Last updated: January 6, 2026
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The French in Boston during the American Revolution
A great concourse of people came out to Boston neck to welcome the gallant Frenchmen, and as the brilliant column moved along it was met with the liveliest demonstrations of joy and affection.
In 1778, the French government and the American colonists signed a Treaty of Alliance. In this treaty, the French government pledged to help Americans secure their independence from Great Britain. Three years later (1781), in Yorktown, Virginia, French soldiers and sailors joined General George Washington’s Continental Army and fought successfully against British forces. Yorktown forever symbolized the indispensable contributions of the French to the American cause.
Yet, another colonial town also played an important role in the alliance between the French and the Americans as they sought to defeat the British. Boston, Massachusetts, became "the most important hub for Franco-American supply routes, for communications and a major French naval base."[1] In 1913, one author reflected on the French in Boston in 1778 and claimed that "Boston seem[ed] to have been regarded by the French as the best place for the equipment of their vessels."[2]
The French likely favored Boston for a few reasons. Over the years, Boston had become a major shipbuilding port. Boston shipbuilders had access to lumber from New England forests and had materials ready to repair ships that came into the harbor, filling a need for the French. Local merchants also could supply French forces with food, especially beef and pork. Lastly, the French considered Boston a safe harbor and not vulnerable to attacks since British military forces left Boston in March 1776.
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French navy ships regularly appeared in Boston Harbor through the years 1778 to 1782. French navy admirals brought fleets of ships to Boston for repairs and to deliver coin currency from the French government to financially support the French and American forces. The renowned French aristocrat and soldier the Marquis De Lafayette also made Boston his base; he sailed in and out of Boston annually from 1778 through 1782.
Boston welcomed the French navy on other occasions as well. One of these occurred in July 1780. A ship carrying a special French 350-man regiment intended for Newport got lost in fog and landed in Boston. In May 1781, the French ship Concorde brought Admiral Comte de Barras to Boston. De Barras later took the French navy to Yorktown, the final battle of the war.
Boston proved integral to the relationship between the French and American colonists. Serving as a port for the French, Boston helped strengthen a relationship that ultimately led to the independence of the American colonies.
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Damaged Fleet
Boston first became important in the Franco-American alliance in August 1778. The French Admiral Charles Henri, Comte d'Estaing, brought about eleven ships of the line (warships) and four frigates to Boston. These ships required repair and needed supplies. A number of these ships had been storm-damaged in the Battle of Rhode Island just days before.[3]
D’Estaing sailed his damaged ships into Boston’s inner harbor. He directed the docking of other ships of his fleet at various Boston Harbor islands such as Georges, Lovells, Gallops, Long, and Peddocks. French and American forces guarded fortifications on these and other islands against possible British naval attacks. Observers spotted British ships near Boston twice during d’Estaing’s four-month stay. Ships from both the Massachusetts and Continental navies also guarded Boston Harbor.
The crew of these ships consisted of about 7,500 sailors and 1,500 marines. The sailors mostly slept on their ships to not burden Boston housing. Sick French sailors stayed on Governors Island. The French Navy received significant funds from the French government, allowing their naval fleet in Boston to be mostly self-sufficient.
Boston shipbuilders repaired d’Estaing’s ships in about three months. Massachusetts authorities allowed shipyard workers to work on the Sabbath, which sped up the repair work. In November 1778, D’Estaing took his fleet to the Caribbean where French and British naval forces later clashed.
Mixed Feelings
While many Bostonians welcomed the French sailors in 1778, others may have felt anxious about having the French fleet in their harbor. Only fifteen years earlier, colonists, being British subjects, had fought French soldiers in the French and Indian War. The people of Boston could also recall the deprivations imposed by the British forces’ occupying Boston from 1774 to 1776. Some residents of the town feared sharing resources with the large French fleet. These experiences may have influenced some Bostonians’ reaction to the French.
In 1778, amid the turmoil that the presence of a large French fleet brought to Boston, a group of men attacked a French officer, Chevalier Saint Sauveur, a member of D’Estaing’s fleet. The officer died of his wounds. Authorities never discovered who killed the officer. Suspects included Boston dockworkers, American seamen, and even British agents.
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Reports indicated that Saint Sauveur tried to intervene in a quarrel between a baker working for the French fleet and some men who had demanded free bread. A quarrel got out of hand and resulted in the officer’s death. To preserve Franco-American relations, both French and American officials attributed the officer’s death to dockside rowdiness and not to any anti-French sentiments.[4] French sailors buried Saint Sauveur in a crypt at King’s Chapel in Boston.
