Sunday, July 28, 2024

ARP321 Blue Licks & Fort Henry

 ARP321 Blue Licks & Fort Henry

In the summer of 1782, most of the country seemed to believe that the war was over, that they were just awaiting final peace terms from Paris.  

The terms of a final peace, however, might be impacted by what was happening in America.  A matter of particular contention was the land between the Appalachian mountains and the Mississippi River.  Many loyalists and their Indian allies hoped to keep the Americans from claiming all of this land.  Britain had allocated much of this area to Quebec before the war.  They hoped that would remain  the case and that the land would remain British after the war.

William Caldwell

One loyalist still fighting for this outcome was Captain William Caldwell.  The Irish immigrant had moved to America and settled on the frontier in 1773.  

Almost as soon as he arrived, he was introduced to the violence in America when fighting began in what became known as Lord Dunmore’s War.  Caldwell received a commission as captain. Caldwell stuck with the royal governor in the effort to hold Norfolk in early 1776, after the revolution had begun.  Caldwell was wounded in the fighting. When the loyalists were defeated, he had to be evacuated by sea.

After his recovery, Caldwell traveled to Fort Niagara in upstate New York, where he received a captain’s commission in the loyalist regiment, Butler’s Rangers.  There he gained a reputation as an active leader in some of the brutal fighting that took place against the patriots.  He also fought alongside, and often led, Indian warriors who backed British interests there.  Among other things, Caldwell was part of the 1778 raid, where loyalists and patriots fought over the region that is today northeastern Pennsylvania.  He played some role in the Wyoming Valley Massacre, in which captured patriots were tortured and massacred by the loyalists and their Indian allies.

Later that year, Caldwell was part of a group of 50 rangers who were sent west to support Detroit.  For the next few years, Caldwell would move to various frontier outposts as needed.

In June of 1782, following the Gnadenhutten Massacre in what is today Ohio, Caldwell combined a small force of Butler’s rangers with Indian allies to confront the patriot expedition led by William Crawford from Fort Pitt into the Ohio territory.  This led to the withdrawal of the Americans back to Fort Pitt and the capture and tortuous death of Colonel Crawford and many other American militia.  (See Episode 313 for details).

Following that victory in Ohio against Pennsylvania militia, Crawford hoped to extend British control in the west, supported by his Indian allies, by moving south into what is today Kentucky.  It’s not clear how large the force was. I’ve read differing accounts that put the number between 200 and 600.  I think the truth is pretty close to the middle - probably a force of between 300 and 400 men.

Blue Licks

In August, Caldwell led a force across the Ohio River into Kentucky.  He led a company of Butler’s Rangers, along with a larger group of warriors from the Delaware, Huron, Shawnee, and other tribes.  Simon Girty, who I have mentioned before as a well known loyalist fighter, was also with Caldwell.  The force surrounded an outpost called Bryan’s Station on August 16th. The locals took shelter behind the stockade walls. 

Daniel Boone at Blue Licks
The attackers attempted to draw out the garrison by sending forward a relatively small force under Simon Girty.  They hoped the defenders would rush out to attack, and fall into an ambush. But those in the fort spotted Indians hiding nearby and refused to come out from behind the forts walls.

The attackers tried to rush the fort, but only took casualties.  At the same time, the defenders had to watch as the surrounding force destroyed their crops and livestock.  The attackers lost about 30 men, while those inside the fort lost four.

The defenders did manage to get two men out of the fort to ride for militia support.  Militia Colonel John Todd gathered a force of about 200 men who rode immediately to break the siege of Bryan’s Station.  When Caldwell received word that the militia were on their way, he abandoned the attack on Bryan’s station and withdrew back toward the Ohio River.

The militia in this region were experienced Indian fighters.  Many of them had moved to the region in the 1760’s.  The Iroquois had sold the land to speculators. The Shawnee, who actually lived there, did not recognize the sale by the Iroquois, leading to years of violent attacks and retaliation. 

One of the more notable men was a frontiersman named Daniel Boone.  Born in Pennsylvania, his family had moved to North Carolina.  Boone had made his way west as a young man.  He served as a teamster in the Braddock Campaign in 1755, along with his cousin Daniel Morgan. He returned home to participate in the Cherokee Wars.  In the mid 1760’s Boone explored parts of Florida with the intent of moving there.  Eventually, however, he moved into what is today Kentucky.  Boone made a living as a hunter and trapper.  Like everyone else in the region, he regularly fought with Indians, losing several family members.  Boone himself was taken prisoner by the Shawnee for a time.  He also regularly negotiated with Indians, trying to buy or establish land claims that he could sell to other settlers. 

By 1782, Boone was a community leader. He had even represented Kentucky in the Virginia legislature the year before.  At any time however, Boone knew there was a chance of an attack.  He led an active company of militia that was ready to assemble and fight at any time.  Boone’s men heeded the call by Colonel Todd to respond to the attack on Bryan’s Station.

For the rest of that day and the next, Todd’s militia pursued Caldwell’s forces for about 40 miles.  That night, August 18, Caldwell’s men camped along the Licking River at a spot called Lower Blue Licks. The area got its name from a local salt lick that attracted deer and buffalo.

At sunrise on the 19th Todd’s militia spotted the enemy on the north side of the river.  The militia found a ford and crossed over in pursuit.  The enemy was hidden, but believed to hold a position on the high ground above them. Todd divided his force into three columns.  Major Hugh McGarry took the center, Colonel Stephen Trigg led the right and Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Boone led the left.  

According to some later accounts, Boone advised against crossing the river and moving up the hill into what was likely an ambush.  He thought they should await reinforcements. However, Major McGarry advanced with a call for "all non-cowards" to follow him.

The militia climbed the hill until a line of enemy along the crest opened fire from about 40 yards away.  Boons left flank pushed forward driving the enemy back.  At the same time, the enemy flanked the American right flank, killing many of the militia, including Colonel Trigg and Colonel Todd.  The militia on the right flank broke and ran back toward the river.  Boone attempted to hold the enemy, but was also forced to withdraw.

At the river, the Indians and rangers attacked the retreating militia, killing many as they attempted to cross the river.  The militia managed to reform a line and fire at the pursuing enemy.  This caused the enemy to pause their pursuit at the river. The militia withdrew and retreated.

