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Las Damas de la Havana, el Precursor, and Francisco de Saavedra: A Note on Spanish Participation in the Battle of Yorktown

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

James A. Lewis
James A. Lewis*
Affiliation:
Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina
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Extract

As the American Revolution matured, foreign intervention on behalf of the Thirteen Colonies against Great Britain became increasingly important. Nowhere in that struggle was outside assistance more significant than at the seige of Yorktown during the autumn of 1781. It was here that a French army under the Count de Rochambeau and a French fleet under the Count de Grasse enabled George Washington to force the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. Historians have always recognized how crucial French participation was for this last important battle in the English colonies. Indeed, it would not have taken place without their aid. Yet there was another ally of the Continental army at Yorktown whose contribution has often been belittled or ignored. That ally was Spain.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , July 1980 , pp. 83 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1980

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References

1 Ferguson, E. James, The Power of the Purse: A History of American Public Finance, 1776–1790 (Chapel Hill, 1961),Google Scholar and Montrose, Lynn, The Story of the Continental Army, 1775–1783 (1952; reprint ed., New York, 1967).Google Scholar Readers should supplement these two books with Steeg, Clarence L. Ver, Robert Morris, Revolutionary Financier (Philadelphia, 1954), and Ferguson, E. James ed., The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781–1784, 3 vols, to date (Pittsburg, 1973—).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Doniol, Henri, Histoire de la participation de la France à l’éstablissement des États-Unis d’Amérique, 5 vols. (Paris, 1892), 5: 476–77.Google Scholar Although Doniol is the classic work on the French during the revolution, the most recent and thorough study is Kennett’s, Lee, The French Forces in America, 1780–1783 (Westport, 1977).Google Scholar

3 The treaty between France and Spain marking the latter's entrance into the war is printed in Doniol, 3: 803-10. Traditional treatments of Spanish attitudes towards the war are Utrilla, Juan F. Yela, España ante la independencia de los Estados Unidos, 2 vols. (Lérida, 1925),Google Scholar and Conrotte, Manuel, La intervención de España en la independencia de los Estados Unidos de la América del Norte (Madrid, 1920).Google Scholar Students should also consult the more current works of Rodríquez, Mario especially his article “The Impact of the American Revolution on the Spanish—and Portuguese Speaking World,” in The Impact of the American Revolution Abroad: Papers Presented at the Fourth Symposium [on the American Revolution], May 8 and 9, 1975 (Washington, D.C., 1976), pp. 101–25,Google Scholar and his book La revolución americana de 1776 y el mundo hispánico: ensayos y documentos (Madrid, 1976).

4 Archivo General de la Nación, México (hereafter AGN), Reales Cédulas (hereafter RC), tomo (hereafter omitted) 118, expediente (hereafter exp.) 40. Cédula to viceroy, El Pardo, 13 Jan., 1780. Manceron, Claude, Le vent d’Amérique: L’écbe de Necker et la victoire de Yorktown 1778/1782 (Paris, 1974), pp. 343–44.Google Scholar

5 Dull’s, Jonathan The French Navy and the American Revolution: A Study of Arms and Diplomacy, 1774–1787 (Princeton, 1975)Google Scholar is the most reliable work on the French navy during the war. Other useful books on the French navy under de Grasse are Lewis, Charles Lee, Admiral de Grasse and American Independence (Annapolis, 1945),Google Scholar and Antier, Jean-Jacques L’amiral de Grasse, héros de l’indépendance américaine (Paris, 1965).Google Scholar

6 This official was Francisco de Saavedra. Often mistakenly identified as a Spanish director of customs, he has also suffered the indignity of having his name misspelled as Salavedra. Some historians have written that he just happened to be in Cape François when de Grasse arrived. Saavedra’s presence in Cape François was hardly accidental and his role in this story will be described later in the article. For a sampling of inaccurate portrayals of Saavedra, see Davis, Burke, The Campaign That Won America: The Story of Yorktown (New York, 1970), p. 66 Google Scholar; Menéndez, Alberto A. Garcia “El caribe hispánico y la revolución americana,” Revista Interamericana, 5 (Winter, 1975–76), 607 Google Scholar; Fleming, Thomas J., Beat the Last Drum: The Seige of Yorktown (New York, 1965), p. 116 Google Scholar; Whitridge, Arnold, Rochambeau (New York, 1965), pp. 181–82Google Scholar; Lewis, p. 138; and Antier, p. 203. Most of this confusion started with a Swedish naval officer serving in the French fleet. See Tornquist, Karl Gustai, The Naval Campaigns of Count de Grasse during the American Revolution, 1781–1783, trans. Johnson, Amandus, (Philadelphia, 1942), p. 53.Google Scholar Some historians confuse Saavedra with José de Solano, admiral of the Spanish navy at Havana during much of the war. Solano played a very marginal role in the events related by this paper. The origin of this mix-up goes back to General Rochambeau, who mistakenly thought that Solano raised the money for de Grasse. See Doniol, 5: 580; and de Rochambeau, Count, Memoirs of the Marshall Count de Rochambeau (1838; reprint ed., NewYork, 1971), p. 60.Google Scholar

