Today’s entry in the official Journal of the Constitutional Convention was brief, noting “the House met – but the Committee of revision not having reported, and there being no business before the Convention, the House adjourned.”
George Washington used the extra free time to dine at the home of his host, Robert Morris, “in a large company with Mr. Gardoqui” where they “drank tea and spent the evening.” On Sunday, according to Washington’s diary, he “made a visit to Mr. Gardoqui, who as he says came from New York on a visit to me.”
Diego de Gardoqui has been a particularly close friend of Washington since the earliest days of the Revolutionary War. Born in Bilbao, Spain, in 1735, he is the second of eight children, the son of Jose de Gardoqui, a successful merchant who had obtained permission to import cod from England and its North American colonies. Diego lived in London for five years as an apprentice to a Director of the East India Company where he learned to speak English and understand English culture and government.
Diego and two brothers, together with their father, owned a trading company, “Jose de Gardoqui e Hijos.” When Jose died, the brothers continued to grow the business and became the leading importer of cod from the northern parts of New England and exporter of Spanish wool and iron. Among their partners in trade were Jeremiah Lee and Elbridge Gerry, both of whom became leaders in the cause of independence from Great Britain.
Lee was a wealthy shipping magnate, owning nearly twenty merchant ships. He had spent twenty-five years in the Massachusetts militia at Marblehead and met regularly to collaborate with Patriots such as John Hancock in Sam Adams. In December 1774, Lee secretly contacted Gardoqui with an urgent request for guns and gunpowder. Gardoqui responded in a letter dated February 17, 1775, determined to help, but could send only three hundred muskets with bayonets and “about double the number of pairs of pistols.”
Gardoqui’s letter also advised the difficulty of obtaining other arms and gunpowder as well as shipping through British ports and avoiding privateers and the British Navy at sea. “All arms on this side are made on the King’s account,” he explained, “and it is a rarity to find them ready made.” Moreover, “whatever is made in this kingdom is for the government. It is our opinion that should any of your vessels be taken in the Channel loaded with those articles, she would certainly be condemned. However, by having timely advice, we can bring them from Holland on reasonable terms and ship them as you desire.”
Gardoqui concluded the letter with a personal note to Lee, “We doubted not but you would be made a member of the Congress as we well know the real great character you bear among all that know you, therefore wish you most heartily all success.”
Later that year, Gerry ordered more pistols and powder, paying with cash and bills of exchange in advance. Over time, the House of Gardoqui supplied the American rebels with “25 cannon, 30,000 muskets, 30,000 bayonets, 51,314 musket balls, 300,000 pounds of powder, 12,868 grenades, 30,000 uniforms, and 4,000 field tents.” Many of these supplies arrived in time to alleviate the suffering of Washington’s troops at Valley Forge.
Both France and Spain were willing to assist the Patriots against Britain, their long-time rival, but only covertly. Both were colonial powers themselves – to encourage a revolt in any colony was to threaten stability in their own. Both were absolute monarchies and harbored no sympathy for a movement based on “no taxation without representation.” Moreover, they were Catholic countries while the colonies were decidedly Protestant. But Britain was their colonial rival and often their enemy - and both controlled valuable territory in North America.
On February 6, 1778, months after the victory over the British at Saratoga, representatives of the United States and France signed the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce which included provisions prohibiting either party from making a separate peace with Britain and a commitment to continue fighting until the independence of the United States was recognized. Spain was more hesitant. Willing to continue secretly supplying the Patriots and meeting with their envoys, including Arthur Lee and John Jay, Spain’s Charles III would not enter into an alliance with the fledgling United States. However, the French Foreign Minister was able to bring the Spanish into their war against the British. On June 21, 1779, Spain declared war on Britain, making it a de facto ally of the United States, ensuring that British naval forces would be spread out from Gibraltar to the Caribbean.
In 1785, the war over and the United States establishing itself in the international community, Gardoqui was appointed as the first official ambassador of Spain to the United States. Arriving in New York, he settled in at the southern end of Broadway, close to Wall Street, and was a popular diplomat, gourmet and wine expert, and supporter of the Catholic Church, contributing to the building of St. Peter’s Church, the first Catholic parish in New York City. Gardoqui also nourished his friendships with many of our Founding Fathers, including John Jay, Benjamin Franklin and especially Washington, who wrote to Gardoqui a year ago, thanking him for some “cloth made of the wool of the vicuna.” It was, Washington noted, “of a softness and richness which I have never seen before.”
The letter Gardoqui wrote from Bilbao, Spain, to his friend Jeremiah Lee on February 17, 1775, regarding Lee’s request never reached Lee but is part of the record of Lee’s work to supply the Patriots. Two months later, on April 19, the morning British troops marched into Lexington, Lee had been scheduled to meet with Patriots at the Black Horse Tavern in Menotomy, Massachusetts. That same morning, the British raided the tavern as Lee and others, including Elbridge Gerry, fled and hid in the morning dampness of a cornfield. Suffering from exposure, Lee contracted a fever that led to his death on May 10, 1775.