Cloak & Dagger: French Cannons and the Battles of Saratoga

Carpenters’ Hall was constructed by a group of Philadelphia master builders in 1770. In addition to the 3 secret meetings in 1775, it hosted the First Continental Congress in 1774.

NPS Photo

The story reads like a James Bond spy novel that played out in colonial Philadelphia. Over the course of three December nights in 1775, members of a recently created Congressional committee met with a Frenchman named Julien Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir. The attendees each “took a different route through the darkness to the indicated rendezvous" and kept no records of the discussions. Bonvouloir had travelled to the United States on a secret, unofficial mission to provide information to the French government about just what was happening in Great Britain’s rebellious colonies. Meanwhile, the Americans were desperate for information on how their actions were being viewed in Paris.

As 1775 came to an end, the British government made clear that they intended to fight for their colonies. The struggle for colonial rights would therefore take time and need outside help to have any chance for success. Just weeks before those first secret meetings in Philadelphia, on November 29, Congress had taken the important step of creating the Committee of Secret Correspondence ''for the sole purpose of corresponding with our friends in Great Britain, Ireland, and other parts of the world.'' It was now their job to find foreign support.

 

Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais (left) and Silas Deane (right) worked closely together in developing plans to supply the Americans without official approval.

Beaumarchais: Augustin de Saint-Aubin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Deane: Benoît-Louis Prévost, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Letters were sent seeking information and people willing to help. One went to Arthur Lee, a Virginian in London who had taken over as the colonial agent for Massachusetts when Benjamin Franklin had returned to Philadelphia. Franklin, now part of the secret committee, likely knew Lee would be receptive, and he was correct. Lee had recently made contact with Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, a famous playwright with connections at the French court. Lee reported, ''I am well assured, that the French Government will wink at the exportation of arms and ammunition.''

The real work was done by Beaumarchais and Silas Deane, an envoy sent to France in March 1776. King Louis XVI was not ready for public support and the war that would follow. Beaumarchais, a renowned playwright who counted The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro among his works, then formed Roderigue Hortalez and Company.

 

This fanciful 1760 print shows a French cannon a la Suedoise being used in Europe during the Seven Years War. While the scale is off with either a overly large cannon or small crew, it is rare to see a contemporary image of this cannon type in the field.

J.C. Folard,  Vienna, Prague and Trieste, Trattner, 1759-1760 via Wikimedia Commons

The timing was perfect. The French Army was modernizing and had nearly 200 cannons to dispose of. The Company purchased vast amounts of equipment using French and Spanish funds. British agents watched the cargoes massing at French ports and being loaded onto ships, but couldn't prove government involvement.

One of those, the Amphitrite, sailed from Lorient on January 5, 1777. It carried 21 4-pounder cannons of the 1732 système Vallière, which were old, long, heavy-barreled pieces, and 31 4-pounder cannons à la suèdoise (of the swedish style), which were newer, shorter, and lighter. Each came with a blue-painted carriage and limber. Also aboard were 32,840 cannon balls, 6,570 muskets, 352,000 musket balls, 255,000 flints, 129 barrels of gunpowder, 939 tents, over 8,500 entrenching tools, and more!

While the Amphitrite was making its three-month voyage to America, another vessel sailed from England carrying British General John Burgoyne back to Canada, ready to launch an attack that would reassert British control of upstate New York. With Albany as his goal, Burgoyne captured the forts at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence in early July 1777. The American Northern Army escaped, but its artillery– 89 pieces – was all lost.

 

View of Portsmouth, New Hampshire from across the Piscataqua River (by Joseph F.W. Des Barres; published in the Atlantic Neptune, 1780)

Library of Congress

The Amphitrite arrived at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on April 20, 1777, and its cargo was sent to the new depot at Springfield, Massachusetts. Northern Department commander General Philip Schuyler ordered a dozen of the newly-arrived French cannons à la suédoise to be sent to him, but General George Washington, then preparing for his own major campaign to defend the capital Philadelphia, canceled the demand – he needed all 31 for his army. After learning of the Northern Army’s shocking July losses, however, Washington directed ten to Schuyler after all. These arrived at Saratoga (present-day Schuylerville) in late July.

When the Americans began fortifying Bemus Heights in mid-September, the Corps of Artillery had only 20 cannons to protect the lengthy log defenses. Half of those were the French 4-pounders à la suédoise. The cannons were not sent into battle here, but they helped block the British advance and were used in the siege which persuaded Burgoyne to surrender on October 17, 1777.

Weaponry, supplies, and knowledge sent to the fledgling United States aboard the Amphitrite and other ships were critical to the multiple campaigns of 1777. It is doubtful whether they could have sufficiently armed themselves in any other way. The efforts that brought the weapons and supplies to the United States from France in 1777 changed the course of the war, well before official recognition and alliance were forthcoming.

 

Photo showing another cannon of this type on display near the Neilson House (Stop 2) around 1932.

New York State Archives, New York (State). Conservation Dept. Photographic prints and negatives, [ca. 1904-1949], 14297-87_2852

An interesting quirk of 18^th century French artillery is that each cannon was given a distinctive name. Le Poesie, one of the 4-pounders à la suédoise from the Amphitrite, will be on display in the Visitor Center during the 2026 and 2027 commemorations of the Declaration of Independence and Battles of Saratoga. Was Le Poesie one of the ten French cannons at Saratoga? Maybe, but we don’t know. It is definitely one of those French 4-pounders à la suédoise sent in 1777. Unfortunately, official records and narratives generally didn’t bother recording details such as the name on the cannons.