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Spanish, French, Dutch, andAmerican Patriots of thb West Indies i# During the AMERICAN Revolution PART7 SPANISH BORDERLAND STUDIES By Granvil~ W. andN. C. Hough -~ ,~~~.'.i~:~ " :~, ~i " .... - ~ ,~ ~"~" ..... "~,~~'~~'-~ ,%v t-5.._. / © Copyright ,i. "; 2001 ~(1 ~,'~': .i: • by '!!|fi:l~: r!;.~:! Granville W. and N. C. Hough 3438 Bahia Blanca West, Apt B ~.l.-c • Laguna Hills, CA 92653-2830 !LI.'.. Email: gwhough(~earthiink.net u~ "~: .. ' ?-' ,, i.. Other books in this series include: • ...~ , Svain's California Patriots in its 1779-1783 War with England - During the.American Revolution, Part 1, 1998. ,. Sp~fin's Califomi0 Patriqts in its 1779-1783 Wor with Englgnd - During the American Revolution, Part 2, :999. Spain's Arizona Patriots in ire |779-1783 War with Engl~n~i - During the Amcricgn RevolutiQn, Third Study of the Spanish Borderlands, 1999. Svaln's New Mexico Patriots in its 1779-|783 Wit" wi~ England- During the American Revolution, Fourth Study of the Spanish Borderlands, 1999. Spain's Texa~ patriot~ in its 1779-1783 War with Enaland - Daring the A~a~ri~n Revolution, Fifth Study of the Spanish Borderlands, 2000. Spain's Louisi~a Patriots in its; 1779-1783 War witil England - During.the American Revolution, Sixth StUdy of the Spanish Borderlands, 20(~0. ./ / . Svain's Patriots of Northerrt New Svain - From South of the U. S. Border - in its 1779- 1783 War with Engl~nd_ Eighth Study of the Spanish Borderlands, coming soon. ,:.Z ~JI ,. Published by: SHHAK PRESS ~'~"'. ~ ~i~: :~ .~:,: .. Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research ~.,~.,:" P.O. Box 490 Midway City, CA 92655-0490 (714) 894-8161 ~, ~)it.,I ,. Emall: [email protected] F: J/): '*:,,I . (~: .:~" '.:. ;::,::!:.,: ri!L;-':,., -... ii ~i .. • ('.... tmmm PREFACE This is the seventh study we have undertaken of patriots during the American Revolution; and it is the first study of the W~t Indies and bordering mainland areas under Spanish, French, Dutch, or English control at the time. As we have worked our way across the Spanish Borderlands from California to Florida, we believe we have gained an appreciation of Spanish activities so that we can make a better i'ecord of Ii Spanish individuals who participated than those historia~a who have preceded us. In West .Florida at ~t. Fc.nsacola, we encountered the records of French forces joining with Spanish forces to capture that p~ace. In Louisiana, we encountered Americans arranging for clandestine support from the West Indies, Mexico, and Europe. Actually, as we look at the West Indies we find a vast theater of operations involving all the nations at war with England. Earlier historians recorded the higher level officials and activities but paid little attention to the soldiers, mariners, and volunteers who constituted the bulk of the forces involved in the West Indies. ,. A partial exception must be made for the French forces of the West Indies because so many of them fought on American soil or in American waters. There were Count d'Estaing's fleet and his West Indies land forces at Savannah. There were Count de Grasse's fleet on the Chesapeake and the French army forces he transported from the West Indies to Yorktown. There were General Rochambeau's French army forces which fought at Yorktown, then mostly moved to Venezuela in Dec 1782. Many of these soldiers and sailors have thus been long known and degendants have been eligible to join the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) almost from its foundin~ The Society In France, Sons of the American Revolution, was organized in Paris 16 Sep 1897. The French government officially authorized the establishment of the Society 18 May 1900. By that time Counts Lafayette and Rochambeau had joined, both descendants of French leaders of forces in America. The SAR chapter in Paris, with the aid of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, formed a Franco-American Commission to research and list the units and individual soldiers and ,.sailors who fought for American Independence. The comi:-~ed fists were publ~hed in French by the Minister of the French Republic as Les Combattants Francois de la guerre am~ricalne de 1778-1783. This book was republished by the Congress of the United States as Senate Document 77, ~8~' Congress, 2d Session, in 1905. Thus there has been at least one basic document for establishing French ancestral service since its publication So it can be said that descendants of some French soldiers of the West Indies have been able to join the SAR since 1900. The Franco-American Commission noted that it did not include the naval forces of Count de Ouichen, which fought in the Antilles, nor the French naval forces which fought in Atlantic, European, and Indian Ocean waters. It did ~ot include the French army forces which fought solely in the West Indies or elsewhere. It believed