His Royal Highness Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, has been elected unanimously as an honorary member of the New Jersey Society of the Society of the Cincinnati.
The Society of the Cincinnati was founded in 1783 with the goal of preserving the memory of the American War of Independence. It is composed today of the senior descendants of officers of the Continental Army and Continental Navy (which became, respectively, the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy) who served during the war, as well as the senior descendants of officers of the French Royal Army and French Royal Navy who served on the American side.
The Society of the Cincinnati has 14 constituent societies: the original 13 states and France. It is the oldest patriotic society in the United States and devotes itself to perpetuating the remembrance of what it calls “this vast event”, that is to say, the war to achieve American independence.
The first President General of the Society of the Cincinnati was General George Washington. The second President General was Alexander Hamilton. King Louis XVI gave special permission to French members of the Society of the Cincinnati to wear its insignia on their military uniforms.
Today, for example, General George Washington is represented in the Society of the Cincinnati by John Augustine Washington V, a descendant of Washington’s half-brother. (Washington has no lineal descendants.) King Louis XVI of France is represented in the Society by Prince Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, Duc d’Anjou, as the senior male of the House of Bourbon.
The Duke of Calabria’s letter
In a letter dated 7 October 2024 to Mr. Geoffrey Gamble, an officer of the New Jersey Society of the Society of the Cincinnati, a letter which he asked Mr. Gamble to share with other members of the New Jersey Society, the Duke of Calabria wrote:
I was very moved to learn that I have been elected as an honorary member of the New Jersey Society of the Society of the Cincinnati. I consider this a great honour, and I look forward to doing my part to further the goals of the Society of the Cincinnati in the years to come.
As we discussed at our recent breakfast, I have a particular concern that the role of King Carlos III of Spain during the American War of Independence is not as well known as one would like. There was in fact a sophisticated and coordinated strategy on the part of two monarchs of the House of Bourbon, King Louis XVI of France and his Spanish cousin King Carlos III, to support the American side both financially and militarily…
I know that in recent years American historians have written a number of books which have explored Spain’s role in the American War of Independence, not only in North America and the Caribbean but also in other parts of the world, such as the Mediterranean, where there was a sophisticated strategy to engage and bog down the British military, especially its navy, so that these ships and personnel could not be used against the American side.
I wish also to mention that, as president of the council of the four Spanish military orders, I make a presentation every year of a prize to a prominent historian of the Spanish world. This prize is awarded in a ceremony that takes place in the presence of His Majesty The King of Spain. This year, for the first time, the award will be given to a distinguished American historian.
As you know, I have been very interested in the United States and its history from a young age, when I spent a year of high school in North Carolina… I found it very moving when I visited Anderson House and Mount Vernon several years ago to learn how well King Louis XVI, the Head of the House of Bourbon and the closest ally of the United States in the 18th century, is still honored and revered. King Louis XVI has no living descendants, but his younger brother, King Charles X of France, does have living descendants, among whom was my late Father.
I convey to you my sincere thanks for thinking of proposing me for membership. May I ask you to convey to my colleagues of the New Jersey Society how very pleased I am to join their ranks?
With my best wishes.
Yours sincerely,
Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Duke of Calabria
The Duke of Calabria’s interest in the American War of Independence
As a member of the Family of the King of Spain and as the senior prince of one of the royal lines of the House of Bourbon (the Royal House of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), His Royal Highness has long been interested in the role that the House of Bourbon played in helping the American cause during the American War of Independence. The role of King Louis XVI of France, Head of the House of Bourbon, is well known. Not as well known is the role of Louis XVI’s cousin, King Carlos III of Spain, head of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon.
(His Royal Highness is a direct descendant of King Carlos III of Spain. He is also a direct descendant of King Charles X of France, younger brother of King Louis XVI. Louis XVI has no direct descendants. All four of the Duke of Calabria’s grandparents were members of various branches of the House of Bourbon. His late father, Don Carlos de Borbón y Borbón, Infante of Spain and Duke of Calabria, was a first cousin of King Juan Carlos of Spain.)
The Duke of Calabria’s interest in American history began when he spent a year of high school in North Carolina. He also has served as an officer in the armed forces of Spain. He has a strong sense of Spain’s position as a NATO member and an ally of the United States. In recent years, he has made it one of his key priorities to encourage the study of Spain’s important role in assisting the United States during its War of Independence. In his trips to the United States, His Royal Highness has made a point of visiting sites associated with the War of Independence, including Anderson House in Washington, D.C., the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, and George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon.
Starting in 1776, King Louis XVI of France and King Carlos III of Spain, cousins and both members of the House of Bourbon, began to contribute funds secretly to the American war effort during the War of Independence.