The fight had been short but fierce.  It lasted only about 15 minutes, but Boone later reported that the militia took about 50% casualties.  Among the dead was his son, Israel Boone.

Fort Henry

A few weeks later, the British carried out a second raid near what is today Wheeling, West Virginia, about 45 miles southwest of Fort Pitt.

While many western forts were little more than reinforced farmhouses, Fort Henry was more than that.  Virginia had built the fort in 1774, during Lord Dunmore’s war against the local Indians.  It has originally been named Fort Fincastle, in honor of the Governor of Virginia.  Lord Dunmore also held the title of Viscount Fincastle. After the Revolution began, patriots renamed the fort after the new Governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry.

Fort Henry was built along the Ohio River. It contained over a half acre of land inside.  A wooden outer wall had four blockhouses built at each corner. The blockhouses had towers between eight and seventeen feet high that allowed defenders to fire down on any attackers.  

The fort had withstood an attack in 1777, when local militia held off an attacking force of Indian warriors at least twice their size, see Episode 156 for details.  Since that attack, the defenders had recovered a cannon from the Monongahela River, possibly dumped there after the Braddock Campaign during the French and Indian War.  It was mounted and protected against a land attack from the west.

About 60 yards outside the fort was a large reinforced house that belonged to Ebenezer Zane.  Although he was aware of the approaching enemy, most of Zane’s family remained in the house.  It was situated in a way that would allow an effective crossfire between the house and Fort Henry.  It’s also likely that Zane wanted to remain there to defend his home from being burned by the attackers.

The Zanes

The Zanes were a prominent family in the region.  One of Zane’s ancestors, a Quaker named Robert Zane, immigrated to New Jersey in 1675, and had been one of the first settlers to come to Pennsylvania with William Penn.

Ebenezer was born in western Virginia in 1747, and moved to the region in what is today Wheeling in 1769 with his brothers Jonathan and Silas.  His brother Andrew and sister Betty joined them a few years later.  According to one account, Zane had been taken prisoner by the Wyandot Indian tribe earlier in his life, that he saw this area during a hunting trip with his captors and decided to move there after being freed.

Like most frontier families the Zanes faced occasional Indian attacks.  They fought in Lord Dunmore’s war, and were experienced Indian fighters by the time the Revolution began.

The Siege

The British commander in Detroit Arent DePeyster, authorized an assault force to attack Fort Henry in August of 1782. The force included a company of about 50 of Butler’s Rangers, and about 300 Indian warriors.  Shortly after the force left Detroit, DePeyster received orders from London that ended all offensive military operations in America.  These were the orders from the North Ministry that had been sent out in early 1782, but had taken months to arrive in Detroit.  They arrived too late for DePeyster to recall the raiding force that was already well into Ohio.

Captain Andrew Bradt commanded the company of Butler’s Rangers that headed the operation.  Bradt was a nephew of John Butler, the regimental commander.  Like most of the loyalist force under Butler, Bradt had been born and raised in upstate New York, near Schenectady.  He has spent years leading raids with the Indians against settlers in the Ohio Valley.

According to some accounts, Simon Girty was also with the attackers. This seems unlikely since Girty was with the force that had just attacked Blue Licks and it seems unlikely he would have found his way back to this one in time to be part of the engagement.  There are many accounts of Girty that are exaggerated since he became the face of the enemy in this western war.  Still, it is possible that Girty had returned in time to join up with this group.  It’s also possible that this was Simon’s brother George Girty who was with this group.

In any event the attackers arrived at the fort on the evening of September 11.  The defenders had received warning of their approach and were already inside the fort.  The attacking force consisted of around 350 loyalists and Indian warriors.  In the fort were about 60 women and children, defended by about 40 local militia.  Some sources say there were only about 20 defenders who were men of fighting age.

After arriving the British marched in front of the fort, waiving the British flag and demanding the fort’s surrender.  The defenders refused.  After sundown, the loyalists and Indians stormed the fort walls at least three times, only to be repulsed each time.  

The attackers also tried to set fire to the outer buildings, including Zane’s home.  A group of native warriors tried to get to the house with torches.  One of Zane’s slaves, a man known only as Daddy Sam, saw the Indians.  He killed one and chased off the others, thus saving the home.

After the sun rose the following morning, the attackers kept their distance, but also continued to fire on the fort.  The defenders returned small arms fire, as well as using their cannon.

There is one story from that day of fighting may be is rather suspect, but is worth mentioning.  The fort garrison found itself running low on ammunition.  The men had been firing almost continuously, while the women molded musket balls from melted lead.  

Betty Zane, knew that her brother Ebenezer had extra powder in his home, 60 yards from the fort walls.  Running there and back would make an easy target for the attackers.  Betty volunteered, betting that they would not shoot at an unarmed woman. She just walked out of the main gate toward the house. The attackers stopped firing, stunned at the sight of a woman simply strolling out of the fort.  At the house, she collected a small barrel of powder and began carrying it back to the fort.  Seeing her with ammunition the attackers opened fire.  Betty managed to dash back into the fort unharmed.

The firing resumed.  That night, after dark, the attackers stormed the fort again, but were repulsed yet again.  By the morning of the third day, Bradt was concerned that a relief force was on its way.  He withdrew from the fort and retreated back into Ohio.

Fort Rice

While Bradt was done with his raid, some of the Indians still wanted a win.  About 100 of the native warriors broke off and moved Northeast.  They attacked a tiny outpost known as Fort Rice.  This was a pretty small reinforced blockhouse owned by David Rice, that provided a defense for the three or four settler families that lived in the area that is today western Pennsylvania, between Wheeling and Pittsburgh.

The families were alerted to the approach and got inside the house before the Indians arrived. There were about 100 Indians while there were only six men inside the house, along with their families. The attack lasted most of the day.  One of the defenders was killed.  The attackers also killed and scalped one man and his son, who tried to get into the fort during the attack.  A third man was wounded but managed to get into the fort.

Unable to overrun the fort, the Indians satisfied themselves with burning or looting the crops and livestock as well as several nearby buildings.  They withdrew during the night.   

The following day, the local militia assembled about 60 men to chase down the war party.  However the natives withdrew quickly and were not found.

