In 1803, Napoleon famously sold Lousiana for $15 Million at the time, with $3 Million being paid upfront by the American envoys, and the other $12 Million being financed through US government bonds. Napoleon was so adamant in receiving the money upfront that he preferred taking a 15% discount, with the Baring's bank in London acting as intermediary (ie. pocketting the 15% difference).
Was that money funneled back into the French armies at the time? If so, did it play a discernable role in helping Napoleon secure military victories in the following years?
The Louisiana Purchase was minimal relative to France's total government spending in the Napoleonic period.
Under the Convention signed on the 30th of April 1803, the United States agreed to pay 80 million francs for the purchase of the Louisiana territory (at a rate of 1 US dollar = 5.03333 francs), 20 million francs of which was held back to cover French debts owed to US citizens. The debt was to have been funded by the transfer of US government bonds, which paid 6% per year divided in semi-annual payments. Principal would begin to be rapid after 15 years. However, the French government had agreed to sell the bonds onto 2 banks - Hopes of Amsterdam and Barings of London. This was done at a haircut of 13.3% (52 million francs total) in return for an initial payment of 6 million francs followed by the remainder in 23 monthly instalments of 2 million francs. The bonds were created in January 1804 with the first instalment being paid in March. However, a 10 million franc advance had been agreed and paid in July 1803. Further negotiations with the bankers took place in April 1804 and the previously agreed instalments (37 million francs) was paid immediately in return for 1.65 million francs being paid to the banks. As a result, the French government received in total slightly over 50 million francs.
This transaction occurred in year XII of the French revolutionary calendar (22 September 1803 to 21 September 1804). The budget for that year had been set under the law of 4 Germinal An XI (25th of March 1803) and supplemented by the law of 5 Ventôse An XII (25th of February 1804) with receipts of 700 million francs being projected with military expenditure totalling 448 million (Army 268 million, Navy 180 million). Actual receipts and expenditures (calculated in early 1805) unsurprisingly differed from the budgeted amounts. Total expenditures were 886 million francs (860 million was in cash payments) of which military spending comprised 196 million for Ministry of War (army pay, weapons, ammunition and training and movement expenses); 131 million for the Ministry of Administration of War (army supplies and housing) and 228 million for the Navy. Actual receipts totalled 888.5 million francs (part of which was funds held over from previous years, actual cash collected was 763 million francs). Direct contributions account was the largest contributor - 320 million francs largely sourced from direct property taxes and indirect "sin" taxes on alcohol, tobacco and playing cards; while stamp duties, registry taxes and customs duties totalled 255 million francs. National forests and Fields generated more revenue for the government in one year than the sale of Louisiana (51.6 million francs vs. 50.35 from the Louisiana Purchase).
In total, the Louisiana Purchase covered around 9% of the military budget for one year, it wasn't even enough to cover spending on Imperial Palaces between 1804 and 1813 (62 million francs). Napoleon needed cash in hand to cover the new war, but it was a small part of the overall government spending.
Sources:
Les Insuffisantes Finances Napoléoniennes : Une des causes de l'échec de la tentative d'hégémonie européenne (1799-1814) - Jacques Wolff, Revue du Souvenir Napoléonien No 397
France Under Napoleon - Louis Bergeron
Exhibition: The Louisiana Purchase - The Barings Archive
Convention the Louisiana Purchase
Finances in the Year 12 (22 September 1803 - 21 September 1804)