Quote:
Originally Posted by Taltarzac725
Word reached Franklin in Paris that General Howe had captured Philadelphia. He would not find this out for a while but there was also news which would be bitter fruit for Franklin. A British captain named John André commandeered his Market Street house and supposedly at the orders of a staid superior stole many of Franklin's prizes possessions like his electrical equipment, books authored by hundreds of writers, musical instruments and a 1759 beloved painting of Franklin by Benjamin Wilson which would not return to America until 1906 from the descendants of André's superior. You can now often find this portrait of Ben Franklin crouching in the White House. (John André would later play a big part in the treason of Benedict Arnold for which the colonialists would hang him.) https://www.cia.gov/library/center-f...3a07p_0001.htm |
After the invasion of Philadelphia the American cause in France was rather
sickly until news reached them of the victory at Saratoga which
framed Independence in a new
bright light pulled the French into very serious talks about joining the fight against the British. You can just see Ben Franklin
clicking his tongue at all those that doubted him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Saratoga http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/twhp/w...93saratoga.htm