Vergennes to my last Memorial and subsequent applications, but I learn
from M. Necker, that the following will be the distribution of what
relates to his department, viz. that two millions will be sent in the
frigate with me, one million on board the Indian, and that it is
besides in agitation to make an arrangement with Spain for assigning a
sum of specie at Vera Cruz, to be transported from thence by a frigate
to be ordered on that service from one of the West India Islands.
I have reason to apprehend an unfavorable answer to my request, that
the military effects from the public arsenals should be granted on
credit. The expense of these articles will make a considerable
deduction from our pecuniary resources. Your Excellency will observe
that the same difficulties exist with respect to these objects, as
with regard to the manufactures of cloth, the great deposits of them
all being situated in the interior country, remote from the sea. The
cargo of the Marquis de Lafayette, that of the Indian, (including the
additional purchases, which I have directed to be made in order to
complete her tonnage) and the supplies collected at Brest, or on their
way thither, will nearly include the most essential articles of the
Board of War's estimate. The purchases in France are made under the
direction of an Intendant in the War Department. Those in Holland are
made by M. de Neufville & Son, whom I employed because they appeared
to possess the confidence of our Minister Plenipotentiary in that
country.
I found great difficulties and delays likely to attend the plan of
casting howitzers of English calibre in France. The scarcity of
materials, the great danger of a want of precision in the proportions,
and the facility with which we cast shells in America, induced me to
substitute six inch howitzers of French calibre, to those demanded by
the Board of War. This size, in the opinion of the most experienced
artillerists, is preferable to the larger, their effects being the
same, and their inferior size rendering them much more manageable, as
well as less expensive of ammunition. A certain number of shells will
accompany the howitzers, but it will be necessary that the Board of
War should give immediate orders for making a larger provision of
them. Their dimensions may be taken from those with the French
artillery under General Rochambeau.
The same reasons as those above mentioned, determined me to substitute
the French twelve-inch mortar to the thirteen inch of English calibre,
as there was no other way of procuring them but by having them cast,
and the same observation is to be made with respect to their shells as
with respect to those of the howitzers. A store-ship, freighted by
government, is to proceed under convoy of the frigate on board which I
shall sail, and will be charged with such supplies as can be collected
in time at Brest.
As soon as I shall have accomplished all that requires my presence
here, which I flatter myself will be in a few days, I shall proceed to
Brest, to do everything that can depend on me for hastening the
departure of the frigate. I shall in the mean time despatch Captain
Jackson, an officer of great intelligence and activity, who
accompanied me from America, with instructions to exert his utmost
efforts to get the Indian to sea without loss of time.[18]
I have the honor to be, with the greatest veneration, &c.
JOHN LAURENS.
FOOTNOTES:
[17] Missing.
[18] For a correspondence on this subject between Dr Franklin and
Captain Jackson, see _Franklin's Correspondence_, Vol. III. pp. 121,
232.
* * * * *
_Memorial from John Laurens to the Director-General of Finance._
The underwritten, special Minister of the United States of North
America, renews his representations to the Director-General of
Finance, upon the necessity of augmenting the present remittance of
pecuniary succors destined for America. He cannot repeat too often,
that upon the quantity and seasonableness of these succors, the fate
of his Majesty's allies must necessarily depend.
He entreats him to recollect, that in the first discussion with regard
to the sum, the difficulties which opposed an immediate remittance,
more proportionate to the urgent necessities of the United States,
were unconnected with reasons of finance. With respect to the
apprehension of exposing ourselves to simultaneous risks that would be
too considerable, which was the principal reason alleged, he thinks
himself warranted in saying, that comparing the sum with the risk, the
strictest laws of prudence would not be violated in shipping the
amount of six millions on board of two frigates, well armed and good
sailors, despatched from ports distant from each other.
The plan of procuring money from Vera Cruz or the Havana, the success
and speedy execution of which were regarded as certain, would have
dispensed government from making any very considerable remittance
from hence at the present moment, but as according to the
Director-General's own account, there is reason to apprehend a delay,
which would render this plan delusive, the underwritten sees no other
remedy, than in augmenting the sums remitted from hence, as far as the
present means of conveyance will authorise, and seconding this first
remittance by a definitive arrangement for having it closely followed
by the remainder.
With regard to the distribution between the two ships, the
underwritten would prefer committing the most considerable portion of
the specie to the frigate in Holland, on account of her very superior
force.
He has the honor to apprize the Director-General, that he has
authorised Mr W. Jackson, Captain of infantry in the service of the
United States, to give receipts for the sum destined to be shipped in
Holland, and that he will himself sign receipts for the sum to be
shipped at Brest.