Return to Detroit

The loyalists and Indians spent some time among the Indian villages along the Sandusky River.  By the middle of October, they met up with Caldwell and the men who had fought at Blue Licks.  The combined force had a difficult time obtaining food.  DePeyster reported that when they got back to Detroit, the men were emaciated from hunger as well as very sick.

Having already received word of the end of offensive operations, this would be the last raid from Detroit during the war.

American Response

Of course, the settlers were not willing to let the matter drop.  Deadly raids like these required retaliation.  For some time, the settlers in this region, which was part of Virginia at the time, complained that they were receiving no protection.  The western commander, George Rogers Clark remained mostly around Louisville, which was too far away from them.

Benjamin Harrison who had become Governor of Virginia, at the end of 1781, called on Clark to do something, but could not provide any men or money to assist.  Clark, like many officers, was pretty much bankrupt since he had been obtaining supplies on credit and getting nothing from the state to repay them.

Despite this lack of support, Clark planned another raid into Ohio.  He coordinated with Continental General William Irvine at Fort Pitt.  The plan was for Irvine to lead about 1200 Continentals and militia west into what is today central Ohio.  Clark would lead about 1000 men north from Louisville toward the same area.  The combined force would wreak havoc on the Indian villages there.

Clark had no money or credit left.  He ended up trading 3200 acres of his own land in exchange for supplies for the expedition, which left Louisville on November 14.  As Irvine prepared to leave Fort Pitt, he received orders to stand down in light of the peace treaty negotiations that were taking place in Europe.  Irvine still kept up preparations for the attack in hopes that it would keep the Indians off guard as Clark’s force marched north.  But in the end, the Continentals at Fort Pitt would not be a part of the expedition, leaving Clark's force on its own.

Clark’s Virginians reached the Shawnee village of Chillicothe, just south of modern day Columbus.  They found that most of the Indians had fled in anticipation of his arrival.  They managed to kill and scalp ten warriors, took a few more prisoners and freed two white prisoners who were being held by the Shawnee.

The Virginians also burned all the crops and villages that they found, leaving the tribes without any food or shelter for the winter.  With that, they withdrew back to Kentucky.

Next week: we head east where fighting with loyalists continues, despite the war’s imminent end.

- - -

Next Episode 322 LBI Massacre and the Doan Gang (Available July 28, 2024)

Previous Episode 318 Peace Negotiations

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Further Reading

Websites

Forbes-Lindsay, Charles Daniel Boone, Backwoodsman, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co. 1908. 

Grey, Zane Betty Zane, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1903. 

Withers, Alexander Chronicles of Border Warfare, Clarksburg, VA: Joseph Israel, 1831, 

Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Calloway, Colin G. The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native American Communities, Cambridge Univ. Press, 

Calloway, Colin G. The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation, Oxford Univ. Press, 2018 

Glickstein, Don After Yorktown: The Final Struggle for American Independence, Westholme Publishing, 2015. 

Waller, George M. American Revolution in the West, Burnham, Inc. Publications, 1976. 

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.



Sunday, July 21, 2024

ARP320 The Treaty of Paris


Last week we left off with all parties looking to move along negotiations for peace.  Both the French Foreign ministry under Vergennes and the American Peace Commissioners had begun separate talks with Britain to negotiate peace terms.  After Spain and France failed to prevent the British from breaking their siege at Gibraltar, British positions seemed to harden. 

As France and Spain considered this new military offensive, the American Peace commissioners resumed talks with British negotiators.  Up until this time, most of the negotiations had been between British negotiator Richard Oswald, and American Commissioner John Jay.  Benjamin Franklin had been bedridden for many critical weeks with a case of bladder stones.  John Adams was still in the Netherlands, and Henry Laurens was still in London.  By this time, however, Franklin was in a better condition to join Jay in negotiations, and Adams was on his way from the Netherlands.

Henry Strachey

On the British side, Shelburne sent Henry Strachey to join with Oswald as part of the British peace negotiation team in France.

The Treaty of Paris
Strachey came from a prosperous but common English family.  He had worked as a clerk in the War office beginning in 1764, but quickly became private Secretary to Lord Robert Clive, spending several years in India.  After only a few years, he returned to England a wealthy man.  He won a seat in the House of Commons and purchased a plantation in East Florida.  He did not move to Florida but managed his property remotely.

Strachey traveled to America for the first time in 1776, as Admiral Richard Howe’s secretary.  Strachey assisted the admiral in his role as a peace commissioner.  He spent time in both New York and Philadelphia.  He then returned to England after more than two years in America.  In London he took a government position as The Storekeeper of Ordnance.  Throughout this time, Strachey retained his seat in Parliament.  

In 1782, he took a role in the Rockingham ministry.  Then, when Shelburne took over, the Prime Minister tapped him to serve as Undersecretary of the Home Department.  He also asked Strachey to join Oswald in France to assist with the peace negotiations.  Despite his extensive government experience, Strachey was only in his mid 40’s, contrasting with Oswald who was in his 70’s.

By the time Strachey arrived, Jay and Oswald had already agreed to borders between Georgia and Florida, and had agreed that the American western border would stretch to the Mississippi River.  The border between what is today Maine and Canada was still a matter of negotiation.  Oswald had also conceded American fishing rights off Newfoundland.

These covered most of the main issues that the Americans had outlined as necessary for a final treaty.  All of them had been resolved by September, 1782, before Strachey arrived in October and before John Adams arrived around that same time..

Strachey had come to be the “bad cop” after the British were emboldened by the victory at Gibraltar. The ministry instructed Strachey, not to undue issues that had already been agreed, but to take a harder line on other matters that seemed to be close to compromise between Oswald and Jay.

Negotiations

Around the same time Adams and Franklin joined Jay at the bargaining table.  Before they all came together, Adams held a separate meeting with Jay to get up to speed on the negotiations.  He left Franklin out of the meeting because Adams was still concerned that Franklin was too close to France. Adams was impressed with the hard line Jay had taken with Oswald and with the concessions that the New Yorker had already obtained. 

On November 2, the three American Commissioners, Franklin, Jay, and Adams sat down to dinner with the British negotiators, Oswald and Strachey, to get a better idea of where negotiations needed to go. Strachey was adamant that America had to reimburse loyalists for their losses.  Britain would not agree to any peace that deprived loyal British subjects of their property, even in an independent America.  He also wanted an assurance that British creditors would be permitted to collect private debts that they held in America.

