After a long privation, I finally had the pleasure of receiving news directly from you on May 4 through M. Penet arriving from Philadelphia. He told me that you had entrusted him with a letter and several papers to give to me, but that he had left all of these packages in Rotterdam for fear of them being intercepted in going from Holland to France. At first, this made me somewhat worried; I scarcely dared to confide in him; however, all of his answers to my various questions seemed so satisfactory that I no longer hesitated to speak openly to him.
He surprised me very much when he told me that not only the people of the thirteen united colonies, but the Congress and yourself as well, greatly doubted the disposition of the Court of France in your regard, and that you feared its links to the Court of London. When I assured him that all of the wishes of our nation in general, and more particularly those of the current Ministry favored the insurgents, I saw his face beam with a joy so genuine that I was completely convinced that I could confide in him.
The next day, May 5, I took him to Versailles, to convince him in turn that I had not harbored illusions about such an important matter. I had him speak to our friend Du Pont, who was, as you may know, the closest confidant of M. Turgot, at the time the inspector general of finances, and who told us among other things that one of their greatest fears was that the Congress fail in its operations for lack of money. He even added that they had pondered how they could, without compromising themselves, find credit for this so unhappy and so interesting a people. This conversation alone managed to dispel all of M. Penet's alarm. As a result, he soon resolved to continue on his way to Nantes, without even passing through Paris. If I would take charge of American affairs both in Paris and at the court, he would, in cooperation with me, travel to every port and factory where the good of the service would call him. On his arrival, he assured me that you had recommended that he address himself to me on all matters, to trust individuals for whom I could answer, and to plan, as much as possible, all operations with me.
I was prepared of course to assist him in any way I could for a cause I have long championed—to the point that I have been given a nickname which does not offend me. But your envoy demanded of me much more than I could promise, since he wanted to leave me solely in charge of all of the work in this city, a combination of circumstances that seemed quite delicate to me.
How could I participate in extended affairs of great importance and significant negotiations on the lone word of an unknown man, a self-proclaimed bearer of letters which he could not readily produce? How would I present myself to those in high office, known and unknown to me, to handle with them the affairs of a foreign people, without any credentials from him? And even supposing the necessity of yielding to the torrent of circumstances as essential as critical; supposing the possibility of finding favorable access everywhere, and even of being listened to with trust by all those with whom I would be dealing, despite my lack of title or official mission, how would I meet the demands of work beyond my normal duties without neglecting those required by my profession, and putting my livelihood at risk. These reflections darkened my spirit; but my attachment to you and your respectable friends, my gratitude for the goodwill towards me that you have encouraged in your compatriots, and my zeal for the cause of justice, liberty, and humanity. These considerations and the demands of circumstances, for which Providence seemed to single me out, there being no one else, for so honorable and important a job, finally won out over private considerations and convinced me to take on as a sacred duty whatever was asked of me in your name. And since that moment, I have seen myself as the future guardian of the trust of the United Colonies of America; I have tried to fulfill all the functions of a faithful and zealous agent; and I will thus continue until their true representatives disown me. I compare my situation to that of someone who, finding himself alone able to rescue the precious remains of a shipwreck or a fire, watches more scrupulously over this fortuitous deposit than over what is happening in his own house.
Knowing that United America urgently needed a certain kind of men and a certain type of provisions, I hastened to procure her both. I knocked, so to speak, on every door with that aim. I spoke vaguely to some, enigmatically to others, I half-confided in several people and fully confided as little as possible to anybody, except the King's ministers, and a nephew of whom I am very sure, whom I summoned from his province for the purpose of assisting me in everything. I had the satisfaction of being welcomed on all occasions, and of seeing that no one asked me for assurances other than my word in dealing with matters of the greatest consequence and for which I admitted in good faith having neither received full power, nor even the slightest commission or instruction orally or in writing. Ministers to whom I had never paid court showed me from the first meeting the most flattering confidence, spoke to me without circumlocution or mystery, discussed with me the most weighty problems and deliberated with me on what course of action to take and what means to achieve our goals. Private individuals on their own, merchants, military men and others, agreed without dithering to make conditional arrangements with me, promising to carry them out when they would be asked to, although I had told them for my part that I could not positively guarantee them anything at all.
