A world war it was. The Dutch, Portuguese and even some South-Asian Kingdoms became involved.
The British had 94 ships of the line (SOTL), with the best trained crews. The French had 52 and the Spanish 54. The Spanish had the better ships...and the most untrained crews. (Similarly to the Italians in WWII).
The Americans had a grand total of _5_ SOTL.
That's where the real advantage of having the Spanish and French ships laid. It caused the British to pull their units away from American coast, to protect England and the Caribbean island factories, thus preventing their literal mauling of the tiny American fleet. The convoys to help the British Forces could not be protected either.
The real worry to the Brits was the loss of the island factories in the Caribbean, of far more economic importance than the paltry 13 colonies. An Spanish Admiral captured a large British convoy (~60 ships) with provisions for Cornwallis. The blocking French ships prevented any other assistance from reaching him, after Cheasepeake Bay.
The Spanish and French had just finished the preparations for an invasion force to take the British Caribbean factories, which meant it was a good moment for King George to agree to terms. While Yorktown was a significant defeat, it was the Spanish-French invasion-to-be which truly motivated the end of the hostilities, then and there.
In fact, Jim. It was Spanish help that saved Washington at Valley Forge. The soldiers were deserting die to both lack of payment and supplies. The local merchants would rather sell to the British at good rates and in actual coin, not promisory notes. It was Spanish aid, both in supplies such as weapons et al, as in actual money transfers that saved the day. I have even seen (in Mt. Vernon?) Washinton's own musket, which just happens to be a Spanish M1757.
Even the French required assistance from Spain, they were utterly broke. Spain had to loan money, supplies and repair facilities for De Grasses's fleet. His guns burnt Spanish Black-Powder...and so did the Colonial fleet, whose ships were repaired in Spanish Ports from La Coruna to Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo and Colombia.
Well, I'm getting too deep into this subject, and perhaps this is not the right forum
BTW: Spain didn't do this out of love for their monarch-defiant (
Dios nos proteja..!) American neighbours, it was all out of self interest, and as repayment to the Brits for the prior "7-years war"...
Best!
M
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Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
Mark, thanks very much for the link, and this really is an excellent article.
Manolo, thank you for the annotations as well! Your knowledge on this field is always outstandingly represented in the helpful notes you add, and it really helps having a more accurate interpretation as we learn from articles like this.
As I learn more on colonial New Spain and its fascinating history, it is incredible to realize that the Revolutionary War in America was actually more of a 'world war' than a relatively isolated theater of war. While it is known than France was in degree involved and actually formally declared war on Great Britain later, it is seldom recognized that Spain also played a role in not only financial support in certain degree, but as can be clearly seen in this article, considerable supplies of weapons.
I think that Neumann's long standing key reference on weaponry of the Revolutionary War reflects the wide scope of international weaponry used during this period by the Colonial Forces, and this article does focus on the important detail concerning those of Spain.
Excellent link Mark, and great input Manolo!! Its good to see this field of study on Spanish Colonial history developing more interest.
All the best,
Jim
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