Chassériau, Benoît | Archives of the French adventurer relating to Colombian independence

Chassériau, Benoît

An extensive and remarkable archive of papers, manuscript and printed, by and relating to the French diplomat and spy Benoît Chassériau (1780–1844), whose life reads like swashbuckling fiction: patriotic combatant during Colombia's war of independence; Minister of the Interior and of Police for the Free State of Cartagena de Indias (Colombia); comrade in arms of Simón Bolívar; commander-in-chief of the Western Army of Cartagena in the campaign against Portobelo (Panama) in 1814; schemer-in-chief of the planned French secret expedition against Panama in 1820; the first diplomat sent to Colombia in 1824 by Viscount François-René de Chateaubriand, French minister of Foreign Affairs; Consul in Saint Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands) and Puerto Rico—and father of the Dominican-born French Romantic painter Théodore Chassériau (1819-1856).

The archive, amounting to some 500 pages, mostly in French or Spanish, descended within the family from Benoît Chassériau to his son Frédéric-Charles Chassériau (1807–1881; State Councilor and historian of the Navy), thence to a cousin, Baron Arthur Chassériau (1850–1934; stockbroker, banker, art collector, and major donor to the Louvre), and by continued descent to the present owner. The whole archive contained in a contemporary green documents case.

Preface by Georges Lomné

Benoît Chassériau is a relatively recent addition to the pantheon of those who have made the Western Hemisphere a symbol of the struggle for freedom. After following Bonaparte to Egypt in 1798, he lived in Saint-Domingue from 1801 to 1808. He then relocated to Curaçao and St. Thomas before joining the Free State of Cartagena at the end of 1812, where he was appointed Minister of Police. Chassériau became a citizen of this nascent republic in June 1814 and two months later relocated to Kingston to procure arms. In May 1815, he reunited with Bolívar, shortly before he penned his celebrated Letter from Jamaica. On the following December 9, Chassériau played a pivotal role in saving Bolívar's life. By helping him that day to leave an unsanitary lodging, he prevented the unfortunate incident in which Bolívar's valet, Pío, killed the occupant of the Libertador's hammock. Shortly afterwards, in the spring of 1816, Chassériau assisted Bolívar in financing the capture of Margarita Island. It is therefore understandable why Bolívar designated Chassériau as his “friend”, to the point of entrusting him in 1822 with the education in Paris of his young cousin, Félix Ribas y Palacios.

The documents presented here are of exceptional value and rarity. The Constitution of the Republic of Colombia (Constitución de la República de Colombia) is one of the few surviving printed copies of a first edition produced by Bruno Espinosa in Villa del Rosario de Cúcuta between late October 1821 and January 1822. This was a remarkable feat, as it involved transporting the printing press from Bogotá on seventeen pack animals over 500 kilometers across the Cordillera Oriental. El general Simon Bolivar en la campana de la Nueva Granada de 1819 is a tribute paid to Bolívar by General Santander at the end of the “liberating campaign” of 1819. Written in 1820, it was intended to convince the Neo-Grenadines not to confuse independence with freedom: they had to remain united around the Libertador to continue the fight. Reflexiones sobre el estado actual de la República de Colombia por un amante de la causa is even rarer than the preceding two publications. It would appear that this anonymous document was written and published in Cartagena in the spring of 1822 by Luis Blanc, a French republican from Santo Domingo. It is thought that Blanc had fought in Miranda's army in Venezuela at the end of 1812, then in Cartagena in 1813–1814, a period during which he may have had the opportunity to meet Chassériau. In this document, he compares the young republic to that of the United States, where he had lived as a teenager from 1802 to 1806. It is worth noting that Luis Blanc was one of 22 French citizens, out of 155 foreigners, naturalized in Colombia between 1823 and 1825.

