To Benjamin Franklin from Jacques Estourneau Delatouche, 10 September 1777: résumé
From Jacques Estourneau Delatouche8
ALS: American Philosophical Society
<La Touche, September 10, 1777, in French: I decided to join your army, and last December asked my nephew to get me the command of a regiment. I thought that I deserved one after having served under Marshal Saxe (who taught officers their trade) in seventeen sieges and three battles. I learned that for the present this is impossible, but see that you are offering land for sale to any one. Please tell me the price, extent, location, and conditions of tenure, and where payment should be made.>
8. As he apparently signed himself; the usual spelling is “de La Touche.” He belonged to a noble family of St.-Jean d’Angely, near La Rochelle, was born in 1722, and retired from the French army as a lieutenant in 1751. Bodinier. He spelled so abominably that we must at times guess at his meaning.