The Siege of Yorktown in 1781 sealed the Continental Army’s victory in the 8-year American Revolution. The final battle is famously seen as an example of cooperation between the American Army and the French Army and Navy.
Spain’s contributions in the crucial victory are lesser known — the Spanish crown offered support to the American cause via supplies, weapons, ammunition, and money.
Jorge Luis García Ruiz, a Spanish historian and archeologist, is author of the book Revolution: Spain’s Crucial Role.
The book is largely told through the two critical figures in the Revolution: George Washington and Bernando de Gálvez, a Spanish military leader who helped smuggle supplies to the Continental Army.
García Ruiz said Spanish involvement in the war has long been overlooked.
“The history that they told you in schools and everywhere about the Revolution is a narrative (where) they erased the very important Spanish involvement in that war,” Ruiz said.
García Ruiz said that France was economically and militarily broken after losing all the territories they had in America.
“The French were taking money from Spain — we could say a loan, but they never paid it back,” he said. “That wasn’t a loan, that was a swindle. All that help coming from France at the beginning was, in reality, Spanish help."