On the other hand, I was occasionally poorly advised and would have risked making poor choices, or bad deals, if I had not been carefully on my guard, and if I had not acquired on every matter information from several places. You would find it hard to believe, for example, that a Minister full of good will suggested to me and recommended for saltpeter, for rifles, etc., stores and suppliers whose saltpeter was too costly and rifles defective. Far from finding it bad that I made quite different arrangements, he was grateful for my warning against them.
I have made six different trips to Versailles in the last month, to see not only the Ministers, but also everyone who comes near them, or associates with them, in order to survey or have someone survey for me how each one was disposed, for one must not believe that they are all equally well intentioned; still, I wanted to try to derive some benefit from everyone, and indeed, although I have more for which to congratulate myself with some than thers, there is no one about whom I can complain without ingratitude.
I have obtained, among other things, under the name of M. de la Tuillerie, owner of an arms factory, that there be delivered to him forthwith from the arsenals of the King fifteen thousand rifles for the use of the infantry in accordance with the 1763 models, to be used in his business, conditional on replacing them within the next year with an identical number of new rifles from his factory, [and this was obtained] by giving good and sufficient guarantor for this replacement; and they approved me as a guarantee. The first shipment of these rifles is already on its way to Nantes, where M. Penet is awaiting the vessels that your secret committee will send there. I hope that your brave warriors will be happy with these rifles; but you must warn them not to trust overly ordinary commercial rifles called fusils de traite which are almost as formidable to friends as to enemies.
I would have easily obtained some bronze cannons under the same conditions, if we had not been held back by the consideration that they are marked by the arms or the symbols of the King, which would make them too recognizable. However, if I had been authorized by the Congress to strongly insist upon it, it would have been possible to file away the L.L.'s and the fleur-de-lis; but none of that could be done without expense, and who would have advanced the money? M. Turgot, the only Minister from whom I could have hoped for such a favor, was dismissed on May 12; and all the others are so plagued today by the extraordinary cabals of the Court, that each one is too busy trying to stay in power to tackle public affairs not absolutely and exclusively within his province. They will all lend a hand to a just and honest cause, but no one will embrace it warmly. It is useless to point out that France must not miss the opportunity to take away from England and attract to her own shores an enormous amount of trade, which will only grow from year to year. They understand this very well; but a burdened France needs peace, and it is in their best interest to maintain it.
I would have been allowed to withdraw surreptitiously from the Paris arsenal gunpowder, lead shot, saltpeter, etc., if we had not found them commercially of the same quality but at a better price, and in even bigger quantities than M. Penet is ordered to load.
I obtained long-term leaves of absence for some officers of the artillery and others; and I was promised the same for everyone that we might need and that I could win over to my views.
All sides have offered me numerous good officers who ask nothing more than to be sent to serve in the American Colonies, if I were authorized to assure them whatever rank they desire (or that which is usually granted to those who serve in the Indies); but I believe that such officers are the least of your needs if you want to avoid angering your generous compatriots. However, I thought I could promise the rank of Captain, with a few small advances and the voyage paid, to M. Fareli, a former Lieutenant of infantry, one of the so-called Officers of Fortune; the same thing, without the rank, to M. Davin, a former Sergeant Major of great distinction; and only free passage at sea for M. de Bois-Bertrand, a young man full of honor, courage, and zeal, who now has the brevet rank of Lieutenant Colonel, but who is not asking for anything. Your generals can place him as they see fit for the greatest good of the military. I regret not to be able to promise anything to a former officer-protégé of M. Turgot, who was employed under his brother in Cayenne; but above all, to two Irish officers, Messrs. Geoghegan, one of whom I have known for a long time. During the last two wars, he was the aide de camp of a general officer, who is now marshal of France and who thought very highly of him; he only has a brevet-rank of lieutenant- colonel of the cavalry, but I believe him to be capable of anything; his cousin has proven himself even more to his best advantage: a mere captain in India, he was at the head of a small army, as all of the superior officers were absent for good or bad reasons, and he had the good fortune, after a well planned march, to defeat the English in the battle of {blank in MS.}. You may well assume that these two men would expect to be made general officers.
