Bouillé to the Navy (1778) — Read with known key

At a glanceKnown key applied · complete

The letters: The marquis de Bouillé, governor general of the Windward Islands, to Antoine de Sartine, Secretary of State for the Navy: no. 238 of 17 September 1778 (a duplicate) and no. 259 of 5 December 1778, with ciphered returns of 9 December.
Where: Archives nationales d’outre-mer, COL C8 A 77, fol. 88 (image FRANOM23_C8A_077_0141) and fol. 101 (images 0162–0164). The inventory says “Lettre chiffrée non décryptée”.
The cipher: Bouillé’s cipher of 1778–1782: a numerical, syllabic nomenclator of about 850 numbers with homophones (361 = de, 250 = l’, 607 = le, 817 = s) and code names (267 Martinique, 428 Guadeloupe, 138 Dominica).
How it was deciphered: The key (K6, 490 values) was rebuilt only from the pencil glosses on five of Bouillé’s 1779 letters and frozen. It read a held-out letter against its modern translation at 0.894 of words and 0.897 of characters, against at most 0.182 and 0.174 for 200 permuted keys.
What it says: Ten days after taking Dominica from the British, Bouillé says he is 817 men short and cannot garrison other islands. In December he sends the Dominica garrison (1,072 men) and the state of the Martinique army (4,057 present, 1,031 short).
Still open: Three words are unresolved, all in a heading and a note of the second return. The period key in Marine B4 195, which an archivist’s note points to, has not been consulted. The images were not seen here.
Credit: Brice Dudout rebuilt the key, read the letters and checked the returns, working with Claude Opus 5.5 agents. The same cipher reads the Damas letter of 1787, which has its own page.

01 The letters

Bouillé took Dominica on 7 September 1778. On 17 September he explains why he went no further: he was 817 men short, and every island taken needed a garrison. On 5 December he sends the new garrison of Dominica as a ciphered return, and the state of the whole army in Martinique as a second one. The inventory records both letters as not decrypted, and no decipherment sits on the images or the neighbouring leaves.

02 The key

The key was built only from the pencil glosses between the lines of Bouillé’s 1779 letters (C8 A 78: fol. 3 nos. 173 and 175, fol. 31 no. 281, fol. 144 no. 372 and fol. 123 no. 363; 4,991 groups) and frozen as K6 with its SHA-256 recorded. Numbers 163, 586 and 257 are nulls, because they always fall where the sense is complete without them. An archivist’s pencil note on C8 A 78 fol. 3 says the 1779 letters were deciphered with the key at the beginning of the register Marine B4 195, a period table not yet consulted.

Two held-out validations were run against a criterion fixed in advance (0.85 of words and of characters, above the best of 200 permuted keys). The frozen earlier key K4 read the glossed letter C8 A 78 fol. 123, no. 363, at 0.865 and 0.850 (controls at most 0.038 and 0.165). The frozen K6 read letter no. 415 (C8 A 79 fol. 70, 190 groups) against its modern translation at 0.894 and 0.897 (controls at most 0.182 and 0.174). The same key reads the Damas letter of 1787, whose margin names this cipher.

We re-applied the key to the transcription on 2 November 2026: 742 of 759 numbers agree with the decryption file and one is not in the key; the exceptions are marked alternates and unresolved groups.

03 The reading

For the two letters and the two returns, 455 of 458 words are read as sense (99.3%): 437 certain, 11 probable and 7 restored from the sense. The returns check against their own sums. The Dominica return gives 26 + 13 = 39, 64 + 81 + 67 = 222 and a total of 1,072 men. In the second, every row and column agrees, and the two returns agree where they overlap: 280 detached to Dominica from the Viennois regiment and 197 from Martinique, and 26 artillerymen. Two encipherer’s slips are repaired by the totals. The full French readings and English translations are under Full texts.

04 What remains uncertain

Three words are unresolved: Mote (309.398, the heading of the block for the previous month, perhaps “movements” or “losses”), 366 (in “sick sent 366 to France”) and vise (331.305).
Probable words, each justified in the notes: impatience (667 = im unattested), vuide, effectifs, incessamment.
Restored words: ministre, sans, fin, gens, and two number words supplied by the totals.
The transcription was made by AI from the ANOM images and not checked by a person against them here.

Full texts

The transcription and the decryption of every document on this page, so that the reading can be used and checked. Short files are shown here; all are in the repository.

