…for some serious browsing:
The Library of Congress of American Memory. Type in “Cuba” in the search box.
There you’ll find everything from music, including sheet music:
To Historical photographs:
To interesting anecdotes:
And everything else in between, including every congressional record where Cuba has been mentioned.
There are also the George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln letters collections where the subject of Cuba seems to have been a recurring theme.
I wonder how many of them did stay, and how many grandchildren or great-grandchildren are still there, or are now in Miami?
Hmmm… Black American soldiers romancing Cuban women? Never heard of that one.
I read somewheres that Cubans actually provided monies to the colonies to help finance the revolution. I wish I remembered the source.
Mike,
I too remember that. The first I heard iof that was in a documentary on the Revolutionary war on the History channel. IIRC, washington’s forces were in dire need of food and rations and munitions, somoeone was dispatched to Cuba – I cant recall who it was – and the women of the elite society in Cuba gave up their jewelry to help the Colonies aganist England.
I searched the Washington papers but didnt have time to go through all of them.
I was just reading about the “Ladies from Havana” and the money they helped raise for the American cause. Of course that was only part of the story. Val, I think someone commented here last year on that very topic.
Here’s a search with good links:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Ladies+of+Havana+and+American+Independence&fr=FP-tab-web-t&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8
Mike, Val:
Here is a reference to the “Ladies of Havana”:
http://www.nocastro.com/news/July4.htm
thanks for the links
FACTS: In a Nutshell
Before the Declaration of Independence Spain gave the colonists 5,000,000 Spanish dollars in support of their cause.
Before the Declaration of Independence Patrick Henry and General Charles Lee were communicating with Spain’s representatives in Louisiana. Benjamin Franklin was also communicating with the Count of Aranda, a high Minister of State and Spain’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
The soldiers of George Washington’s Continental Army received pay for their services. When that pay was not forthcoming, there were a great number of desertions. Washington and Rochambeau found themselves without the funds necessary to pay the army. With the British entrenched in Yorktown, Washington and Rochambeau saw the possibility of a naval blockade of the British combined with a siege by land. In order for this to happen they needed to bring enough of the revolutionary army against the English. They were in desperate need of money. Rochambeau then sent a missive to DeGrasse in Cap-Haitien (where the French fleet was soon due to arrive) asking for financial help from the colonial authorities. DeGrasse was unable to acquire the 1,200,000 needed in spite of the fact that he offered as guaranty his properties in the colony and in France. He then turned to the Spanish Marquis Juan de Salavedra (residing in Cap-Haitien) who agreed to take DeGrasse’s letter to the governor of Cuba Juan Manuel de Cagical. “In this manner and with the enthusiastic cooperation of a number of Cubans and Francisco de Miranda, the governor’s Aid-de-Camp, the requested funds were collected” five hours after the arrival of the frigate “Aigrete” sent by DeGrasse. “The public treasury was assisted by individuals, ladies even offering their jewelry. Confident that he would receive assistance from Cuba, DeGrasse wrote to Rochambeau informing him of the success of his undertaking and announcing his arrival in Chesapeake Bay by the end of August.” And the rest as they say… is History! If DeGrasse had failed to obtain the necessary funds from Cuba, the history of the United States would have been different.
Spain controlled the Mississippi River. Louisiana during the American Revolution extended from the Gulf of Mexico (Mouth of the Mississippi River) to the Great Lakes on the Border with Canada.
Spanish Forces made it possible for the American Colonists to remain in control of Fort Pitt. See Coronel Morgan’s letter to Bernardo de Galvez dated May 1777.
1778 – Fort St. Louis – Spanish Forces put up a strong resistance which forced British forces to call off the attack. Later in order to protect Fort St. Louis from the North the Fort’s commander Francisco Cruzat attacked the English garrison at St. Joseph on Lake Michigan. Taken by surprise the small garrison was taken and all the personnel made prisoners.
Fort Butte – At Manchack on August 27, 1779 Bernardo de Galvez and 1,472 men took over the fort from the British who finally surrendered on September 7, 1779.
Bernardo de Galvez and his men then attacked Fort Baton Rouge where Colonel Dickson and his 600 men surrendered on September 21
Galvez attacked Fort Caplan and Pan Mure, October 25, in Natchez.
1781 – The Battle of Pensacola – The most brilliantly executed battle of the Revolutionary War. Bernardo de Galvez’s fleet included Spaniards and Cubans. It was due to the great loses suffered by England that the success of the final battle of the revolution in Yorktown was made possible.
“During 15 years Spain paid, punctually, one after the other, in the banks of Austria, Germany and Holland, notes which the United States could not honor.”
Etc. etc. etc. There is SO MUCH documented information on the aid supplied from Spain and Cuba to the colonies that it’s baffling why American historians have always kept this hidden from history books.
Information on Spain’s and Cuba’s aid to the Colonies during the American Revolution can be found in the following:
Spain: Forgotten Ally of the American Revolution – Buchanan Parker Thompson. This book is a GREAT source of information.
Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Edited by William James Morgan, D.C. USA Navy Department, 1972 Volume 6 page 7.
Bicentennial Bulletin, Hall of Records, Annapolis, MD. July 1976 Pages 74-76.
Juan de Miralles and the American Revolution, Helen Matzke McCadden, in “The Americas” Volume XXIX Number 3 pages 359-374
Look for writings from author Samuel Flagg Bemis Check on http://www.bibliofind.com
La Campaña de Pensacola, 1781 – Manuel Petinal
The Log of the H.M.S. Mentor, A New Account of the British Navy at Pensacola 1780-1781 – Edited by James A. Servies
Battle of Pensacola – N. Orwin Rush
Bernardo de Gálvez, Hero of the American Revolution – Lorenzo G. LaFarelle.
Yo Solo – Carmen de Raparaz.
Los Otros Extranjeros en la Revolución Norteamericana – Herminio Portell Vilá.
Juan de Miralles, Un Habanero Amigo de George Washington – Herminio Portell Vilá
Spain and the Independence of the United States -Yela Utrilla. This is also a great source of information.
Campaign Diary of the Comte DeGrasse. His main mission in “the Americas” was to conduct joint naval operations with the Spaniards.