David Franks
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David Salisbury Franks (born 1740 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, died 1793 also in Philadelphia) was aide-de-camp for General Benedict Arnold during the American War of Independence.
He was living in Quebec with his parents when the American Revolution began. When an army led by Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery invaded Canada in 1775, Franks joined the American forces and followed them when they were forced to retreat. Because of his knowledge of French, he was useful to the Colonials in dealing with their French allies.
Franks was the aide-de-camp for Benedict Arnold at West Point at the time of Arnold's treacherous attempt to hand over the fort to the British. He and another subordinate, Richard Varick, were both cleared of complicity in the treason and went on to serve the cause. In Franks's case, some suspicion remained because his uncle David Franks was a known Tory in New York City, and Arnold himself wrote a letter claiming that Franks had no knowledge of his plans.
He served as a courier to carry important documents to Benjamin Franklin in France and John Jay in Spain. After the war, he served briefly as a diplomat until being dismissed after an active campaign by his enemies, who resented his association to Arnold.
Franks was given a grant of land for his services and a position in the Bank of the United States, but he died in poverty. He was saved from a pauper's grave by a neighbor after he succumbed to yellow fever in the great epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia, where he is interred in Christ Church Burial Ground.
Franks was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
