American Revolution Podcast

Sunday, September 20, 2026

ARP401 War Comes to Puerto Rico

For a while now, I’ve been referencing the ongoing war in Europe, fighting that the US was desperately trying to avoid, but which continued to cause them problems. While this was a major focus in America, I’m really trying to ignore most of the details of the war, out of a fear that we stray too far off-topic and dive into the French Revolution and its related wars. But in 1796 and 1797, those European conflicts strayed into the Americas. This week, we will discuss how the war impacted folks in the western hemisphere

European War Rages

The conflict raging in 1797 had evolved from the war that Revolutionary France began with most of Europe, beginning back in 1792. For one reason or another, France declared war on most of Europe. The rest of Europe organized in an effort to crush France and put an end to the experiment of a French Republic. They formed a coalition to defeat France. Historians would later call this the War of the First Coalition, which gives away the fact that it was only the first of many wars with different coalitions fighting against France. This would eventually be known more generally as the Napoleonic Wars. However, at this time, Napoleon was not in charge of France. He was just a general.

Massacre of English at San Juan 1797

After France executed King Louis in 1793, Spain joined the war against France. Spain and France had been traditional allies, but much of the reason was that the Spanish and French monarchies were related. King Louis of France and King Charles of Spain were both from the House of Bourbon and were second cousins. When French revolutionaries severed King Louis’ head from his body, they also severed that traditional alliance with Spain.

The Spanish declared war, probably figuring that without a King, and with most of Europe at war with France, that Spain might gain some territorial concessions. Instead France held its own against Spain and even captured some Spanish territory.

By 1796, Spain was sick of fighting with France. As we discussed back in Episode 392, Spain signed a peace treaty with France, around the same time they signed the treaty with the US ceding land and access to the Mississippi River. Spain knew that making peace with France probably meant war with Britain, and wanted to make sure the US did not ally itself with Britain.

Their concerns about Britain proved correct. Spain signed the treaty of San Ildefonso allying with France. In response, Britain began using its navy to attack Spanish shipping. These attacks led to a Spanish declaration of war against Britain on October 5, 1796. As had been the case during the American Revolution, Britain had the largest naval fleet, but Spain and France’s navies combined outnumbered the British.

After going to war against both countries, Britain withdrew from several islands in the Mediterranean, but was determined to cut off Spain from her American colonies through naval control of the Atlantic.

Battle of Cape St. Vincent

Britain won an important naval victory against Spain on February 14, 1797 off the coast of Cape St. Vincent in Portugal. Spain assembled a fleet of 25 ships of the line, and a dozen smaller ships to escort a convoy of Spanish merchant ships to the Americas.

British Admiral John Jervis commanded a fleet of 15 British ships of the line that had just withdrawn from the Mediterranean into the Atlantic. Commodore Horatio Nelson, in command of the Minerve, was looking for Jervis when he spotted the Spanish fleet. Nelson actually sailed through the enemy fleet in a heavy fog without being spotted. He found Jervis and identified the enemy’s location, but was unsure how many ships the enemy had.

The British sailed to intercept, approaching at night, only to discover after dawn that they were outnumbered by about 2-1. Admiral Jervis went ahead with the attack, knowing that things would only get worse if the Spanish fleet connected with the French fleet and grew even larger. Despite the disadvantage in numbers, Jervis knew his ships were in top condition and his crews were highly disciplined and experienced.

By contrast, the Spanish commander, Vice-Admiral Don José de Cordova y Rosas, had only taken command of the fleet after his predecessor Admiral Don José de Langara brought the fleet into Cartagena for repairs. Langara believed that the ships were unfit for service. The ministry in Madrid disagreed and wanted the fleet out at sea fighting. Another experienced commander, Rear-Admiral Don José de Massaredo, refused the offer to take command based on his concerns about the condition of the ships as well. It is telling that two commanders refused to take command based on the condition of hte ships. Much of the crew was made up of soldiers with little to no sailing experience as well as men gathered from Spanish prisons. So the Spanish fleet was larger, but the British fleet was in better condition and with better crews.

When they made contact on Valentines Day, the two fleets formed into lines of battle and engage in the late morning. British position and firing led to a very one-sided result. The Spanish lost 430 killed and 860 wounded. The British lost 73 killed and 229 wounded

Nelson boarding the San Josef

Commodore Nelson showed particular daring. After his ship was nearly destroyed by enemy fire, he pulled against an enemy ship the San Nicolás. Nelson’s crew took the ship in ferocious hand to hand combat. Another Spanish ship, the San Josef, pulled alongside the San Nicolás for support, only to have the British crew cross over onto that second enemy ship and capture it as well.

The British captured two other Spanish ships of the line that day, for a total of four, with 3000 enemy prisoners. The rest of the badly damaged enemy ships limped away. The British landed their 3000 prisoners in Portugal on parole. The Spanish ignored that parole and put the men back aboard other ships. That aside, the victory was a stunning one.

Admiral Jervis received the title of Earl St. Vincent and a lifetime pension of £3,000 per year. Nelson’s conspicuous action gained him a knighthood in the Order of the Bath. He also received a promotion to Rear Admiral shortly thereafter.

Back in Spain, Admiral de Cordóva suffered the ignominy of losing to a fleet half his size. He faced a court martial and was dismissed from service. He also received a lifetime ban from appearing at the royal court or from entering any of the major coastal towns.

The larger impact was that the British blockade against Spain remained in place, thus cutting off the Spanish colonies in America from any support.

Ralph Abercromby

With no Spanish fleet headed to the West Indies that year, the British looked around to see what island colonies might be susceptible to an invasion.

Ralph Abercromby

The British had already sent General Ralph Abercromby to command the British army in the West Indies. You may recall General James Abercromby from our discussions of the French and Indian War. Ralph and James both came from the same Scottish clan but were not closely related.

Ralph was the son of a lawyer and wealthy Scottish landowner. This allowed him a top education, including several years at the University of Edinburgh as well as Leipzig University in what is today Germany. At 22 years old, at the beginning of the Seven Years War Abercromby joined the army, buying a commission as a cornet in the 3rd Dragoon Guards. He rose through the ranks over time. He was a lieutenant colonel by 1773 and a colonel by 1781. Abercromby saw service in Europe, but never served in America during the Revolutionary War. As a Whig, he sympathized with the American cause and chose to serve in Ireland instead of America. During the Revolutionary War period, Abercromby also served as a member of Parliament.

