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Robert Fulton writes home at the time he completed the 1st submarine Nautilus
Robert Fulton writes home at the time he completed the 1st submarine Nautilus
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In Paris since 1797, Fulton tells his mother he is “in excellent health still detained in this Country on business which is Very Important to me" – just five days earlier he had written to the French Minister of Marine that his “Nautilus" submarine was nearly finished, hoping that Napoléon, now First Consul, would give him the encouragement denied him by the previous government

ROBERT FULTON (1765-1815) Autograph Letter Signed “Robt Fulton," two pages, 7.25" x 9", front and verso. Paris [France], April 15, 1800. Integral leaf addressed by Fulton to his mother, “Mrs. Mary Smith / To the care of Mr John Hogg / Washington Town Washington / County / Pensylvania [sic]." On watermarked laid paper. Dampstaining and seal stains at edges do not affect the clarity or strength of any of Fulton’s handwriting. Fine condition.

In full, “On the 3d of July 99 I wrote you by Mr Griffiths and sent with him 36 Guineas for you. Mr Griffiths sailed from France for Phila where I desired him to put the mony [sic] into the hands of a Member of Congress or Member of assembly from your part of the country who could forward it to Mr Hogg for you. If you have not heard of the mony [sic] I advise you to write to Mr Ross [U.S. Senator James Ross] who I believe is the member for Washington and desire him to inquire in Phila for Mr Griffiths who is a native of Baltimore and resided some years in France desiring Mr Ross to Recieve [sic] the mony [sic] for you. I am in excellent health still detained in this Country on business which is Very Important to me – but time and distance has not robed [sic[ me of one sentiment of affection for you and all my Relations, please to remember me particularly to each of them, And with compliments to friends believe me your affectionate Son Robt. Fulton. Although I am in Paris you can direct your letters for me to the Fultons in London as usual."

On December 13, 1797, Robert Fulton had written to the French Directory, the executive government of the French Republic, with proposals relating to the “Nautilus," the submarine he had designed, which he felt could be used against the British, at war with France since 1793. In part, “And whereas fire Ships or other unusual means of destroying Navies are Considered Contrary to the Laws of war. And persons taken in Such enterprise are Liable to Suffer death, it will be an object of Safety if the Directory give the Nautilus Company Commissions Specifying that all persons taken in the Nautilus or Submarine expedition Shall be treated as Prisoners of War, And in Case of Violence being offered; the Government, will Retaliate on the British Prisoners in a four fold degree." Minister of Marine Georges-René Pléville Le Pelley refused Fulton’s request for commissions in the French Navy because he did not think that it was “possible to grant commissions to men who made use of such means to destroy the enemy’s forces and, even so, that such commissions could be any guarantee to them. For the reprisals with which the French Government could threaten the English Cabinet would be useless, since there existed in England three times more French prisoners than English prisoners in France."

Fulton was determined to get his submarine built, but needed the funding. His next letter went unanswered. On January 20, 1798, he submitted his “Third proposals relative to the mechanical Nautilus," with minor additions as to terms of payment, holding to his demand for commissions for the crew of the “Nautilus," and proposing to have it built in Paris and test it at Le Havre. On April 27, 1798, Eustache Bruix replaced Pléville Le Pelley as Minister of Marine so Fulton wrote to Bruix, submitting his proposals, and renewing his offer to make the experiments at his own expense. In his cover letter, Fulton told Bruix, in part, “Let us see first what would be for France the immediate effects of the Nautilus. The loss of the first English ship destroyed by extraordinary means would throw the English Government into utter embarrassment. It would realize that its whole navy could be destroyed by the same means, and by the same means it would be possible to blockade the Thames and to cut off the whole commerce of London ... How would Pitt then be able to support the allied powers? The result would be that deprived of Pitt’s guineas, the coalition would vanish and France thus delivered from its numerous enemies would be able to work without obstacle for the strengthening of its liberty and for peace ... The destruction of the English Navy will ensure the independence of the seas and France, the Nation which has most natural resources and population, will alone and without a rival hold the balance of power in Europe." Four months later, he received a reply. Different minister, same result.

Displeased with his treatment by the Directory, in 1799, he approached the Batavian Republic (Holland) through their Ambassador in Paris, offering his submarine “Nautilus." Fulton went to Holland, but his offer was not accepted. While there, he met a man named Vanstaphast. According to Fulton’s friend, Cadwallader Colden, in his “Life of Robert Fulton" (1817), Vanstaphast “furnished him with the necessary funds and he proceeded to construct his machine."

Back in Paris, Fulton hired Jacques Périer, an engineer and skilled mechanic, to construct the Nautilus in his boatyard in Rouen. On October 5, 1799, Fulton wrote to yet a new Minister of Marine, Marc Antoine Bourdon de Vatry, enclosing a very long statement, in French, of “observations upon the moral effects of the Nautilus in case it should be employed with success" and “Reflections upon the general effects which the success of the Nautilus would produce for the extension of the principles of Liberty and the establishment of a lasting peace among the nations." Within a week, Bourdon de Vatry asks for a complete report. Fulton submits amended conditions, but insists on the commissions for the crew of the “Nautilus."

On November 9-10, 1799, the French Directory was overthrown and the Consulate was now the government. On December 25, 1799, Napoléon Bonaparte became First Consul. Fulton always had confidence in Napoléon who had personally seen the full force of the British Navy in 1798 when its fleet, under Admiral Horatio Nelson, captured or destroyed all but two vessels in the Battle of the Nile. The new Minister of the Marine was Pierre Alexandre Forfait who, two years earlier, had reviewed Fulton’s plans favorable for the government.

On April 10, 1800, five days before he wrote this letter to his mother of his “business which is Very Important to me," he wrote to Forfait that the “Nautilus" was nearly finished, requesting the commissions, adding “I have every reason to hope from Bonaparte the welcome, the encouragement that I have so long been refused by Directors and Ministers." On April 15, 1800, the very day Fulton wrote this letter to his mother, Forfait observed, in part, “It cannot be disguised that the Nautilus is a machine not yet in use and that it infringes in several points the laws of war. It would be dangerous, especially at this moment when so great a number of Frenchmen are in the power of the English, to express any kind of menace in the Commission. In granting it pure and simple, that is to say, in acknowledging as combatants the men serving on the Nautilus and the Nautilus vessel itself, I think that that ought not to create more fear than the menace of reprisals can give security for."

On June 13, 1800, Fulton demonstrated the “Nautilus" in Paris, on the Seine, with Forfait in attendance. Fulton and his assistant, Nathaniel Sargent, got in the submarine, moved out towards the center of the river and, to the astonishment of everyone, slowly sank beneath the water. After 20 minutes, it surfaced, then dove under for another 25 minutes, returning to its point of departure. Fulton and Sargent disembarked to thunderous applause. Forfait reported to Napoléon that “everything that could be desired was completely achieved" and there was hope that “in a month the Nautilus could be in the sea and ready to act." It was eventually financed by the French government in 1801, but, a problem of propulsion underwater was never satisfactorily solved. Fulton abandoned his work on the submarine, turning his attentions toward the steamboat.

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