7 [de Grasse?, Count], “Journal of an Officer in the Naval Army in America, in 1781 & 1782,” in Shea, John Gilmary trans., The Operation of the French Fleet under the Count de Grasse in 1781–1782, as Described in Two Contemporaneous Journals (1864; reprint ed., New York, 1971), pp. 151–52.Google Scholar For a brief comment on the authorship of this work, see Rice, Howard C. Jr. and Brown, Anne S.K. eds. and trans., The American Campaigns of Rochambeau’s Army, 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783, 2 vols. (Princeton and Providence, 1972), 1: 312.Google Scholar

8 Tejera, Eduardo J. La ayuda cubana a la lucha por la independencia norte-americana (Miami, 1972), p. 54.Google Scholar

9 Thorning, Joseph F. Miranda: World Citizen (Gainesville, 1967), p. 316.Google Scholar Bonsai, Stephen When the French Were Here: A Narrative of the Sojourn of the French Forces in America, and Their Contribution to the Yorktown Campaign Drawn from Unpublished Reports and Letters of Participants in the National Archives of France and the MS. Division of the Library of Congress (Garden City, N.J., 1945), pp. 119–20.Google Scholar Santovenia, Emeterio, “Política colonial,” in Guerra, Ramiro y Sánchez, et al., eds., Historia de la nación cubana, 10 vols. (Havana, 1952), 2: 83.Google Scholar

10 Tejera, p. 54. García Menéndez, p. 607.

11 Tanner, Helen Hornbeck, Zépedes in East Florida 1784–1190, Hispanic American Studies, vol. 19 (Miami, 1963), p. 11.Google Scholar García Menéndez, p. 607. Tejera, p. 54.

12 Santovenia, 2: 83. Tanner, p. 11.

13 Fleming, p. 116. Tejera, p. 56–57. Tejera also suggests an economic motive. Some Cubans hoped that an independent United States would help open up free trade for the island.

14 García Menéndez, p. 607. Tejera, pp. 58–59. Pérez Cabrera, José Manuel, Miranda en Cuba (1780–1783) (Havana, 1950), p. 16.Google Scholar At least one French historian has written that it was the women of Saint-Domingue, not Havana, who offered their wealth to de Grasse. See Antier, p. 204.

15 Junius, [Miranda?], “A jean Skei Eustace, se distant citoyen des États-Unis d’Amérique, général de brigade des armées françoises [1793],” in Archivo del General Miranda, 24 vols. (Caracas, 1929–50), 12: 181.Google Scholar Miranda’s lawyer embellished the point, adding for effect that Miranda should also be given considerable credit for opening up the port of Havana to foreign trade, the conquest of West Florida, the seizure of the Bahamas, and the plan to invade Jamaica. See Lagarde, Chauveau, “Plaidoyer pour le général Miranda,” ibid., 12: 315.Google Scholar Although I was unable to consult the following document, several biographers of Miranda have cited a letter from Thomas Pownall to William Pitt in 1790 as making the same claim. If so, Pownall’s information almost certainly came from Miranda. See Parra-Pérez, C. Miranda et la révolution française (Paris, 1925), p. 15 Google Scholar; and Thorning, p. 316. It is important to note that Miranda's service record was sent to Spain detailing his contributions during the war on two occasions after 1781—the first in 1782 by Governor Cagigal, Miranda’s principal benefactor in Cuba, and the second in 1785 by Miranda himself. In neither case was any mention made of the Venezuelan’s role in aiding the French fleet. See de Cagigal, Juan Manuel, “Certificación de Cagigal sobre los servicios de Miranda desde 1780 a 1782,” Havana, 6 Jan., 1782, in Grisanti, Angel, Miranda: juzgado por los funcionarios españoles de su tiempo (Caracas, 1954), pp. 25–26 Google Scholar; and de Miranda, Francisco, “A su majestad rendidamente suplica el teniente coronel D. Francisco de Miranda,” London, 10 April, 1785, in Archivo de Miranda, 5: 140–49.Google Scholar The best biography of Miranda remains Robertson, William Spence, The Life of Miranda, 2 vols. (1929; reprint ed., New York, 1969).Google Scholar

16 Thorning, p. 21. Arnade, C.W. “La Florida durante la revolución de las 13 colonias,” in Balseiro, José Agustín ed., Presencia hispánica en la Florida ayer y boy: 1513–1976 (Miami, 1976), p. 124.Google Scholar Ezell, John S. “Introduction,” in de Miranda, Francisco, The New Democracy in America: Travels of Francisco de Miranda in the United States, 1783–1784, trans. Wood, Judson P. ed. Ezell, John S. (Norman, 1963), p. 19.Google Scholar

17 Pérez Cabrera, p. 19. Thorning, p. 316. Eduardo Tejera (pp. 53–53) suggests that there was some tie between Miranda and the women of Havana. Whitridge (p. 182) concedes that the story of Miranda and the female population of Havana might be “apocryphal,” but he concludes that Miranda somehow raised the money.

