is
cured. Please send him some clothes and cash to pay for his
laundry, and help him get passage to America.>
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