The nineteen issues of the newspaper El Colombiano, published in Caracas, form an equally intriguing collection. Chassériau, for the benefit of Chateaubriand, selected the copies mentioning the potential danger of a French invasion in the aftermath of the expedition of the “Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis.” Indeed, after restoring Ferdinand VII to the throne in October 1823, Chateaubriand briefly considered pursuing his “gigantic enterprise” in South America to install constitutional monarchies in place of the fledgling republics. It seems likely that Chassériau collected these diaries during his exploration of Venezuelan ports between March and May 1824, and then in Cartagena in June. By then, the Colombians had come to regard him as an agent serving an ambition contrary to their own.

Among the manuscripts on offer, several are certainly of great value. First and foremost is the group of 69 documents reporting on the ill-fated expedition mounted in January 1814 by Chassériau against the forts of Portobelo, on behalf of the Free Republic of Cartagena. This sheds light on an untold part of the Republic's history. Secondly, a truly exceptional document: Chassériau's account of events in Venezuela between 1811 and 1813. First, he provides a detailed account of Francisco de Miranda's arrival in Caracas and Bolivar's response to him. He then offers an insightful analysis of the rapid decline of the young republic following the earthquake of 1812 on Holy Thursday. He then considers the circumstances of Miranda's capture, those of Bolivar's arrival in Cartagena and his enmity with Labatut, and the skill with which the former gained the respect of all after defeating the monarchists on the right bank of the Magdalena. These notes by Chassériau could be of significant historical interest.

Georges Lomné.

Gustave Eiffel University. He is also a foreign corresponding member of the National Academy of History of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Colombian Academy of History.

Selected Inventory

§ Constitucion de la Republica de Colombia. Rosario de Cúcuta: Bruno Espinosa, 1821. 

4to (222 x 170 mm, uncut and unopened); stitched as issued. First printing of the first constitution of Gran Colombia (Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador), with Simón Bolívar as president and Francisco de Paula Santander as vice-president. Printed in the small town of Cúcuta on the border between Colombia and Venezuela on the portable press of Bolívar's Army of Liberation, the Colombian constitution adopts the United States separation of power among the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches, but defines powers and responsibilities more precisely than the U.S. constitution. Not in Palau. (See Ardila & Hernández, “Los impresores como constructores de la República de Colombia. Los casos de Espinosa, Roderick y Navas, 1819-1830,” in Procesos. Revista Ecuatoriana de Historia 53 (2021): 77–107.) A suberp copy of very rare publication.

§ (Francisco de Paula Santander.) El general Simon Bolivar en la campaña de la Nueva Granada de 1819. Relacion escrita por un Granadino, que que en calidad de aventure, y unido al Estado Mayor del exercito libertador, tubo el honor de presenciarla hasta su conclucion. Santafé [de Bogotá] : Imprenta del C.B.E. por el C. Nicomedes Lora, 1820.

4to (224 x 162, uncut); self-wrappers. Ostensibly anonymous, the combined first letters of paragraphs 2-18 of this account of Bolívar’s daring attack on New Granada read: "Santander su autor." In his copy, Chassériau noted these letters in the margins. Sabin 56276. Fine copy; very rare.

§ (Luis Blanc.) Reflexiones sobre el estado actual de la República de Colombia por un amante de la causa. Cartagena de Colombia: En la Imprenta del Gobierno, por Juan Antonio Calvo, 1822.

4to (206 x 156 mm); contemporary plain wrappers. Fine copy; very rare.

§ El Colombiano: 19 issues of this Caracas newspaper, first printed in Miranda House in London by Francisco de Miranda and Simón Bolívar in 1810; present issues printed Caracas: Printed by Willian Johnson, 158 Calle de Margarita.

4-page folio newspapers (488 x 320 mm), the issues dated 10, 26, 31 December 1823; 14 January 1824; 4, 11, 18, 25 February 1824; 3, 17, 31 March 1824; 6, 14, 28 April 1824; 5, 19, 26 May 1824; 2 June 1824; and 18 August 1824. From 22 March through 15 June 1824, Chassériau was in Colombia commissioned by the Viscount of Chateaubriand, minister of Foreign Affairs, to meet with Francisco Santander and Pedro Gual and offer France mediation with the kingdom of Spain. He compiled articles critical of France, which was suspected of supporting Spain, published in El Colombiano. 