JOHN LAURENS.
_Paris, April 29th, 1781._
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Paris, May 15th, 1781.
Sir,
Since I had the honor of writing to your Excellency on the 24th ult.
my prospects of pecuniary succor have suffered a very unfavorable
change, first in the suspension and I apprehend the total failure of
the plan of procuring a sum of specie at Vera Cruz, to be transmitted
immediately from thence for the service of the United States. This
arrangement which the Spanish agent at this Court was at first very
desirous of making with M. Necker, and which would have been a
convenience to the finance of this country, was prevented from being
carried into execution by the arrival of intelligence, that the
treasure had been safely transported from Vera Cruz to the Havana; in
consequence of which the agent declined engaging to furnish the money
on any other terms than by a schedule of bill of exchange, payable at
six months' sight. M. Necker has since made him an offer of a profit
on the money to be supplied at the Havana, and the agent has written
to his Court on the subject, but it does not appear to me, that the
offer is likely to be accepted. As soon as I was apprized of this, I
delivered the preceding Memorial to the Director-General of Finance.
In addition to this disappointment we have received notice from
Holland of the total refusal of the Dutch to countenance the proposed
loan of ten millions on account of the United States. M. Necker was of
opinion, that the Dutch would lend more readily on this footing than
to France alone, as there would be a double security; but the event
has proved, that its being a concern of the United States was
sufficient for political reasons to occasion the overthrow of the
business. I have uniformly insisted from the beginning upon the
necessity of securing this aid to the United States from the finances
of France, and while I pleaded the fertility of her resources, and
facility of borrowing in her own name, I have enlarged upon the fatal
consequences to which we should be exposed by referring the matter to
an uncertain and dilatory operation. I apprehend some new efforts are
making on the subject of the loan. His Majesty in the mean time
engages to supply the failure of the loan from the finances of his
kingdom. The future transmissions of specie are to be concerted
between the Minister of Marine and the Director-General of Finance,
and Count de Vergennes has promised me to urge them upon the subject.
I have not been able to obtain any greater augmentation of the sums
destined to be embarked at Brest and in Holland, than half a million
at the first, and nearly the same sum at the latter.
With respect to the maritime succors so repeatedly solicited, I am
authorised only in general terms to assure Congress, that such
dispositions are made for detaching from the West Indies, as give
every reason to hope a naval superiority will exist on the part of the
allies in America; that the fleet will probably remain on that station
three months, and that it will be time on my arrival to commence the
most vigorous preparations for co-operating with it.
Immediately on closing this packet, I shall set out for Brest, and use
my utmost efforts to accelerate our sailing. My frigate is ready in
the roads. If any delay arises it will be owing to the store ship,
which she will have under convoy.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect,
JOHN LAURENS.
_P. S._ Those despatches will be delivered to your Excellency by
Captain Jackson of the first South Carolina regiment, whose zeal for
the service made him cheerfully undertake the journey to Holland, for
the purpose of accelerating the departure of the Indian, and to whom I
am much indebted for his assistance in this country.
J. L.
* * * * *
COUNT DE VERGENNES TO JOHN LAURENS.
Translation.
Versailles, May 16th, 1781.
Congress has directed Mr Laurens to solicit from the King an aid of
money, and to request his guarantee for a loan. In consequence his
Majesty has been pleased to grant six millions tournois,[19] in form
of a gift, and he has likewise agreed to be security for a loan of ten
millions, to be opened in Holland, for account of Congress; and if
that loan should meet with difficulties, he has even resolved to
supply it out of his own finances, as soon as possible. The six
millions, which his Majesty has granted, have been employed in the
following manner; two million five hundred thousand livres are sent to
Brest, there to be shipped; one million five hundred thousand are sent
to Amsterdam, to be likewise shipped there; about two millions are to
be employed in payment for the goods, which Mr Laurens was directed to
purchase. Besides the sum above mentioned, his Majesty has been
pleased to grant Dr Franklin four millions to discharge the bills of
exchange drawn on him by Congress. In case the loan, which is to be
opened in Holland on account of the Americans, should fail of success,
his Majesty will be under the necessity of supplying it. It is
understood, that the United States shall repay his Majesty the sum of
ten millions, in order to fulfil the engagements, that shall be
entered into in Holland.
The operations of the campaign, of which his Majesty has given a plan
to the commander of his fleet in America, form the second object, in
which the United States are interested; and without being able to fix
the attention of Congress or General Washington upon the moment when
his fleet shall appear on the coast of North America, he assures them,
that the success of their armies makes a principal part of his views
for the ensuing campaign. It is therefore proper, that, upon the
arrival of Colonel Laurens, the United States should put themselves in
condition to take advantage of the operations of his fleet in America.
