The Committee of Secret Correspondence to Stephen Cleveland
LS: American Philosophical Society
<Philadelphia, July 30, 1776: Bradford has informed us that he
has outfitted the Dispatch and appointed you commander; “he
gives you an extreme good Character.” You will receive this from
John Philip Merkle, and you will be bound by the following
instructions until they are superseded: You will give Bradford bills
of lading for the cargo, which is consigned to Merkle, whom you
will receive on board. You will make for France, put in at the first
convenient port (Nantes or Bordeaux may be the safest), and there
unload such of the cargo as Merkle wishes to sell. We enclose to
Bradford a packet, which he will give you, addressed to Messrs.
Samuel and J. H. Delap at Bordeaux. If you are captured, throw
the packet overboard. If you land at Bordeaux deliver it to the
Delaps; if you land at another port forward it by the best means
available, tell them where Merkle is ordering you to call, and ask
them how to address letters to Silas Deane so that they will surely
reach him. Merkle will, we expect, order you on to Amsterdam;
you will deliver the remainder of the cargo at such ports as he
directs and, when all is unloaded, will receive whatever goods,
arms, and ammunition he wishes to ship. You are free to arm the
brigantine as completely as you please, and to take on as many
good seamen as you can accommodate.
Inform the Delaps and Deane how to reach you and when you
intend to return. You will, we believe, receive from them letters
and packets for us, which are to be seen by no one and thrown
overboard if need be. When you are fitted and loaded, and have
received your dispatches from Merkle, you are to make for the first
safe harbor you find in the United States, and there enlist the help
of local authorities in forwarding promptly to us whatever letters
and packets you bring. Tell us the condition of your vessel, and
we will give you further orders. We send you a commission, a
book of regulations about captures, and a list of continental agents
in case you take prizes. But prizes are not your object; a fast and
safe voyage is. “In time your utmost Ambition may be gratified
provided Merit leads the Way to Promotion.”
You may accommodate free of charge any American masters,
mates, or seamen who want passage. Merkle will perhaps think it
proper to make your ship French or Dutch, and to clear it for the
West Indies. You are to co-operate with him, and do all you can
to please him during the voyage. Signed by Franklin, Benjamin
Harrison, and Robert Morris.>
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