As for engineers, there are a number of extra ones in France; I have retained two of them simply with the assurance of free passage and my promise of recommending them to you; one is M. Potier de Baldivia, quite young but well educated, and son of a Chevalier de St. Louis, an engineer attached to the Duke of Orléans, and formerly the aide de camp of the Maréchal de Saxe; the other is M. Gillet de Lomont, a young man of uncommon merit, who has done everything but serve in wartime, having only been in peace camps. But the engineers who have fought with some distinction have all been placed and are happy with their lot.
You know that the artillery and military engineering have the greatest affinity for each other. Perhaps you are unaware that these two bodies have been joined together and then split apart several times by our various ministers; thus one can easily substitute for the other, and the whole military agrees that the colonies, in their current state, have more need of artillery officers than of engineers. This is indeed the opinion of the man in Europe most capable of judging, the Count de St. Germain.
I have been assured of the good will of several artillery officers who are clever, experienced, and seasoned: but I have another difficulty concerning M. de Gribauval, the lieutenant general of the armies of the king, and the commander of the artillery of France, thus at the head of this body. I have had several conferences with him about this. Gribauval, who enjoys the highest public esteem, is of the opinion that we should send you three artillery officers at the same time, one to take charge and to set everything in motion, the other two to direct operations, one in the northern provinces, and the other in the southern ones. For the general direction of operations, he, along with the Minister, has been considering an officer still in his prime, who has been judged equally capable of having an overall view as well as handling all the details. His enormous talents have already been demonstrated in Corsica where he was in charge of everything, having beaten out 180 of his senior officers. I enclose a plan drafted by M. DuCoudray, the artillery officer in question, which seemed quite good to me: but I must also inform you that many people are less inclined in his favor, both in the artillery corps, where he is much envied, and outside of it where he is involved in quite animated controversies with military personnel, chemists, and M. Buffon.
Among the other artillery officers whom we could convince to go to America, I note in particular two brothers, Messrs. d'Hangest, one a lieutenant colonel of artillery and Chevalier de St. Louis, the other a captain of artillery, who also served in wartime, and is Chevalier de St. Louis as well. Messrs. d'Hangest are the brothers-in-law of M. d'Antic, the man in France that the colonies have the most interest in acquiring. All agree that he is unique in his ability to bring together theory and practice of all the arts relative to chemistry, notably glassmaking and metallurgy. This skillful artist was cheated by even more clever financiers. M. Turgot intended to put him in charge of all the factories in France, if only he had retained his position. M. d'Antic is in a difficult spot, responsible for a wife and four children, with an estate burdened by outstanding debts. People I believe to be acquaintances of yours have made him some very advantageous offers. M. Hutton, head of the Moravian Brothers, and M. Johnson are trying to attract him to England; M. de Val[l]travers wants to attach him to Elector Palatine; others are planning to keep him here, while others still would like to see him leave for Spain. But I have completely convinced him to give you preference, if you can find him an appropriate situation. He cannot commit himself to travel to the New World unless he receives before leaving twenty thousand French écus, equalling two thousand five hundred pounds sterling to liquidate his assets and to ensure the welfare of his family. If he receives this [money], he will leave immediately; a horde of workmen of every kind will quickly follow him, and in a way, we can ensure that this transmigration alone will advance all of the arts in your country by a century. I enclose a small memorandum written in concert with him.
Another man who would be scarcely less useful to you, is more than a little determined to go to America to start an arms factory unlike any other in Europe if you can help him get there safely. He is rich, extremely informed about this sort of manufacturing, and unhappy with the court: he is M. de Montieu, formerly the creator of the royal arms factory of St. Etienne en Forez, and implicated in the much talked-about trial his brother-in-law, M. de Bellegarde, the Inspector general of the artillery. This good man has ready and waiting two of his own ships, twenty-two small field cannons of cast bronze, and the materials to make a hundred more. He would take with him all of the necessary tools and materials; and everyone who has worked under him would flock to follow him. All you need do is indicate to me how you would ensure his passage, where he should go, and what facilities would be available for him to set up shop.
According to our conversations, he has further offered to force passage through all of the English navy cruises if the colonies would furnish an advance of two or three million in French money for such a decisive expedition. I am enclosing the report that he wrote me on the matter.