When the Revolutionary War ended, Abercromby left active duty. He returned to active duty in 1793 after France declared war on Britain. He saw combat in France and Holland, where he was wounded in battle.

A short time later, Secretary of State for War Henry Dundas asked Abercromby to lead an expedition to the West Indies. In thanks for his agreement, Abercromby became a Knight of the Bath and an appointment as Lieutenant Governor for the Isle of Wight.

Second Carib War

After arriving in Barbados in early 1796, Abercromby had the command of 6000 British troops. Before Abercromby arrived, more than half of his soldiers were deployed to St. Vincent and Grenada to put down a rebellion on those British colonies.

Don’t confuse the island of St. Vincent in the West Indies with the naval battle that we just discussed, off of Cape St. Vincent, Portugal, the same year. These are two different St. Vincents in different parts of the world.

Britain had taken control of the former French colony, St. Vincent, in 1763, as part of the treaty ending the Seven Years War. France had tried to take it back in 1779 while Britain was focused on the American Revolution, but the British managed to hold it. Britain also took over most of the land held by the native Caribs on the island.

In 1795, the Caribs on St. Vincent revolted. The French settlers who were still there supported the revolt Carib revolt against British control. The rebels managed to take control of the entire island, except for the town of Kingstown.

After his arrival in 1796, Abercromby reinforced the British defenses at Kingstown before moving across the island and stamping out the rebellion. He ended up deporting more than 5000 black Caribs, first to another island and then to the coast of what is today Honduras. More than half of them died in the process. Abercromby lost another nearly 200 men in that campaign. But it ended a rebellion that had been raging for over a year. Deporting the natives meant that the threat would not return.

Following that success, the army moved on to the French colony of St. Lucia. Britain had captured the island colony from France during the Revolutionary War, but was forced to return it as part of the treaty ending the war. The British had recaptured the island in 1794, after going to war with France again, but a sustained guerilla movement kept the British from restoring order. Led by the French revolutionary governor Victor Hugues, France retook control of the island in 1795. Abercromby landed his army to reclaim St. Lucia for Britain once again.

After a one month siege, and at the cost of 566 British casualties, Abercromby restored British control over St. Lucia, leaving an army of 4000 men to ensure no more rebellion.

Attacking Spanish Colonies

When Abercromby first came to the West Indies, Admiral Hugh Christian commanded the naval forces in the region, operating out of Martinique. In early 1796, after it became clear that Britain would soon go to war with Spain, London decided that Christian was too junior for the command and ordered Admiral William Cornwallis to replace him. Cornwallis refused, citing health reasons, and was court martialed for his refusal. The West Indies was not a popular command since disease and hurricanes were continual problems. Eventually, London sent Admiral Henry Harvey, who arrived in June 1796, just in time for the beginning of hurricane season.

Official news that Britain and Spain were at war arrived around the end of the year. Abercromby and Harvey knew this meant it was open season on whatever Spanish colonies seemed vulnerable.

In February, 1797, around the same time the British fleet was destroying the Spanish fleet off the coast of Cape. St. Vincent in Portugal, Abercromby invaded the Spanish island of Trinidad.

Supporting him was a fleet of nine British ships of the line and nine smaller ships. He had an assembled army of about 10,000 soldiers and marines.

Within days, the outnumbered Spanish forces surrendered, leading to 2500 enemy captured, along with one Spanish ship of the line. The Spanish scuttled three other ships of the line and one frigate to avoid their capture. The British lost only one man killed.

Siege of San Juan

Following the success in Trinidad, the British set their sights on Puerto Rico, the fourth largest island in the Caribbean. British intelligence reported that the defenses on the island were weak and that the garrison on the island was very small.

Siege of San Juan

That attack began on April 17, 1797. The British assembled an imposing fleet off the coast of San Juan. They carried an army of somewhere between 7000 and 10,000 soldiers. Sources vary on the exact number.

British General Abercromby sent an officer ashore under a flag of truce to demand the island’s surrender. The governor rejected the demand.

The Spanish, however, had been preparing for an attack. The new governor of Puerto Rico, Field Marshal Don Ramón de Castro y Gutiérrez, was an experienced military officer.

The island had forts and other defenses that had been in place for more than a century, dealing with a long line of prior attacks. The Spanish had been focused on improving defenses for the last few years. They were expecting just such an attack.

British intelligence was correct that the garrison protecting San Juan was not very formidable, . only about 200 soldiers. There were another 200 Spanish veterans living on the island who turned out to supplement the garrison.

As soon as they spotted the British fleet at dawn on the 17th, Gov. Castro called out the militia. These made up the bulk of the defenders, about 4000 locals.

Typically, professional armies discounted the effectiveness of militia. But because the Spanish expected a British attack for some time, they had been drilling the militia more intensively for the past month, including special crews of militia trained in artillery to operate the many cannons deployed in the forts around the city.

The governor also called up another 2000 or so common laborers and peasants who were not part of the formal militia system, but who were collected for this emergency. They even cleared out the prisons, putting prisoners on the defensive lines.

The Spanish also had about 300 French fighters. These were mostly men who served on privateers or commercial ships who had also opposed the British. Many of these were used in Spanish gunboats in the waters around the island.

San Juan itself was a walled town with multiple forts surrounding it. The largest fort, Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, guarded entry into San Juan Bay.

Because San Juan itself was so well defended. Abercromby landed more than 3000 British soldiers on another part of the island so that they could assault the town by land. This happened on April 18th, the day after the fleet’s arrival. The Spanish opposed the British landing with only a tiny force of about 80 men, inflicting some casualties before retreating.

This British force cut off San Juan from the rest of the island. The British began entrenching lines for a siege of the town..

For several days, the British used their artillery, mostly aboard the naval ships around San Juan, to bombard the town. On Friday April 21, the British ambushed a detachment of Spanish cavalry and grenadiers near Martín Peña bridge, a possible entryway into San Juan. The Spanish counterattacked, leading to the capture of 33 British prisoners.