§ Vine and Olive Colony

3 documents, including a single share certificate, relating to the short-lived Vine and Olive Colony, an early settlement of French expatriates located near present-day Demopolis, Alabama, in Marengo County. “In 1817 exiled French military aristocrats loyal to the recently-deposed Emperor Napoleon founded the Vine and Olive Colony at the confluence of the Tombigbee and Black Warrior Rivers. The settlement was so named because the immigrants had been granted the lands by the U.S. Congress under the condition that they plant them with grape vines and olive trees. The French set about their task enthusiastically albeit with little or no agricultural competence. Thus, their settlement in Marengo County was only briefly an oasis of sophistication on the frontier” (Encyclopedia of Alabama). Chassériau was granted a share, giving him the right to more than a hundred and twenty hectares of land, but he sold the grant. The settlement’s most famous residents were Generals Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes and Charles Lallemand. (See Kent Gardien, "The Splendid Fools: Philadelphia Origins of Alabama‘s Vine and Olive Colony," in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (October 1980): 491–507; Rafe Blaufarb, Bonapartists in the Borderlands: French Exiles and Refugees on the Gulf Coast, 1815–1835, University of Alabama Press, 2006.)

§ A highly significant group of 69 documents, mostly manuscripts, in Spanish, concerning the “Expedicion secreta” against the forts of Portobelo (Panama) led in January 1814 by the Free State of Cartagena de Indias—the first area of current Colombia that declared itself absolutely Independent from Spain. Benoît Chassériau was commander-in-chief of the secret expedition and of the Western Army of Cartagena. These records are of particular importance because most of the official Columbian archives related to the Free State of Cartagena of indias (1811–1815) were destroyed during the wars of independence.

Panama became both a military depot for supplies and troops as well as a staging area for operations against the rebels on the Atlantic coast of New Granada. This naturally made Panama the target of the rebels in Cartagena. The attack by the secret expedition began on 16 January 1814, when a force of eight schooners and 460 men, mostly privateers, under the command of Benoît Chassériau, attacked Portobelo. The royalists, under Governor Joaquin Rodriguez Valcarcel, repulsed the invaders and sent them fleeing back to Cartagena.

To lead the naval division, Benoît Chassériau selected Renato Beluche, a corsair associated with the Lafitte brothers who was known for his bravery and his soul as a leader. Beluche had obtained the rank of lieutenant in Cartagena and later became Bolívar's "favorite admiral." From the schooner General Bolívar, he would lead eight captains and privateers: Charles Lominé who will continue fighting alongside Bolívar, Pedro Dupin, Jean-Baptiste Pemerlé, Juan Lachicotte, Matías Padrón, Fortunato Lepta and Domingo De Mesa. (See Nouvion, L'ami des Colombiens, Benoît Chassériau (1780–1844), Paris, 2018 (pp. 47–59 specifically discuss the secret expedition to Portobelo); Sosa, Compendio de Historia de Panamá, Ediiciones LAVP, 2017; Vogel, “Rebel without a Cause: The Adventure of Louis Aury,” in Laffite Society Chronicles VIII (2002): 3.)

Calendar of the 69 documents

* Chassériau, autograph manuscript report of military operations to the President of the Free State of Cartagena de Indias, Manuel Rodríguez Torices (1788–1816), on board the schooner General Bolívar, 19 January 1814. 

* Proclamation of Benoît Chassériau, commander-in-chief of the Western Army of Cartagena to his fellow citizens and neighbors of Portobelo (Benito Chasseriau, comandante en Jefe del ejército de occidente de Cartagena a sus conciudadanos los vecinos de Portobelo” “en frente de la ciudad de Portobelo, 15 de enero de 1814”). 2 pages. This proclamation was printed for distribution to the population of Portobelo.

* Proclamation of Benoît Chassériau, commander-in-chief of the to the Authorities of Portobelo, 2 pages. This proclamation was printed for distribution to the authorities of Portobelo.

