From Henry Coder
ls: American Philosophical Society
<[before March, 1780], in French: I feel sorrier every day that my
suggestions of two years ago were not accepted. Had we been
allowed to attack under the American flag the English sailing in
the Mediterranean, as I proposed, we would have destroyed their
commerce. If Sartine had given me the twelve hundred deserters
for which I had asked, I would have created an auxiliary corps
allegedly financed by Congress—in truth by me—and together
with Captain Jones we would have landed near Exeter, raised immense
contributions, and burned some important port. We could
have captured 300 or 400 rich people who come to bathe
at Britinston [Brighton] and used their horses to seize the principal
residents of Sussex in order to bring them to Passy as
hostages. We could have forced the King of England to recognize
American independence and also captured Jersey and
Guernsey, but instead Sartine gave the men to the Prince of Nassau,
with humiliating and expensive results. Lafayette’s proposed
expeditions to the very places I had suggested also came
to naught.
About a month ago I sent Sartine a note to suggest that our
Channel fleet be placed under the joint command of d’Orvilliers
and du Chaffault. If instead of risking the fleet in the Channel
this late in the season they put it in a position to intercept British
commerce and menace Ireland, they can draw the British into
battle. We could then use a squadron of four ships of the line,
four frigates, and two fire ships under the command of Captains
Jones and Cornix to escort a landing party of 4,000 men to Sussex.
After luring the British there, they could reembark in forty-eight
hours and capture Plymouth. Meanwhile other forces could
capture Jersey and Guernsey and then attack Portsmouth. This
would compel the English to sign whatever peace we want. If the
neutral powers object we could pretend that the ships were
yours; no one could blame you for making reprisals. Sartine
merely sent his thanks via his secretary, M. de La Croix, and that
is that.>
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