Over the next week, the siege settled in, with artillery bombardments continuing and several skirmishes as both sides tried to probe the other for weaknesses. On Friday April 28, Castro ordered a larger attack on the British near the Martín Peña bridge. About 800 Spanish soldiers, including cavalry and supported by field cannon, attacked the British lines. The Spanish soldiers marched directly at the British center. The British regulars held and the Spanish had to withdraw.

Despite the British success on the field, Abercromby determined that his position was becoming untenable. He could not find the hoped-for weakness in the enemy’s defenses. He also received word that an organized force of peasants was approaching from the interior. This could mean his force would be under attack from both directions. The British landing force has been engaged for over two weeks if you include the time sailing to the island. They are exhausted and unable to continue.

Abercromby ordered a night withdrawal, under cover of darkness while the British Navy continued its bombardment of the city to cover the withdrawal. The army also set a massive fire on the island which prevented any Spanish forces from advancing on the British as they returned to their ships. This process began at night, but took all weekend to get done.

By Monday morning, May 1, the guns went silent. Castro sent scouts who reported that the British army was gone. Spanish troops found abandoned camps, with tents, food rations, gunpowder, spiked cannons, all abandoned by the British.

In the end, the British reported 31 killed, 70 wounded, and 124 captured. The Spanish claimed that the British suffered 2000 casualties. While this is clearly an exaggerated number, British officers also tended to under-report casualties, so the real number is probably somewhere in-between. Spanish officials report only 42 killed, 194 wounded, and 2 missing among their own casualties.

Aftermath

The Spanish celebrated the victory as a miraculous defense against overwhelming forces. The British Navy was able to bring far more artillery fire on San Juan than the defenders could return, but that all proved relatively ineffective in deciding the contest. The Spanish forts took heavy damage, but managed to remain intact.

From what I can tell, the two sides were pretty evenly matched in terms of the size of their armies. The Spanish had an impressive defense of walls and forts that gave them the edge. Britain had expected to find weak defenses in poor condition. When that hopeful intelligence proved incorrect, they determined that they could not prevail.

The British returned to Martinique. Abercromby sent reports to Britain. Before they arrived, London had been celebrating based on rumors of a British victory at San Juan. Official reports of the truth of the contest, which arrived in early June, quickly quieted those celebrations.

In the end, the ministry supported the decision to withdraw. They had attacked based on intelligence that the Spanish defenses were much weaker than they proved to be. The ministry supported the decision to abandon the siege rather than risk the loss of a British army against defenses that had proven quite formidable.

Next week: Partisanship in Congress reaches a new low, when one member of Congress physically attacks another on the House floor.

- - -

Next Episode 402 Brawl in Congress, 1797 (coming soon)

Previous Episode 400 The Maria Reynolds Affair

Contact me via email at mtroy.history@gmail.com

Follow the podcast on X (formerly Twitter) @AmRevPodcast

Join the Facebook group, American Revolution Podcast

Join American Revolution Podcast on Quora

Discuss the AmRev Podcast on Reddit

American Revolution Podcast Merch!

T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, pillows, totes, notebooks, wall art, and more. Get your favorite American Revolution logo today. Help support this podcast. https://merch.amrevpodcast.com

Click here to donate

DONATE

American Revolution Podcast is distributed 100% free of charge. If you can chip in to help defray my costs, I'd appreciate whatever you can give. Make a one time donation through my PayPal account. You may also donate via Venmo (@Michael-Troy-20).

Click here to see my Patreon Page

You can support the American Revolution Podcast as a Patreon subscriber. This is an option making monthly pledges. Patreon support will give you access to ad-free episodes, podcast extras, and help make the podcast a sustainable project.

Signup for the AmRev Podcast Mail List

Sunday, September 13, 2026

ARP400 The Maria Reynolds Affair

In 1797 a sex scandal rocked the capital. A sleazy affair connected with allegations of bribes and government corruption drew condemnation and destroyed the reputation of Alexander Hamilton. This week we look at the Maria Reynolds Affair.

The Meeting

The actual affair began back in the summer of 1791.

Alexander Hamilton

A beautiful 23 year old woman named Maria Reynolds knocked on Hamilton’s door at his home on 3rd Street in Philadelphia. Maria told the Treasury Secretary a story of woe. Her abusive husband had abandoned her for another woman. She was alone and needed help. Maria was originally from New York and that, as a fellow New Yorker, she hoped that Hamilton would help her. Hamilton’s wife was home at the time. Instead of discussing the matter further then and there, he agreed to meet her the following night at her boarding room.

The next night, Hamilton brought her $30. He later said that it was clear that Maria wanted a more intimate relationship, and the affair began that night. Hamilton’s wife, unaware of all this, took the children on vacation to Albany to visit her father. Hamilton brought Maria into their home, where the affair continued.

This went on for what was later described as “a short time” - maybe a few weeks, maybe months. At some point Reynolds told Hamilton that she was reconciling with her husband, something Hamilton later told others that he encouraged. Hamilton probably figured, it was fun summer, now it’s over, my family will be returning soon, and life will go on like nothing happened.

As you might have guessed, something happened.

The Money

Hamilton may have continued to see the young woman from time to time after she returned to her husband. At one point, Maria told Hamilton that her husband, James Reynolds, speculated in government securities and that he was getting insider information from the Treasury Department to make money.

Hamilton met with Mr. Reynolds, who identified Assistant Treasury Secretary William Duer as the person who was leaking insider information. We discussed Duer back in Episode 379. Insider trading was not illegal at the time. But Duer was involved in financial schemes of his own. He was engaged in a conspiracy to corner the securities market with borrowed funds. In early 1792, the conspirators were unable to repay their debts. They went to debtors’ prison and caused the Financial Panic of 1792.

Before all of that blew up, Hamilton received two letters dated December 15, 1791. One was from Maria Reynolds saying that her husband had discovered letters revealing their affair. The second letter was from James Reynolds saying that he had discovered the affair, that his wife had confessed everything to him, and attacking Hamilton for taking advantage of his wife. Two days later, James sent a second letter demanding to meet with Hamilton. Two days after that he sent a third letter, referencing a meeting between the two men, and making an interesting offer. Reynolds said he could not reconcile with his wife after what had happened. He asked Hamilton to give him $1000 so that he could leave town with his daughter, and that he would leave Maria behind for Hamilton to do whatever he wanted with her.