DE VERGENNES.
FOOTNOTES:
[19] These six millions were not obtained "in consequence" of Colonel
Laurens's solicitation, but were granted to Dr Franklin, before
Colonel Laurens's arrival. See _Franklin's Correspondence_, Vol. III.
p. 230, and also Colonel Laurens's letter above, dated March
20th;--also the following letter of September 2d.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Philadelphia, September 2d, 1781.
Sir,
Happy in this opportunity of renewing the assurances of my inviolable
duty and attachment to the United States, in Congress assembled, I
have the honor of submitting to them a supplementary report of the
negotiation, with which they were pleased to intrust me, by their
commission of the 23d of December, 1780.
Previous to my arrival in France, the letter from Congress of the 22d
of December to his Most Christian Majesty had been delivered, and the
application for succors supported by our Minister Plenipotentiary, the
result of which was a gratuitous donation from the King of France of
six millions of livres, to be drawn for by General Washington at
distant periods, and an offer to provide clothing and other supplies
for the army, the expense to be deducted from the donation above
mentioned. The disproportion between this and the necessities of the
United States upon which their demand was founded, as well as the
exceptionable manner of touching the money, determined me without
delay to renew the negotiation, in which I had the concurrence of our
Minister Plenipotentiary, and the advantage of his counsels.
After my first interview with the Count de Vergennes, I presented, in
form of a memorial, a copy of which has been transmitted to Congress,
an extract of a letter from General Washington, written in consequence
of my conference with him by order of Congress, making such small
additions as were suggested by the state of the business. The
advantage of the General's credit in Europe made me prefer his letter
to any common form of memorial, especially as he had treated the
principal objects of my mission in a manner no less full and explicit
than conformable to the ideas of Congress.
I accompanied it with the estimate of the Board of War, after making a
deduction of many articles, the demand of which I apprehended would
throw an unfavorable cast on the whole business. A translated
duplicate of the complete estimate had been long since delivered by Dr
Franklin. The Count de Vergennes exclaimed vehemently against the
exorbitance of the demand, to which the strength of our army was so
disproportioned, adding, that duplicate cargoes of such value could
not be afforded, and that the articles demanded would exhaust all our
money; for he refused to understand as I did, the intention of
Congress to solicit the supplies in addition to the loan.
Argument and expostulation on this subject were fruitless. In
pursuance of his definitive request, I formed a reduced list
accompanied by a letter, a copy of which has been transmitted. An
allowance was made for the Lafayette's cargo, as well as a very
imperfect sketch of it could enable me. This list was immediately
referred to the War Department. In all my interviews with the
Ministers, I endeavored to represent in their strongest light the
following important articles. That notwithstanding the unalterable
determination of the United States to support their independence,
notwithstanding the virtue and firmness of the citizens in general,
the immense pecuniary resources of Great Britain, and her constant
naval superiority were advantages too decisive to be counterbalanced
by any interior exertions on the part of the United States. That these
must infallibly impose a term to the efforts of a nation, whose
extended maritime and inland frontier rendered her obnoxious to sudden
descents and incursions on all sides; whose army was consequently
exposed to excessive marches, attended with insupportable expense of
money and waste of soldiers, that the exhausted state of their
finances reduced Congress to the impossibility of calling the natural
resources of the country into activity; that the aggravated calamities
of a war, which in its principles had been precautionary, began now to
produce dangerous uneasinesses and discontents; that we had concealed
enemies to contend against; that the British left no measures
unattempted either of open force or secret intrigue; and finally,
unless instant succor were afforded as solicited by Congress, that
France was in danger of losing all the fruits of the part she had
hitherto taken in the contest; that if instead of being actuated by a
generous and enlightened policy, the Court of France had
systematically protracted the war, in order that Britain and America
might mutually exhaust themselves, while she had reserved her power to
decide only in the last extremity, this period with respect to America
had arrived; that the importance of the objects of the war on one
hand, and the mischiefs of suffering Great Britain to re-annex to
herself the resources of America, demanded the greatest exertions;
that the honor of the King, as well as the national interest, was
engaged, and that, considering the flourishing state of the French
marine and finances, the succor solicited was as easy as, considering
our situation, it was indispensable.
