The Capitol Dome

9 Pensacola could only be successfully stormed with at least six to eight thousand besiegers. 20 On 19 April 1781 a relief expedition from Havana reached Pensacola, giving Gálvez 7,806 men under his command and more confidence than ever in his victory. 21 His troops were now even more diverse than when he conquered Fort Bute: professional soldiers from old regiments from the Iberian Peninsula (one of them formed by Irishmen); 22 several companies from vari- ous French regiments; veteran Spanish and French sailors; and American-born soldiers and militia men from regi- ments raised in Louisiana and Cuba, including all-black and mulatto units from Havana. e plan was to attack the main British position in Fort George from the rear, but the pace of the advance dictated by the corps of engineers' scientific war was too slow for Gálvez's taste. On 4 May, 120 Pennsylvania & Maryland Loyalists, and 80 of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment supported by an unknown number of Native Americans, almost suc- ceeded in breaking the siege. It is not without a certain degree of irony that this attack, which was meant to be the last hand-to-hand fight for the defense of British Pensacola, was carried out by American-born units, German troops, and their Native American allies. A few days later, a strong storm forced the Spanish to stop all siege works. Despite his confidence in public, in private Gálvez was increasingly worried. He confessed his "great predicament" to his friend Francisco de Saavedra: e supply or cannonballs from Havana was very short, and they were running out of 24 pounders (the biggest ones used to bombard military defense constructions) of which they were less than a two- days supply. Almost all cannonballs fired by the enemy were recovered by his soldiers who were paid two reales for each, but even that was not enough. . . . In this situation [he quotes Gálvez declaring] I have resolved to attack the Queen's Redoubt by escalat- ing its walls. 23 Such a direct and desperate attack would not be nec- essary. The very next day, during what appeared to be another routine bombardment from the Spanish artillery, a huge blast was heard miles around. Aer the smoke cleared, a great breach in the walls appeared. Gálvez immediately ordered an assault and the remains of the British garrison had to retreat to the Prince of Wales's Redoubt. Aer a short fight, a white flag appeared over the ramparts. Fortune again had befriended the bold General Gálvez. A Spanish cannonball, perhaps one of those previously shot by the British and recovered by the Spanish soldiers, had landed directly on the powder magazine. Aer a brief negotiation, the British commander capitulated and the whole garrison became Spanish prisoners. In the United States, the news of the Spanish victory was received with mixed feelings. First, according to the articles of capitulation, most of the British prisoners were to be released under parole—sworn not to take up arms against Spain in the present conflict, which clearly implied that they could bear arms against the American revolu- tionaries. In a letter addressed to Francisco Rendón, the unofficial representative of Spain in Philadelphia, George Washington himself stated, "I have no doubt, from Don Galvez's well known attachment to the cause of America, that he would have refused the articles, which have been deemed exceptionable, had there not been very powerful reasons to induce his acceptance of them." 24 A second major issue was that with the conquest of the two Floridas, Spain was encircling the United States—threatening, or at the very least making more difficult, their expansion to the South towards the Caribbean. e Americans were fight- ing to be free from the British, but also to get hold of the biggest part of the continent in which their new nation was born. Shortly aer the end of the war, relations between the United States of America and Spain would be under the shadow of three problems: the repayment of loans made by Spain to the United States; the drawing of Florida's border; and navigation along the Mississippi. ese problems would only be resolved partially by Pickney's Treaty in 1795, and later fully by the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819. e victory at Pensacola had important consequences for Gálvez. His powers were reinforced. e old generals in Havana were removed to irrelevant positions in the Iberian Peninsula were they could do no harm, and the newly con- quered territories were placed under Galvez's direct com- mand as governor of Louisiana. He was immediately promoted to teniente general, three-star general, and two years later he was made viscount of Galvestón (Spanish for Galvez-Town, today's Galveston, Texas) and count of Gálvez. 25 Not bad for the son and nephew of shepherds from the small and poor village of Macharaviaya, near Malaga, in the south of Spain. AFTER PENSACOLA Bernardo de Gálvez's next assignment was to command an expedition against the British stronghold in the Caribbean: Jamaica. e end of February 1782 found him in Guarico, in today's Haiti, the agreed concentration point of the joint expedition. e conditions in Haiti were not easy but his THE CAPITOL DOME

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