Hamilton paid Reynolds $600 a few days later, and another $400 a couple of weeks after that. $1000 was a considerable sum. Hamilton received an annual salary of only $3500. But with this payment Hamilton hoped to put the whole thing behind him. That didn’t work.

Reynolds did not leave town as promised. In fact, probably with the money from Hamilton, he purchased a large house on Vine Street. Over the next six months, Mr. Reynolds would ask for more money from Hamilton in smaller amounts. He essentially pimped out Maria, encouraging Hamilton to visit her and to lend him small amounts of money that everyone knew would never be repaid. Reynolds even encouraged Hamilton to visit Maria. In one letter to Hamilton he wrote “I find when ever you have been with her, She is Cheerful and kind, but when you have not in some time she is Quite the Reverse and wishes to be alone by her self."

Mrs. Reynolds also sent letters to Hamilton begging him to visit her. Hamilton continued the affair through most of 1792. Hamilton also passed along hundreds of dollars in loans to Mr. Reynolds during this time.

Reynolds Background

To this day, it is not entirely clear whether the Reynolds’ planned this from the beginning, or whether they simply took advantage of the situation. Hamilton came to believe that James and Maria Reynolds conspired together to ensnare Hamilton in a blackmail plot from the beginning. It is also possible that Maria really did come to Hamilton at first, seeking help, and with a willingness to trade sex for favors, and that James discovered the affair and only then decided to use it for blackmail and profit.

Our knowledge of the Reynolds’ background is limited. Maria was born Maria Lewis in New York City. Her father, Richard Lewis was an illiterate laborer. Her mother was Susanna Van Der Burgh. It was her second marriage. Susanna had at least six children with her first husband, Elias Dubois, and another six with Richard Lewis. Maria was the second to last, born in 1768. She has been described by various people who knew her as very attractive, and also very emotional, prone to wild mood swings.

In 1783, at age 15, she married James Reynolds, who had served in the Revolutionary War with his father, David Reynolds, most of that time in the commissary department. Reynolds was originally from Orange County, New York. Most of what we know of his post war years was that Reynolds made multiple efforts to receive compensation for losses during the war, and looking for a government job. The couple had one child, a daughter, Susan, born in 1785.

In 1790, a New York merchant, William Vredenburgh, hired James to buy up pay claims from soldiers in Virginia and North Carolina as part of a speculation scheme that they could get them at a discount and get the government to pay them in full. You may recall that at this time, Congress was considering legislation that would not allow speculators to collect on these claims, that the money should go to the original claimants. Hamilton was fighting for the speculators.

It is likely that James and Maria Reynolds moved to Philadelphia in early 1791, just after the Congress moved from New York to Philadelphia. They followed Congress in order to continue efforts to collect on the veterans’ claims that were the subject of their speculation efforts.

Investigation

In the fall of 1792, Reynolds was arrested for illegally purchasing soldier pensions and back-pay claims, as well as forging documents. This was part of his ongoing efforts to profit from speculation in the claims of veterans. Again, this was not illegal. The crime was that he got at least one person to testify that a veteran had died and that they were representing his estate, when in fact that soldier was still alive. That was fraud. That was illegal.

Oliver Wolcott, Comptroller of the Treasury at the time, swore out criminal warrants against Reynold and his partner Jacob Clingman. Clingman was released on bail the same day he was arrested. Reynolds lingered in jail. Maria appealed to Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Mifflin for her husband’s release. The Governor forwarded the matter to the Pennsylvania Attorney General with instructions that the Secretary of Treasury should have a say in whether Reynolds should remain in custody.

Reynolds remained in jail. Hamilton left the investigation with Wolcott. At some point Wolcott agreed to drop the prosecution if the suspects would reveal who at the Treasury Department provided them access to the lists of veterans that they were using to make their fraudulent claims. Reynolds claimed the source was William Duer. Wolcott did not believe that, since Duer had resigned nearly three years earlier . Wolcott later pointed the finger at an unnamed clerk. Historians believe that clerk was Simeon Reynolds who was terminated on December 17, 1792, shortly after this scandal broke, and is believed to be related to James Reynolds.

When Clingman got out on bail, he turned to his old boss, Congressman Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, who had been Speaker of the House. Clingman had multiple conversations with Muhlenberg over the next few weeks hinting that Hamilton was involved in the speculation conspiracy and that he had advanced large sums of money to Reynolds

Although Muhlenberg was a Federalist, he was concerned about the charges his former clerk was leveling at the Treasury Secretary. Muhlenberg shared his concerns with two Congressmen from the other side of the aisle, James Monroe, and Abraham Venable, both from Virginia. The three of them walked down to the jail to get Reynolds’ side of the story.

Reynolds told them that he was willing to expose Hamilton’s wrongdoing if they could get him out of jail. They arranged for his release and agreed to call on him at home that evening. When they arrived at his home, Reynolds was gone. He skipped town.

Mrs. Reynolds, however, was at home and spoke to them. She showed them several letters from Hamilton to her husband that indicated that Hamilton and Reynolds were involved financially. She said there were other letters but that he had just burned them. She also told them that Hamilton had advised Mr. Reynolds to “leave these parts, not to be seen here again, and in which case he would give something clever.”

The three congressmen kept the letters that they found in Mrs. Reynolds’ possession and drafted a letter to President Washington, regarding their findings. Before they sent the letter, they thought it best to confront Hamilton directly and get his side of the story.

The men made an appointment to meet with Hamilton at his home on Saturday evening, December 15, 1792. Hamilton was well aware of the subject of their investigation. He had invited Wolcott to his home as well. Hamilton confessed to Wolcott earlier in the day, so that he was aware of the situation.

When Muhlenberg, Monroe, and Venable arrived at Hamilton’s home, they confronted him with their evidence. Monroe showed him the letters they had obtained from Maria Reynolds and recounted what she had told them.

Hamilton then responded by giving a full account of his relationship with the Reynolds’, the sexual affair and what he regarded as blackmail to keep them from revealing the affair with Maria. He denied that he had any business relationship with Reynolds nor that he had any role in speculation or revealing insider information to any speculators, including Reynolds. He indicated that he was a victim of blackmail which explained the payments to Reynolds.