As stated above, the role of King Louis XVI of France in supporting American independence is well known. France became the first ally of the United States, and without French military and financial assistance the Americans had little hope of winning a war against one of the best equipped and best trained professional armies in the world, the British Army, supported by its formidable navy. In the beginning, the Americans had no navy and their soldiers came from poorly trained local militias. Thousands of French professional soldiers landed at Newport, Rhode Island in 1780 under the command of General de Rochambeau. They provided training and weapons to the newly formed Continental Army of the United States. Skipping ahead to the final battle at Yorktown, some 8000 soldiers of the Continental Army and about 8000 soldiers of the French Army pushed the British Army of about 9000 men under General Lord Cornwallis to the shores of Chesapeake Bay. The French Navy, under Admiral de Grasse, then blocked the British Navy from rescuing and evacuating the British troops. This victory secured American independence.
The role of Spain under King Carlos III in assisting American independence is much less well known but is gaining increasing attention, especially with the growing numbers of Spanish-speaking Americans. Before becoming King of Spain, Carlos was King of Naples and Sicily (which later became the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) for 24 years. Carlos abdicated the throne of Naples and Sicily on succeeding as King of Spain.
In 1779 the two Bourbon kings signed a treaty under which France would fight Britain in North America, and Spain would attack British territories outside of North America, in order to tie up British troops and resources that would otherwise be sent to the Thirteen Colonies. One of Spain’s strategic goals was to regain Florida, which it had lost to Britain in the Seven Years War two decades before.
Although Britain with its navy was the world’s foremost sea power, suddenly the combined French and Spanish navies outnumbered the vessels of the British Navy. France and Spain began a siege of Gibraltar, tying up British naval resources that would have been sent to America.
General Bernardo de Gálvez, Spanish Governor of Louisiana and commander of Spanish troops in the Americas, then quickly captured Baton Rouge and Natchez and attacked the Gulf Coast, taking Mobile. Meantime, the combined French and Spanish fleets, sent to the West Indies to reinforce Gálvez, landed a devastating blow by capturing a British fleet of 63 vessels. These captured British ships were sent back to Spain.
King Carlos III also issued an order in 1780 calling on his subjects in what today is California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to donate voluntarily two pesos per person to the war effort.
In March 1781, General Gálvez attacked Pensacola in western Florida and tied up a British Army in the American South for two months, before Pensacola was surrendered by the British.
In summary, King Carlos III used Spain’s military, in conjunction with the French military, to attack the British forces on the Mississippi, in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean, in Central America, and in the Western Mediterranean. By attacking the British in so many theaters, the Spanish greatly hindered Britain in bringing sufficient force to bear against the Americans. By pushing the British from the Mississippi and the northern Gulf Coast, Spain also prevented the British from encircling the Americans and attacking from the west.
From August to November 1781, the Spanish Fleet guarded the French West Indies, permitting French Admiral de Grasse to take his entire fleet to Yorktown. When the French fleet arrived at Havana, the one million pesos promised by the government of New Spain for supplies to and for the payroll of the American Continental Army had not yet arrived. Francisco Miranda raised 500,000 pesos in six hours from Spanish merchants of Havana so the fleet could continue on to Yorktown. Admiral de Grasse defeated the relief fleet of British Admiral Sir Thomas Graves, which, as stated above, prevented the escape of the army of General Cornwallis, the British land commander, by sea. In October 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrendered.
In explaining these efforts of Spain to assist the United States, the Duke of Calabria always likes to point out that, two and half centuries later, the principal combatants — the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Spain — are now all close allies within NATO.
The American Civil War
His Royal Highness also has long had an interest in the American Civil War. Three of his direct ancestors served as Union officers on the staff of General McClellan, commanding general of the U.S. Army, during the Civil War. The Duke of Calabria is an hereditary companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, which groups together descendants of Union officers.
For more information on this, see:
On his September 2024 visit to Washington, D.C., he toured Arlington National Cemetery. The Duke of Calabria wished to visit the Tomb of the Civil War Unknowns, but access to it was blocked due to restoration work. He visited the grave of Major Carlos Alvarez de la Mesa, a Spanish national who fought and was wounded at Gettysburg as a Union officer assigned to the Spanish Company of the 39th New York State Volunteers.
PAINTINGS ABOVE: King Carlos III of Spain, of the House of Bourbon, and his cousin King Louis XVI of Spain, of the House of Bourbon
Above: HRH the Duke of Calabria, second from the left, being shown manuscripts by Ellen Clark, Library Director at Anderson House, the headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati in Washington, DC (2017)
Above: The Duke of Calabria, center, touring the upper floor of Mount Vernon, residence of George Washington (2017)
Above: The Duke of Calabria, left, placing a wreath on the tomb of George Washington at Mount Vernon (2017)
Above: Dr. John Ballard, President of the National Intelligence University (the higher education arm of the American intelligence community) showing HRH the Duke of Calabria the grave at Arlington National Cemetery of Major Carlos Alvarez de la Mesa, a Spanish national who fought and was wounded at Gettysburg as a Union officer assigned to the Spanish Company of the 39th New York State Volunteers. (2024)
