UCSD political science professor Alan Houston spent hours sitting in the British Library ‘mdash; United Kingdom’s national public library ‘mdash; scouring a seemingly endless pile of manuscripts, before finally reaching his last catalog. Despite its dreary title, upon reading handwritten manuscript ‘Copies of Letters Relating to the March of General Braddock,’ Houston said he nearly jumped out of his seat.
He had just discovered copies of 47 letters both written by and addressed to Benjamin Franklin. Dating all the way back to 1755, the letters had not been brought to light in over 250 years, an unexpected treasure to inform his forthcoming book on Franklin’s political involvement.
The letters recount the story behind Franklin’s military campaign to provide wagons and horses to British Gen. Edward Braddock during the French and Indian War. They were archived by Thomas Birch, one of Franklin’s acquaintances at the Royal Society, which had just recognized Franklin for his scientific accomplishments in the field of electricity.
‘Birch was an antiquarian ‘mdash; someone who collects historical documents,’ Houston said. ‘So Birch met [Franklin] because he was a scientist, but copied the letters because he saw them as important historical articles of the past about a military campaign that was notorious and deals with one of the greatest scientists from North America.’
Houston believes the letters had not been discovered previously because they were in the handwriting of Thomas Birch, contained within Birch’s 400 volumes of books, located on the shelves of the British Library.
‘People had been less thorough in going through British archives than going in American archives,’ Houston said. ‘In the catalog, it just said ‘Copies of Letters Relating to the March of General Braddock,’ and who would have thought that it had anything to do with Franklin? How I found them was just the accident of being a very diligent researcher, tracking down every possible source and looking at anything I could imagine.’
Although the letters do not provide any new information regarding Braddock’s military campaign and eventual defeat, they provide more ground-level details of the conflict between the militia and Pennsylvania farmers.
‘The traditional way of understanding the story was Benjamin Franklin went out and asked [the farmers] to borrow their horses and wagons, and they said, ‘Of course, we’re glad to help,” Houston said. ‘But when you read the letters, it becomes clear that it’s a bit more complicated. [The farmers] already had bad experiences with the army coming through and soldiers stealing their horses. They were already anxious and upset, unwilling to trust Franklin and army.’
The letters also provide more insight into Franklin’s relationship with his wife. Though Franklin has been dubbed a womanizer in modern biographies, the letters give him another chance.
‘He ends [the letters] by telling how much he misses [his wife],’ Houston said. ‘He tells her to write and how much he likes receiving letters from her. I’d like to think of it meaning that he felt some real affection for her.’
Houston’s discovery was printed for the first time in the April issue of the William and Mary Quarterly, a historical journal. The professor is currently in talks with the History Channel toward developing a segment on the letters.
‘The real interest for the broad public is that it’s on Benjamin Franklin, and he’s such a central figure to American identity,’ Houston said. ‘The metaphor that I use is for someone looking for sunken ships. This is not like finding a whole ship; we already know too much [about Franklin] for that. It’s like finding a treasure chest that’s filled with really cool stuff: coins and artifacts. And the thrill is that you didn’t even expect to find anything. History is still being made, and we’re still finding new things.’
Readers can contact Jasmine Ta at [email protected].