1. Floridablanca to JJ, 8 Oct. 1781, above. Gillon had vastly overspent an advance from BF, given at the urging of John Laurens, for military supplies purchased in Paris and Amsterdam. In addition to his crew of approximately 200 men, Gillon had on board a 300-man corps known as the Volontaires de Luxembourg, which the French had permitted him to enlist to serve in South Carolina for three years, and 26 passengers, including James Searle; William Jackson, secretary to Laurens; and John Trumbull, son of the governor of Connecticut. Gillon had promised John Laurens that he would transport the military stores and would make space for them by minimizing the amount of provisions he carried. He sailed from Amsterdam in August, abandoning there two vessels transporting the remainder of the stores that the South Carolina was expected to convoy, in violation of his agreement with Luxembourg. Instead of heading directly for America, Gillon cruised for prizes in European waters for six weeks. He then put in at La Coruña on 23 Sept. to resupply and apparently announced his arrival in a letter to JJ of 28 Sept. (not found). His letter to JJ of 30 Sept., C, PPAmP: Franklin (EJ: 2663), tried to justify his conduct against the complaints of his passengers and made no mention of any attempt by the Spanish to remove two alleged deserters. After leaving La Coruña, Gillon cruised for prizes in the Caribbean and played an important role in a joint expedition with Spanish forces that captured the Bahamas from Britain on 8 May. He arrived in Philadelphia on 28 May 1782. His conduct was subsequently investigated by Congress. See BF to JJ, 19 Jan. 1782, below; Lewis, Neptune’s Militia, 28, 30–33, 35–45; PJM description begins William T. Hutchinson, William M. E. Rachal, Robert A. Rutland, et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison, Congressional Series (17 vols.; Chicago and Charlottesville, Va., 1962–91) description ends , 4: 110, 112–13; PRM description begins E. James Ferguson et al., eds., The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781–1784 (9 vols.; Pittsburgh, Pa., 1973–99) description ends , 1: 392–93; 4: 341, 345; 5: 105–6, 276; PBF description begins William B. Willcox et al., eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin (39 vols. to date; New Haven, Conn., 1959–) description ends , 35: 554, 652–53, 589–91, 595, 599; PJA description begins Robert J. Taylor, Gregg L. Lint, et al., eds., Papers of John Adams (15 vols. to date; Cambridge, Mass., 1977–) description ends , 11: 294–95; 12: 61–62; Pieter J. van Winter, American Finance and Dutch Investment, 1780–1805, trans. James C. Riley (New York, 1977), 1: 37–43; and Beerman, “Last Battle of the American Revolution,” description begins Eric Beerman, “The Last Battle of the American Revolution: Yorktown. No, the Bahamas! (The Spanish-American Expedition to Nassau in 1782),” Americas 45, no. 1 (July 1988): 79–95 description ends 79–95.

The Gillon affair became another matter for contention between JJ and Carmichael, who reported Gillon’s arrival to Congress in his dispatch of 5 Oct. He noted that Gillon’s behavior had been “much censured” by Searle and Trumbull but considered it improper for him to judge their complaints until Gillon sent JJ an explanation of his conduct. Carmichael reported that JJ might send him to La Coruña to investigate Gillon’s conduct and perhaps to ask Spain to hold the South Carolina in port, a mission he was reluctant to undertake, since it would expose inappropriate American conduct involving aid granted for supplies. He also indicated, however, that he did not want to be absent while JJ might be negotiating a treaty with Spain. JJ, however, informed the secretary for foreign affairs that Carmichael had protested that the assignment went beyond the scope of his commission and that the journey to La Coruña would be too arduous for him. JJ agreed with Carmichael, however, that it would be inadvisable to involve the Spaniards and commented further that the task required someone in whom he had great confidence—a description Carmichael clearly did not fit. In his reply to Carmichael, RRL ordered him to follow JJ’s instructions, which Carmichael subsequently protested he was always prepared to do. See “The Jay-Carmichael Relationship” (editorial note) on p. 171 and RDC description begins Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States (6 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1889) description ends , 4: 770; 5: 66, 173–74.

2. In his letter to BF of 3 Oct., Dft, NNC (EJ: 7809), JJ had already enclosed copies of letters from James Searle of 26 Sept. and from Gillon of 28 Sept. (not found), commenting that they would give BF “much Chagrin,”and asked him to put them under cover of JJ’s letter to Congress of 3 Oct., above. BF’s reply of 16 Oct., LS, NNC (EJ: 5597), commented unfavorably on Gillon’s behavior and noted that Vergennes had instructed Montmorin to assist efforts to prevent Gillon from selling the military stores to satisfy his creditors.

3. JJ embedded a copy of this letter in his letter to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of 28 Apr. 1782, below, in which he accepted Gillon’s subsequent assertion, in a letter not found, that Spanish charges about the deserters were precipitate and appeared to have been dropped. JJ also explained his decision not to become involved in investigating the charges brought against Gillon by his passengers. Beerman, however, indicates that Gillon handed over the two soldiers. See Beerman, “Last Battle of the American Revolution,” description begins Eric Beerman, “The Last Battle of the American Revolution: Yorktown. No, the Bahamas! (The Spanish-American Expedition to Nassau in 1782),” Americas 45, no. 1 (July 1988): 79–95 description ends 85.