Battle of Pensacola (1781)
date | March 9, 1781 to May 8, 1781 |
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place | Pensacola , Florida |
output | decisive Spanish victory |
Peace treaty | Peace of Paris (1783) |
Parties to the conflict | |
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Commander | |
Troop strength | |
3,000 regulars, sailors, militia and 500 Indians | 7,000 regulars and militia |
losses | |
105 dead, 382 wounded and 2,213 prisoners |
74 dead and 198 wounded |
The Battle of Pensacola from March 9th to May 8th 1781 was the climax of the Spanish reconquest of Florida from the British during the American War of Independence .
Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid , governor of the Spanish Louisiana and strategist behind the successful campaign against the British, led an armed force consisting of warships and land forces, which exploited the weaknesses in the outer British defenses of Pensacola and on March 9, 1781 one by the Infantería de Marina- led land and sea sieges of the city began. The Spanish forces comprised 580 officers and men from the Regimiento de Hibernia , one of the three regiments of the Irish Brigade of Spain. British Major General John Campbell clung to the defensive positions of Fort George until Spanish artillery fire ignited the British powder magazine at 9:30 a.m. on May 8, 1781. The explosion killed and injured over 100 British soldiers and left a gap in the redoubt . The Spaniards penetrated through this and forced Campbell to surrender at 3 p.m.
literature
- N. Orwin Rush: The Battle of Pensacola. March 9 to May 8, 1781. Spain's Final Triumph over Great Britain in the Gulf of Mexico . The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Nov. 1967), pp. 572-573.
Web links
- The Battle of Pensacola (English)