The following was overheard at a platoon roll call during the American Revolutionary War:
"Cpl. Rios? ............................. Presente!"
"Pvt. De la Garza? ................... Presente!"
"Pvt. Martinez? ........................ Aqui!"
"Pvt. Hernandez? ...................... Presente!"
Possibly you think you are reading about a roll call in another revolutionary war. No mistake. Many Spanish soldiers were directly involved as combatants in the American Revolutionary War. In fact, the list of Spanish patriots extends beyond the military personnel of Spain. Ranchers, vaqueros, the Franciscan priests, members of the militia, privateers, Canary Islanders and American Indians living in that part of New Spain now known as Texas all contributed to the victory of the American colonists against the English crown.
To better understand these developments, a look into the history and geography of New Spain is beneficial.
HISTORY:
In 1763 Spain occupied much of the new world. New Spain included Louisiana, and all of the continental North America west of the Mississippi River, "to the arctic snows"; and what is now Mexico and Central America. The Spanish colony of Peru, included all of it's colonies in South America. Additionally, Spain occupied Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Cuba.
England, in addition to the 13 American colonies, owned parts of Canada, Bermuda, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Florida and West Florida, including some forts on the east bank of the Mississippi River as far north as Natchez (now Mississippi). England and Spain were traditional enemies, since at least 1588 when Lord Nelson and Admiral Sir Robert Cross defeated the Spanish Armada; and the following year when Admiral Cross captured Cadiz.
Spain had lost Florida to England after a seven year war, which also cost Spain it's valuable colony in the Philippines. British West Florida included the southern part of what is now Mississippi and Alabama. It resulted from cessions by France and Spain by treaty in 1762. Under the terms of that treaty, Spain regained Havana, a city captured by the British, and Britain obtained Spanish Florida. Under a separate treaty, Spain received Louisiana from France. Pensacola was the capital of British West Florida.
SPAIN'S GOALS:
Spain sought the return of Florida and West Florida, and to keep Louisiana. Spain also desired the return of Gibraltar and the island of Minorca in the Mediterranean. It was also to Spain's interest to remove England from it's sphere of influence in the new world. Carlos, III, king of Spain, wanted revenge against England. As the rumblings of independence became louder in the American colonies, Spain saw it's opportunity.
SPANISH ASSISTANCE:
The courts of Madrid and Paris had agreed, early in the year 1776, upon a plan for giving secret assistance to the revolting colonies. It was agreed between them that in order to insure the secrecy of their support, all monies and supplies should be handled by a third party and appear as open business transactions.
Sympathy for the Americans, when they began open hostilities against the mother country, ran high throughout Spain. At that time, however, Spain was not in a position to make her sympathy openly known. She was engaged in a war with Portugal over possessions in South America that was costing her vast amounts in money and many men and ships. England, the open ally of Portugal, held the dangerous points of Minorca, Mahan, and Gibraltar. Her navy was the most powerful on the seas, second in numbers only to the Spanish fleet.
Carlos, III was, at this time, diplomatically involved in peace negotiations with Portugal and could not afford to enter into any alliance that might endanger those negotiations. To become openly engaged in the struggle of the American colonists against their mother country would certainly lead to a declaration of war by England. It would invite an immediate blockade of all Spanish ports, which would end any possibility of signing the desired treaty with Portugal. This explains the reasons why Spain decided to keep secret her aid to the revolting colonies.
The two Bourbon Courts would initially make an outright gift of two million "livres tournaises", one million to come from each country. One of the first moves consisted of setting up a fictitious company to direct the aid program, make purchases of supplies, arrange for their shipment to the colonies, contact American agents living in France, and account for the money spent . Even before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Carlos, III began to supply the colonists with guns, ammunition, supplies and money.
Thus, in June 1776, when the American Revolution had just begun, we find both Spain and France acting officially, though under the seal of secrecy, as allies of the English colonies against their mother country. Even before this date, however, supplies had been going out on a haphazard basis through the ports of Spain, France, and Holland, as ship captains from America picked up arms and ammunition in personal trading ventures. Moreover, much important trade of this nature had been going on through the Spanish ports in the West Indies. Using these same ports as bases, American captains had been able to prey upon British merchant vessels during the first months of the war.
Part 2
