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Bernardo de Gálvez was an American Revolution hero [1]
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Date: 2024-09-30
Bernardo de Gálvez played an important role in defeating the British during the American Revolution.
He provided supplies to the colonists and forced the British out of west Florida. He captured land for Spain by leading troops in attacks on British forts along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast. He also captured British ships, cutting off their supplies.
When America declared independence from Britain in 1776, de Gálvez became a colonel, and then the fourth governor of the Louisiana territory on Jan. 1, 1777.
Bernardo de Gálvez. Credit: Public Domain
De Gálvez was born in 1746 in Spain. He fought in the Spanish army’s invasion of Portugal and against the Portuguese and their British allies during the Seven Years’ War, the American Revolution Experience states.
“It may not have been de Gálvez’s intention to become involved in the politics of the rebelling thirteen colonies,” the website states, “but his position was strategically important to advancing Spain’s global interests.
From his post in New Orleans, de Gálvez was the perfect conduit for Spain’s clandestine support of the American cause.”
Spain entered the war in 1779. De Gálvez led military victories in Baton Rouge, Mobile and Pensacola. “George Washington himself considered de Gálvez’s efforts a deciding factor in the Revolution,” according to Humanities Texas.
Due to de Gálvez’s military prowess, the New Spain judicial body feared he would lead a rebellion against the country similar to the American Revolution, according to American Battlefield Trust.
“De Gálvez did not live to enjoy the honors bestowed upon him for his extraordinary efforts,” the American Revolution Experience states. Though he died of yellow fever in 1786, “some,” according to the Trust, “speculate that he was poisoned by order of the state.”
Galveston Bay and Galveston, Texas, were named for the Revolutionary great. In 2014, the United States declared him an honorary citizen.
For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the Back in the Day archives.
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