Moreover, I have been thinking about the way to meet all of the expenses that your nascent Republic finds itself taking on.
The package of which M. Penet spoke to me already six weeks ago (June 19, 1776) containing charts of your colonies, maps, booklets, a letter from you and one from M. Rush, has not yet reached me. But I have received, read, and reread the parchment contract signed by both the secret Committee of the Congress and Messrs. Pliarne, Penet and Comp., containing Congressional instructions for the latter. M. Penet gave me all the clarifications that I could desire about those authentic documents, and spelled out his many plans of action, which seemed judicious and well conceived. I had recalled him from Nantes to secretly introduce him to the Count of V., the minister of foreign affairs, who wanted to question him about the status of your colonies. He left a few days later, but in the meantime, we once again planned what steps we would take next.
Consequently, I made arrangements with the farmers general for the United Colonies to supply them directly by commission with the amount of tobacco that this kingdom consumes annually. This tobacco used to be forwarded by way of England, so that now both sides will economize the money that customs houses and the British merchants extracted both from the American sellers and the French buyers. I was extremely satisfied with the openness shown by the farmers general who dealt with me, opening all of their books, and showing me their original invoices.
I proposed to M. de S., the minister of the Navy, to supply him with flour and hard-tack, wood for building ships (and later cask wood for cooperage) hemp, tar, etc. He assured me that he would not seek to find out where I had obtained them provided that I procure him reasonable prices: and that I could make my arrangements accordingly.
But I will not hide from you that I found this Minister imbued with certain notions of trade which I had to dispute, and which I had difficulty getting him to reconsider because they had been suggested to him by individuals who are reputed to be the best informed on trade matters. It is, or they believe that it is in their best interest to perpetuate old prejudices about trade. However, I did shake his ideas a bit. He asked me to put in writing my differences with him; he will give this piece to several capable merchants or to the deputies of commerce after which he will consider both sides of the argument. I will enclose a copy of this memoir after I have shown it to him. I have received instructions from many merchants on the trade of grains, skins, indigo, baleen plates and spermaceti, and generally all of your staples and agricultural products; and we will be proud to help you take better advantage of them than you ever have before. I am even more certain of being able to procure for you in return all the European goods that you could want, such as wines, oils, textiles, drugs, notions, hardware, etc., at a better price than you got from England, because France produces more, and labor costs are lower here.
I currently have an intelligent, zealous man who is visiting all the needle and pin factories of Normandy, etc., to get ready to establish one in Pennsylvania, where, with the encouragement which I gave him reason to hope for, he expects to make himself quite useful to the Americans, and to set up a very good firm for himself. Your instructions suggest that the things you need most urgently after military ammunition are needles and pins.
M. Penet seems to be a faithful, active, intelligent man who is well acquainted with weapons of all sorts; but I gather that your Committee, not knowing him well enough to entrust him with large amounts of money, did not want to promise more than a generous reimbursement of his advances, so that he is not in a position to make very large advances of his own, much as he would like to. This is slowing down all of the operations which could have been speeded up considerably if you had someone here authorized to make deals and to make commitments in the name of the 13 colonies for payment terms could be decided by amicable agreement.
I have learned through our ministers that you had given orders in Liège to cast some field cannons there. If we had been commissioned to do so here, we could have had better ones cast here than in Liège and it would have been easier to ship them to you.
Furthermore, I recently had a look at the state of the cannons in all the French arsenals. I saw that there is a surplus of different calibers; and notably that out of 1200 4-lb. cannons, scarcely 500 are being used while 700 have no definite purpose as yet; therefore it would probably not be too difficult to tacitly borrow 2 or 300, at replacement cost. These 4-lb. cannons are exactly the best ones to use in the field where they are put at the head of the regiments. If this idea is to your liking, kindly give us proxy in proper form and include, to ensure the replacement cannons, either money, merchandise, bills of exchange, or paper money from Congress.
If I could only answer affirmatively about any one of these things with a definite time frame, you would be wanting for nothing. Without these means, we are be reduced to sending you things little by little on vessels that will come one at a time from your shores to load up with rifles, gunpowder, lead shot, gun flint, saltpeter, and some low-ranking artillery officers, or foremen, casters, gunsmiths, etc.