There were a few other altercations between locals and French sailors in Boston, but the Continental Army, under General William Heath, helped quell the trouble. Despite these instances of tension, Bostonians welcomed the French. Bostonians held several celebratory dinners in Faneuil Hall for the French sailors. At these gatherings, French naval officers and hundreds of Bostonians toasted the Franco-American alliance.
Others met with the officers. On one occasion, Abigail Adams dined with Admiral d’Estaing aboard his ship, the Languedoc. Abigail, in a letter to her husband John Adams, reported on the mutual harmony between the Bostonians and the French sailors.[5] Similarly, John Hancock, upon returning from the Continental Congress, entertained d’Estaing and other French officers at his home every evening while the fleet was in Boston.
Big Money
French ships came to Boston during the American Revolution for more than ship repairs and supplies. In 1781, French ships made at least six trips to Boston bringing over 10 million livres (about $500 million in today’s money) to financially support French and American forces. While the French felt secure bringing such large sums into Boston, this money could be hard to handle. To transport one delivery of 2.5 million livres, oxen pulled 14 carts full of mostly French coins from Boston to Philadelphia. A French livre was a unit of measure equal to one pound of silver.
Since 1776, the French had supported the Americans and their revolutionary cause by providing them with both money and materials. Some historians say the French spent 1.3 billion livres (or $30 billion in today’s money) to help the Americans. The French Navy spent at least 5.1 million livres ($110 million today) to keep a fleet in Boston for four months.[6] A portion of this money benefitted Boston merchants and shipbuilders.
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The Finale
As the war continued, the French and American colonists continued to strengthen their relationship outside of Boston. The most crucial alliance proved to be at the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781.
The combined force of French and American soldiers defeated the British force, led by General Cornwallis. Cornwallis surrendered his force of over 7,000 soldiers to George Washington in October 1781. The victorious French army, led by General Rochambeau, set up winter camp in Virginia and marched north to Boston in the summer of 1782.
In August 1782, French Admiral Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil sailed a fleet of ships to Boston to transfer Rochambeau’s army to the Caribbean. This French fleet of over 22 ships arrived in Boston Harbor for a four-month-stay before the French army arrived from Yorktown. Some of these ships underwent repairs during this period.
Not surprisingly, Bostonians and the French sailors held many celebratory parties while they awaited the arrival of the French soldiers. However, the Revolutionary War was still ongoing, so French and American forces continued to fortify the Boston Harbor Islands in case of British attacks.
The French army finally arrived in Boston from Yorktown in early December 1782. The French soldiers paraded through the town on December 7. A Boston journalist recalled the event many years later: "Ladies waved their handkerchiefs from the windows and the streets echoed with the plaudits of the people."[7] General Baron de Viomenil led the procession in place of General Rochambeau, who had returned to France.
The people of Boston celebrated the brief stay of the French army in Boston with dinners and parties. Massachusetts Governor John Hancock, John Adams, Samuel Adams and other political figures joined in the festivities. The French soldiers boarded over twenty ships in Boston on December 24, 1782, and headed to Jamaica. Their departure ended a nearly four-year association between the French and Boston.
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Memoire
Despite the importance of their alliance during the American Revolution, it took many years for Americans and the French to formally express their appreciation of the French-Boston alliance.
In 1917, Massachusetts officials installed a monument at King’s Chapel in Boston honoring Chevalier Saint Sauveur, the French officer killed by a Boston mob in 1778 (see picture above). The words of Admiral d’Estaing from 1778 engraved on the memorial affirmed that the death of the officer would only strengthen French ties to Boston and to America.
In 1976, during America’s bicentennial year, the French government participated in a ceremony in Hull, Massachusetts, honoring 200 French marines who died of smallpox in 1778. The marines were stationed at the port of Hull in Boston Harbor and had been buried here. In 2016, French and local officials gathered again in Hull to re-dedicate the 1976 memorial forty years later.
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The larger relationship between the French and American colonists has also been recognized. In 2009, US President Obama signed legislation that created the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail, a 680-mile trek through nine states, including Massachusetts.
Perhaps French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing best characterized the relationship between the French and the American colonists in 1976 during the US Bicentennial, addressing US President Ford:
This is the reason why I have come to tell you, Mr. President, that the France of 1976 is as much committed to the struggle in the defense of liberty as she was, along your side, two centuries ago.
