Editing Siege of Pensacola

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision Your text
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Image:Spanish troops at Pensacola.jpg|thumb|right|Spanish grenadiers and Havana militia pour into the breached British defenses]][[Image:Siege1781.jpg|thumb|right|Contemporary engraving depicting the explosion of the powder magazine]]The '''Siege of Pensacola''' marked the culmination of Spain's conquest of Florida from [[British Pensacola|Great Britain]] during the American Revolutionary War in [[1781]].
+
[[Image:Spanish troops at Pensacola.jpg|thumb|right|Spanish grenadiers and Havana militia pour into the ruins of the [[Queen's Redoubt]]]][[Image:Siege1781.jpg|thumb|right|Contemporary engraving depicting the explosion of the powder magazine]]The '''Siege of Pensacola''' marked the culmination of Spain's conquest of Florida from [[British Pensacola|Great Britain]] during the American Revolutionary War in [[1781]].
  
 
Commanded by Field Marshal [[Bernardo de Gálvez]], Governor of Louisiana and architect of the successful Spanish campaign, a powerful flotilla of warships, that had exploited a weakness in the British land based naval defenses, neutralized outer British defenses and began an amphibious siege (led by the [[Wikipedia:Spanish Navy Marines|Infanteria de Marina]]) of the town on [[March 9]]. The Spanish forces included 580 officers and men (or about nine percent of the entire Spanish soldiery) from the [[Wikipedia:Regiment of Hibernia|Regiment of Hibernia]], one of the three regiments, at that time, of the Irish Brigade of Spain.
 
Commanded by Field Marshal [[Bernardo de Gálvez]], Governor of Louisiana and architect of the successful Spanish campaign, a powerful flotilla of warships, that had exploited a weakness in the British land based naval defenses, neutralized outer British defenses and began an amphibious siege (led by the [[Wikipedia:Spanish Navy Marines|Infanteria de Marina]]) of the town on [[March 9]]. The Spanish forces included 580 officers and men (or about nine percent of the entire Spanish soldiery) from the [[Wikipedia:Regiment of Hibernia|Regiment of Hibernia]], one of the three regiments, at that time, of the Irish Brigade of Spain.
  
British Major General [[John Campbell]] clung tenaciously to the sturdy defenses of [[Fort George]] until Spanish artillery fire struck close to the door of the British powder magazine and set fire to it on [[May 8]] at 9:30 in the morning. When the smoke cleared away, over 100 British casualties could be seen strewn about the emplacement, most of them fatalities. The Spaniards then took possession of the [[Queen's Redoubt]], entering through a yawning breach caused by the explosion. Just before three o'clock, Campbell raised a white flag.
+
British Major General [[Wikipedia:John Campbell, of Strachur|John Campbell]] clung tenaciously to the sturdy defenses of [[Fort George]] until Spanish artillery fire struck close to the door of the British powder magazine and set fire to it on [[May 8]] at 9:30 in the morning. When the smoke cleared away, over 100 British casualties could be seen strewn about the emplacement, most of them fatalities. The Spaniards then took possession of the Redoubt, entering through a yawning breach caused by the explosion. Just before three o'clock, Campbell raised a white flag.
 
 
Campbell described the events in a letter to [[Wikipedia:George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville|George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville]]:
 
{{cquote|When I wrote your Lordship on the 7th instant, although I then foresaw the probable Fate of Pensacola, yet I did not apprehend that the Decision of the Contest was quite so near at Hand as it has since proved to have been; An unfortunate Shell from the Enemy, on the Morning of the 8th, precipitated its Destiny, and occasioned its falling under the Dominion of Spain at least some Days sooner than it otherwise would have happened. On the morning of the 8th a Shell, that accidentally burst by the Door of the Magazine of the Advanced Redoubt, set Fire to the Powder within, and in an Instant the Body of the Redoubt was a Heap of Rubbish, depriving no less than 48 Military, 27 Seaman, and one Negro of Life by the Explosion, besides 24 Men wounded, most of them dangerously. Two Flank Works, that had been added to the Redoubt since the Commencement of the Siege, still remained entire, the Fire from which (owing to the intrepid Coolness of the Artillery, particularly of [[Captain Johnstone]], who commanded them) repulsed the Enemy in their first Attempt to advance to the Storm, and gave Time to carry off the Wounded, two Five and half Inch Howitzers, and three Field Pieces; but the Enemy having by this Time brought up their whole Army, there was a Necessity of abandoning these Works, after first spiking up the Pieces of Artillery in the Flank Works, viz. 2 Ten and 2 Eight-Inch Mortars, 3 Eight and 1 Five and half Inch Howitzers, and 1 Field Piece, a Three Pounder, and 1 Twenty-four-Pounder, 6 Twelve-Pounders, and 1 Nine-Pounder, were lost in the Redoubt.|20px|20px|''The London Gazette'', October 9, 1781.<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/12232/pages/1 Letter from General John Campbell to Lord Germain, ''London Gazette'', October 9, 1781.]</ref>}}
 