these forces diverted and weakened the Brit~h so that Americans could gain control of their land internally and establish themselves as a nation. It noted, for example, that the exploits of French Admiral Suffren in the Indian Ocean probably had as great an influence on the peace negotiatiotu as the cartier actions by Admiral de Grasse on the Chesapeake. The Commission regretted it had to limit its work to the time available, so it concentrated on the composition of French forces who fought on the land oftbe 13 colonies or in their waters. The Commission dearly indicated that it believed that all those who fought England in the Revolutionary time period should be included as patriots. The same reasoning could be applied to Spanish and Dutch forces as well as French. Since the work of the Franco-American Commi.v~ion 100 years ago, the SAR has indeed extended its definition of patriots beyond those who merely fought on American soil, in American waters, or on American ships if indeed that was the intent at the time. About 1925, it began accepting descendants of Spanish soldkrs and militiamen who served in Louisiana during the 1776-1783 time period. In January, 2000, the SAR inducted as a member King Juan Carlos 1 of Spain, descendant of King Carlos m who declared war on England as King of Spain. The Prince of Astoria, the Crown Prince of Spain, son of King Juan Carlos I, joined in New Mexico later in year 2000. Their cousin, the Duke of Seville, Francisco Enrique de Borbon y Escaany, joined at Chicago in year 2002 as another descendant of King Carlos 11I. SAR members now include descendants of Spanish soldiers who served in California, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana. We have indeed extended the definition of patriot, and this study deals with Spanish, French, Dutch, and American soldien and sailors and other patriots who served in the West Indies. ii ~i:~,;/ :. • • ....... ~ ,,%.- We ~now'there were over 100,000 persons involved in the West Indies in the various army, naval, land and mariner units of Spain, France, and the Netherlands, with about 2500 of that number coming from the militia, Indians, or other forces living in territory within present-day United States. We believe there are thousands of persons living both in the United States or in the West Indies whose ancestor services would qualify them to join the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) or ~h~ Daughters of theAmerican Revolution ..... (DAR). For the French units and lists of individual soldiers and sailors who fought on American soft and waters, we gave the page references from Les Combattants... ]~or others, we have prepared a consolidated ~:~.. list with asterisks used tot designate those for whom we tdentifued suitable records for documentation of service during the war. We have also included near patriots who were of suitable age or held suitable offices, but for whom we did not see documentation In our previous studies, we included lists of males over 18 who may have contributed to the war fund set up by King Carlos [] for defraying expenses of the war. We found references to these contributions in the West Indies, and we also found references to loans and other ,~.s'., ,, - collections for war purposes. We found no direct record of Spanish priests actually carrying out the request of King Carlos m to pray for victory. We assume they did, so both Spanish and French priests are included •t~-. • : atrlots. As priests normally left no descendants, the SAR interest is in fmding and maridng their burial ,. ,:.% ?,, ,. We made no specific effort to identify the racial identity of any person beyond what was obvious in ..! the records. We know that France and Spain each had units of free blacks and mulattm, including the Chansseurs Voluntaires from Halt/which covered the French retreat from Savannah. A similar decisive role had been played by the Spanish blacks from Havana who beat off the assault of the British at the Village of Mobile. We also know that pr/vateer crews enlisted mixed race people who knew the Ioca] waters well enough to guide or hide ships. Today, the West Indks is one of the most racially diverse parts of the woHd, and It had already established that character at the t/me of the Revolut/ouary War. As far as North America is concerned, the West Indies is the home of what we now call "diversity." We owe at least part of our history, as an independent United States, to those ordInary citizens of the West Indies who helped us when we needed help most. When they brought us gum, gunpowder, and other munitions of war;, we did not check them for rad~ identity. Our presentation outline includes ~r, introduction, summary time fine, units we could identify in each engagement or campaign, in'd~vidnuls Involved, epilogue comments, then references which may be useful to • ' .

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