The three congressmen agreed that Hamilton had been forthright about the situation and believed that he was not involved in any illegal conspiracy to speculate on government securities. The fact that this turned out to be an investigation into a private sexual affair made them uncomfortable and evinced a regret that they had dug into this dirt in the first place.

The following day, the three congressmen collected their documents and drafted and signed a report about their interview with Hamilton. In it, they said “We left him under an impression our suspicions were removed.” Hamilton drafted his own memorandum of the meeting. He also asked for copies of the letters and other documents that they had shown him at that meeting. Monroe had the House Clerk, John Beckley, make copies of all the documents for Hamilton. Beckley also made copies for his own files.

Clingman, who was still under indictment, and who hoped that a Hamilton scandal might help him to get out of it, learned from Wolcott that Hamilton had revealed that the payments to Reynolds were blackmail payments to cover up the sex scandal with Mrs. Reynolds, not payments as part of a scheme to speculate on government paper. Clingman then went to see Maria, who learned from him that Hamilton was telling folks about their affair and the blackmail. After a crying fit, Maria denied Hamilton’s story completely. She denied the sexual affair and the blackmail. She said Hamilton was making up all of it to hide his role in the conspiracy to profit from the illegal speculation. Clingman met with Monroe a couple of weeks after their meeting with Hamilton and told Monroe what he had learned from Mariah. Monroe took notes from their conversation, and added it to the investigation documents.

The informal congressional investigation had satisfied themselves that Hamilton was not participating in any conspiracy to profit personally from government funds. They accepted the story that he was engaged in a sexual affair and had become a victim of blackmail. As a result, they filed away their documents and considered the matter at an end.

James Reynolds disappeared from history at this point. He may have moved back to New York. In May of 1793, Maria filed for divorce in New York. Her divorce attorney was Aaron Burr. After divorcing Reynolds, she married Reynolds' business partner, Jacob Clingman.

The entire scandal was buried and remained hidden from public view.

Public Scandal

Five years passed, Hamilton resigned in 1795 and went back to private practice in New York. There might have been a few whispered rumors of the affair, but most people seemed to forget about the whole thing - everyone except John Beckley, the House Clerk.

Beckley had retained copies of all the documents and reports created by the informal congressional investigation. Beckley was a highly partisan supporter of the Democratic Republicans. He was the clerk who wrote the anonymous article calling for George Washington’s impeachment based on Washington overdrawing his account while President.

Beckley spent much of 1793 conducting his own investigation, including interviews with Clingman and former Treasury clerk Andrew Fraunces. Beckley was convinced that Hamilton was part of a conspiracy with William Duer to profit from insider deals related to speculation into treasury notes and other financial instruments. He was also convinced that Reynolds was secretly acting as Hamilton’s agent and he was determined to prove this.

Even Beckley’s investigation did not reveal anything new, so the matter sat for years. Then, in 1797, the Federalists took control of Congress and terminated Beckley because of his many partisan activities. At this point, Beckley just seemed to want revenge. The dirt he still had on Hamilton as the leading Federalist in the country seemed to be just what he needed.

To release his secrets, Beckley turned to James Callender. Originally from Scotland, Callender got his start publishing pamphlets that attacked powerful leaders and exposed corruption. He angered enough powerful men that he fled to America in 1793 under threat of prosecution for sedition. In Philadelphia, Callender began almost immediately working for Democratic Republican papers, eventually finding a position as a Congressional reporter. In that role he and Beckley got to know one another. Callender began writing for the anti-administration the Aurora, and developed a reputation as a radical commentator in Philadelphia.

Beckley gave Callender copies of all the documents that he had related to the Reynolds affair. These included all of the documents created during the investigations by Muhlenberg, Monroe, and Venable. It also included the letters written between Hamilton and Reynolds. In May 1797, in a book entitled The History of the United States for 1796 Callender republished the transcripts of all the documents, as well as his own thoughts on the affair, for the entire public to read.

He announced the motivation for publication as a defense of James Monroe. At the time, Monroe was the target of Federalist attacks for unsubstantiated charges of corruption. He had recently returned from France after being recalled by President Washington and had written a book attacking the former president. Callender said that his release of the Hamilton documents showed that Monroe had legitimate ammunition to attack Hamilton in 1792 and refused to do so. Unsaid was the message to the Federalists that if you attack our leaders, we can drop a rhetorical nuclear bomb on your leaders.

Callender made clear that he believed Hamilton and James Reynolds were involved in corrupt speculation together and that the sexual affair with Maria Reynolds was the cover story that Hamilton was using to cover up his corruption.

In response, Hamilton published his own booklet a few months later entitled Observations on Certain Documents, generally known as the Reynolds Pamphlet. In this 95 page booklet, Hamilton admitted to the sexual affair with Maria Reynolds, but denied the allegation of corruption and collusion with James Reynolds. As he had told the investigators years earlier, Hamilton wrote that the money paid to Reynolds was blackmail to keep the sexual affair private.

Hamilton’s defense only seemed to increase the attacks on him. Democratic-Republicans accused him of trying to "creep under Mrs. R’s petticoats" to hide his actual corruption. Federalists attacked his judgement for admitting to the affair publicly, and just bringing more publicity to the matter

Hamilton also accused Monroe of leaking the documents to Callender. He met with Monroe in New York on July 11, 1797 and demanded that Monroe issue a statement repudiating Callender’s charges. Monroe refused. He denied that he had leaked the documents and called Hamilton a scoundrel. The two men were ready to come to blows when their friend separated them. The two considered a duel but were talked out of it by several others, including Aaron Burr.

Months later, the two men were still considering a duel. In December, Monroe wrote to Hamilton, essentially saying that if Hamilton wanted a duel, he was ready. Hamilton wrote a response a few weeks later agreeing to a duel, but apparently thought better of it and never mailed that letter.

Over time the scandal faded. The one lasting impact was that anyone who thought Hamilton had pretensions toward becoming president some day, that seemed would never happen. Nothing more happened about the affair, other than the permanent stain on Hamilton's reputation.

Next week: We look in on the ongoing war between Britain and France involving colonies in the West Indies.