Bouillé to the minister, 17 Sept 1778 (no. 238), letters of no. 259 and its first return

Short of 817 men, Bouillé cannot attack other British islands after taking Dominica.

Transcription

transcription.txt

# Archives nationales d'outre-mer, COL C8 A 77, fols. 88 and 101. Images not included (no reuse licence found); IREL records:
# https://recherche-anom.culture.gouv.fr/ark:/61561/zn401ysswzzd ; https://recherche-anom.culture.gouv.fr/ark:/61561/zn401dxx151o
# Groups as written, separated by dots. Clear words of the original are not repeated here.

## COL C8 A 77 fol. 88, no. 238, 17 Sept 1778 (IREL image FRANOM23_C8A_077_0141)
250.266.5.361.587.694.381.303.
636.104.361.270.309.815.191.5.398.339.110.817.46.110.531.448.110.
667.665.754.23.270.607.817.558.56.607.495.705.361.587.710.135.
451.491.279.270.126.607.119.568.361.479.545.453.402.91.538.37.
807.240.809.513.321.110.146.350.482.403.143.160.634.494.185.
807.836.103.619.770.443.513.81.777.268.481.361.845.666.195.
666.267.507.298.807.705.817.398.23.361.412.815.210.607.817.78.
508.417.103.91.266.587.268.361.138.126.516.815.454.516.815.453.
37.594.538.345.754.614.817.88.57.23.719.509.260.250.287.361.587.
694.361.587.268.110.17.270.44.398.739.195.1.505.634.286.187.645.
103.666.195.17.309.545.272.162.503.267.266.309.12.754.505.503.
428.819.23.303.705.26.185.819.23.320.285.622.

## COL C8 A 77 fol. 101, no. 259, 5 Dec 1778 (image 0162)
208.250.837.361.57.147.1.250.287.361.694.381.
303.361.267.636.104.361.270.309.815.266.551.361.
587.268.361.138.607.817.577.619.103.91.45.587.580.705.
398.361.270.44.398.661.17.353.182.832.786.770.361.
772.678.266.284.187.400.270.309.245.23.287.361.
631.270.

## COL C8 A 77 fol. 101, return attached to no. 259, 9 Dec 1778 (image 0163); one line per cell
694.361.587.268.361.138.636.104.361.270.135.651.320.250.538.453.538.210.505.479.545.645.192.666.195.17.503.607.817.268.817.361.267.266.428
404.116.610.345 453.67.81
636.1.218 67.81
331.23.265.815 641.453.67.81.331.339.776.44
267.257 453.279.210.17.538
428 453.67.801.770.17.167.339.197
38.740.417.12.705.817.361.189.298.607 67.81.331.339.776.44.777
848 267 331.339.776.44.709.91 428 81.12.206 81.339.398.11
320.285.622.361.428 402.91
701.361.243.108.772 267 819.73.210.17.67.81 428 67.81.331.339.776.44.777 138 819.73.491.398.538 641.453.331.339.776.44.641
44.635.181 454.538.210.17.641

## COL C8 A 77 fol. 101, second return attached to no. 259 (image 0164); one line per row, cells separated by |
709.368.5.12.564.381.303.255.267.636.104.361.270.135.651.320.250.538.453.538.491.398.479.585
101.817.381.796 | 490.817: 491.167.23.817.679.250.110.5.817 | 558.412.309.815.491.398.598.387 | 255.250.78.508.44.181.412.19 | 361.417.786.451.138 | 133.44.181 | 135.491.56.636.243.135.627.44 | 309.398.323.607.309.815.210.1.12.387: 163.583.590.402.185 | 361.586.806.398 | 309.707.817 | 116.587.381.23.683.817.366.23.80 | 257.133.417.250
636.1.218 | 454.538.210.17.67.81 | 777 | 453.81.770.17.777 | 67.81 | 766.103.206.453.402.91 | 516.815.453.538.491.398 | - | 516.815 | 81.12.206 | - | 305.272.206
331.23.265.815 | 538.453.67.81.331.339 | - | 453.709.91 | 641.453.67.81.331.339.776.44 | 564.206.819.78.210.17.11 | 67.81.564.206 | - | - | 11 | - | 807.103.614
267 | 454.641 | - | 279.210.162.516.815 | 453.265.612.770.17.538 | 766.192.206.453.279.210.162.641 | 453.67.81.331.339.776.44 | 641 (*) | 361.103.91 | 402.91.11 | - | 331.339.776.44.516.815
848.361.80 | 453.538.210.17.67.81 | 192.339 | 402.91.11 | 305.12.206 | 641.453.402.91 | 67.767.398.709.91 | - | - | 516.815 | - | 44.218
586.848.361.267 | 453.167.339.618.17.167.339.197 | - | 564.206 | 402.91 | 453.538.210.162.709.91 | 331.339.776.44.67.81 | - | - | 777 | - | 103.339
163.133.417.250.586 | 516.815.454.453.67.81.331.339.776.44.479.545 | 641 | 516.815.453.819.73.770.17 | 167.339.197.453.538 | 67.81.454.167.339.618.162.538 | 454.81.339.398.777 | 361.103.91 | 167.339.197 | 67.767.398.167.339.197 | - | 167.339.618.505.641
(*) 777.331.305.400.250.848.266.777.590.770.298.37.666.147.17

