Captain John Paul Jones, Continental Navy, to William Carmichael, May 27, 1778

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Ranger Brest 27^th May 1778.—

Accept my worthy Friend the perusal of the inclosed account of my late expedition to Abraham Livingston Esqr:— should you think any part of it worthy of so much attention, you may freely Copy before you forward it—¹

Our Friend Williams with Mr: Johnson have paid me a Visit from Morlaix since my Arrival²—I received from Williams a 172 [copy] of 869 716 175 [your secret correspondence] so that 868 [you] have 545 [now] another member of 869 [your] Society in Europe.—³

The Plan which we Communicated to Mons^r: La Motte Picquet did not succeed—when I parted from the Fleet in Quiberon I came here along shore—I communicated my plan to Mons^r: Le Comte D’Orvilliers who Commands the Fleet. He approved it so much that he proposed to send a Frigate to accompany me as far as Cape La Hague.— Gales of Wind however, and other Circumstances kept me here from the 9^th of March until the 10^th of April, it was therefore too late to pursue that plan as the Ships which were my principle Object must have departed about the 20^th of March.—

364 [I] am Unhappily 149ed [companioned?] 862 [with] a 725 [set] of 557 [officers] whose sole 23 [aim] is 514 [much] present 314 [gain].— of Course 728 [ships?] and 290 [?] are not 791 [their] object—796 [They] wish to deal with nothing but Yrepvnag Fvuef [merchant ships].— 790 [The] inclosed on that Subject 860 [will] Sufficiently explain 576 [my] Situation which you will I am sure think 214ing [demanding] 242 [?]. I leave to 869 [your] discretion 804 [to] shew it 569 [or?] not as you may think proper—I shall write to you as Opportunity may offer being with Sentiments [&c.]

N.B. I have written to Doctor Bancroft—who is now in very easy Circumstances having gained Several thousands by Insurance

LB, MdAN, John Paul Jones Letter Book, Mss. No. 236, pp. 30–31. Addressed below close: “William Carmichael Esq^r:—” The code used in this letter was one that Jones, Carmichael, Jonathan Williams, Jr., and Dr. Edward Bancroft used in corresponding to each other. According to James Bradford, editor of the Microfilm Edition of the Papers of John Paul Jones, it is a simple nomenclature code the key to which was a dictionary with numbers written beside the words for which they stood, supplemented by a letter substitution code for words not included in the dictionary. That dictionary has not been located, but Bradford was able to decipher most of the words using context, other correspondence, and the alphabetical placement of the words. That there were thirty-three encoded letters allowed him to confirm the meanings of frequently used code words. Following those code words whose meanings he was unsure of, Bradford placed a question mark. Unless otherwise indicated, the editors have used Bradford’s decoding.

1. The account of his expedition that Jones sent to his friend Abraham Livingston, a merchant and the Continental agent in South Carolina, has not been found, but it must have been similar to the one he sent to the American Commissioners in France, immediately above.

2. As seen in his letter to Jonathan Williams, Jr., of 29 May, below, Williams knew the code used in this letter. This code was undoubtedly the “secret correspondence.” Mr. Johnson was probably Walter Johnson, a merchant from Bordeaux.

3. Enclosure has not been found. Perhaps, like Jones, Carmichael was a Mason.

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Date

1778 May 27

Volume

Volume 12

Series

European Theatre from April 1, 1778 to May 31, 1778

Naval Documents of the American Revolution

Captain John Paul Jones, Continental Navy, to William Carmichael, May 27, 1778

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