* Address of Benoît Chassériau to the soldiers of the Expedition ("A todos los militares que componen la Expedición … Terrible en el combate, y generoso en la Victoria, tal es la divisa del verdadero guerrero," “en la ensanada de Buenaventura, 15 de Enero de 1814”), 2 pages.

* 5 notes and letters of Lieutenant Renato Beluche, privateer, commander the naval forces of the expedition. Beluche became Bolívar’s favorite admiral and was the victor of the battles of Lake Maracaibo. His remains are in the National Pantheon of Venezuela.

* Note on the necessity of the 16-gauge artillery piece, one page.

* “Cantidad de los tripulación embarcado a bordo de los corsarios”; a roster of the crews on board the corsairs, one page.

* “Cantidad de los fusiles desembarcados por los corsarios de la División baro el mando del Comandante Chassériau”; inventory of the umber of rifles by schooner, one page; with 2 related letters.

* 7 letters of Antoine Leleux, Secretary of War of the Free State of Cartagena, former aide-de-camp of Francisco de Miranda and close friend of Simón Bolívar, including the letter confirming that President Torices had authorized the expedition.

* “Relación de los gastos indispensables que he pagado del dinero entregado a mi disposición en la expedición dirigida contra Portobelo en el presente mes de Enero de 1814,” 2 pages.

* “Relación de las armas que par orden al Excelentísimo Señor Presidente gobernador del Estado siguen para la expedición” by Juan Bolsa and Antonio Anoulo; 4 inventories of weapons, 4 pages.

* “Proyectos de instrucciones para el comandante de la Expedición secreta”; instructions for the commander of the Expedicion secreta, 5 pages.

* Budget of the expedition (“2300 pesos … 600 en platas y 1700 en billetes”) by Marcos Fernández de Sotomayor (from 1811, he occupied the Secretariat of the Bishopric and later became Secretary of the Treasury until the fall of Cartagena in the hands of Morillo).  

* Report of the abandonment of the brigantine Hercules following damage, 9 January 1814, 2 pages. Signed by the eight captains: Charles Lominé, Pedro Dupin, Jean-Baptiste Pemerlé, Juan Lachicotte, Matías Padrón , Fortunato Lepta and Domingo De Mesa.

* Memorandum of the official decision to retreat in the face of much larger Spanish armed forces, 24 January 1814, 2 pages. Signed by Captain Félix Layet, Lieutenant Jeronimo Scarpetta (New Grenada Battalion), Captain Carlos de Lamereux (infantry), Captain Hippolyte Dufour Davas (Cavalry).

* Memorandum on the need for weapons and food for the schooner El Ribon, by Captain Jean-Baptiste Pemerlé, one page.

* Memorandum on the need for weapons and food for the schooner El Carmen, one page.

* “Repartición de embarque de las tropas destinadas a la expedición secreta a bordo de los buques de la División”; memorandum regarding the distribution of the troops aboard the ships of the division, one page.

* 8 receipts for sabers and other weapons (“Recibos de sables etc… ”), signed by Lieutenant Jeronimo Scarpetta, Dr. Federico Meyer, chief medical officer of the expedition, and others. 

* “Repartición de 342 pesos en doblones, los 2/5 para la Cámara, y los 3/5 a las tropas,” one page.

* 30 letters and notes including one letter by Juan Guillermo Ros, Secretary of State and Interior — 3 letters by Juan General Salvador Narváez (1788–1827) — one letter by Juan Robertson (1767–1815), General Secretary General of the Government of Curaçao (1808–1812), who sympathized with the revolution of Caracas. (In 1812, he settled in Caracas and served Miranda there. Bolívar sent Lino de Clemente and Juan Robertson to the British government for recognition of Latin American Independence. Robertson was the English translator of the "Carta de Jamaica" and the author of the first known biography of Simón Bolívar.) — one letter by Juan Elias Lopez, governor of Cartagena — one letter by Juan Bolsa — one letter by Captain Félix Layet — one letter by Lieutenant Jeronimo Scarpetta — one letter by Captain Roberto Capoul — one letter by Captain Domingo De Mesa — one letter by Doctor Federico Meyer — one letter by F. Dupeyron, former secretary of Francisco de Miranda.

