The Reconquista de Florida

Ave Maria! May our Lady de la Leche, the Immaculate Queen of Florida, together with the Florida Martyrs, pray for us! May and June contains many Victory Days for the Catholics of Florida, specificlly for the Reconquest of Florida back into the possession of Christendom from the British by Catholic forces. Pensacola was formally claimed by Spain in 1559 by Don Tristan de Luna, and after several failed attempt, a lasting settlement, Church, and fort was established in 1698. Meanwhile farther east inland Presidio San Luis de Apalachee was established in 1645 in what Tallahassee and Presidio San Marcos de Apalachee was established on the Gulf Coast in 1679 at the mouth of the St. Mark’s River. Dozens of Missions were also established as early as 1633 and staffed by Franciscan friars and their native converts. British raids eventually destroyed most of the Missions from 1704-06, forcing the Spanish to abandon the rest and Presidio San Luis. This left San Miguel de Pensacola and St.Augstine as the only Spanish strongholds in Florida until 1763.  Before, During the Seven Years' War, the British captured Havanna and to secure the return of Cuba, Spain agreed to cede Florida to Great Britain under the 1763 Treaty of Paris. France ceded a large segment of New France to Great Britain, including its territory east of the Mississippi River.  France ceded its territory west of the Mississippi and New Orleans to Spain as compensation for losing Florida. Spain named New Orleans as the Louisiana Capital, as Mobile had been the Capital before but was now under British dominion. Initially there was French resistance to Spanish rule, Freemason French elites expelled the Spanish officials, but the revolt failed and Spain restored order. Under Spanish rule, Louisiana prospered more than under the French. The introduction of Spanish cattle and regulating the fur traders and planters brought a great balance to Louisiana. On 1 January 1777, Lieutenant Colonel Bernardo de Gálvez was appointed Governor of Louisiana by King Charles III of Spain, because Governor Galvez was a fluent French speaker and the King knew the era would fall into war with the British. In November 1777, Don Gálvez married a French Creole named Marie Félicité de Saint-Maxent d'Estrehan at St. Louis Cathedral. He won the favor of Louisiana’s creoles for cracking down on British smuggling and strengthening trade, bettering the economy. As early as December 1776, King Charles III ordered Don Galvez to aid the unrest in the British colonies and to prepare to defend Lousiana from invasion. Don Galvez made it clear to the US Rebels that he was willing to sell them gunpowder, muskets, uniforms, medicine, and other supplies at a more than fair rate but had no interest in their cause. On 31 October 1778, the Continental Congress issued a resolution thanking Don Gálvez for his "spirited and disinterested conduct towards these states". On 21 June 1779, Spain formally declared war on Great Britain and on 25 June, a letter from London, went to General John Campbell at British controlled Pensacola from King George III. Campbell was instructed that it was the object of greatest importance to organize an attack upon New Orleans and to capture Spanish Louisiana. However, before the letter ever reached Campbell, Catholic Choctaws reported the letter to a Spanish Priest, who reported the message to Galvez. Not wanting to make his plans known, Galvez secretly planned an offensive against the British to reconquer Florida.  With him was his personal chaplain Capuchin Father Cyril de Barcelona, who blessed this operation and called it a Reconquista. Father Cyril placed the military operation under the “Nuesrta Senora de la Purissima Concepcion” or Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Don Galvez recruited a force of 670 men, 520 Spanish Regulars of the Fixed Regiment of Spanish Louisiana, 70 Volunteer French Milita and 80 formerly escaped slaves from British territories. This force set out on 27 August after hearing Mass and receveing a blessing at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans and along the way Don Gavez recruited 600 more men, predominately Acadian and Catholic Native Americans.

