Bernardo de Gálvez

From Freepedia

Image:Bernardo de Galvez.jpg Bernardo de Gálvez, Conde de Galvez (23 July, 1746 – 1786) was Spanish governor of Louisiana from 1777 to 1785, and Viceroy of New Spain 1785-1786. He was General of Spanish Colonial forces in North America. He aided the United States quest for independence in the American Revolutionary War.

Leading troops of the Spanish colonial army Galvez carried out a masterful military campaign and defeated the British colonial forces at Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez in 1779 and Mobile in 1780. His major military victory over the British forces occurred in 1781, when he attacked and took by land and sea Pensacola, the British capital of West Florida. In 1782 he captured the British naval base at New Providence in the Bahamas. The importance of Galvez's campaign from the American perspective was that he prevented British encirclement of the American rebels from the south. Galvez also assisted the American revolutionaries by supplying them with weapons and other supplies.

The American Revolution ended while Gálvez was preparing a new campaign in order to take Jamaica.

Gálvez, who was personally an admirer and a friend of the American revolutionaries (Spain's motives being the chance to recover territories and remove the British threat to them), was among those who drafted the terms of treaty that ended the war, and the American Congress cited him for his aid during the Revolution.

Galveston, Texas was named after him.

External links

• Who was Bernardo de Galvez?
• The Galves Proyect
• Bernardo de Gálvez
• Spain's Role in the American Revolution