- - -

Next Episode 401 War in the West Indies (coming soon)

Previous Episode 399 Financial Crisis of 1797

Contact me via email at mtroy.history@gmail.com

Follow the podcast on X (formerly Twitter) @AmRevPodcast

Join the Facebook group, American Revolution Podcast

Join American Revolution Podcast on Quora

Discuss the AmRev Podcast on Reddit

American Revolution Podcast Merch!

T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, pillows, totes, notebooks, wall art, and more. Get your favorite American Revolution logo today. Help support this podcast. https://merch.amrevpodcast.com

Click here to donate

DONATE

Click here to see my Patreon Page

Signup for the AmRev Podcast Mail List

Sunday, September 6, 2026

ARP399 Financial Crisis of 1797

We’ve talked a great deal about money and finance in earlier episodes. Two common themes have emerged. The first is that Americans were always short on cash. There was never enough specie, that is gold or silver money. Americans were always looking for ways to run an economy without it. Second, everyone seemed to see the real wealth potential of America in the western lands that would be settled in the future. The financial crisis that we will cover this week involves both of those.

Financial Situation in America

In 1796, the government was focused on paying down debt from the Revolutionary War. In that year, total government debt was over $83 million. Government revenue was only a little over $8 million, meaning that debt was about ten times revenue.

Robert Morris

Debt dwarfed everything else in the government. Of the $8 million collected in 1796, about $3.2 million went to interest on the debt. Another $2.5 million covered all the other expenses for the federal government, and the final $2.5 went toward paying down the debt. This was actually a good year for the government. For several years prior, military costs due to fighting the Indians in Ohio and building a navy to deal with threats in North Africa had increased military costs and resulted in more debt.

Following the adoption of the Constitution, Congress had implemented a financial plan, created by Alexander Hamilton, which had raised taxes to pay down the debt. Many of these taxes were dedicated by law to repayment of debt. Even so, the national debt in 1791 was $75.4 million. By 1796, it had risen to $83.7 million

The burden of taxes did not directly impact many people, unless they were importers. The bulk of taxes were tariffs on imports. Another big chunk came from excise taxes, like the tax on whiskey, which certainly led to some complaints.

While the government was struggling with debt, life for most Americans was pretty good. In an earlier episode, I talked about the financial crisis of 1791-92, which was basically caused by speculators buying up old paper money at a discount to take advantage of the Federal government’s decision to pay the full value of that paper. When it turned out that repayment was going to take longer than many speculators had hoped, the financial bubble burst. I also mentioned that William Duer’s speculation and his bankruptcy in 1792 caused a big part of that financial crisis.

But since then, the economy had been doing pretty well. The Europe between France and most of the rest of Europe created a demand for US food and other goods. By remaining neutral, the US tried to sell to everyone in Europe. Many European investors, unnerved by the war in Europe, tried to park their money in US assets in order to protect them. US exports more than doubled between 1790 and 1794. Profits from overseas merchants quadrupled. Wages for laborers in port cities more than doubled. Many Americans began buying more luxuries such as imported fabrics, china, and carpets, despite import tariffs. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 created a particular boom in the south.

Investment in western lands also grew during this time, raising land prices. The Jay Treaty assured that Britain would stop interfering in lands in the Ohio Territory, thus increasing land values in those western lands. The importance of the Jay treaty in western land prices came into sharp focus in the spring of 1796 when the House of Representatives tried to block funding for the Jay treaty. The prices on agricultural goods collapsed as merchants were afraid to take their ships to European markets for fear that the British navy would attack them if the US breached the Jay Treaty. Credit began to tighten and things looked bleak. This is part of what convinced the House to go ahead and fund the treaty.

The other side of the problem was that once the US implemented the Jay Treaty, the French Directory took its own actions. In July of 1796, France declared that it would treat neutral vessels (in other words US merchant ships) in the same manner that the British did, that is capturing and confiscating them. While France was not as great a naval threat as Britain, French privateers captured or sank more than 300 US merchant ships over the next year. This led to a doubling of insurance rates, a huge increase in the cost of imported goods, and a decline in US exports. The war in Europe, which had been a boon to US merchants for several years, was now turning into a larger problem for US merchants.

Causes of the Panic

The one persistent problem was a lack of hard cash, gold and silver was still scarce in many parts of the country. Using paper money was still considered speculative. Many parts of the country still relied on barter to obtain goods and services. This shortage was made even worse by the government’s efforts to pay down the war debts. Such payments often involved shifting specie back to Britain and Europe.

Thanks to the Jay Treaty and the increasing hostilities with France, the US economy became more reliant on the British economy. That caused problems when the British economy tanked in late 1796.

To understand the panic, we need to understand how banking worked at this time. For starters, most people never used a bank. It was for rich people only. Prior to 1795, the Bank of England never even issued a bank note below £10 sterling. A typical laborer at this time lived on about two and half pounds per month. So it was only the very wealthy, what we might today call the one-percenters, who ever used a bank or bank notes.

The Bank of England was privately owned and operated. It had been established in the late 1600s because the government found it was a convenient way to borrow money during wartime, when people were unwilling to make loans directly to the government.

The Bank of England circulated its own bank notes with the understanding that anyone holding a note could exchange it at the bank for gold or silver at any time. There was always far more paper money in circulation than there was gold or silver to cover all of it. The system was based on the fact that people trusted that the paper money could be spent just as easily as gold or silver and that not everyone would try to cash in their paper all at once.

Over several years in the 1790’s the Bank saw its specie reserves depleted as the government took more and more loans to support its allies and its own military in the war with France. Britain had also taken in more gold early in the decade when wealthy Frenchmen wanted to get their money out of France during the reign of terror, when it was a crime to hoard gold or silver. But after that passed, these French depositors wanted their money back.

As the bank’s gold and silver dwindled, it began pulling its bank notes from circulation. This caused economic recession, but should have at least maintained the stability of the banknotes. The problem was that the dwindling specie reserves were not the result of distrust in the bank, it was the government demands of war expenses and the demand of foreign investors for the return of their hard money.

Over time, as inflation of paper money value increased, more and more depositors demanded specie from the bank. By late 1796, the Bank’s specie deposits had fallen to about £2 million, less than a third of what it held two years earlier. By early 1797, reserves fell below £1 million.