Decryption

decryption.txt

# Group-by-group decryption with key K6 (frozen; 490 values from the glosses of seven 1779-1780 letters). 163, 586, 257 are nulls.
# <n> = group absent from the key. Readings by sense are given in reading.md, not here.

## COL C8 A 77 fol. 88, no. 238, 17 Sept 1778 (IREL image FRANOM23_C8A_077_0141)
250.266.5.361.587.694.381.303.
l' et at de la situation des troupes

636.104.361.270.309.815.191.5.398.339.110.817.46.110.531.448.110.
au 1er de ce mo is j' at te n d' s avec d' autant plus d'

667.665.754.23.270.607.817.558.56.607.495.705.361.587.710.135.
<667> pa ti en ce le s recrues que le <495> re de la guerre m

451.491.279.270.126.607.119.568.361.479.545.453.402.91.538.37.
à an non ce que le vu <568> de hu it cent di x sept hommes

807.240.809.513.321.110.146.350.482.403.143.160.634.494.185.
ne me per met pas d' entre pren dre encore sur quelque isles anglois es

807.836.103.619.770.443.513.81.777.268.481.361.845.666.195.
ne po u va nt y met tre un garnison <481> de ga r ni

666.267.507.298.807.705.817.398.23.361.412.815.210.607.817.78.
r la-martinique ou il ne re s te en de du is ant le s hô

508.417.103.91.266.587.268.361.138.126.516.815.454.516.815.453.
pi ta u x et la garnison de la-dominique que tro is mille tro is cent

37.594.538.345.754.614.817.88.57.23.719.509.260.250.287.361.587.
hommes ef sept c ti f s je vous en ver rai <260> l' état de la

694.361.587.268.110.17.270.44.398.739.195.1.505.634.286.187.645.
situation de la garnison d' e ce t te der ni er e isles qui est fo

103.666.195.17.309.545.272.162.503.267.266.309.12.754.505.503.
u r ni e mo it i e par la-martinique et mo i ti e par

428.819.23.303.705.26.185.819.23.320.285.622.
la-guadeloupe soit en troupes re <26> es soit en mi li ces

## COL C8 A 77 fol. 101, no. 259, 5 Dec 1778 (image 0162)
208.250.837.361.57.147.1.250.287.361.694.381.
<208> l' honneur de vous envoi er l' état de situation des

303.361.267.636.104.361.270.309.815.266.551.361.
troupes de la-martinique au 1er de ce mo is et celui de

587.268.361.138.607.817.577.619.103.91.45.587.580.705.
la garnison de la-dominique le s tra va u x pour la su re

398.361.270.44.398.661.17.353.182.832.786.770.361.
te de ce t te dernier e colonies ap pro che nt de

772.678.266.284.187.400.270.309.245.23.287.361.
leur <678> et elle est dans ce mo ment en état de

631.270.
défen ce

## COL C8 A 77 fol. 101, return attached to no. 259, 9 Dec 1778 (image 0163); one line per cell
694.361.587.268.361.138.636.104.361.270.135.651.320.250.538.453.538.210.505.479.545.645.192.666.195.17.503.607.817.268.817.361.267.266.428
situation de la garnison de la-dominique au 1er de ce m bre mi l' sept cent sept ant e hu it fo u r ni e par le s garnison s de la-martinique et la-guadeloupe

404.116.610.345 453.67.81
ar ma gna c cent qua tre

636.1.218 67.81
au er rois qua tre

331.23.265.815 641.453.67.81.331.339.776.44
vi en no is deux cent qua tre vi n g t

