The Revolutionary War’s Charlie Wilson: A Spanish Spy Chief Funded the Siege of Yorktown, Helping Washington Win
About this episode
The episode discusses the crucial role of Spanish intelligence operative Francisco de Saavedra in funding the Siege of Yorktown during the American Revolution.
Everyone knows the American Revolution was won at Yorktown in 1781, when Cornwallis’s Army was trapped, but almost no one knows that victory depended on a Spanish intelligence operative who raised 500,000 pieces of silver in Havana in just 24 hours, convincing Cuban residents to liquidate their jewelry, gold ornaments, and diamonds to fund the French fleet's journey to trap Cornwallis. Francisco de Saavedra was Spain's ultimate shadow architect, operating like a CIA station chief or Charlie Wilson funneling weapons to topple Soviet Afghanistan, coordinating resources across the Caribbean through the Council of the Indies while gathering intelligence on British naval movements. The silver he raised, equivalent to roughly $1 billion in World War II war bond drives when adjusted for inflation, paid French sailors and provisioned Washington's Continental Army for the decisive siege. Without Saavedra's behind-the-scenes diplomacy, Spain and France would never have coordinated their fleets, and the Mississippi River supply line that smuggled Spanish gunpowder and uniforms to the rebels would have remained closed. Today's guest is James Giesler, author of Francisco De Saavedra's…
People in this episode
Guest: James Giesler
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Spanish Crown, Council of the Indies, French fleet, British
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