1776-February-29
1776-February-29: Caron de Beaumarchais submitted a confidential memorandum to King Louis XVI proposing the creation of a commercial house named Roderigue Ho…
HT-DRUS-1941-000041
1776-February-29: Caron de Beaumarchais submitted a confidential memorandum to King Louis XVI proposing the creation of a commercial house named Roderigue Hortalez and Company. This entity was designed to facilitate the shipment of secret French aid to the American rebels while maintaining a veneer of neutrality. Beaumarchais specifically designated Cap-Français in Saint-Domingue as the company’s primary port of deposit in the Americas. By sending munitions to a French colony first, the government could legally justify the transport of war material across the Atlantic. This plan effectively turned Saint-Domingue into a strategic bridge between the French metropole and the American theater of war.
Source · HT-DRUS-1941-000041 · p. 21
Logan, The Diplomatic Relations of the United States with Haiti, 21 / Bates: HT-DRUS-1941-000041