Adams suggested that this was a state issue, not something The Continental Congress had the power to do.  He suggested that Congress recommend to the states that they provide just compensation for the loyalists.

Around this same time another player entered the negotiations.  The Marquis de Lafayette had left America with a commission from the Continental Congress to assist in the peace negotiations.  While Lafayette did not take a direct role, he tried to hold together relations between the French ministry and the American Commissioners by holding a dinner with Vergennes and Adams.  

The relationship between these two men was chilly at best.  Adams had already written to Livingston, the Continental Congress’ Secretary for Foreign Affairs, that “It is not [in France’s] interest that we should become a great and formidable people, and therefore they will not help us become so.”  Adams believed that American and French interests were across purposes by this time and acted accordingly.

At the dinner with Vergennes and Lafayette, Adams, in his broken French, told the French minister that the American negotiators had already come to an agreement on most of the matters with Britain.  He noted that the main areas of contention were fishing rights, the border with Canada, and reparations.  Vergennes seemed to side with the British on the issue of reparation for loyalists, but overall the dinner was cordial.  Vergennes even offered that France would be willing to provide another loan of 6 million livres for the Americans.

During this time Strachey returned to London to discuss the American position.  He came back with the message that the ministry refused to accept the American position on the borders and on the issue of fisheries.  London was also insistent on the reparations for loyalists.  

Negotiations continued through November.  Over time, Oswald and Strachey both seemed willing to concede to most of the American positions were going to be what they already agreed, and would take the matter back to London for further consideration.  The fighting over the details remained difficult but it also appeared that the British wanted to get this matter resolved.

Despite their internal disagreements, the three American commissioners continued to present a united front.  Jay focused on maintaining the Mississippi as the western border.  Adams focused on the northern border with Canada.  Franklin focused on the issue of reparations.

None of the commissioners had a good handle on the fishing rights issue.  As a New Englander, Adams knew it was important to the regional economy, but had no real idea what issues were most important.  Franklin sent a courier to Nantes to find some American sailors who could provide information on the fishing issue.  The sailors explained that it was important not only that ships could fish on the waters off the coast, but they also needed the right to land on the shore to dry the cod for shipment back to New England. The drying process was necessary so that ships could carry far more fish back to port and that the fish would not spoil along the way.

On the issue of debts, Franklin and Adams both agreed that British merchants could sue in American Courts for debts owed to them by Americans, as long as those debts were incurred prior to American independence in 1776.  The Americans also insisted that Americans have the right to collect debts from British debtors on the same terms.  This was essentially meaningless since almost all debt involved British creditors and American debtors, but they thought it was important as a matter of honor to make things even in both directions.

Reparations

By the end of November, the one outstanding issue was over loyalist reparations.  Britain had no desire to cover the losses of all loyalists from British funds, but also did not want them to suffer financially out of their loyalty to the king.

Franklin was particularly obstinate on this point.  Politically, Franklin could be attacked at home for giving in on loyalist reparations.  If he did, one of the first men to request payments would be his son William, the former Royal Governor of New Jersey.  Similarly John Jay’s brother James had fled to Britain as a loyalist and actually came to Paris around this time.  The encounter led to a fight, after which the two brothers never spoke to each other again for the rest of their lives.  Like Franklin, Jay did not want to be seen giving in on a point that might benefit his traitorous family members.

Passions ran particularly high on this point. Recall that the Huddy-Asgill Affair was still going on at this time.  Loyalists had murdered militia Captain Joshua Huddy, resulting in outrage throughout America.  General Washington had chosen a British officer at random, Charles Asgill, to be hanged in retaliation.

By November of 1782, the loyalist who had hanged Huddy, Captain Lippencott, and the loyalist who had apparently approved the hanging, Governor Franklin, had both fled New York and were living comfortably in London.  Asgill was still in America awaiting his fate.  The idea of providing reparations to men like these killers was emotionally a hard no for Americans.

For Americans, coming to terms with their former friends, neighbors and family members who had forsaken the cause of America was just too much.  During the war, the loyalists had taken up arms against their countrymen, and had joked about how the rebels would all be hanged. On this issue, there seemed to be no acceptable compromise.  

Pressure to Complete Negotiations

Despite their feelings, growing pressure pushed negotiators to complete their work.  In the last week of November, two messengers arrived in Paris with news.  Richard Vaughn, who had been corresponding with Franklin and Jay for months, and discussing matters with Prime Minister Shelburne, came to town to inform the Americans that if the deal was not finalized that week, there might not be any deal.  

Shelburne was worried that without at least a preliminary treaty, his government might fall.  The Prime Minister had already delayed the opening of Parliament twice for fear that the opposition would call a no confidence vote and remove him.  If that happened another government might come to power that would be willing to continue the war in an effort to win better terms.

The second messenger who came to Paris was Edward Bancroft, the secretary for the American mission in France. On a trip to London, he had received word that Shelburne had made an offer to Vergennes that would end the war between France and Britain.  If that happened, America would have no choice but to accept whatever terms they were given, or to try to continue the war without France.  If the Americans wanted the Treaty they had negotiated, a final agreement was needed right now.

What the peace commissioners did not know was that both of these messages had been sent deliberately from London to pressure the Americans to give in on the reparations issue.

That evening, Franklin wrote a letter to the British negotiators outlining the final American position. Franklin argued that if the US had to provide reparations for loyalists, then Britain would have to pay reparations to Americans for the slaves that the British army had taken, for the cities they burned, and for the property they had looted.  Franklin noted that his own home in Philadelphia had been looted by British officers during the occupation.

He proposed that both Britain and America total up the costs inflicted on them by the enemy and the country with the higher damages would pay the difference to the other.  The British negotiators could not agree to this.  It was almost certain that Americans had suffered far more damage at the hands of the loyalists and the British Army than the total worth of all loyalist properties in America.  Further, the years of trying to account for all the British destruction, looting, and pillaging in America would do nothing to put this matter behind the two countries and return to a friendly trading relationship as the British wanted.

In the end, the British agreed to gut the reparations clause by simply putting in a request that states compensate loyalists who had not made themselves obnoxious to the cause of independence, and explicitly barring compensation for any loyalists who took up arms against the United States.

