Silas Deane

Silas Deane

He was born on December 24, 1737, and died September 23, 1789. He was born in Groton, Connecticut and his dad was a blacksmith. He graduated from Yale and was a merchant. He was elected to the Connecticut state assembly in 1772. Along with Samuel Chase, Roger Sherman and Thomas Mifflin he was also a member of the continental congress. In 1776 he was sent to France by congress, to be a secret agent. Robert Townsend was also an American agent, and he too used the guise of being a merchant when he was sent to France.

Congress sent him to France to obtain financial and military assistance, and to see if an alliance was possible. He got, and sent weapons to America that were worth 6,000,000 livres to America. He was known to use a heat developing invisible ink for his intelligence reports back to America. He later supplied George Washington with the ink. It took one chemical to write the message and one chemical to be able to read it. Once in a letter Robert Morris said "The cursory examinations of a sea captain would never discover them." Before leaving Paris he signed treaties that he and Arthur lee, and Ben Franklin had negotiated. He was accused of embezzlement and disloyalty because Lee said he was charging for supplies that France was going to give America as gifts. He was defended by John Jay, and was never found guilty, but was replaced by John Adams as the ambassador of France. He also enlisted services of Continental soldiers such as Baron von Steuban, and Thomas Conway. Silas Deane was in the war because he wanted to serve his country and he was a secret agent.

I think that Silas Deane deserves more recognition then he gets. He was a big contributor in the war, and yet very few people know about him. He didn't actually fight in the battlefield, but he did a lot of negotiations and under cover work. He helped make an alliance and made many important negotiations. It was very important when he got the weapons and ammunition sent to America. He doesn't get nearly as much recognition as he deserves. He did some great things in the war and he should be recognised more.