§ Simón Bolívar, contemporary manuscript copy, in Spanish, of Bolívar’s declaration of war against Peru, “Proclama, Simon Bolivar, libertador, presidente de Colombia &&& a los Pueblos del Sur,”Bogota, 3 July 1828, 2 pages on a single leaf.

“The Liberator” condemns the actions—the “limitless perfidy”—of the government of Peru and announces the beginning of the first international war on South American soil. This pitted Peru against Gran Colombia and was an attempted land grab by Peru, wanting to wrench Bolivia from orbit of Gran Colombia. Greatly displeased with Peru's invasion of the nation named after him, in which he had been the first president, and which was guarded by forces from the Colombia of which he was presently president, Bolívar in this proclamation of 3 July mobilized his army.

§ French translation by Benoît Chassériau, made at the request of the Duke of Clermont-Tonnerre, minister of the Navy and Colonies, of the speech by Francisco de Paula Santander, Vice President of Colombia, delivered at the 2nd Congress of Colombia in Bogota, 6 April 1824, 13 pages.

§ Autograph manuscript notes by Benoît Chassériau on Simón Bolívar’s exploits from 1811 to 1813, probably written in Cartagena de Indias, October 1813 to July 1814, 8 pages. 

These notes were likely intended to aid Chassériau in his efforts to raise funds for Bolívar’s revolutionary activities.

§ Manuscript study, in French, July 1829, “De la manière d'envisager la guerre maritime de 1778 à 1783, dite guerre d'Amérique,” by Jacques-Théodore Parisot (1783–1840), French naval officer, founder and head of the Historical Section of the Ministry of Navy, 36 pages, tied with blue silk ribbon. 

Parisot’s study considers the conduct of the French Navy during the American Revolutionary War. (In 1830, Frédéric-Charles Chassériau, oldest son of Benoit Chassériau, joined Jacques-Théodore Parisot’s office at the Historical Section of the Ministry of Navy.)

§ 7 Documents, in Spanish, from the Masonic Lodge of San Juan de Cartago, order of La Guajira, Republic of Colombia (1822), evidently the first Masonic Lodge of Venezuela, including list of the members with their title and signature; description of the motto and the attributes of the lodge; letters of introduction to the Grand Orient de France.

In 1823, several officials of the port of La Guajira decided to found the lodge of San Juan de Cartago and the regular chapter of Scottish rite Filantropià. The venerable master was Colonel Francisco Avendaño, future Minister of War of Venezuela, but who for the moment commanded the place of arms of La Guajira. Benoît Chassériau was an initiate and was asked to represent the San Juan Lodge near the Grand Orient of France in order to establish an agreement of friendship and mutual recognition.

This lodge included thirty-two Masons, many of whom already belonged to foreign lodges. Most of them were merchants from this region but there were also American merchants, a Scotsman and even a Frenchman from Chambéry. One of the brothers, Santos Michilena, a merchant in Maracay, became president of Venezuela. Notable members included significant representations from the military, political, and merchant professions: Francisco Avendaño, promoted lieutenant-colonel by Bolívar in September 1814, became brigadier general in 1861. After having been commander of La Guajira (1823–1825) and then Puerto Cabello (1825), he was successively Governor of the province of Cumaná in 1838 and Guayana in 1843. From 1845 to 1847, he was Minister of War of Venezuela. — Jose Montes (1789 Carthagène) colonel, commander of the National Artillery Guard and brother in law of General Manuel del Castillo, commander of Cartagena. — Matias Padrón, commander of La Guajira harbor and then Admiral of Venezuela Navy. — Felipe Esteves, captain of Venezuela Navy and then president of Venezuela martial court. — Santos Michilena, merchant in Maracay. He was President of Venezuela by interim in 1843, vice-president and several times Foreign affairs minister. — Manuel Echeandia, finance minister in Quito and Foreign affairs minister of Venezuela in 1837. Dr. Pedro de Herrera, medical doctor of the harbor of La Guajira. — and merchants Miguel Aristiguera, Pablo de Michelli (Caracas), Ramon Landa, Andres Cavallero, Jose Antonio Gonell (La Guajira), Simón Luyando (Puerto Cabello), Jose Maria Castillo, Jose Maria Fortique, Samer Guedon, Manuel Huiri, Francisco Laraga, Manuel Linares, Ramon Landa, Mocatta, Cristobal Soto, Francisco Serega, Henrique Van Baalen, Jose Ventunra Samana, Josebio Yribarren, Miguel Vargas (La Guajira).

