the British. The final goal of the plan was the capture of Jamaica, by far the richest British possession in the West Indies. To finance phase 1, Saavedra obtained 100,000 pesos from the Spanish treasury in neighboring Santo Domingo. The Spanish had planned to finance the French and North Americans with pesos shipped through Veracruz from the mines in Mexico. The ships had not arrived, and then, finding that most of the Government money from Havana had been sent on to Spain, he appealed to Cuban citizens, who raised a further 500,000 pesos in a matter of hours. Later career Over the next few months, while De Grasse went ahead with the plan, Saavedra made detailed preparations for the invasion of Jamaica. The defeat of the French fleet at the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782 was a major setback, but preparations continued. However, by the end of 1782 the Spanish government decided to abandon what looked likely to be a very costly project. From 1783 to 1788, Saavedra served as intendant of Caracas, following which he returned to Spain and became first a member of the Supreme War Council, then in 1797 Finance Minister, and the following year, Minister of State. However, his health was failing, so shortly afterwards he retired to Andalucia, only to come back to service in 1810 when Napoleon's French forces invaded Spain. He died on 25 November 1819. References Francisco Morales Padrón, Journal of Don Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis, 1780-1783, Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1988. Thomas E. Chávez, Spain and the Independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2002. Stephen Bonsal, When the French Were Here, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., 1945. Jonathan R. Dull, The French Navy and American Independence, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975. Granville Hough, Spanish Heroes of the American Revolution: Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis, via somosprimos.com- accessed 2008-01-03 External links Contribution of Spanish and Hispanic Americans to the Battle of Yorktown Economy and finance ministers of Spain Prime Ministers of Spain 1746 births 1819 deaths Spanish people of the American Revolution Spanish generals