267.257 453.279.210.17.538
la-martinique <257> cent non ant e sept

428 453.67.801.770.17.167.339.197
la-guadeloupe cent qua ra nt e ci n q

38.740.417.12.705.817.361.189.298.607 67.81.331.339.776.44.777
vo lon ta i re s de bou il le qua tre vi n g t un

848 267 331.339.776.44.709.91 428 81.12.206 81.339.398.11
artillerie la-martinique vi n g t si x la-guadeloupe tre i ze tre n te neuf

320.285.622.361.428 402.91
mi li ces de la-guadeloupe di x

701.361.243.108.772 267 819.73.210.17.67.81 428 67.81.331.339.776.44.777 138 819.73.491.398.538 641.453.331.339.776.44.641
<701> de co <108> leur la-martinique soit xa ant e qua tre la-guadeloupe qua tre vi n g t un la-dominique soit xa an te sept deux cent vi n g t deux

44.635.181 454.538.210.17.641
t ot al mille sept ant e deux

## COL C8 A 77 fol. 101, second return attached to no. 259 (image 0164); one line per row, cells separated by |
709.368.5.12.564.381.303.255.267.636.104.361.270.135.651.320.250.538.453.538.491.398.479.585
si tu at i on des troupes à la-martinique au 1er de ce m bre mi l' sept cent sept an te hu qu'

101.817.381.796 | 490.817: 491.167.23.817.679.250.110.5.817 | 558.412.309.815.491.398.598.387 | 255.250.78.508.44.181.412.19 | 361.417.786.451.138 | 133.44.181 | 135.491.56.636.243.135.627.44 | 309.398.323.607.309.815.210.1.12.387: 163.583.590.402.185 | 361.586.806.398 | 309.707.817 | 116.587.381.23.683.817.366.23.80 | 257.133.417.250
nom s des corps présent s an ci en s so l' d' at s recrues du mo is an te ri eur à l' hô pi t al du lieu de ta che à la-dominique to t al m an que au co m ple t mo te pendant le mo is ant er i eur <163> con ge di es de <586> ser te mo <707> s ma la des en voye s je en france <257> to ta l'

636.1.218 | 454.538.210.17.67.81 | 777 | 453.81.770.17.777 | 67.81 | 766.103.206.453.402.91 | 516.815.453.538.491.398 | - | 516.815 | 81.12.206 | - | 305.272.206
au er rois mille sept ant e qua tre un cent tre nt e un qua tre do u ze cent di x tro is cent sept an te tro is tre i ze se i ze

331.23.265.815 | 538.453.67.81.331.339 | - | 453.709.91 | 641.453.67.81.331.339.776.44 | 564.206.819.78.210.17.11 | 67.81.564.206 | - | - | 11 | - | 807.103.614
vi en no is sept cent qua tre vi n cent si x deux cent qua tre vi n g t on ze soit hô ant e neuf qua tre on ze neuf ne u f

267 | 454.641 | - | 279.210.162.516.815 | 453.265.612.770.17.538 | 766.192.206.453.279.210.162.641 | 453.67.81.331.339.776.44 | 641 (*) | 361.103.91 | 402.91.11 | - | 331.339.776.44.516.815
la-martinique mille deux non ant e tro is cent no na nt e sept do u ze cent non ant e deux cent qua tre vi n g t deux de u x di x neuf vi n g t tro is

848.361.80 | 453.538.210.17.67.81 | 192.339 | 402.91.11 | 305.12.206 | 641.453.402.91 | 67.767.398.709.91 | - | - | 516.815 | - | 44.218
artillerie de france cent sept ant e qua tre u n di x neuf se i ze deux cent di x qua ran te si x tro is t rois

586.848.361.267 | 453.167.339.618.17.167.339.197 | - | 564.206 | 402.91 | 453.538.210.162.709.91 | 331.339.776.44.67.81 | - | - | 777 | - | 103.339
<586> artillerie de la-martinique cent ci n quand e ci n q on ze di x cent sept ant e si x vi n g t qua tre un u n

163.133.417.250.586 | 516.815.454.453.67.81.331.339.776.44.479.545 | 641 | 516.815.453.819.73.770.17 | 167.339.197.453.538 | 67.81.454.167.339.618.162.538 | 454.81.339.398.777 | 361.103.91 | 167.339.197 | 67.767.398.167.339.197 | - | 167.339.618.505.641
<163> to ta l' <586> tro is mille cent qua tre vi n g t hu it deux tro is cent soit xa nt e ci n q cent sept qua tre mille ci n quand e sept mille tre n te un de u x ci n q qua ran te ci n q ci n quand e deux