Just as the negotiations were coming to an end, on November 29, a fourth American Commissioner arrived in Paris. Henry Laurens traveled from London, now completely free from any parole limitations with the completion of the agreement to exchange him for General Charles Cornwallis.

By the time Laurens arrived a tentative outline of an agreement had already been established.  Laurens only insisted on only one addition.  The large slave owner from South Carolina wanted assurance that any British reparations would include payments for slaves that the British had lured away or taken from their owners.  The other commissioners agreed to this addition.

The next day, November 30, Oswald and Strachey agreed in principle to the terms.  They signed the treaty and sent the agreement to London for approval.

The French Dilemma

With a preliminary treaty signed, the next problem was that the Americans had to tell French officials that they had signed a peace agreement with Britain in violation of the treaty that they had with France.  The Americans had given themselves some legalistic wiggle room by including a provision that the treaty would not take effect until France had also settled with Britain. That, however, was essentially meaningless.  The whole point of the guarantee to France not to sign a separate peace was to keep Britain from coming after France once it was no longer tied down in America.  This preliminary agreement meant that Britain already knew the terms of peace with America and could now focus on France and Spain.

Since Franklin had the best relationship with the French government, the other commissioners told him to inform Vergennes.  Franklin sent a copy of the treaty to Vergennes.  For several days he heard back nothing.  While Vergennes did not respond to the Americans, he commented to others that the terms were extremely generous for the Americans.  It seemed clear that the British wanted to buy the American defection.  Vergennes was also frustrated that he could no longer use any of these terms as bargaining chips in agreeing to his own peace treaty with Britain.

When Franklin called on Vergennes a few days later, the Foreign Minister told him there was very little in the treaty that the King of France would approve of.  In other words, it was very much against French interests.  He asked Franklin not to send it to Philadelphia for the moment. Franklin did not respond to the request, but a few days later, on December 15, Franklin sent a letter saying that a ship would be carrying the treaty to America, and would it be possible to get some of the cash that Vergennes had promised Adams for the Continental Congress to take over with the treaty?

This was too much for Vergennes who responded with an angry letter saying that the failure to consult with France on the treaty was itself a problem.  Vergennes essentially said this was a slap in the face of the king, and he certainly wasn’t going to hand over more cash after this treatment.

Franklin wrote a semi-apologetic response, saying that this was only a preliminary document, which was still contingent on France and Britain establishing their own peace treaty.  He then dropped a semi-veiled threat that if the Americans did not get money to keep going, they might just drop out of the war based on these terms and leave France hanging. When the ship sailed a few days later, it included 600,000 French livres - part of a loan from the King of France.

Britain Considers The Treaty

If France was not happy about the treaty, neither was most of Britain.  Shelburne refused to reveal the terms of the treaty, even to members of his own cabinet.  On December 5, Parliament finally reconvened.  George III had to address the House of Lords.  Spectators noted that the King looked troubled.  He unrolled the speech that Shelburne had written for him and announced that the war with the colonies was over.  The King continued “Finding it indispensable to the attainment of this object, I did not hesitate to go to the full length of the powers vested in me, and offer to declare them - “ at this point the king’s voice dwindled to a whisper and he had to pause to regain his computer.  He continued: “and offer to declare them free and independent states by an article inserted in the treaty of peace.”  The King called for an end to all military operations in America. He prayed that Americans might escape the calamities that England had suffered when it tried to govern without a king.  The speech then ended with a hope that their common language and religion would keep a permanent union between the two countries.

Even with the king’s unenthusiastic support, Parliament was largely unhappy with the treaty.  Both the Fox and North factions in Parliament opposed it and attacked Shelburne.  Words like “preposterous” “imbecility” and “humiliating” were thrown around in the debates.  The Fox faction, which supported independence, was upset that the concession was provisional based on a French treaty.  After all, their goal was to establish independence with America so that they could go after France. The North faction, of course, was upset by any concession on independence at all.  The destruction of the British Empire was all Shelburne’s fault.

Defending the government in the House of Commons, was a young 23 year old member named William Pitt.  You may recall that name from many early episodes of this podcast.  This was the son of the former Prime Minister who was such a big part of the government during the Seven Years War.  Pitt the younger simply ignored the treaty qualifications and simply stated that American independence was the policy of the Administration.  

Parliament was not quite ready to bring down the government on this issue, but neither were they ready to approve it.  Despite the preliminary agreement of terms, the final treaty approval would drag on for another year.

Next week: As peace commissioners wrap up the war on paper, the war continues in the American west.

- - -

Next Episode 321 Blue Licks & Fort Henry

Previous Episode 318 Peace Negotiations

 Contact me via email at mtroy.history@gmail.com

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American Revolution Podcast is distributed 100% free of charge. If you can chip in to help defray my costs, I'd appreciate whatever you can give.  Make a one time donation through my PayPal account. You may also donate via Venmo (@Michael-Troy-20) or Zelle (send to mtroy1@yahoo.com)


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Further Reading

Websites

The Treaty of Paris (1783) in a changing states system: papers from a conference, January 26-27, 1984 (borrow only). 

Bemis, Samuel F. The Diplomacy Of The American Revolution, Indiana Univ. Press, 1935. 

Jay, John The Peace Negotiations of 1782 and 1783. An address delivered before the New York Historical Society on its seventy-ninth anniversary, Tuesday, November 27, 1883, New York Historical Society, 1884. 

Pellew, George John Jay, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co. 1890. 

Perkins, James B. France in the American Revolution, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin Co. 1911. 

Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Brown, Marvin Luther American Independence Through Prussian Eyes: A Neutral View of the Peace Negotiations of 1782-1783 - Selections from the Diplomatic Correspondence, Duke Univ. Press, 1959 (borrow on Archive.org). 

Dull, Jonathan A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution, Yale Univ. Press, 1985.

Fleming, Thomas The Perils of Peace: America's Struggle for Survival After Yorktown, Harper Collins, 2007.  

Hoffman, Ronald and Peter Albert (eds) Peace and the Peacemakers: The Treaty of 1783, Univ. Press of Va., 1986. (borrow on Archive.org).

Hutson, James H. John Adams and the Diplomacy of the American Revolution, Univ. Press of Kentucky, 1980.  (borrow on Archive.org).

