Bernardo de Galvez.
“Diario de las operaciones de la expedicion contra la Plaza de Panzacola.”
[Havana: 1781].
Dated and signed Bernardo de Gálvez, Panzacola 12 de mayo de 1781.
Jay I. Kislak Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (132)
The Spanish Seizure of Pensacola, Florida
In 1776, Spain sent Bernardo de Gálvez to serve as colonel of the Louisiana Regiment. Gálvez did much to aid the American patriots. He secured the port of New Orleans so that only American, Spanish, and French ships supplying the American forces could travel the Mississippi River. When Spain formally declared war against Great Britain, Gálvez conducted a campaign against the British along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast. Here Galvez’s poem celebrates his seizure of Pensacola, Florida, from the British. Many scholars believe this victory broke the British hold on Florida and was pivotal in ensuring that Spain would gain Florida in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.