(*) 777.331.305.400.250.848.266.777.590.770.298.37.666.147.17
un vi se dans l' artillerie et un ge nt il hommes r envoi e

Reading

reading.md

# Established text (French)

## n° 238, 17 septembre 1778 (f. 88)

‹clear: J’ai l’honneur de vous envoier› l’état de la situation des troupes au 1er de ce mois. J’attends avec d’autant plus d’{impatience} les recrues que le [ministre] de la guerre m’a annoncées, que le {vuide} de huit cent dix-sept hommes ne me permet pas d’entreprendre encore sur quelques isles angloises, ne pouvant y mettre une garnison [sans] dégarnir la Martinique, où il ne reste, en déduisant les hôpitaux et la garnison de la Dominique, que trois mille trois cent hommes {effectifs}. Je vous enverrai {incessamment} l’état de la situation de la garnison de cette dernière isle, qui est fournie moitié par la Martinique et moitié par la Guadeloupe, soit en troupes {réglées}, soit en milices. ‹clear: Je suis avec respect…›

## n° 259, 5 décembre 1778 (f. 101, vue 0162)

{J’ai} l’honneur de vous envoier l’état de situation des troupes de la Martinique au 1er de ce mois et celui de la garnison de la Dominique. Les travaux pour la sûreté de cette dernière colonie approchent de leur [fin], et elle est dans ce moment en état de défense.

## pièce jointe au n° 259 : tableau signé Bouillé, 9 décembre 1778 (f. 101, vue 0163)

Situation de la garnison de la Dominique au 1er décembre mil sept cent septante-huit, fournie par les garnisons de la Martinique et la Guadeloupe. — Armagnac : cent quatre. — Auxerrois : quatre. — Viennois : deux cent quatre-vingt. — Martinique : cent nonante-sept. — Guadeloupe : cent quarante-cinq. — Volontaires de Bouillé : quatre-vingt-un. — Artillerie : Martinique vingt-six, Guadeloupe treize ; trente-neuf. — Milices de la Guadeloupe : dix. — [Gens] de {couleur} : Martinique soixante-quatre, Guadeloupe quatre-vingt-un, Dominique soixante-sept ; deux cent vingt-deux. — Total : mille septante-deux.

## pièce jointe au n° 259 : second tableau, signé Bouillé, 9 décembre 1778 (f. 101, vue 0164)

Situation des troupes à la Martinique au 1er décembre mil sept cent septante-{huit}. Colonnes : noms des corps ; présents (anciens soldats, recrues du mois antérieur, à l’hôpital du lieu, détachés à la Dominique, total) ; manque au complet ; ‹Mote› pendant le mois antérieur (congédiés, désertés, {morts}, malades {envoyés} ‹366› en France, total). — Auxerrois : mille septante-quatre ; un ; cent trente-un ; quatre ; douze cent dix ; manque trois cent septante ; désertés trois, morts treize, total seize. — Viennois : sept cent quatre-vin[gt-trois] ; — ; cent six ; deux cent quatre-vingt ; onze cent soixante-neuf ; manque quatre [cent] onze ; morts neuf, total neuf. — Martinique : mille deux ; — ; nonante-trois ; cent nonante-sept ; douze cent nonante-deux ; manque cent quatre-vingt ; congédiés deux, désertés deux, morts dix-neuf, total vingt-trois. — Artillerie de France : cent septante-quatre ; un ; dix-neuf ; seize ; deux cent dix ; manque quarante-six ; morts trois, total trois. — Artillerie de la Martinique : cent cinquante-cinq ; — ; onze ; dix ; cent septante-six ; manque vingt-quatre ; mort un, total un. — Total : trois mille cent quatre-vingt-huit ; deux ; trois cent soixante ; cinq cent sept ; quatre mille cinquante-sept ; manque mille trente-un ; congédiés deux, désertés cinq, morts quarante-cinq, total cinquante-deux. — Note : un ‹vise› dans l’artillerie et un gentilhomme renvoyé.

## State of the reading

First published decipherment, to our knowledge. Published under Daniel Bourdeau’s rule: 95% of the words read in their sense. For the two letters and the two attached returns (458 words): 455 words read in their sense (99.3%), of which 437 certain (95.4%), 11 probable {x} (2.4%) and 7 restored from the sense [x] (1.5%); 3 unresolved ‹…› (0.7%), all in the heading and the note of the second return: ‹Mote›, ‹366›, ‹vise›. Update of 28 October 2026: second return (image 0164) added, key enlarged and validated a second time.

