On May 1, 1779, thirteen cannon announced the arrival of Spanish emissary Don Juan de Miralles and French minister Monsieur Conrad-Alexandre Gerard to meet General George Washington at the Wallace House, where he was headquartered. This was the first official reception of foreign representatives by an American Commander-in-Chief. Since 1775, the Spanish Crown had supported the United States in the Revolutionary War with loans and supplies. In June 1779, one month after Miralles' visit to the Wallace House, Spain declared war on Great Britain. By seizing British posts on the Mississippi River and in Florida, Spain enabled Washington to focus the Continental Army in the east. Miralles continued to correspond with Washington until 1780, when he fell ill and died while visiting the Commander-in-Chief's headquarters at the Ford Mansion in Morristown, New Jersey.
