Silas Deane

Near the end of the war, Congress charged Deane with financial impropriety, and the British intercepted and published some letters in which he had implied that the American cause was hopeless. After the war, Deane lived in Ghent and London and died under mysterious circumstances while attempting to return to America.^[1]

Accusations in Congress[edit]

On March 4, 1778, Deane received a letter from James Lovell containing the recall order from Congress. Lovell only mentioned giving a report to Congress about European affairs, and Deane fully expected to be sent back to Paris within a few months.^[18] France sent Deane back home aboard a warship. Louis XVI also presented Deane with a portrait framed with diamonds, and both Vergennes and Franklin wrote letters of commendation.^[14]


Deane arrived in Philadelphia on July 14, 1778, and was shocked when Congress accused him of financial impropriety on the basis of reports by his fellow commissioner Arthur Lee.^[3] Because Deane had left his account books in Paris, he was neither able to properly defend himself nor seek reimbursement for money he had spent procuring supplies in France.^[19][20] (While he waited to address Congress, Deane stayed with Benedict Arnold, who had just been appointed military governor of Philadelphia.)^[21]


In a long and bitter dispute over the charges, Deane was defended before Congress by John Jay.^[22] He published a public defense in the December 5, 1778, issue of Pennsylvania Packet entitled The Address of Silas Deane to the Free and Virtuous Citizens of America, in which he attacked Arthur Lee, other members of the Lee family, and their associates.^[23] Arthur's brothers Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee both denounced Deane's accusations as libelous and injurious to the American cause.^[a][23] On January 14, 1779, Deane replied in the Pennsylvania Packet, listing eight ships that had sailed from France with supplies because of his efforts. Congress offered him $10,000 in depreciated Continental currency in compensation, but Deane refused, believing the amount too small.^[23][18] Deane was allowed to return to Paris in 1780 to settle his affairs and attempt to assemble the records in dispute. On arrival, he discovered that he was nearly ruined financially because the value of his investments had plummeted, and some ships carrying his merchandise had been captured by the British.^[24]


In March 1781, King George III approved a request from Lord North to bribe Deane in an attempt to recruit him as a spy and to influence Congress.^[25] However, in mid-July they cancelled their plan after the king read intercepted letters in which Deane described the military situation of the Colonies as hopeless and suggested a rapprochement with Britain. Deane's correspondence was then forwarded to General Henry Clinton, who provided copies to Loyalist James Rivington to publish in his newspaper Rivington's Royal Gazette in New York City. Deane was then accused of treason by his fellow colonists.^[25] Rivington may have been a spy as a member of the Culper Ring,^[26] and unbeknownst to Deane, his former secretary in Paris, Edward Bancroft, had been a British spy.^[27]

After the war and death[edit]

In October 1781, Deane moved to Ghent where he could live more cheaply than in Paris. Then in March 1783, he moved to London, hoping to find investors for manufacturing ventures that he planned to pursue after he returned to North America. He toured several manufacturing towns in England in late 1783, considering plans for steam engines that could operate grist mills, even consulting James Watt for advice. He also tried to attract investors for a planned canal linking Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River.^[28] In 1784, he published a defense of his actions during the war entitled An Address to the Free and Independent Citizens of the United States of North America.^[29]


In the fall of 1787, Deane became bedridden from an unknown illness and did not fully recover until April 1789. His condition depleted his remaining money and forced him to depend on the charity of friends. In the summer of 1788, a Frenchman named Foulloy approached Thomas Jefferson in Paris with an account book and a letter book dating from Deane's diplomatic mission, apparently stolen from Deane during his illness. Foulloy threatened to sell the books to the British government if Jefferson did not purchase them—which Jefferson eventually did after negotiating a greatly reduced price.^[30]


In 1789, Deane planned to return to North America in an attempt to recoup his lost fortune and reputation. After boarding the ship Boston Packet, he became ill and died on September 23 while the ship was awaiting repairs after turning back following damage from fierce winds.^[31] In 1959, historian Julian P. Boyd suggested that Deane might have been poisoned by Bancroft, because Bancroft might have felt threatened by Deane's possible testimony to Congress.^[1][32]