## Justifications

- Checked by the sums. First return: 26 + 13 = 39; 64 + 81 + 67 = 222; 104 + 4 + 280 + 197 + 145 + 81 + 39 + 222 = 1,072. Second return: every row and column checks (e.g. Auxerrois 1,074 + 1 + 131 + 4 = 1,210; Martinique 1,002 + 93 + 197 = 1,292; dead 13 + 9 + 19 + 3 + 1 = 45), and the two returns agree: detached to Dominica, Viennois 280 and Martinique 197 in both; artillery 16 + 10 = 26 supplied by Martinique. Two encipherer’s slips, repaired by the totals: Viennois “sept cent quatre-vin” = 783 (total 3,188 and row total 1,169); shortfall “quatre onze” = 411 (total 1,031).

- Probable words {x}, with justification. {impatience}: d’+667.665.ti.en.ce; 665 = pa is glossed; 667 = im not attested, the only possible word. {vuide}: vu+568, 568 not attested (period spelling of “vide”). {effectifs}: 594.538.345.ti.f.s; 594 = ef and 345 = c are glossed; 538 is otherwise “sept”: probably a slip. {incessamment}: 260 is not glossed, but the modern translation of letter no. 415 (C8 A 79 fol. 70) renders it “incessamment” (“je compte envoyer 260 à la Grenade”); same position here. {réglées}: ré.26.ées, 26 = gl not attested. {J’ai}: 208, not glossed; opening formula (in clear in no. 238); same number before “attendu” in Damas, 1787. {couleur}: co.108.leur, 108 = u not attested. {huit}: 479.585, 479 = hu glossed, 585 is otherwise “qu’”: homophone or slip. {morts}: 309.707.817, 707 = rt not attested. {envoyés}: 23.683.817, 683 = voyé not attested.

- Words restored [x], with justification. [ministre]: “le 495.re de la guerre m’a annoncées”; the only possible reading. [sans]: 481, not attested; “ne pouvant y mettre une garnison 481 dégarnir la Martinique”; 431 = sans is glossed, 481 would be a homophone. [fin]: “approchent de leur 678”. [Gens]: “701 de couleur”. [gt-trois], [cent]: words left out by the encipherer, given by the totals (above).

Translation

translation.md

# English translation

Letter of 17 September: I have the honour to send you the return of the troops as of the 1st of this month. I await the recruits announced to me by the Minister of War all the more impatiently because the shortfall of 817 men does not yet allow me to undertake anything against other English islands: I could not put a garrison there without stripping Martinique, where, after deducting the hospitals and the garrison of Dominica, only 3,300 effective men remain. I shall send you […] the return of the garrison of that last island, which is supplied half by Martinique and half by Guadeloupe, both regular troops and militia.

Letter of 5 December: I have the honour to send you the return of the troops of Martinique as of the 1st of this month and that of the garrison of Dominica. The works for the security of that colony are nearing their end, and it is now in a state of defence.

Return: garrison of Dominica on 1 December 1778 — Armagnac 104; Auxerrois 4; Viennois 280; Martinique […] 197; Guadeloupe 145; Bouillé’s Volunteers 81; […] 39 (26 from Martinique, 13 from Guadeloupe); Guadeloupe militia 10; free men of colour 222 (64 from Martinique, 81 from Guadeloupe, 67 from Dominica). Total: 1,072 men.

Second return: troops in Martinique on 1 December 1778 (present; short of establishment; losses of the previous month) — Auxerrois 1,210 present (131 in hospital, 4 in Dominica), 370 short, 16 lost; Viennois 1,169 (106 in hospital, 280 in Dominica), 411 short, 9 dead; Martinique regiment 1,292 (93 in hospital, 197 in Dominica), 180 short, 23 lost; French artillery 210, 46 short, 3 dead; Martinique artillery 176, 24 short, 1 dead. Total: 4,057 present (360 in hospital, 507 in Dominica), 1,031 short, 2 discharged, 5 deserters, 45 dead. Note: one […] in the artillery and one gentleman sent home.

Bouillé to the minister, 5 Dec 1778 (no. 259) and its two returns (Dominica garrison; troops in Martinique), 9 Dec 1778

Works at Dominica nearly finished; Dominica garrison 1,072 men; troops in Martinique 4,057 present, 1,031 short.