the English took us citizens off of ships because they thought that they were British deserters. the French would disrupt trade if they thought that the goods were going to aid the British.
French is "français" (feminine: française; plurals: français/ françaises). Here the word français is an adjective, so use a lower-case f. A Frenchman is 'un français', a Frenchwoman is 'une...
The French call a French exit "filer a l'anglaise."
It's interesting because it simply turns the expression around. Literally, it's something like "to do an English hurry."