Problems came to a head after a French fleet was spotted off the coast of Ireland in December. The French were responding to a plea from Wolfe Tone, a leader of the Society of United Irishmen, that sought to challenge British authority in Ireland. A fleet of more than 43 ships and nearly 14,000 French soldiers tried to land and form the basis of a larger Irish rebellion. Unfortunately for the invaders, a hurricane dispersed the fleet and damaged many of the ships. While the ships were on the Irish coast, they never landed.

Despite the failure, the mere presence of a French invasion fleet off the coast of Ireland unnerved many British investors. In times of crisis, wealthy investors wanted to hold onto gold and silver. The Bank of England was already under stress from government withdrawals to fund the war with France. Investors continued to demand withdrawals of gold and silver, as was their right.

The government still needed money from the bank to prosecute the war with France, So In February, 1797, at the Bank’s request, Parliament passed the Bank Restriction Act. This allowed the Bank of England simply to refuse to accept its own banknotes in exchange for gold or silver.

This had only happened one time before. In 1696, only a couple of years after the Bank of England was established, it had suspended specie payments in a similar war-related cash crunch. That created such a financial disaster that it avoided doing so ever since. Apparently, a century later, officials had forgotten just how horrible that experience was and were willing to do it again.

With the inability to exchange their notes, public faith in the Bank of England paper declined and the money devalued. This got worse after the bank simply printed more paper to finance the government’s demands for more loans for the war.

Reaction in US

The crash of the British financial system had a real impact on US markets. Most of the American economy was financed through credit markets in London and Amsterdam. After France invaded the Netherlands, access to credit in Amsterdam became much more difficult. The suspension of specie payments from the Bank of England turned off that credit spigot in Britain. British merchants began demanding more cash from Americans who did not have it. Exports of US goods to Britain crashed as British subjects could not afford to pay for them. On top of all that, US trade in the West Indies also collapsed thanks to the French privateers operating there.

As a result, the boom times of the early 1790s turned to a bust. Imports and exports sank. Port cities saw a collapse of new revenues, and wages for those involved in merchant trades fell again.

Land speculation, which had been a solid area of growth most of the time, also began to collapse. Much of the land’s value was based on hopes that it could be sold to European investors or settlers. With money from those sources gone for the time being, many US land speculators find themselves holding land purchased with borrowed money, and with no one to buy the land, so they could not repay those debts.

Morris in Debtors Prison

One of the most notable casualties in the US was Robert Morris. We all remember him as the Financier of the Revolution, and someone who almost singlehandedly maintained the financial system in America during the war by releasing paper money based on his own personal credit, which was better than the government’s.

After the war, during the confederation period, Morris stayed involved in helping to keep afloat the country’s finances, in part because he was one of the largest creditors for the government. Once the country ratified the Constitution, Morris turned to focusing on his business affairs. He served a term as a US Senator under the Constitution, but was mostly focused on rebuilding his business.

Morris was known for taking chances to make money, such as establishing trade with China after the war. A large portion of his wealth came from serving as a financial agent for wealthy European interests who wanted to invest in currency and land speculation in America. He also established two canal companies, believing that they would not only be profitable but would also increase the value of his western lands.

In 1791, Morris hired William Temple Franklin, Benjamin Franklin’s grandson, to serve as an agent for him in Britain. He partnered with Sir William Johnstone Pulteney to help Europeans invest in western lands, at first in upstate New York. He also bought heavily in western Pennsylvania and land in the new District of Columbia, where the new federal capital was being built.

Within a few years he had become the wealthiest man in America. Most of Morris’ money came from land speculation. His land purchases were always highly leveraged, with lots of debt behind them. But Morris’ credit was good and land prices almost always went up.

In the mid-1790s, the war in Europe caused foreign investment to decline. Land sales began to falter. Morris, always the gambler, saw land prices falling, so he doubled down, borrowed more money and bought even more land. At one point, even Washington suggested he might be taking on too much risk. Morris responded: “My dear general, I can never do things in the small. I must be either a man or a mouse.” During this same time, Morris began a multi-year project to build a large house that took up an entire city block in downtown Philadelphia. He hired Pierre L’Enfant to be the architect.

Others were not as brave as Morris. Amsterdam banks, where Morris had borrowed heavily, were unwilling to continue loans for what looked like increasingly risky land deals. When Morris tried to collect on war debts that the government owed him, Congress turned the tables by going over the books and proclaiming that Morris owed the government nearly $100,000. Morris was continually buying and selling trying to stay ahead of creditors, who he offered shares in his land companies rather than cash. Morris continued to produce his own paper money, but increasingly skeptical creditors would only accept them at pennies on the dollar. Morris’ failure to cover his obligations threatened to stop the building development in DC.

By the summer of 1797, with the financial crisis in London, fully hitting American merchants, Morris found himself in serious trouble. Creditors began showing up at his house daily, demanding past due payments and threatening consequences. Morris actually left the city to stay in his country home to avoid the sheriff. He refused having contact with people for fear of being served with court papers. Much of his land holdings were sold for non-payment of property taxes.

At the end of 1797, Morris and several houseguests had to threaten a constable and his deputies with guns to prevent them from breaking into his house to arrest him. By February, 1798, Morris knew that there was no way he could survive financially. He returned to Philadelphia where he was arrested and put into debtors prison. His remaining assets were seized and sold for his creditors to receive pennies on the dollar.

Senate Expels William Blount

The other prominent casualty of the financial crisis was William Blount. I mentioned a few weeks ago that Blount had been the territorial governor of the southwest territory, and became one of the first US Senators from the new state of Tennessee. I’d also mentioned that Blount was involved in a great many land deals, including the Yazoo land scandal in Georgia.

Over the 1780s and 1790s, Blount and his brothers had acquired over 2.5 million acres of western lands. Like Morris, most of their land was purchased on credit. When the war in Europe caused land prices to crash in 1795, Blount was in danger of heading to debtors prison himself.

Much of Blount’s land was dependent on the Mississippi River remaining open to trade. While the US had a treaty with Spain guaranteeing use of the river, when France started to defeat Spain in the war in Europe, many feared that France might take back Louisiana and shut down American access to the river. This would make Blount’s land holding virtually worthless.

