Capt Barnet1 of Carolina & who was in the employ of Mr Euge,2 informed George Digges3 that Mr Chamont4 advised Capt McFarlen5 & himself, that should they be in want of Seamen when they got to Bourdeaux to get the vessel6 away that Mr Chamont had engaged them to go in to Boston, they might prevail on Some of the Men in the Boston Frigate Capt Tucker, which was then lying at Bourdeaux to go with them—this was mentiond in the presence of Capt McFarlen. Paris April 14th. 1778
Geo Digges
D, MH-H, Arthur Lee Papers, vol. IV, no. 85. Docketed: “Digges, v. Chaumont”; “Thornton.”
1. James Barnett, an escapee from prison in England. Benjamin Franklin Papers 26: 415 and n.
2. Unidentified.
3. A Marylander living in England during the War of Independence, George Digges was brother of British spy Thomas Digges and an acquaintance of Arthur Lee’s. Francis Wharton, comp., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1889), 1:541.
4. Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont.
5. Possibly John McFarland, an escapee from prison in England, and presumably the master of the brigantine Industry, condemned by the British in 1775 for failure to post bonds. Benjamin Franklin Papers, 26: 415–16; NDAR 2: 133, 1376; 4: 34.
6. French privateer ship Vengeance.
