From Tench Coxe to John Adams, 11 November 1793

From Tench Coxe

Philada. November 11th. 1793

Sir

Since I had the honor to address you last my house and offices having been thoroughly cleansed, I have the pleasure of being again at home & address you from my office table. My family will be in Town this week as I have written for them.

Of the seven gentlemen in my office, and the Messenger none have died, tho it was kept open by one of them & the Messenger thro the whole time. Five of them and the Menger with their families & myself are now here.—

The weather is cool, bright and a little windy, wch. is confirming to the health of the inhabitants— The appearances are comfortable, and I do not perceive any room for apprehension, tho I exercise a constant prudence and caution. The town looks beautifully clean, nothing lying in the streets or gutters, but building materials for numerous repairs & new houses, which are in hand. At present I feel no doubt of the safety of the city during the ensuing months.

Some arrivals from the french Islands have brought persons with putrid diseases, but to this all our Seaports are liable, and from the vigilance of our police & Physicians, and the establishments lately prepared for the reception of sick persons, I do not think we are in as much danger as other places, from that source.—

I shall continue to inform you of the state of things—

You have all the foreign intelligence known here, in the public prints— There is a confirmation in London papers of the Affair of Toulon. A convention between the French & combined powers placed that city with sixteen ships of War, the naval magazines &ca. in the hands of Lord Hood under English command, and a mixt garrison of English & French in trust of the young french prince who was proclaimed there— The convention is bottomed on the Constitution of 1789.—1

The affair of the 9 or 10th. of Septr. is also confirmed so far as a considerable derangement of the besiegers of Dunkirk, the wounding of Prince Adolphus of England, the death of Moncreif, the loss of military stores, and a temporary loss (at least) of 70 pieces of cannon. The English accounts admit a loss of 1200 men, the reports from France run from 7 to 18,000— I have no opinion as to numbers but I believe it to be an affair of some importance in favor of the besieged— There are london prints recd of Septr. 18th but I have not seen them.2

I venture to mention to you the certainty of Mr. Jefferson resignation about the time or shortly after the meeting of Congress in Decr. Mr. Hamilton is my informant, but I do not consider myself at liberty to say any thing on the Matter but to yourself.

I have the honor to be with the greatest Respect sir / Yr. most obedt Servant

Tench Coxe

You will oblige me by presenting my respectful comps. to Mrs. Adams, and to Col. Smith & his lady, if in Massachusetts—

RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “The Vice President / of the United States / near / Boston”; endorsed: “Tench Coxe 1793”; notation by Coxe: “Philada. Novemr. 11th. 1793 / Tench Coxe.”

1. With a counterrevolution brewing across France, revolts against the Committee of Public Safety occurred at the port city of Toulon on 18 July 1792. French Navy officers sought the aid of British rear admiral Lord Samuel Hood, who commanded the squadron blockading the port. Hood’s terms included formal recognition of Louis XVII as the legitimate king of France. Hood commanded a mixed force of 13,000 British, Spanish, Neapolitan, and Piedmontese troops who held the city until December (Bosher, French Rev. description begins J. F. Bosher, The French Revolution, New York, 1988. description ends , p. xx, 199–200; Esdaile, Wars of the French Revolution description begins Charles J. Esdaile, The Wars of the French Revolution, 1792–1801, Abingdon, Eng., 2019. description ends , p. 103).

2. By late 1793, two of George III’s sons had entered the fray. Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763–1827), led a combined force that besieged Dunkirk, France, from August to September. Difficulty in supplying the army delayed his plans, and a French attack at nearby Hondschoote on 6 Sept. forced a retreat. Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge (1774–1850), also fought in the conflict. British Lt. Col. James Moncrief (b. 1744) served in the engineer corps from 1762; he died during the siege in September (AFC description begins Adams Family Correspondence, ed. L. H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, Richard Alan Ryerson, Margaret A. Hogan, Sara Martin, Hobson Woodward, and others, Cambridge, 1963– . description ends , 10:53; T. C. W. Blanning, The French Revolutionary Wars, 1787–1802, London, 1996, p. 109–110; DNB description begins Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, eds., The Dictionary of National Biography, New York and London, 1885–1901; repr. Oxford, 1959–1960; 21 vols. plus supplements; rev. edn., www.oxforddnb.com. description ends ; Washington, Papers, Revolutionary War Series description begins The Papers of George Washington: Revolutionary War Series, ed. Philander D. Chase, Frank E. Grizzard Jr., Edward G. Lengel, David R. Hoth, Jennifer Stertzer, and others, Charlottesville, Va., 1985– . description ends , 11:242).

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Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: From Tench Coxe to John Adams, 11 November 1793
Author: Coxe, Tench
Recipient: Adams, John
Date: 11 November 1793

Reference

Cite as: “From Tench Coxe to John Adams, 11 November 1793,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-21-02-0166. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 21, March 1791–January 1797, ed. Sara Georgini, Sara Martin, R. M. Barlow, Gwen Fries, Amanda M. Norton, and Hobson Woodward. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2022, pp. 234–235.]

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