  
 
==Timeline==
 
==Timeline==
*[[February 28]] &ndash; Spanish fleet departs Havana for Pensacola.
+
*[[March 9]] &ndash; Spanish fleet appears off [[Santa Rosa Island]], 6:00 a.m. Light infantry and grenadier companies disembark six miles east of [[Punta Sigüenza]]. A prearranged signal of seven guns from the British warship ''Mentor'' notified the British forces.
*[[March 9]] &ndash; Spanish fleet appears off [[Santa Rosa Island]], 6:00 a.m. Light infantry and grenadier companies disembark six miles east of [[Punta Sigüenza]] (near modern-day [[Casino Beach]]). A prearranged signal of seven guns from the British warship ''Mentor'' notified the British forces.
+
*[[March 10]] &ndash; The English redoubt at Punta Sigüenza is found abandoned and taken by forces under [[Francisco Longoria]] and [[Arturo O'Neill]]. They receive some fire by anchored frigates ''Mentor'' and ''Port Royal'', and the [[Red Cliffs]] fort.
*[[March 10]] &ndash; The unfinished English battery at Punta Sigüenza is found abandoned and taken by forces under [[Francisco Longoria]] and [[Arturo O'Neill]]. They capture seven British soldiers, who were sent to retrieve supplies and burn an unused blockhouse, and receive some fire by anchored frigates ''Mentor'' and ''Port Royal'', and the [[Red Cliffs]] fort. The British brigantine ''Childers'' breaks out of harbor to alert British authorities.
+
*[[March 11]] &ndash; Using two 24-pound cannon brought ashore to the captured redoubt, Spanish forces return fire, forcing the frigates to move out of range.
*[[March 11]] &ndash; Using two 24-pound cannon brought ashore to the captured battery, Spanish forces return fire, forcing the frigates to move out of range.
 
*[[March 12]] &ndash; The fleet moves west towards the harbor entrance, but is halted when the flagship ''San Ramón'' runs aground. A 24-pounder at a masked battery fires upon British interceptors, forcing them to get out of range.
 
 
*[[March 18]] &ndash; Four Spanish ships, including [[Bernardo de Gálvez]]'s private brig ''Gálveztown'', force entry into [[Pensacola Bay]].
 
*[[March 18]] &ndash; Four Spanish ships, including [[Bernardo de Gálvez]]'s private brig ''Gálveztown'', force entry into [[Pensacola Bay]].
 
*[[March 19]] &ndash; Most of the rest of the fleet forces entry through [[Pensacola Pass]] into the Bay between 2:00 - 3:00 p.m., under fire from the British at Red Cliffs.
 
*[[March 19]] &ndash; Most of the rest of the fleet forces entry through [[Pensacola Pass]] into the Bay between 2:00 - 3:00 p.m., under fire from the British at Red Cliffs.
Line 30: Line 25:
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
{{refbegin}}
 
{{refbegin}}
*[[Wesley S. Odom]]. ''The Longest Siege of the American Revolution: Pensacola''. 2009.
 
 
*David Marley. ''Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present''. ABC-CLIO, 1998.
 
*David Marley. ''Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present''. ABC-CLIO, 1998.
{{reflist}}
 
 
{{refend}}
 
{{refend}}
  
 
[[Category:Battles]]
 
[[Category:Battles]]

Please note that all contributions to Pensapedia, the Pensacola encyclopedia are considered to be released under the GNU Free Documentation License 1.2 (see Pensapedia:Copyrights for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

To edit this page, please answer the question that appears below (more info):

Cancel Editing help (opens in new window)