Roderigue Hortalez and Company was an enterprise that funneled covert military and financial aid by France and Spain to American revolutionaries prior to the formal alliance of France with the American revolutionary government against Britain. With the backing of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

's minister Vergenne, the ruse was organized by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, a French playwright, watch-maker, inventor, musician, politician, fugitive, spy, publisher, arms-dealer, and revolutionary. Through the company, weapons and other war material were directed to help the insurgent Americans fight the British, longtime rival of France which had just defeated France in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, taking France's North American territory.

Background

The

had gone badly for France, which had lost nearly all of her North American colonial possessions and had been militarily humiliated by the British. Spain, who had been an ally of France late in the war, had lost the strategically important territory of Florida. Britain, meanwhile, had expanded its colonial territories across large areas of North America. To get out of legal trouble Pierre Beaumarchais pledged his services to the king in order to restore his civil rights.''Beaumarchais: The three Figaro plays'', translation and notes by David Edney, Doverhouse, 2000. In 1774, Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes was appointed the foreign minister of France by Louis XVI. Vergennes was strongly anti-England, at one point declaring "England is the natural enemy of France." His chance to strike at Britain came through Pierre Beaumarchais.

The company in operation

Beaumarchais, working as a secret agent, had traveled to London in pursuit of Chevalier d'Eon, an agent of Louis XVI, who had threatened the King with blackmail.Georges Édouard Lemaître. Beaumarchais. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1949 During that period Beaumarchais fell in with the dissolute crowd that surrounded John Wilkes, the Mayor of London. There he received a letter from the Continental Congress, delivered by Arthur Lee. In it Congress suggested to his government that it encourage the rebellion in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

by sending secret military aid disguised as a loan. Beaumarchais believed Britain's economy would be significantly crippled without the thirteen colonies. Louis XVI and Vergennes agreed. Both states were unwilling to openly show their support, at least until after the rebellion had successfully begun. Before the Declaration of Independence was even signed, weapons and other necessities were already flowing via the ostensibly neutral Dutch island of St. Eustatius. Muskets,

cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during t ...

, cannonballs,

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

, tents, and enough

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

for 30,000 men were sent. This assistance kept American hopes alive during the spring of 1776.Jones, ''Crucible of Power''. pp. 6 Hortalez & Co. conducted business with the Americans from France through Connecticut merchant Silas Deane, who was sharing a covert trade agency with Thomas Morris the half-brother of

Robert Morris (financier) Robert Morris Jr. (January 20, 1734May 8, 1806) was an English-born American merchant, investor and politician who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania legislature, the Second Continenta ...

. Because this business did not include Arthur Lee, Lee then made it a point that Beaumarchais would never be paid for the goods he provided. He did this, not to harm Beaumarchais, but to deprive a political competitor his commission. As a result of Lee's actions, Deane lived in disgrace and poverty for years, and eventually died trying to prove that he was due the money. In an August 16, 1777, letter from Lee to the "secrete committee of congress", he wrote of Beaumarchais that

Opposition

The only major opposition to the plan came from French minister of finance Baron Turgot. He insisted that American independence would occur whether or not France financed the rebellion. He said the funding would add to the already heavy burden of a general French military and naval buildup and would lead to bankruptcy. Turgot eventually resigned in protest.

Background

The company in operation

Opposition

References

Further reading