§ 4 autograph letters signed by Admiral Luis Brion (1782–1821), in French, to Chassériau dated in 1815 and 1816 during the "Expedicion de los Cayos." He mentions the expedition he organized with Bolívar who was then in Port au Prince (Haiti). Chassériau had collected 3000 pesos to finance the expedition of Bolivar aimed at liberating Venezuela.

The letters date from Les Cayes, 1815–1816.

§ Autograph letter signed by Admiral Luis Brion to Chassériau, Sabanilla, 9 July 1820; together with letters by Miguel Santa Maria (1789–1837), writer and Colombian diplomat, Barranquilla, 30 October 1820; and one Junca, a merchant of Martinique who was supporting the Independents, St. Pierre, 5 January 1820 (all in French)—all concerning the Colombian war of independence and the liberation of the coast of Tierra Firme (northern coast of Venezuela).

§ 3 manuscript reports by Jean-Baptiste Pavageau (1766-?), in French, regarding (1) the situation in Port au Prince (Haiti), July 1820, headed “confidentielle," 4 pages; (2), King Henri Christophe of Haiti, 5 pages; and (3) San Fernando region trade potential in Colombia, 12 pages. The notes were written for Benoit Chassériau to identify trade opportunities in those countries.

Jean-Baptiste Pavageau was a merchant of Kingston affiliated with Hardy Morse & Cie., as was Chassériau. Pavageau left Jamaica to settle in Cartagena, where he was once the consular officer of France. He remained very close to Simón Bolívar, who, in 1830, entrusted him, at his death, to keep his archives in Paris. Three months later, in a last testament and only a few days before his death, Bolívar changed that provision and finally demanded the destruction of his correspondence. This final wish of the Liberator could not be accomplished because the ten trunks containing this correspondence had already left Cartagena with Pavageau and were providentially saved by the disobedience of the executor.

§ 6 documents relating to Chassériau’s planned 1820 expedition against Panama with the famous privateer Louis-Michel Aury (1788–1821), comprising 2 letters by Aury, Providence Island, 9 December 1818 & 20 May 1819; Jean-Baptiste Pavageau, autograph notes about Aury and a description of the military operations, 4 November 1819, prepared for Chassériau; a letter by Mathurin Pavageau to his brother Jean-Baptiste, Paris, 18 February 1820, after he met the French minister of the Navy in Paris; as well as one letter each by Chassériau, General Baron Ange de Mackau (1788–1855), governor of the Martinique, and J.-B. 

For the 1820 expedition, see Nouvion, “Une autre ‘affaire de Panama’ ou le projet de conquête de quatre Français en 1820," in Revue d'histoire diplomatique (June 2019): 159–174. The abstract of this article reads: “Due to its strategic location, the Isthmus of Panama has long sparked the greed of major nations but also pirates and privateers operating in the Caribbean Sea.The papers of the diplomat Benoît Chassériau (1780–1844) enabled the reconstitution of the plan of four French adventurers, including the famous privateer Louis-Michel Aury, who had imagined in 1820 conquering Panama, then the possession of Spain. This project aimed to give France the means to strengthen and secure its trade in this region of the world. Unofficially, the Minister of the Navy and the Colonies, Pierre-Barthélémy Portal, declined their bold offer. This attempt would probably have been the first Panama Affair.”