Morris, Richard B. The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence, Harper & Row, 1965 (borrow on Archive.org). 

Smith, Page John Adams, Vol. 1, Doubleday & Co. 1962.

Stockley, Andrew Britain and France at the Birth of America: The European Powers and the Peace Negotiations of 1782-83, Liverpool Univ. Press, 2001. 

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.



Sunday, July 14, 2024

ARP319 Gibraltar Threatens Negotiations


Last week we left off with the struggles of the both British and American delegations to form a coherent negotiation strategy for the peace treaty.  The British Prime Minister, the Earl of Shelburne, seemed to change his views on American Independence with each conversation.  Benjamin Franklin, who had been the American representative in France for several years, was dealing with recall efforts headed by Arthur Lee in the Continental Congress.  Franklin also had to figure out a way to work with his fellow peace commissioners.

Franklin Steps Back

Some time during that summer of 1782, Franklin suffered a bout of bladder stones, which made traveling, or even moving, very painful.  Franklin had to remain in bed while John Jay took over the primary negotiation role for the Americans.

Siege and Relief of Gibraltar
Franklin had been serving in France for many years by this time.  He was well ensconced in elite French society, which gave him many advantages in negotiating with France.  He had negotiated the 1778 treaty of alliance with France, which required that America would not reach peace terms with Britain until France also agreed to peace.  Franklin firmly believed that American success was tied to the French alliance.

By contrast, Franklin’s fellow commissioner, John Jay had spent very little time in France, spoke no French, and was much less interested in maintaining a relationship with America’s ally than he was negotiating a peace treaty with Britain.  Jay had spent two years as minister to Spain, and got nothing but a cold shoulder from the government in Madrid. As a result, he had no attachment to Spanish interests either.  At one point, Jay suggested to the British negotiator, Richard Oswald, that Britain should redeploy its armies in New York and Charleston to recapture West Florida from Spain.  Jay told the British negotiator that he would rather have Britain as a neighbor than Spain.  

Clearly Jay had no intention of simply following the lead of either France or Spain in any negotiation. While Jay was aware of the instructions from Congress to follow France’s lead in negotiations, he was also aware that delegates in Congress, led by Arthur Lee, were pulling away from that idea and that many now distrusted France to have America’s best interests at heart when negotiating the final peace.  In addition to negotiating with Richard Oswald, Jay began using Franklin’s British backchannel contact, Richard Vaughn, to establish direct communications with the Earl of Shelburne in London.

The Ministry in Britain saw Jay as an opportunity to separate America from France and Spain in the negotiations.  British agents showed Jay a letter from the secretary of French Minister Luzerne in Philadelphia.  The letter argued against allowing Americans to get the western lands all the way to the Mississippi River.  These British agents also informed him that French Minister Vergennes had sent Alexander Gérard de Rayneval, to Britain.  Gérard de Rayneval had been the first French Ambassador to America.  He had returned to France in 1779 and was working with the Foreign Ministry. During the summer of 1782, Gérard de Rayneval had traveled in secret to open direct peace negotiations between France and Britain.  

This British-provided intelligence convinced Jay that France and Spain were conspiring to bargain away western lands in America in exchange for other British concessions to them.  As Britain had hoped, Jay began negotiating directly with Britain, cutting out France and Spain entirely.

Benjamin Franklin
Jay’s reports back to America also gave Arthur Lee more ammunition to press forward with his own desired plan to break with France.  Back in the summer of 1781, before Yorktown, and when things were looking pretty bleak for the Americans, Congress had instructed its peace commissioners to follow France’s lead in any peace negotiations.  In August of 1782, Lee proposed that Congress form a commission to reconsider the instructions to the commissioners.  He intended to give them the authority to negotiate a separate peace with Britain, without any coordination with France or Spain.  Like Jay, Lee believed that France could not be trusted with American interests in any final negotiations.

Of course, even after Yorktown, America was still heavily dependent on the French alliance. The Continental Congress had only survived financially for the past several years, from gifts or loans from Europe.  Future gifts and loans looked difficult, especially if they were going against the diplomatic interests of those European powers.  Others in Congress recognized this reality and pushed back against Lee’s efforts to break the treaty of alliance with France and seek a separate peace with Britain.

Leading the opposition to Lee’s proposals was a young delegate, also from Virginia.  Since his arrival in Philadelphia two years earlier, James Madison had been focused on the ongoing financial crisis that Congress had failed to fix.  He opposed any moves that would cause a break in the Franco-American alliance at this critical time, especially when Congress was still asking Franklin to arrange additional loans from France to keep the Continental government operational.  

John Jay
To address Lee’s concerns, Madison proposed a committee to review Congress’ instructions to the delegates, but ensured that he and four other delegates who strongly supported the French alliance be nominated to that committee.  He froze out Lee from having any say on the changes.  Congress overwhelmingly supported the Madison committee plan and left Lee and his allies powerless.

In frustration, Lee wrote a letter to a friend in Virginia that expressed his hostility toward France. When this letter became public, it threatened to create a rift between the two countries.  The Virginia assembly considered a motion of censorship and recalling Lee from the Continental Congress.  Lee appeared to want to destroy America’s alliance with France.  The vast majority of American leaders realized this would be a fatal error.  In the end, Lee’s important family connections in Virginia resulted in the censure vote failing narrowly.  But the American debate over whether to break with France in pursuing peace with Britain remained highly contentious on both sides of the Atlantic.

French Concerns

Back in France, Foreign Minister Vergennes was keeping a close eye on the Americans.  His minister in Philadelphia, Luzerne, kept him up to date on the debates in Congress and Lee’s efforts to break with France.

France was certainly motivated to bring the war to an end.  They were going deeply into debt, and were finding it increasingly difficult to borrow money to continue the war.  If finances were going to determine the winner, Britain had the clear advantage.

Comte de Vergennes

In addition, France needed to end the war soon or find itself ousted as the key power in Europe.  Crimea, at this time, was an independent power that was essentially controlled by Russia. In June of 1782, a group backed by the Ottoman Empire overthrew the Russian backed government in Crimea.  Russia responded by blocking all of the ports and massing 15,000 soldiers on the Crimean border. Russia also allied with Austria.  Joseph II of Austria saw an opportunity to ally with Russia so that both powers could take more control of Ottoman territories. Although France was busy with these other wars, they offered France the prize of Egypt if France would support the invasion of Crimea.