I endeavored, above all, to hasten their determinations. The general
language held by the Ministry was, that the demands of Congress were
excessive; that to induce succor from their ally, there should be
greater exertions on the part of the United States; that the King had
the greatest good will towards them, but that the expenditures of the
war were immense; the necessity of supporting a maritime war in
different quarters, and the indispensable defence of his own colonies,
limited his power of giving assistance; that the public credit of
France, however good, had its limits, which it were dangerous to
exceed; that the administration of the American finances was not
calculated to inspire confidence; that a dangerous wound had been
given to our public credit by the resolution of the 18th of March,
1780, a measure, which, however judicious it might have been in time
of peace, was exceedingly pernicious in time of war; that the
application of Congress was tardy, and by its suddenness excluded
expedients which might otherwise have been employed for our relief;
that with regard to the national interest and honor, France had been a
great kingdom, and the King a powerful monarch, when America was
composed of feeble colonies.
To this kind of discourse I answered, by enlarging on the natural and
political disadvantages of America in the present contest, the fertile
resources of the British, their power and activity; the impossibility
of our supporting a paper credit without a foundation of specie,
adding, that the continental currency must have died a natural death
if it had not been checked at a late stage of depreciation, by the act
of Congress in question; that persons, who had clamored most on this
subject, had been instrumental in hastening the discredit of our
paper, by various commercial speculations, but that the downfall of
the currency must be attributed principally to a want of funds for its
support; for this object Congress were renewing their application in
the most pressing terms; that the King of France's glory could not but
suffer if the British triumphed in the present dispute, as his
consideration in Europe would be lessened by it; that his interests
besides, and those of his kingdom, would certainly be deeply wounded
by a re-accession of America to Great Britain, and that the same fleet
and army, which should prove decisive there, would be at hand to
possess themselves of the French islands.
The Marquis de Castries, Minister for the Marine Department, being
absent, and a vacation produced some delay, I waited on this Minister
immediately on his return to Court, and observed to him that the most
important decisions relative to the common cause of France and America
had been suspended on account of his absence; urged him particularly
on the great point of a naval superiority, reminding him, that the
British Marine was the principal instrument of their power; that the
efforts of the allies to reduce this force could nowhere be made with
such a prospect of success as on the American coast; that it would be
very easy after a decisive campaign in America, in which his personal
glory was so much interested, to transport a sufficient force from the
continent to reduce any British island; that in the mean time the
French islands would be in the most perfect security. He repeated
nearly what he had said at our first interview, with stronger
assurances of his prospect of a naval superiority the ensuing
campaign.
In a word I used every argument of national interest, and added such
personal motives as I thought applicable to the different Ministers.
On the 8th of April Count de Vergennes communicated to me his Most
Christian Majesty's determination to become security for a loan of ten
millions of livres, to be opened on account of the United States in
Holland; that he had immediately despatched a courier extraordinary to
M. de la Vauguyon with a letter relative to this business; that I had
reason to be satisfied with this in addition to the donation of six
millions, and four millions that had been appropriated to the payment
of bills drawn on Mr Franklin. I pressed him by many arguments to
leave an opening for the remaining five millions; exposed the false
policy of incomplete succors; observed that Congress had solicited no
more than was necessary; that there should be no other limits to the
present succor than the invincible bounds of possibility; that it was
not the condition on which the money was obtained, but the sum and
opportuneness of remitting it, that were above all important; that in
this point of view I would prefer converting the donation into a loan,
if it would make the advance more convenient to the French finances,
and facilitate the augmentation of the total sum, destined for the
United States. I repeated the same thing to the Director-General of
Finance, but their answer was, the King had passed his word and could
not retract.
I entreated both M. de Vergennes and M. Necker not to abandon the
United States to the operation of a loan, but to secure us from the
finances of France the sum in question, and above all, to make
immediate arrangements for the remittance of it.
In the mean time I pressed the Minister of Marine on the subject of
ships, but I found that it was far from the intention of the Court to
furnish the means for remitting any considerable sum immediately.
Count de Vergennes urged the imprudence of exposing such precious
succors to a simultaneous risk, and the necessity of dividing the
danger by successive remittances, adding besides, that as permission
had been given to draw, an allowance was to be made on this account,
and a provisional sum for payment retained; that pursuant to those
ideas it had been solemnly determined to send no more than two
millions in a frigate with me. I observed, that the first difficulty
would be obviated by proportioning the escort to the value of the
specie; with regard to the other objection, I gave it as my opinion,
that no bills would be drawn in consequence of the mode for touching
the donation of six millions. The Count said, that I was not
sufficiently impressed with what had been already done on our account,
and appealed to our Minister Plenipotentiary. In addition to the
warmest verbal remonstrances on the subject, I presented the Memorial,
a copy of which was forwarded to Congress.