§ 4 documents by Benoît Chassériau relating to his unofficial mission in Colombia (1823–1824), comprising: manuscript copy of the instructions of minister François-René de Chateaubriand ("Copie des instructions qui m'ont été remises par Son Excellence Monseigneur le Vicomte de Chateaubriand, Ministre des Affaires Etrangères le 25 novembre 1823" ), 25 November 1823, 8 pages; a report on the state of Colombia in 1822 ("Etat de Colombia, aperçu de la situation de la République de Colombia, sous les rapports politiques, économiques et commerciaux à la fin de 1823"), 4 pages; personal notes started on 1 January 1823, explaining the necessity of thwarting the recognition of Colombia by the United States, 7 pages; and a draft of an essay, "L'assassinat par motif public, peut-il être permis?,” 19 May 1826, 13 pages.  

François-René de Chateaubriand, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, sent Chassériau in Colombia to ensure the mediation of France between Spain and the new state of Colombia. This mission was not recognized officially by France since it could have compromised France’s relationship with Spain.

§ (Puerto Rico). A letter to Chassériau, then Consul of France in Puerto Rico, 12 February 1839, signed by 58 French residents of Mayaguez, thanking him for his service.

§ Papers of Chassériau as Minister of the Free State of Cartagena de Indias (1813–1814), relating to the establishment of the Ministry of Police and organization of the city of Cartagena, 1813–1814. Approximately 25 documents, mostly French and Spanish, including:

* Commission of Chassériau as captain in the army signed by Manuel Rodriguez Torices (1788–1816), president of the Free State of Cartagena de Indias, Marcos Fernández de Sotomayor, Court of Faith, treasurer of the Magdalena department, and Luis Carrasquillo, 5 August 1813.

* Commission of Chassériau as major of the army signed by Camillo Torres Tenorio, president of the congrès des provinces unies de Nouvelle Grenade, Miguel de Pombo, and Manuel del Castillo, military commander of Cartagena, 6 August 1814. 

* 3 letters by Manuel Rodríguez Torices, president of the Free State of Cartagena de Indias and 12th President of Colombian Republic (signatory of Cartagena Constitution in 1811).

* Single letters by Juan Elias Lopez (de Tagle), governor of Cartagena; Juan de Dios Amador, governor of Cartagena (signatory of Cartagena Constitution in 1811); Josef de Arrazola y Ugrate, Attorney General of Cartagena (signatory of Cartagena Constitution in 1811); José María Benito Revollo, state secretary and priest (signatory of Cartagena Constitution in 1811); General Manuel Roergas de Serviez (1785–1816), former aide-de-camp de Francisco de Miranda

* Benoît Chassériau, various notes, memoranda, and reports on the establishment of the Ministry of Police and the importance of compensating the privateers employed by Cartagena, 4 pages. Under Chassériau’s sponsorship, on 8 March 1814, the House of Representatives voted in favor of the corsairs, so that they receive 40% of the goods from the captured ships.

§ Papers of Chassériau as Minister of the Free State of Cartagena de Indias (1813–1814), relating to the establishment of the finance plan commission with Josef de Arrazola y Ugarte, Secretary of War, July–September 1813. 13 documents, mostly French and Spanish, including: letter by Chassériau to the members of the house of representatives of the Free State of Cartagena de Indias, 30 September 1813, with various notes on the budget; and letters by José María Benito Revollo, state secretary and priest (signatory of Cartagena Constitution in 1811); Josef de Arrazola y Ugarte, attorney general of Cartagena (signatory of Cartagena Constitution in 1811); Luis Carrasquillo; General Manuel de Serviez; Alexandre Gazan, former mayor of the city of Santo Domingo (capital city of the East part of the island of Saint Domingue); Martial Lefebvre, French merchant of New Orleans; Colonel Manuel Cortes Campomanes. 

