A skilled staff officer, Jackson was then assigned to General Washington's staff, serving as secretary to the general's aide John Laurens, son of Henry Laurens of South Carolina. When Laurens was sent to France in 1781 armed with a Memorial written by George Washington outlining why a sizable loan (25 million livres) was needed, he took Jackson, who, like Laurens, had a good command of French, and with them at his own expense went Thomas Paine. Upon their arrival at Versailles, for six weeks they dealt unsuccessfully with Foreign Affairs Minister Vergennes, a longtime diplomat who wanted England tied up in an American war but knew the precarious situation of France's own finances. Finally, against Franklin's advice, direct contact was made with the King and Washington's Memorial handed to him. The following day the King had directed his Finance Minister, Jacques Necker, to meet with them. The loan was made, the bulk of it for military supplies, 3 million of it in gold specie, and the promise that France would underwrite with Dutch agents a later loan for 10 million should it be needed. Purchases began, and by early May Laurens sailed with 3 ships and Jackson went to Holland where John Adams had contracted with a Captain for the 4th ship. That ship vanished, either because Adams had been deceived about the honesty of the Captain or because the British Navy, with orders to hunt down all 4 ships, had sunk it. The 3 ships, however, after 3 months of scooting about the ocean, arrived in Boston in early September.