Everyone knows the American Revolution was won at Yorktown in 1781, when Cornwallis’s Army was trapped, but almost no one knows that victory depended on a Spanish intelligence operative who raised 500,000 pieces of silver in Havana in just 24 hours, convincing Cuban residents to liquidate their jewelry, gold ornaments, and diamonds to fund the French fleet's journey to trap Cornwallis. Francisco de Saavedra was Spain's ultimate shadow architect, operating like a CIA station chief or Charlie Wilson funneling weapons to topple Soviet Afghanistan, coordinating resources across the Caribbean through the Council of the Indies while gathering intelligence on British naval movements. The silver he raised, equivalent to roughly $1 billion in World War II war bond drives when adjusted for inflation, paid French sailors and provisioned Washington's Continental Army for the decisive siege. Without Saavedra's behind-the-scenes diplomacy, Spain and France would never have coordinated their fleets, and the Mississippi River supply line that smuggled Spanish gunpowder and uniforms to the rebels would have remained closed.

Today's guest is James Giesler, author of Francisco De Saavedra's American Revolutionary War: The Spanish Contribution to the Battle of Yorktown. We discuss the unlikely career of Saavedra, an intelligence officer for the Spanish Crown who had such adventures as being capture by the British in 1780 and talked his way out of Jamaican captivity by pretending to be a civilian, why he forced joint Spanish action to capture Pensacola in May 1781 and eliminate the British southern strategy, how he negotiated a treaty for French and Spanish military planning for the first time, and why he planned the 1782 capture of the Bahamas to keep British ships tied up in the West Indies instead of reinforcing Cornwallis. Giesler explains that Saavedra wasn't a boots-on-the-ground commander like Lafayette but a strategic fixer who rose to become Spain's Prime Minister in the 1790s, proving that revolutions are won as much by financial wizardry and intelligence networks as by battlefield heroics.

Everyone knows the American Revolution was won at Yorktown in 1781, when Cornwallis&rsquo;s Army was trapped, but almost no one knows that victory depended on a Spanish intelligence operative who raised 500,000 pieces of silver in Havana in just 24 hours, convincing Cuban residents to liquidate their jewelry, gold ornaments, and diamonds to fund the French fleet's journey to trap Cornwallis. Francisco de Saavedra was Spain's ultimate shadow architect, operating like a CIA station chief or Charlie Wilson funneling weapons to topple Soviet Afghanistan, coordinating resources across the Caribbean through the Council of the Indies while gathering intelligence on British naval movements. The silver he raised, equivalent to roughly $1 billion in World War II war bond drives when adjusted for inflation, paid French sailors and provisioned Washington's Continental Army for the decisive siege. Without Saavedra's behind-the-scenes diplomacy, Spain and France would never have coordinated their fleets, and the Mississippi River supply line that smuggled Spanish gunpowder and uniforms to the rebels would have remained closed.
Today's guest is James Giesler, author of Francisco De Saavedra's American Revolutionary War: The Spanish Contribution to the Battle of Yorktown. We discuss the unlikely career of Saavedra, an intelligence officer for the Spanish Crown who had such adventures as being capture by the British in 1780 and talked his way out of Jamaican captivity by pretending to be a civilian, why he forced joint Spanish action to capture Pensacola in May 1781 and eliminate the British southern strategy, how he negotiated a treaty for French and Spanish military planning for the first time, and why he planned the 1782 capture of the Bahamas to keep British ships tied up in the West Indies instead of reinforcing Cornwallis. Giesler explains that Saavedra wasn't a boots-on-the-ground commander like Lafayette but a strategic fixer who rose to become Spain's Prime Minister in the 1790s, proving that revolutions are won as much by financial wizardry and intelligence networks as by battlefield heroics.

For history lovers who listen to podcasts, History Unplugged is the most comprehensive show of its kind. It's the only show that dedicates episodes to both interviewing experts and answering questions from its audience. First, it features a call-in show where you can ask our resident historian (Scott Rank, PhD) absolutely anything (What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with four wives and twelve concubines? If you were sent back in time, how would you kill Hitler?). Second, it features long-form interviews with best-selling authors who have written about everything. Topics include gruff World War II generals who flew with airmen on bombing raids, a war horse who gained the rank of sergeant, and presidents who gave their best speeches while drunk.

A show about American history, world history, World Wars 1 & 2, the Civil War, and much more.

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged is one of the longest-running history podcasts of its kind, with over 1,000 episodes covering everything from Alexander the Great's plans for European colonization to the untold story of Alabamians who fought for Sherman deep inside Confederate territory. Topics range from the Bronze Age Collapse to the naval campaigns of the Barbary Wars to Daniel Boone's forced adoption by a Shawnee chief. Guests on the show include history professors, Pulitzer Prize winners, consultants for historical films, and outsiders like Joakim Brodén from Sabaton. The show is hosted by Scott Rank, a history professor specializing in the Ottoman Empire and author of 12 books. And for those who love to spin the wheel of what-if, the show regularly ventures into alternate history, exploring questions like what the USSR's victory in the Cold War would have meant for the modern world, or how our current map might look if the Confederacy had survived the Civil War.

 

History Unplugged is one of the longest-running history podcasts of its kind, with over 1,000 episodes covering everything from Alexander the Great's plans for European colonization to the untold story of Alabamians who fought for Sherman deep inside Confederate territory. Topics range from the Bronze Age Collapse to the naval campaigns of the Barbary Wars to Daniel Boone's forced adoption by a Shawnee chief. Guests on the show include history professors, Pulitzer Prize winners, consultants for historical films, and outsiders like Joakim Brod&eacute;n from Sabaton. The show is hosted by Scott Rank, a history professor specializing in the Ottoman Empire and author of 12 books. And for those who love to spin the wheel of what-if, the show regularly ventures into alternate history, exploring questions like what the USSR's victory in the Cold War would have meant for the modern world, or how our current map might look if the Confederacy had survived the Civil War.
&nbsp;