A majority of U.S. citizens could probably say who the colonists fought against in the American Revolution. They might also be able to say that the French helped the colonists. How many could say that the Spanish helped as well? That Spain declared war on Great Britain in 1779? That the Siege of Pensacola was a major event in the American Revolution, culminating in Great Britain handing over all of British West Florida (which is the lower half of Alabama and Mississippi today)?
Not many realize that Spain came into the American Revolution to take back lost territory from Britain. King George III realized that Spain could support the colonies in North America and pursue its own territorial ambitions. Being able to stick it to Great Britain while helping the colonies was a bonus. Spain entered the American Revolution first as an ally of France and then as an ally of the colonies. (Yes, European history is quite complicated and petty in some parts.)
Enter Bernardo Vicente de Gálvez y Madrid, first Count of Gálvez, fifth Spanish governor of Louisiana (1777-1783). Louisiana, at this time, extended from New Orleans up north past the present-day border with Canada. Most of the territory would be sold to the U.S. in 1803 as the Louisiana Purchase. As governor, Gálvez instituted an anti-British policy in the territory. He worked against British interests and kept the territory open so supplies could reach the rebels during the Revolutionary War; this included the secret selling of supplies to the rebels in 1777 before King George III declared war on Great Britain in 1779.
When Great Britain blocked the ports of the colonies, a route through New Orleans up the Mississippi River proved an effective alternative in shipping supplies to the rebels. When a raiding expedition led by American rebel James Willing sailed into New Orleans with several captured British ships as prizes of war, Gálvez did not turn Willing and his crew over to the British even though it was expected that he would.
A twist of fate allowed Gálvez to find out that the British were plotting to attack New Orleans. If the British were successful, they would control not only New Orleans but the Mississippi as well, thereby cutting off the supply of goods to the rebels. Fortunately, the communiqué with all the details of the attack landed in Gálvez’s lap, and he took advantage of it. Defeating the British at Fort Bute, Baton Rouge, and Natchez kept the lower Mississippi River Basin in Spanish hands in 1779. In 1780, he recaptured Mobile from the British at the Battle of Fort Charlotte.
Gálvez’s greatest victory came at the Siege of Pensacola in May 1781. The 8,000 Spanish troops eventually overran the British forces in the area. The British surrendered West Florida, the British garrison, a large amount of war materiel, as well as a British sloop of war. With the loss of both Mobile and Pensacola, Great Britain no longer had any bases on the Gulf Coast and could not continue fighting there.
The fighting between rebels and Great Britain ended in 1781 with Gen. Cornwallis surrendering to the rebels at Yorktown, Va., The Spanish were involved in that as well, helping to raise funds in Havana to pay for supplies and the payroll for the Continental Army. In the Treaty of Paris, Spain came out pretty well, certainly far better than it had at the end of the Seven Years’ War. It kept West Florida, gains East Florida and Minorca, an island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Gálvez was promoted to lieutenant general by King Charles the III upon his arrival in Havana on May 30, 1781. He was also made governor of both West Florida and Louisiana. In 1783, he was ennobled to the rank of count and appointed governor and captain-general of Cuba. In 1785, he became Viceroy of New Spain after the death of his father. Gálvez died of typhus on Nov. 30, 1786, at the age of forty.
Without Gálvez’s help in keeping the Mississippi River open to send supplies, passing along the intelligence he received, and offering the support of the Spanish military, the American Revolution would not have been as successful as it was. It took the combined efforts of Spain, France, Holland, and the Thirteen Colonies to defeat the British. Gálvez was one person in a sprawling battle that his country did not officially become involved in until close to the end. Why? Why did he decide to help the rebels?
Simply put, he was Spanish, and he didn’t like the British. The relations between the two countries at that time were not good, to put it mildly. Spain was on the losing side of the Seven Years’ War, and the country wanted revenge. Gálvez was in a position to make life hard for the British military, so he did. Sometimes, it is that simple.
There is Galveston as a city and an island, Galveston Bay, and Galveston County in Texas named in honor of Gálvez. There is the Hotel Galvez, located on Bernardo de Galvez Avenue in Galveston, Texas. The Hotel Galvez is on the National Register of Historic Places, having been added in 1979. There are the City of Galvez and St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana. Mobile, Ala., has a Spanish Plaza with a statue of Gálvez. In Baton Rouge, La., in Capital Park, there is the 13-story Gálvez Building, part of the state government’s administrative offices. In December, 2014, a replica painting of Gálvez was unveiled in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee room, fulfilling a resolution from 1783 to display a portrait of Gálvez in Congress.
The best and highest honor that Gálvez received was honorary U.S. citizenship granted by the U.S. Congress on Dec. 16, 2014. In the entire history of the United States of America, only eight people have been granted honorary citizenship. Citing him as a “hero of the Revolutionary War who risked his life for the freedom of the United States people and provided supplies, intelligence, and strong military support to the war effort; was wounded during the Siege of Pensacola, demonstrating bravery that forever endeared him to the United States soldiers.” Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) introduced the resolution to grant Gálvez citizenship. The resolution couldn’t be introduced by anyone but someone from Florida.
The American Revolution took seven years of fighting to achieve the colonies' goal of freedom from Great Britain. Along the way, there were people like Bernardo de Gálvez, who helped move the process along. The United States of America owes a debt it can never repay to people like him.