To prevent a French takeover, Blount began conspiring with others to help the British capture Louisiana and the Floridas. With their help, the thankful British would allow them continued access to the Mississippi. In 1797, Blount sent a partner to Britain to sell the idea. In the meantime though, a Knoxville merchant James Carey, provided evidence of the conspiracy to army officials. Secretary of War Timothy Pickering, who hated Blount, took up the issue with President Adams. Adams forwarded the letter to the Senate with a note that he believed that Blount’s actions were criminal.

When Senator Blount walked onto the Senate floor that day, Vice President Jefferson had the Senate clerk read the letter revealing the conspiracy and asked Blount if he had anything to say about it. Blount asked for a day to respond. Instead of returning, Blount hopped on a ship headed to North Carolina. Federal deputies seized the ship and returned him to Congress. The Senate expelled him and the House of Representatives impeached him. Blount posted bail, then fled to Tennessee. One of his partners, however, testified before Congress and confessed to the whole conspiracy to give Britain control of the lands to the south and west of the United States.

In the end, Blount’s lawyers convinced the Senate to dismiss the articles of impeachment, arguing that members of Congress were not subject to impeachment. The Senate had already expelled him, which was the appropriate action. The Senate agreed and dismissed the articles for lack of jurisdiction.

The whole incident caused a ruckus for months among members of Congress and the administration. There was even a full scale brawl in Congress in February, 1798 over the matter.

Despite the universal condemnation in Philadelphia, Tennesseans seemed happy with Blount’s efforts to keep open the Mississippi River, by any means necessary. They elected him to the State Legislature, where he quickly became its leader. Blount was never able to resolve his land speculation debts before he died in an epidemic in 1800.

Next Week: a sex scandal involving Alexander Hamilton goes public.

- - -

Next Episode 400 Maria Reynolds Affair (coming soon)

Previous Episode 398 John Adams Inauguration

Contact me via email at mtroy.history@gmail.com

Follow the podcast on X (formerly Twitter) @AmRevPodcast

Join the Facebook group, American Revolution Podcast

Join American Revolution Podcast on Quora

Discuss the AmRev Podcast on Reddit

American Revolution Podcast Merch!

T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, pillows, totes, notebooks, wall art, and more. Get your favorite American Revolution logo today. Help support this podcast. https://merch.amrevpodcast.com

Click here to donate

DONATE

Click here to see my Patreon Page

Sunday, September 20, 2026

ARP401 War Comes to Puerto Rico

European War Rages

Battle of Cape St. Vincent

Ralph Abercromby

Second Carib War

Attacking Spanish Colonies

Siege of San Juan

Aftermath

Signup for the AmRev Podcast Mail List

Further Reading

Websites

Free eBooks(from archive.org unless noted)

Van Middeldyk, Rudolph A. The History of Puerto Rico,: From the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation, New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1903. Manucy, Albert Puerto Rico and the Forts of Old San Juan, Riverside, CT: The Chatham Press, 1973 (borrow only). Free download available at vdoc.pub.

Books Worth Buying(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Sunday, September 13, 2026

ARP400 The Maria Reynolds Affair

The Meeting

The Money

Reynolds Background

Investigation

Public Scandal

Signup for the AmRev Podcast Mail List

Further Reading

Websites

Brown, Ralph A. The Presidency of John Adams, Univ. of Kansas Press, 1975.

Chernow, Ron Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Press, 2004.

Chervinsky, Lindsay M. Making the Presidency John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic, Oxford Univ. Press, 2024.

Drury, Michael With the Hammer of Truth: James Thomson Callender, Univ. of Va. Press, 1990 (available on archive.org).

Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788–1800, Oxford Univ. Press, 1993 (borrow on archive.org).

Ferling, John Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation, Bloomsbury Press, 2013.

Malone, Dumas Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty, Little Brown & Co. 1962 (borrow on archive.org).McCullough, David John Adams, Simon & Schuster, 2001.

Miller, John C. Alexander Hamilton and the Growth of the New Nation (or Portrait in Paradox), Harper & Brothers, 1959 (borrow on archive.org)

Nester, William The Hamiltonian Vision, 1789-1800, Potomac Books, 2012.

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sunday, September 6, 2026

ARP399 Financial Crisis of 1797

Financial Situation in America

Causes of the Panic

Reaction in US

Morris in Debtors Prison

Senate Expels William Blount

Signup for the AmRev Podcast Mail List

Further Reading

Websites

Free eBooks(from archive.org unless noted)

Books Worth Buying(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Brown, Ralph A. The Presidency of John Adams, Univ. of Kansas Press, 1975. Chernow, Ron Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Press, 2004.

McCullough, David John Adams, Simon & Schuster, 2001. Meacham, Jon Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, Random House, 2012

Miller, John C. Alexander Hamilton and the Growth of the New Nation (or Portrait in Paradox), Harper & Brothers, 1959 (borrow on archive.org)

Nester, William The Hamiltonian Vision, 1789-1800, Potomac Books, 2012.

Shaw Peter The Character of John Adams, Univ. of NC Press, 1976. Smith, Page John Adams, Vol. 2, Doubleday, 1962 (borrow on archive.org). Wood, Gordon S. Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815, Oxford Univ. Press, 2009.

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)

Van Middeldyk, Rudolph A. The History of Puerto Rico,: From the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation, New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1903.
Manucy, Albert Puerto Rico and the Forts of Old San Juan, Riverside, CT: The Chatham Press, 1973 (borrow only). Free download available at vdoc.pub.

Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Malone, Dumas Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty, Little Brown & Co. 1962 (borrow on archive.org).
McCullough, David John Adams, Simon & Schuster, 2001.

Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)

Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Brown, Ralph A. The Presidency of John Adams, Univ. of Kansas Press, 1975.
Chernow, Ron Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Press, 2004.

McCullough, David John Adams, Simon & Schuster, 2001.
Meacham, Jon Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, Random House, 2012

Shaw Peter The Character of John Adams, Univ. of NC Press, 1976.
Smith, Page John Adams, Vol. 2, Doubleday, 1962 (borrow on archive.org).
Wood, Gordon S. Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815, Oxford Univ. Press, 2009.