My sincere wish is that this Bicentennial meeting should be for our two countries, for the United States and for France, a festival of liberty, that principle of democratic liberty that well—if we have the determination—will continue to shape the destiny of the world.
Long live the United States and the great people of America.[8]
Footnotes
[1] Introductory quote from Samuel A. Drake, Old Landmarks and Historic Personages of Boston (Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1900), 436. Robert A. Selig, "The French Fleet under the Comte De Vaudreuil in Boston 9 August-24 December 1782," W3R in MA Part 6.1. National Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association (W3R-US). Accessed December 20, 2025.
[2] Fitz-Henry Smith, Jr. The French at Boston During the Revolution, (Boston: Privately printed, 1913) 47.
[3] The Battle of Rhode Island occurred in August 1778. Continental Army forces led by General John Sullivan hoped to remove the British army from Newport, Rhode Island. Sullivan planned to enlist French forces in his plan. French Admiral d’Estaing agreed to participate; it was the first joint effort between the French and Americans in the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately, a severe storm damaged the French ships, so they couldn’t fully support the American assault, which ultimately failed. The British left Rhode Island on their own about a year later. Learn more: "Battle of Rhode Island" at Tiverton Historical Society.
[4] Katelynn Hatton, "Made to be Forgotten: The Chevalier de Saint Sauveur & the Franco-American Alliance," University of South Carolina Scholar Commons. September 2019. Accessed December 21, 2025.
[5] "Descriptive List of Illustrations Comte D'EStaing, Admiral of the French Fleet," Adams Family Correspondence, Vol 3. Adams Papers. Massachusetts Historical Society.
[6] Selig, "The French Fleet under the Comte De Vaudreuil in Boston 9 August-24 December 1782."
[7] Drake, Old Landmarks and Historic Personages of Boston, 436.
[8] President D’Estaing had a distant link to Admiral D’Estaing who brought his fleet to Boston in 1778."Remarks of Welcome to President Valery Giscard d'Estaing of France by Gerald R. Ford." The American Presidency Project. Accessed November 19, 2025.
Sources
Adams, John. "Letter to Edme Jacques Genet, December 30, 1778." Papers of John Adams, Volume 7. Massachusetts Historical Society. Accessed Sept 27, 2025.
Balch, Thomas. The French in America during the War of Independence of the US. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1891.
City Record, Volume 9. United States: Superintendent of Printing, 1917, pg 518.
Clarke, Jeffrey J. March to Victory: Washington, Rochambeau, and the Yorktown Campaign of 1781. US Army Center of Military History, 2015.
"Descriptive List of Illustrations Comte D'EStaing, Admiral of the French Fleet," Adams Family Correspondence, Vol 3. Adams Papers. Massachusetts Historical Society.
Donnay, Michael. "The 'french-bread Riot' of 8 September 1778: The French Fleet and Boston's Food Supply." Presented at the McMullen Naval History Symposium, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, December 11, 2017.
Drake, Samuel Adams. Old Landmarks and Historic Personages of Boston. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1900.
"Fort Revere Park." Fort Revere-Fort Independence Park Preservation Society.
Happ, John E. "Lafayette, the American Experience." Journal of the American Revolution. August 30, 2017. Accessed November 19, 2025.
McBurney, Christian. "Why did a Boston mob kill a French Officer?" Journal of the American Revolution. October 23, 2014. Accessed November 19, 2025.
"Plan d’une parti de la Rade de Boston pour faire connaitre le dispositif de ses deffenses." (Plan of part of Boston Harbor showing its defenses), Library of Congress.
Smith, Fitz-Henry Jr. The French at Boston During the Revolution. Boston: privately printed, 1913.
Smith, Fitz-Henry Jr. The Memorial of the Chevalier de Saint-Sauveur; the history of the monument and of the votes to erect it, and an account of the ceremonies at the dedication, May 24, 1917. Boston: T.R. Marvin & son, 1918.
Smith, John, L. Jr. "How was the Revolutionary War Paid For?" Journal of the American Revolution. February 23, 2015.
"Surrender at Yorktown." Today in History, Library of Congress. Accessed November 19, 2025.
"The Battle of Rhode Island." Tiverton Historical Society. Accessed November 19, 2025.
Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail (U.S. National Park Service)