Chassériau and the Secretary of State for War, Arrazola y Ugarte, were charged to work on the budget of Cartagena. This budget was first and foremost a response to the urgent need to abandon paper money and to regulate government revenues, notably those of customs and those relating to tobacco, alcohol and patents. In addition to ensuring the proper collection of these taxes, it was necessary to set up the logistics necessary for the creation of a new currency. In light of the poor finances of Cartagena, Chassériau refused compensation for this work. 

§ An exchange of letters between Colonel Joseph Du Cayla, former commander of the infantry at the time of Francisco de Miranda, and Juan Guillermo Ros, State Secretary of Cartagena, February 1813, regarding Du Cayla’s request for assistance from the Free State of Cartagena in the military operations aimed at the reconquest of Venezeula. The request was denied because Cartagena was pressed just to protext herself. 

§ 5 documents regarding the military operation to conquest Riohacha and Cienaga, May 1813, comprising 2 letters from Benoît Chassériau to Général Miguel Carabaño; 2 letters by Manuel Rodríguez Torices, President of the Free State of Cartagena de Indias; and one letter by General Miguel Carabaño.

Chassériau had proposed a plan of attack against Riohacha and La Cienaga, two towns near Santa Marta. First welcomed, this expedition project was deemed too risky by Torices who doubted that the men of Chassériau, after taking Riohacha, would be able to press on to La Cienaga. He preferred to leave the task of attacking La Cienaga to General Miguel Carabaño, who had just replaced Labatut at the head of the army. The attack led by Carabaño, at the same time as Chasseriau’s advance to Riohacha, had the advantage of opening two fronts. But this project was abandoned and Chassériau devised another, more ambitious project against the Portobelo square, located on the Caribbean coast of the Isthmus of Panama.

§ Manuel Rodríguez Torices, letter written onboard the brigantine Independiente, 5 May 1813, during the Cartagenan attack on Santa Marta and its region, led by general Pierre Labatut.

Santa Marta, one of the principal ports of the Colombian coast, had since fallen into the hands of the Spaniards. For Cartagena, it was urgent to retake this port before new military reinforcements were sent from Cuba. Labatut, who despite recent events had kept his command, was only too aware of it. In May 1813 he set up a new expedition against Santa Marta, mobilizing a brig and two private schooners. Torices, on his side, had embarked aboard the brigantine Independent, to follow the operations closely. This expedition ended in failure.

§ 3 documents relating to Chassériau during his tenure as a secret agent of Cartagena in Kingston, Jamaica, including a letter by Juan de Dios Amador, governor of Cartagena, 26 July 1814, commissioning him to purchase 1,000 rifles for the army of New Granada; and a letter by Manuel del Castillo, president of the War Council and Juan Salvador Narvaez Latorre, secretary of the War Council (in 1816, Narvaez defended Cartagena from the siege laid by the Spanish royalist forces commanded by Pablo Morillo), 8 August 1814, commissioning him to acquire uniforms for the New Granada Army.

Chassériau had left Cartagena in August 1814 to settle in Kingston, actually invested by the Secretary of State Manuel Benito Revollo, with a secret mission of determining—by watching shipping and banking transactions—whether Spain showed any inclination to retake its former Latin American colonies.

§ Benoît Chassériau, autograph memoranda book and diary kept in 1830 while the French Representative of the Department of the Navy to the Dutch island of Saint Thomas (now the U.S. Virgin Islands), 102 pages (340 x 218 mm). The manuscript largely compiles all of the notes and reports that Chassériau sent to the Minister of the Navy and Governor General of the French West Indies. Much of the content deals with the dissolution of Gran Colombia and the loss of Bolívar’s hope for a continental union. It also includes a fifteen-page report of General José Antonio Páez and Colombia. Accompanied by a single issue of the newspaper St. Thomæ Tidende, Vol. 12, No. 1198, 13 August 1828.

This archive of the French diplomat, spy and adventurer Benoît Chassériau is rich in primary documents, largely unstudied, from a vital period in the history of South America.

Please note: References to Chassériau appear throughout the literature of South America and the liberations; a short compendium of such references in French, Spanish, and English is available from the Books and Manuscripts Department, as is further detail on many of the manuscripts surveyed here.