18 AGN, Intendencia (hereafter Int.), 56. Diego Joseph Navarro to Martín de Mayorga, Havana, 4 Nov., 1780.

19 Riceand Brown, 1: 290, 325, 328.

20 Archivo General de Indias, Seville (hereafter AGI), Santo Domingo (hereafter SD), legajo (hereafter omitted) 2084, exp. 88. José Ignacio Urriza to José de Gálvez, Havana, 21 Feb., 1782. AGI, Indiferente General (hereafter IG), 1578. Francisco de Saavedra to J. Gálvez, Havana, 13 Jan., 1782. AGN, Correspondencia de Virreyes (hereafter VR), 130, exp. 1417. Mayorga to J. Gálvez, México, 26 Dec, 1781.

21 Dull, pp. 222–23.

22 The only exception to this suspension was a convoy in 1781.

23 The French colonies received money from the Spanish exchequer in several ways. To begin with, Spanish officials occasionally made direct payments to French colonies for various services rendered. These services ranged from French troops stationed in Spanish territory to medical expenses incured in taking care of Spanish soldiers in French hospitals. Secondly, there were direct loans negotiated between the two governments. De Grasse’s money was this type of transfer of funds. Lastly, there were loans negotiated by Francisco de Cabarrus. This last category was the most important and hardest to document. Cabarrus was a banker with powerful connections in France and Spain. The Spanish treasury in Madrid borrowed large sums of money from Cabarrus in Europe and agreed to pay him back in Havana. These payments were always picked up by French men-of-war and taken to nearby French colonies. Although Spanish records shed no light on the ultimate destination of this money, it appears likely that the funds stayed in the New World and that Cabarrus was later compensated for the money in Paris by the French treasury. The Spanish side of the business was lucrative. Cabarrus earned a handsome commission on each transaction and gained additional income by loaning a lower valued European currency to be repaid in the higher valued specie of New Spain. At one point in the war, Cabarrus approached representatives of the Continental Congress to see if the Thirteen Colonies were interested in a loan. Although probably close to the actual figures, the chart in the appendix should be used with some caution (especially the Direct Payments column) since even Spanish officials directly involved in these transactions did not know how much money they ultimately gave to the French.

24 AGN, RC, 120, exp. 82. Cédula to viceroy, El Pardo, 17 March, 1781.

25 Saavedra’s career in Venezuela was the subject of a dissertation in Spain, later turned into a book. See Cantos, Angel López, Don Francisco de Saavedra, segundo intendente de Caracas (Sevilla, 1973).Google Scholar Saavedra kept a fascinating diary of his experiences during the American Revolution and an excellent English translation of the diary was done by Manuel Ignacio Pérez-Alonso. See Pérez-Alonso, Manuel Ignacio S.J., “War Mission in the Caribbean: The Diary of Don Francisco de Saavedra (1780–1783),” 4 vols. (Ph.D. diss., Georgetown University, 1954).Google Scholar One of the few works to give Saavedra his just due, albeit from a French point of view, is The French Navy and the American Revolution by Dull, Jonathan (pp. 243–44).Google Scholar

26 Bernardo de Gálvez, hero of the seige of Pensacola, served as governor ot Louisiana and military commander of the Spanish armies in the Caribbean. His father, Matías de Gálvez, governed Guatemala at the same time and successfully resisted the English along the Mosquito Coast. New Spain also had some distinguished officials. Martín de Mayorga (viceroy), Ramón de Posada (legal adviser), and Pedro Antonio de Cosío (intendant of the exchequer) possessed superior abilities.

27 Pérez-Alonso, 1: 6–7; and AGI, IG, 1578. Royal order to Governor of Havana, Aranjuez, 24 June, 1780.

28 Pérez-Alonso, 3: 292–97. Saavedra’s contemporaries in Havana knew of his role in this decision. See de Urrutia, Ignacio José y Montoya, , Obras del Dr. Ignacio José de Urrutia y Montoya, 2 vols. (Havana, 1931), 2: 228.Google Scholar

