The Mystery of Silas Deane
Silas Deane was appointed by the Continental Congress to serve as a secret envoy to France in March, 1776, tasked with obtaining financial assistance from the French government. Deane worked closely in Paris with Pierre-August Caron de Beaumarchais, a member of the court of Louis XVI and the author of the plays The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro. Deane was instrumental in approving an act of sabotage on British docks, paid for through an advance of a little money, and helped negotiate treaties with the French, assisting John Jay and Benjamin Franklin.
Deane also recruited the Marquis de Lafayette, Baron Johan DeKalb, Casimir Pulaski, and other soldiers of fortune to serve in the American cause, often with the tacit support of Benjamin Franklin, who wrote letters of introduction to the Congress. In 1778 Deane was recalled to America and before Congress was accused of malfeasance. For the next two years he battled the charges, which had been leveled by Arthur Lee. John Jay served as Deane’s counsel and legal defense.
In 1780, with the charges still not fully resolved and his reputation damaged, Deane returned to France with the permission of Congress to settle his affairs there and to gather more evidence in his defense. In early 1781 letters written by Deane were “intercepted” by the British. These described the American situation as hopeless and suggested a reconciliation with the Crown. Forwarded to Sir Henry Clinton, British commander at New York, they were soon published in Loyalist and Patriot newspapers.
Deane remained in Europe after the war ended, until 1789 when he made plans to return to the United States to rebuild both his reputation and fortune. In the aftermath of the war documents purported to be Deane’s secret diaries describing his dealings with the British surfaced in Paris; these were purchased by Thomas Jefferson to keep their contents from becoming public, since they also revealed British double agents who had been employed by the Americans during the war.
Deane sailed for the United States in 1789 and after a short time at sea the ship he was in was forced to return to port after heavy winds damaged its rigging. While aboard in port Deane died on September 23. Speculation that he was poisoned to prevent information he either knew or had documentation supporting began with his death, although no incriminating documents were found. It has continued ever since.