How the French Saved America

June 26, 2017
Author and filmmaker Shachtman (Gentlemen Scientists and Revolutionaries) highlights France’s role in securing American independence in this otherwise familiar story of the Revolutionary War. Without French recognition and support, he argues, colonists would never have triumphed in the crucial battles, such as Yorktown, that paved the way to American democracy. Surveying Franco-American relations from the 1770s until independence, Shachtman illuminates the impact of French contributions to American military leadership, resources, and engineering knowledge, while also paying close attention to the effects of French-led international negotiations with Britain and Spain. Throughout he emphasizes the roles played by King Louis XVI, the Marquis de Lafayette, and others who worked closely with more-well-known American figures such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. At times, the complex cast of characters makes the account difficult to follow and there is little sense of an overall narrative. Shachtman is at his best when describing specific events, such as battles, but is less successful at attempts to sketch broader transatlantic political developments. Although perhaps less useful to scholars looking for fine-grain detail, this account will likely be of interest to American-history enthusiasts and Francophiles alike. Agent: Mel Berger, WME.

July 1, 2017
Financial support and the Marquis de Lafayette were only parts of France's contribution to America's success against England.Shachtman (Gentlemen Scientists and Revolutionaries: The Founding Fathers in the Age of Enlightenment, 2014, etc.) shares the stories of the many Frenchmen who fought with the Americans against England. Suffering from military cutbacks and reparations from the Seven Years' War, and attracted by merit promotions rather than their own class-based system, French soldiers eagerly sought commissions in the American Army. Silas Deane, the American agent procuring a commercial alliance for war materiel, was quick to grant French appointments. Hundreds applied, and many were spectacularly qualified, including Louis Duportail, Comte de Segur, and Vicomte de Noailles; others were supremely incompetent and arrogant bores. Many volunteers refused to serve under George Washington. In fact, Continental Army officer Johann de Kalb planned to replace him with Victor Francois de Broglie. The Marquis de Lafayette, on the other hand, agreed to serve as an assistant to Washington, becoming as close to him as any son. Shachtman astutely explains France's point of view as she protected her West Indies holdings, sought a new profitable foreign market, and worked to undermine England. Rather than form an alliance, at first France's foreign minister, Charles Gravier, encouraged French merchants to ship gunpowder through France's ports, provided havens for privateers on the sugar islands, and helped Deane obtain supplies. Washington, desperate for French-trained engineers, was delighted to have help in delaying British forces on the Delaware. He relied on Duportail's counsel for the majority of strategic decisions and accepted his advice to follow a Fabian strategy, avoiding engagement. The author also brings to light France's continuing pressure on Spain to help. While she never recognized independence, Spain provided invaluable economic and military help in the Floridas and Caribbean. The author makes a convincing case that, without France, the United States may never have gained independence.

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