29 Several factors may have contributed to de Grasse’s unsuccessful attempt to acquire funds at the Cape. Merchants in Saint-Domingue expected a convoy to leave shortly for France and obviously planned to send part of their capital with this fleet. These same men wanted the admiral to provide a powerful escort for the convoy, as he had been instructed to do before leaving France. When de Grasse refused, merchants probably felt less willing to help him than they might have normally. Even though the admiral and his officers offered property on the island as collateral and guaranteed repayment of the loan in Paris, businessmen at the Cape needed specie to carry on their commercial activities, not confiscated property or credit in France. Lastly, the admiral seemed unwilling to wait very long for the large sum of money that he wanted. For some contemporary views of this problem, see AGI, IG, 1578. Saavedra to J. Gálvez, Havana, 18 August, 1781; Pérez-Alonso, 3: 302; [De Grasse?, ], “Journal,” pp. 151–52Google Scholar; de Contenson, Ludovic, “La capitulation d'Yorktown et le comte de Grasse,” Revue d’Histoire Diplomatique, 42 (1928), 386 Google Scholar; Scott, James Brown, DeGrasse á Yorktown (Baltimore, 1931), p. 202 Google Scholar; Tornquist, p. 53; Churchill, S. ed., “Journal d’un officer du régiment de ta Sarre-Infanterie pendant la guerre d’amérique (1780–1782),” Carnet de la Sabretache, Revue Militaire Rétrospective, 2d ser. 3 (1904), 368 Google Scholar; de Vaudreuil, Comte Rigaud “Notes de campagne du comte Rigaud de Vaudreuil,” Neptunio, 46 (2d trimester, 1957), 39.Google Scholar Antier lists the property of de Grasse on Saint-Domingue that was offered as collateral (p. 438). These same merchants showed less reluctance to loan money to Spanish officials. See Muñoz, Guillermo Porras “El fracaso de Guarico,” Anuario de Estudios Americanos, 26(1969), 596.Google Scholar See also note 30.

30 De Grasse’s famous letter of July 29 to General Rochambeau informed officials in the Thirteen Colonies that he would be there soon and that they could count on receiving the 1,200,000 livres that the admiral had been requested to bring. He would send a ship to Havana to fetch it. Since this was two days before he appealed to the merchants at the Cape for the money and three days before he asked Saavedra for help, it clearly shows that de Grasse always thought he could get the money from the Spanish if necessary. In fact, it raises the question whether de Grasse ever seriously tried to get the money at the Cape! De Grasse’s letter has been reprinted many times. See Doniol, 5: 520–22. Saavedra’s version of these events is contained in his diary and in a letter to the Minister of the Indies. See Pérez-Alonso, 3: 304–07; and AGI, IG, 1578. Saavedra to J. Gálvez, Havana, 18 August, 1781.

31 In addition to Saavedra’s first-hand account (see note 30), Governor Cagigal and Intendant Urriza also recorded how the money was raised. AGI, Papeles de Cuba, 1323. Cagigal to Mayorga, Havana, 5 Sept., 1781. AGN, Marina, 12, exp. 5, ff. 139–41. Urriza to Mayorga, Havana, 16 Oct., 1781.

32 Ezell, p. xix; Bonsai, pp. 119–20; Parra-Pérez, p. xv; Urrutia, 2: 228; Córdoba, Diego, Miranda: soldado del infortunio (Caracas, [1960?]), p. 19 Google Scholar; Iribarne, Manuel Fraga Horizonte españoles, 3d ed. (Madrid, 1968), p. 181.Google Scholar Rochambeau, himself, described the money as “de la première nécesité.” See Doniol, 5: 580.

33 Ferguson, , Robert Morris, 2: 172–76Google Scholar; Fitzpatrick, John C. ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799, 39 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1931–44), 22: 343–44,Google Scholar and 23: 11–12, 50–52, 89, 95, 107. Smith, Page, A New Age Begins, 2 vols. (New York, 1976), 2: 1667–668.Google Scholar Costanins, Colonel A. “Le corps Rochambeau face aux difficultés économiques du royaume et des États-Unis d’Amérique,” Revue Historique des Armées, 3 (1976–4), 128 Google Scholar; de Cossé-Bissac, Colonel “Le France et la guerre de l’indépendance,” Revue Historique de l’Armée, 13 (1957–2), 18 Google Scholar; Montrose, p. 427.

34 Smelser, Marshall, The Winning of Independence (Chicago, 1972), p. 327.Google Scholar Rice and Brown, 1: 64.

35 Ferguson, , Robert Morris, 1: 339–41Google Scholar; Kennett, p. 68; Doniol, 5: 532; Blanchard, Claude, The Journal of Claude Blanchard, trans. Balch, Thomas (1876; reprint ed., New York, 1969), p. 128.Google Scholar

36 French and American participants in the war thanked Saavedra for his contribution to the victory at Yorktown. De Grasse wrote him a letter, and Alexander Gillon, admiral of South Carolina’s navy during the war, paid Saavedra a personal visit to express his appreciation. See Pérez-Alonso, 1: xxviii, and 4: 394.