On 6 September, Don Galves surrounded the British Fort Bute near Baton Rouge and attacked them after informing them of the declaration of war between Britain and Spain. Fort Bute was staffed by a company of 23 German Protestants from the Waldeck Regiment. After a brief battle, Fort Bute surrendered. The Spanish force suffered no injuries and the British only sustained one casualty in the battle. Don Galvez ordered his men to rest for a few days and set out on 12 September, reaching Baton Rouge and its Fort New Richmond staffed by 400 infantrymen from the 16th and 60th Regiments of Red coats and 150 Loyalist volunteers not including artillery and under the command of Lt. Colonel Alexander Dickson. Fort New Richmond was heavily armed and had powerful defenses, Don Galvez feared it would take months to take the Fort.  Spanish Forces surrounded the Fort and sent a detachment further up the river to break communications between Baton Rouge and British sites upriver. The Spanish slowly advanced for 9 days, the length of a novena, before Galvez ordered an assault on the Fort’s northside, while he advanced artillery on the south side. By the time the British had driven back the Spanish assault, the Spanish had placed their artillery pieces within musket distance of the Fort. The Spanish opened fire with heavy artillery and the British surrendered within a few hours. Don Gálvez demanded the capitulation of Fort Panmure in British controlled Natchez and all rifles and artillery.  The Spanish suffered 9 Casualties while the British suffered 34 causalities, 2 wounded out of service, and 375 captured. Gálvez had Dickson and his men disarmed and sent to British Colonies in the Bahamas. Don Gálvez then sent a detachment of 50 men to take control of Panmure and dismissed his own militia companies, left a sizable garrison at Baton Rouge, and returned to New Orleans with about 50 men in Triumph. Don Galvez had cleared the Mississippi River entirely of British forces and put the lower reaches of the river firmly under Spanish control. Galvez however, was not ready to concede victory until he had retuned all former possessions back into the fold of Christendom. Don Galvez almost immediately began preparation to advance on British Controlled Mobile. Meanwhile, the British attacked the Spanish settlement of San Luis (St. Louis Missouri) with two dozen British regulars and over 1,500 native American braves. San Luis was a small prodemotly French trading post and only had 30 regulars from the Fixed Regiment of Spanish Louisiana and a hasntily built Fort-tower. Don Fernando de Leyba, Deputy Governor of Spanish Lousiana, recruited veteran French Officer François Vallé and 168 mostly French civilian volunteers from San Luis for its defense. On 25 May 1780 the approaching British were exposed and fired upon by the Catholic forces. 

The British were unable to storm the Fort, and returned fire for several hours in attempts to draw the Spanish defenders out, where they could overwhelm them. They went as far as brutally killing some captives, including women and children that they had captured but were eventually forced to retreat. The over 50 Spanish casualties were all civilians, either killed fighting or murdered by the British and their allies. The British suffered four regulars killed, and four more injured, and the number of natives killed is roughly 250-300. On 12 February 1781, a Spanish and French force of 60 men from San Luis captured British controlled Fort St. Joseph in Niles, Michigan, formally a Jesuit mission granted to the Jesuits by King Louis XIV in 1691. The Catholic forces were joined by a local French Jesuit Father Pierrer Gibault, who went with them into battle and had been calling for Catholics formally in French territory to rise up against the British. The Spanish standard was raised over the Fort Joseph and ordered the fort to be plundered of its arms, supplies, and took the small British garrison prisoner. Similarly, the Chapel, which was being used by various protestant sects, was cleansed of its erroneous materials and rededicated by Father Gibault. The Spanish brought back the British standards as trophies to San Luis. Mobile returned to Christendom and the Parish Church returned to the service of the faith, rededicated to Our lady of the Immaculate Concepcion by father Barcelona. Back in Lousiana, Don Galvez prepared to capture Pensacola and Mobile from the British. Don Galvez regrouped his regular and Milita forces, and sent a request for additional troops from Havana for operations in retaking Mobile and Pensacola. His request was rejected but before departing New Orleans, he dispatched one of his lieutenants to Havana to make one last request. On 11 January 1780, a fleet of twelve ships carrying a force 815 men set sail but the fleet was scattered on 6 February by a storm. In spite of this, all ships arrived outside Mobile Bay by 9 February 9 but encountered significant problems getting into the bay. Several ships ran aground on sand bars, and at least one, the Volante, was wrecked as a result. Don Gálvez salvaged guns from the wreck and set them up on Mobile Point to guard the bay entrance. The British occupied a small fort originally built by the French and named Fort Conde, the fort was renamed in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. The British bolstered the 60th regiment, and  Loyalist Militas from Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as local volunteers, in total about 300 men. Ever since news of  Don Gálvez' successes had reached Mobile, Colonel Elias Durnford, former British Governor of West Florida, had been directing improvements to the Mobile's defenses. On 20 February reinforcements from Havana arrived, bringing the force to about 1,200 regulars. On 25 February the Spanish landed their army on the shores of the Dog River, about 10 miles from Fort Charlotte and were informed by a deserter that the fort was garrisoned by 300 men. On March 1, Don Gálvez sent a letter to Colonel Durnford offering to accept his surrender, which was politely rejected.  Don Gálvez began setting up artillery batteries around the fort the next day and Durnford wrote to General John Campbell at Pensacola requesting reinforcements. On 5 March, most of the Pensacola garrison left on a march to lift the seige against Mobile but were delayed by difficult river crossings. The Spanish fired upon Fort Conde and advanced, On 13 March the walls of Fort Charlotte were breached, and Durnford capitulated the next day, surrendering his garrison. Don Galvez entered the city in triumph, Mobile returned to Christendom and the Parish Church returned to the service of the faith, as it was used as a storage unit. Father Cyril rededicated the Church to Our lady of the Immaculate Concepcion.

