Revolutions 3.1 EXPERT
Which French diplomat and spy set up the fictitious trading company Roderigue Hortalez et Cie to secretly transport weapons and funding to American insurgents before the official alliance of 1778?
75% of players answered correctly.
THE CORRECT ANSWER: Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, famous French playwright, played a crucial clandestine role during the American Revolution. Convinced of the strategic interest for France to weaken England, he convinced Minister Vergennes and King Louis XVI to secretly support the American insurgents from 1776, well before the official alliance.To do this, Beaumarchais founded a fictitious Spanish trading house named Roderigue Hortalez et Cie. Thanks to funds secretly provided by the crowns of France and Spain, this maritime enterprise made it possible to purchase and transport immense shipments of ammunition, cannons, rifles and uniforms essential to George Washington's Continental Army.This major logistical aid, orchestrated in the shadows by the writer, proved absolutely decisive for the first American victories, notably during the crucial Battle of Saratoga in 1787.