Stories from this author

Silas Deane, left, worked with Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, center, to secure gunpowder from Antoine Lavoisier, right. 

How an American Merchant, a French Official and a Pioneering Chemist Smuggled Much-Needed Gunpowder to the Continental Army

The trio’s scheming became a crucial element of the fledgling nation’s success in the Revolutionary War