Juan de Miralles
Juan de Miralles (* 1713 in Petrel , Alicante Province , † April 30, 1780 in Morristown , New Jersey ) was a Spanish arms dealer and envoy to the Continental Congress .
Life
His parents were from France. Miralles came to Cuba very young. Charles III of Spain had sent Juan de Miralles to observe the new American administration of George Washington in the then capital Philadelphia . Miralles met Washington at a Christmas party and brought him a letter from Diego José Navarro García de Valladares .
Juan de Miralles found a business partner in Robert Morris with whom he intensified trade between the USA and Cuba. The help for the young state consisted of the necessary discretion vis-à-vis the British Empire, equipping the conflicting party and a declaration of war by Imperial Spain on the British Empire in 1779 as part of the American War of Independence .
He died of pneumonia in the Ford Mansion when George Washington was using it as his headquarters. His remains were transferred to Havana and buried there.
Individual evidence
- ↑ George Washington, February 27, 1780, To JUAN DE MIRALLES ( Memento from July 10, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ J. Reyes-Montblanc: Americanos ( Memento of May 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Aleida Duran: Contribuciones Hispanas a la Independencia de Estados Unidos ( accessed September 7, 2019)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Miralles, Juan de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish merchant and envoy at the Continental Congress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1713 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Petrel , Alicante Province |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 30, 1780 |
| Place of death | Morristown , New Jersey |