While the Spanish set up in Mobile, Don Galvez was notified that additional reinforcements, including British Royal Navy vessels, had arrived at Pensacola and decdied not to immediately move out. He left a garrison in Mobile, and left for Havana to raise the troops and equipment needed for an attack. Meanwhile the British continued to reinforce Pensacola and in January 1781, the British attempted to retake Mobile. On 3 January they dispatched an expedition of more than 700 men under Waldecker Colonel Johann von Hanxleden, a german protestant. The British force conisted of 180 Loyalist Militas and German Protestants from the Waldeck Regiment, and an additonal 420 Choctaw braves. The British led a series of attacks against the entrenched Spanish position. The fourth and final attack met with partial success, with the British securing a foothold in the trench. However, Hanxleden was killed when the Spanish fixed bayonets and took up defensive positions. The momentum of Hanxleden's assault was lost and the British now lacked the second column necessary to hold their position and disengaged; resulting in an organised retreat in response to a Spanish counter-attack. The Britsh retreated leaving behind 18 dead and 23 wounded beyond service. Don Galvez mustred 1300 regulars from the Fixed Lousiana Regiment, French volunteers from Lousiana, the Coronel of the Infantry Regiment of Havanna, the Battalion of Free Blacks of Havanna (which contained Former slaves that escaped British plnatiaons), the Hibernia (Irish) Regiment under the command of Don Artutro O'Neill and the Majorcan Regiment.  The British manned a force of 1300 Regulars from 16th Regiment, 7 (Johnstones) Company of the 4th Battalion Royal Artillery (Present day 20 Battery Royal Artillery, 16 Regiment Royal Artillery), the Third Regiment of Waldeck (German Protestants) and had addtional battalions of Loysist militas from Maryland and Pennsylvania. In addition over 1,500 braves from the Choctaw and Creek tribes were fighting for the Britsh. The Spanish expeditionary force sailed from Havana on 13 February 1and arrvied at Pensacola Bay on 9 March, Don Gálvez landed some troops from the  on Santa Rosa Island, he Hibernia (Irish) Regiment and they set up artillery which he used to drive away the British ships taking shelter in the bay. However, bringing the Spanish ships into the bay turned out to be difficult, just as it had been the previous year at the capture of Mobile. Supplies were offloaded onto Santa Rosa Island to raise the draft of some of the ships, but Don Calvo, the fleet commander, refused to send any more ships through the channel after the lead ship, the 64-cannon San Ramon, grounded in its attempt. Furthermore, some British guns seemed to have the range to fire on the bay's entrance. Don Gálvez used his authority as governor of Louisiana to commandeer the ships that were from Louisiana and boarded the Gálveztown, and on 18 March 18 he sailed her through the channel and into the bay. The three other Louisiana ships followed him, under what proved to be ineffective British artillery fire. After sending Calvo a detailed description of the channel, his captains all insisted on making the crossing, which they did the next day. Calvo, claiming that his assignment to deliver Gálvez' invasion force was now complete, sailed back to Havana. On 24 March the Spanish and french force moved to the center of operations and Don O'Neill served as aide-de-camp and commander of the scout patrols. Once the bay had been entered, Irish scouts landed on the mainland and blunted an attack by 400  Choctaw braves. The scouts soon joined forces with the Spanish troops arriving from Mobile. During the first weeks of April, O'Neill's scouts reconnoitered the Pensacola fortifications and Spanish troops established encampments and began extensive preparations for a siege. Hundreds of  military engineers and laborers brought supplies and armaments to the battlefield and dug trenches, built bunkers and redoubts, besides constructing a covered road to shield the troops from constant fire. On 12 April Don Gálvez was wounded by shrapnel while viewing the British fortifications and when news reached the Britihs, they ordred a second large scale attack by the Choctaws, interrupting the siege preparations. However that day a large fleet was sighted heading towards the bay.  The ships turned out to be the combined Spanish and French fleet from Havana commanded by José Solano y Bote and François-Aymar de Monteil, having on board Spanish Field Marshal Juan Manuel de Cagigal.

