Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis
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Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis (1746 – 1819) was a Spanish government official and soldier who assisted the French and Americans in raising funds for the Siege of Yorktown in 1781.
Assigned as diplomatic emissary to the strategic West Indies, Saavedra’s mission was to promote the Spanish-French alliance and joint military operations against the British, and to ensure the movement of finances for this effort. His appointment and mission were known and approved by Carlos III of Spain. Saavedra was acquainted with many of the leading characters in the Americas during his day and he was a protégé of the Gálvez family, including Bernardo de Galvez. Saavedra spoke and wrote French fluently.
At the request of Jose de Gálvez, Saavedra met with Admiral de Grasse who was in the West Indies preparing to depart for Virginia. De Grasse had instructions from the Comte de Rochambeau to bring hard currency that was desperately needed to finance the Battle of Yorktown. De Grasse had been unable to raise the funds in Santo Domingo, and Saavedra traveled to Havana, Cuba, to request assistance. Since the Spanish treasury in Havana was depleted of silver and gold at that time, the hard currency was loaned by the citizens of Havana. De Grasse was able to reach North America in time to win the Battle of the Chesapeake and to aid in the Battle of Yorktown.
A thoughtful and prescient man, Saavedra recorded in his diary in 1780: “What is not being thought about at present, what ought to occupy the whole attention of politics, is the great upheaval that in time the North American revolution is going to produce in the human race.”
[edit] References
- Francisco Morales Padrón, Journal of Don Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis, 1780-1783, Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1988.
- Thomas E. Chávez, Spain and the Independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2002.
- Stephen Bonsal, When the French Were Here, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., 1945.
- Jonathan R. Dull, The French Navy and American Independence, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975.
