Conrad Alexandre Gérard de Rayneval (; 12 December 1729 – 16 April 1790), was a French diplomat, born at Masevaux in upper

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

(now

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

). He is best known as the first French diplomatic representative to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. His brother Joseph Matthias Gérard de Rayneval was also a diplomat.

Life

Conrad Alexandre Gérard served as secretary of the French legation to the

Elector Palatine This article lists counts palatine of Lotharingia, counts palatine of the Rhine, and electors of the Palatinate (), the titles of three counts palatine who ruled some part of the Rhine region in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire b ...

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

from 1753 to 1759, and secretary of the French Embassy to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

from 1761 to 1766. In July 1766 he was recalled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to become secretary of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

and chief clerk in the Bureau of Foreign Affairs. In 1779, he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. Early in 1778, under instructions from Vergennes, he conducted the negotiations with the American representatives,

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

Silas Deane Silas Deane (September 23, 1789) was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, and then became t ...

, and Arthur Lee, which resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States on February 6, 1778. In March, 1778, he travelled to America, as the first accredited Minister from France to the United States. He sailed in company with Silas Deane aboard the

comte d'Estaing Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing (24 November 1729 – 28 April 1794) was a French military officer and writer. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of wa ...

's flagship of the seventeen-ship battle fleet transporting four thousand French troops. Congress welcomed Gerard on July 14, one day before it opened investigations into charges against Deane. This post he held until superseded by the

Chevalier de la Luzerne Chevalier may refer to: Honours Belgium * a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown (Belgium), Order of the Crown * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold (Belgium), Order of Leopold * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II * a title in the Be ...

, in September, 1779. His activity in America consisted chiefly in subsidizing writers — of whom

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In ...

was the best known — to create a sentiment favorable to a closer French alliance, and in somewhat questionable relations with various members of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, who were the recipients of "gifts" from him. His communications to Congress were, for the most part, oral addresses delivered at their secret sessions. During his residence in America he received the degree of LL.D. from

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, and on his return to France was made a Councilor of State. He was also enrolled as a member of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

."From George Washington to Conrad Alexandre Gérard de Rayneval, 29 October 1783", Rotunda, University of Virginia
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References

Sources

*Modified from the article in ''The New International Encyclopaedia'', Vol. VIII, p. 267 (1903, public domain).

Bibliography

*Patton, Robert H.(2008). Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution, Pantheon Books.

External links

Reyneval on American Quaker pacifism
French people of the American Revolution Ambassadors of France to the United States 1729 births 1790 deaths 18th-century French diplomats {{France-diplomat-stub