Reports of a British squadron sighted near Cape San Antonio had reached Havana, and reinforcements had been sent to Gálvez. The Spanish ships carried a total of 1,700 sailors and 1,600 soldiers, bringing the total Spanish force at Pensacola to 8,000 men. From the end of April to the beginning of May, the artillery positions of the Spanish were strengthened, making trenches and tunnels closer and closer, and causing greater damage to the British defenses. On April 24 a third Choctaw attack caught the Spanish by surprise and Five Spanish were wounded, including O’Neill's cousin, Sublieutenant Felipe O'Reilly. Two days later, soldiers from the Queen's Redoubt attacked Spanish positions but were driven back by Irish scouts. On April 30, the Spanish batteries opened fire, signalling the start of the full-scale attack on Pensacola. However, the gulf was experiencing tempestuous storms, and a hurricane struck the Spanish ships on May 5 and 6. The Spanish fleet had to be withdrawn, for fear the seas would wreck the ships on the shore. The army remained to continue the siege, even though the trenches were flooded. Gálvez issued them a daily ration of brandy to keep up their spirits. In early May, Don Gálvez was surprised to receive chiefs of the Tallapoosa and Creeks, who came offering to supply the Spanish army with meat and fish. Don Gálvez arranged the purchase as he did not wanting to take the meat without payment. This occured because Spanish vicotry seemed unavoidable but not without high casutalties from the Catholic Froces. Don Galvez was advised by his Chaplain Father Cyril de Barcelona OFM CAP, to began an army wide novena to St. Michal and ordered his priests to say the Novena Prayer after thier Mass. On 8 May, the feast of St. Michael and the 9th day of the Novena, a howitzer shell struck the magazine in Fort Crescent, exploding it and sending black smoke billowing. Fifty-seven British troops were killed immediately by the devastating blast, which caused disorder among the British ranks. The Spanish quickly led a charge to take the fort and moved their artrillary into what remained of it and opened fire on the next two British forts. Pensacola's defenders returned fired from Fort George but were soon overwhelmed by the massive Spanish firepower. On 10 May, realizing his final line of fortification could not survive the barrage, General John Campbell surrendered Fort George, Prince of Wales Redoubt, and Pensacola. More than 1,100 British and colonial troops were taken prisoner, and 200 casualties were sustained. The Spanish army lost 74 dead, with another 198 wounded. Don Gálvez personally accepted the surrender of General John Campbell, ending British sovereignty in West Florida after signing the capitulation. The Spanish fleet left Pensacola for Havana on 1 June to prepare assaults on the remaining British possessions in the Caribbean and East Florida.  Don Gálvez appointed O'Neill the Spanish governor of West Florida, and his Hibernia Regiment departed with the fleet. The terms of capitulation included the entirety of West Florida, the British garrison, large quantities of war materiel and supplies, and one British sloop of war. The Spanish Gálvez had the batteries and Fort Barrancas Coloradas moved nearer to the bay's entrance, and placed a battery on Santa Rosa Island against British attempts to recapture Pensacola. Don Gálvez and his army were welcomed as heroes on their arrival in Havana on May 30. King Charles III promoted Gálvez to lieutenant general,and he was made governor of both West Florida and Louisiana. The royal commendation stated that since Gálvez alone forced the entrance to the bay, he could place on his coat of arms the words Yo Solo (me alone). In thanksgiving for the answered Novena, Don Galvez ordred that the Parish Church of Pensacola be re dedicated in honor of St. Michael, who had been the patron of Pensacola since 1756. Don Went on with plans of recapturing the Bahamas and eventually St. Augustine, however after capturing Nassau the war was quickly over and Don Galvez received many honors for his military victories against the British, including promotion to lieutenant general and the Cross ofthe order of Charles III. The war ended as the Spanish made plans to recapture St. Augustine and the 1783 Treaty of Paris granted both east and west Florida back to Spain.  The same year Don Bernardo de Gálvez was ennobled to the rank of count, appointed governor and captain-general of Cuba. Downtown Pensacola is honored by several statues of Don Gálvez. The actions of Don Galves and the brave Catholics under his command left the entire Gulf coast in the possession of Christendom until 1803.