France was allied with the Ottomans.  It had a valuable trade relationship with them.  Vergennes, who had been the French Ambassador in Constantinople for many years, realized that what was going one was a power play by Russia and Austria to extend their power, which would be to France’s disadvantage. He also knew that he was in this position because of the ongoing war with Britain.

France had also traditionally allied with Austria.  After all, Queen Marie Antoinette’s marriage to King Louis was supposed to embody that alliance.  But if France and Austria found themselves as enemies, France would be particularly isolated and would be vulnerable, especially if it continued to weaken itself through the ongoing war with Britain.

Siege of Gibraltar

Part of ending the war required that France had to worry about its treaty with Spain.  Recall that when Spain entered the war in 1779, France agreed that the war could not end until Spain recovered Gibraltar.  Years of siege had led to nothing.  The British defenses there were far too strong, and the British Navy seemed capable of resupplying the garrison whenever it was needed.

Floating Batteries
Vergennes agreed to an all-out effort with Spain to take Gibraltar in the fall of 1782.  A combined French and Spanish fleet would be supplemented by the construction of ten floating batteries that would be towed into place and reign down artillery fire on Gibraltar.  

The batteries had walls built with three foot wide oak timbers packed with wet sand in between two layers to prevent direct fire, and had decks covered with wet sand in order to prevent hot shot from setting them on fire.  Each battery held between ten and twenty six large siege guns to pound the enemy defenses. Over 4000 men would serve on these batteries.  

The combined French and Spanish fleet also included 47 ships of the line with a total of 40,000 soldiers and sailors against the garrison of about 7000 British and Hessian soldiers in Gibraltar.

The Duc de Crillon took command of this force in March 1782.  He had recently defeated the British at Minorca and was considered one of France’s best military commanders.  France and Spain spent most of the summer preparing their armies and navies for this definitive assault.

Destruction of the floating batteries
On the night of September 13, 1782, the fleets towed their floating batteries into place.  Around 7:00 in the morning, they opened fire.  A floating line of artillery stretched over two-thirds of a mile, throwing everything they could at the British lines.

The artillery fire continued back and forth all day.  During the morning, the British grew frustrated that they could not penetrate the walls of the firing platforms.  They switched to hotshot (highly heated cannonballs) in an effort to burn them.  At first the efforts to contain fire damage seemed to work, but eventually enough hotshots hit wood of the floating batteries and set them aflame.  By nightfall the shooting from the floating batteries had stopped as the crew tried to escape the burning vessels.  Overnight, most of the batteries exploded as flames reached their ammunition bunkers.  By morning, the two remaining batteries were set on fire by their own crews, in order to prevent capture by the enemy.

Relief of Gibraltar
The remainder of the fleet, however, continued the siege.  Although they could not crush the British garrison militarily, the defenders on Gibraltar had used much of their ammunition to defeat the platforms and were at risk of running out of just about everything.  The siege continued for several weeks until a British relief fleet under Admiral Richard Howe arrived on October 11.  Howe led a fleet with 38 ships of the line, escorting close to 150 merchant supply ships carrying everything the garrison needed.

Howe’s fleet was outgunned by the 49 ships of the line in the French and Spanish fleets.  Howe placed his warships between the enemy and the merchant fleet.  The French and Spanish fleets seemed reluctant to engage.  Some people blame this on the recent naval loss in the West Indies.  In any event, the hesitation allowed the merchant fleet to sail into Gibraltar and supply the garrison with everything it would need for the next year.  Britain had broken the siege.

John Adams

The impending war in eastern Europe, and the failure of the Siege of Gibraltar, along with accumulating war debt made France especially eager to find a path to peace.  Unfortunately, the American Peace delegation only seemed to create more complications.

In October of 1782, shortly after the British success at Gibraltar, John Adams arrived in France from the Netherlands.  Adams was feeling especially cocky, having just concluded a Dutch loan of 5 million guilders for the Continental Congress.  Adams already disliked Franklin. The two men decidedly did not get along when Adams had been in France a few years earlier.  Adams also had concerns about Jay since he thought Jay was too closely associated with Silas Deane.

John Adams
Adams spent his first three days in Paris getting a new suit tailored, finding suitable quarters, and chatting with old friends.  He refused to call on Franklin.  This was seen as a public sign of disrespect.  Finally, after some persuasion by his friends, Adams rode out to Passy to meet with Franklin. At their meeting, Adams told Franklin that he thought Jay was doing a good job with negotiations and that Adams intended to support Jay’s efforts and ignore the French.  Franklin mostly listened and did not respond.

A few days later, Franklin mentioned to Adams that Vergennes was offended that Franklin had not even bothered to call on the French ministry, something any foreign diplomat was expected to do.  A contrite Adams scheduled a visit.  When he got there, Vergennes tried to use his diplomatic charm with Adams, treating him to a lavish dinner and congratulating him on arranging the Dutch loan.

Adams was polite but unmoved.  Shortly after meeting with Vergennes, Adams also called on the British negotiator, Richard Oswald to assure him that Adams and Jay wanted to continue direct negotiations and were not concerned about coordinating with France.

Franklin found himself in the difficult position of either breaking with his fellow peace negotiators from America and standing with France as America’s ally, or joining Adams and Jay to negotiate a separate peace and creating a potential break with France.  In the end, Franklin decided that keeping unanimity among the US commissioners was most important and agreed to cooperate with the negotiations that Jay had been conducting with Oswald.

One Final Gamble

For Vergennes, holding a grudge against the American defection was not going to solve anything.  Vergennes, above all, was a realist.  France was going broke. It was losing influence in Europe. The British victory at Gibraltar had emboldened London.  There was a chance that when the British Parliament returned in November, they might oust Shelburne as Prime Minister and just continue the war.  Parliament had already voted to increase the size of its navy for 1783.  

Marquis de Lafayette
By contrast, France was really tired of war. The debts and hardships continued to pile up with little to show for it.  Queen Marie Antoinette, who had never liked France’s support for the American rebellion, was at the point of trying to oust Vergennes over the ministry’s refusal to back her brother Emperor Joseph of Austria, over his efforts in Austria to go to war with the Ottomans.  Vergennes might have to retire in failure and disgrace.

Not quite ready to sign onto a bad treaty, Vergennes considered one final gamble.  He convinced Spain to assemble another armada.  This fleet would carry a 25,000 man army to the West Indies, which would capture Jamaica.  After that, the fleet would sail up to New York and expel the British.  After that, the fleet would sail north to Canada and return that region to French control.

This plan sounded almost naively optimistic.  A proposed plan that required three high risk victories seemed a bit ill-considered. But Vergennes was running out of good options.  The commander who had pushed for this campaign was young but also had a good run of success. That commander was the Marquis de Lafayette.

The young general returned to France following his role in the Yorktown victory.  He arrived in France in January of 1782. The first thing he did was go home to his wife and sire his third child, daughter, Marie Antoinette Virginie.  After that, he began lobbying for a new military command.

The king gave overall command of the armada to the Comte d’Estaing.  The admiral had recovered from his injuries, to both his body and reputation for his loss at the Siege of Savannah in 1779.  Lafayette received appointment as chief of staff of this united French and Spanish force.  He would lead a French army of 8000 soldiers to march to Cadiz in southern Spain where the fleet would depart.  Once the fleet arrived in America, Lafayette would command the land forces that would be involved in each assault.

Rayneval Negotiations

Even while planning another military offensive, Vergennes was still looking for a respectable peace treaty with Britain.  The story that British officials had told Jay about Vergennes secretly sending Gerard de Rayneval to London to negotiate directly was true.  

Gérard de Rayneval
Rayneval had been working closely with Vergennes on negotiations.  Because he spoke French, Spanish, and English, he has served as a translator at many of the early meetings with the Americans.  The Frenchman had grown to distrust Jay, as the American exhibited increased hostility toward the idea of working with France on a final treaty.  Rayneval sided with Spain on the view that Spain should get control of lands between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian mountains.  At one point during the debate, he noted that neither power really had a presence there.  If anyone had a claim to the land, it was the Indians who lived there. Everyone agreed that was not realistic.  France and Spain agreed that Spain should be granted the land.  

Vergennes also shared the view that Spain would get the land, but kept quiet about it. He allowed Gerard de Rayneval to make the point, so Vergennes personally would not be committed to anything.  Rayneval told Jay that he thought the American land claims were extravagant.  This seemed to be the time that Jay decided that negotiating alongside France was not in the American interest.

It’s not clear for certain the motivations, but one could believe that Vergennes thought that sending Rayneval to Britain might be better since he seemed to be in such direct conflict with Jay.  Using Rayneval to feel out the British terms of peace would also remove him from direct contact with the American commissioners.

The substance of negotiations between Rayneval and Shelburne are a mystery since no written record of those discussions seems to exist.  But Shelburne informed the King that Rayneval seemed knowledgeable and down to business in getting the terms of a final peace treaty resolved.  The king remained suspicious that anyone that Vergennes sent did not have some level of cunning, and told Shelburne that he would not approve what he considered a “bad peace.”

During the course of these negotiations Britain broke the Siege of Gibraltar.  This victory not only increased the King’s resolve, but also British sentiment overall toward giving into any peace treaty that would not give Britain a big win..  Shelburne could not agree to a treaty that appeared to give away everything if continuing the war would improve Britain’s position.  At the same time, if he did not have a treaty by the time Parliament reconvened in November, he might be thrown out of office in favor of a government that would continue the war.

So, by October 1782, all parties seemed more than eager to reach final peace terms, but no one seemed willing to agree on exactly what those terms should be. 

Next week, the diplomats will finally be pushed into an agreement that we know today as the Treaty of Paris.

- - -

Next Episode 320 Treaty of Paris (Available July 21, 2024)

Previous Episode 318 Peace Negotiations

 Contact me via email at mtroy.history@gmail.com

 Follow the podcast on Twitter @AmRevPodcast

 Join the Facebook group, American Revolution Podcast 

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Discuss the AmRev Podcast on Reddit

American Revolution Podcast Merch!

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American Revolution Podcast is distributed 100% free of charge. If you can chip in to help defray my costs, I'd appreciate whatever you can give.  Make a one time donation through my PayPal account. You may also donate via Venmo (@Michael-Troy-20) or Zelle (send to mtroy1@yahoo.com)


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You can support the American Revolution Podcast as a Patreon subscriber.  This is an option making monthly pledges.  Patreon support will give you access to Podcast extras and help make the podcast a sustainable project.

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Further Reading

Websites

The Treaty of Paris (1783) in a changing states system: papers from a conference, January 26-27, 1984 (borrow only). 

Bemis, Samuel F. The Diplomacy Of The American Revolution, Indiana Univ. Press, 1935. 

Jay, John The Peace Negotiations of 1782 and 1783. An address delivered before the New York Historical Society on its seventy-ninth anniversary, Tuesday, November 27, 1883, New York Historical Society, 1884. 

Pellew, George John Jay, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co. 1890. 

Perkins, James B. France in the American Revolution, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin Co. 1911. 

Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Bond, Peter 300 Years of British Gibraltar 1704–2004, Peter-Tan Publishing Co. 2003.

Brown, Marvin Luther American Independence Through Prussian Eyes: A Neutral View of the Peace Negotiations of 1782-1783 - Selections from the Diplomatic Correspondence, Duke Univ. Press, 1959 (borrow on Archive.org). 

Dull, Jonathan A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution, Yale Univ. Press, 1985.

Fleming, Thomas The Perils of Peace: America's Struggle for Survival After Yorktown, Harper Collins, 2007.  

Hoffman, Ronald and Peter Albert (eds) Peace and the Peacemakers: The Treaty of 1783, Univ. Press of Va., 1986. (borrow on Archive.org).

Hutson, James H. John Adams and the Diplomacy of the American Revolution, Univ. Press of Kentucky, 1980.  (borrow on Archive.org).

Morris, Richard B. The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence, Harper & Row, 1965 (borrow on Archive.org). 

Smith, Page John Adams, Vol. 1, Doubleday & Co. 1962.

Stockley, Andrew Britain and France at the Birth of America: The European Powers and the Peace Negotiations of 1782-83, Liverpool Univ. Press, 2001. 

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.