The Capitol Dome

BERNARDO DE GÁLVEZ AND SPAIN'S ROLE IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR by Gonzalo M. Quintero Saravia, S.J.D. & Ph.D. 2 S pain's contribution to the American Revolutionary War was the outcome of a struggle between its traditional policy of confrontation with England and the fear that the example might spread to her own American territories. ese two objectives, which at times seemed contradictory, resulted in a complex policy that supported the United States of America in its war against England while prevent- ing a formal alliance between the United States and Spain. In 1775, Spain had a long list of grievances against the British. At the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, she sur- rendered to England East and West Florida (comprising present-day Florida and the panhandles of Alabama and Mississippi). She received in compensation the unproduc- tive French colony of Louisiana. e first years of Spanish presence in Louisiana were not without problems. Its popu- lation even rebelled against its new rulers and expelled its governor in 1768. Aer a period on uneasy peace, a new act- ing-governor was appointed, a young colonel only 30 years old. Even though he was the nephew of Spain's all-powerful minister of the Indies, Bernardo de Gálvez was not devoid of merits or experience in North America. Between 1769 and 1772 Gálvez had been posted to the always-dangerous northern frontier of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, Mexico, with orders to defend Spanish settlers against raids, mainly from the Apache. But instead of suc- cumbing to the war-mongering attitudes prevalent in the region, he demanded from his countrymen that they be impartial and acknowledge that if the Indians are not our friends, it is because they do not owe us any benefits, and if they take revenge on us, it is only in just compensation for the affronts we have caused them . . . , the lies we have told them, and the tyrannies they have suffered from us. 1 On their reputation for cruelty he wrote, "the Spaniards accuse the Indians of being cruel, and I do not know what their opinion is of us, but most probably it would not be better, for much better reason." During these campaigns, in which he was wounded several times, Gálvez commanded a company of American-born cavalry soldiers. Contrary to a long-standing tradition of demeaning the qualities of American-born soldiers in the service of Spain, he consid- ered them "as brave as the Indians against whom they fight." Since Americans had been brought up in freedom and accustomed to independence . . . they know by reason that they must obey, but demand that they are lead with rea- son, and in this I'm with them because I expect more from a man who knows how to make his rights respected than from another a thousand times outraged and debased. Finally, brushing aside all racial prejudices, he stated, "I've seen a flag more gracefully and better defended in the black hands of a mulatto that between others that could be whiter but feebler." BERNARDO DE GÁLVEZ IN LOUISIANA When Bernardo de Gálvez arrived in New Orleans in the last days of 1776, he immediately began preparing for war against the British. He developed a network of spies and informants that supplied him with information on his future enemy's plans and, even more importantly, he started supplying the Continental Army with arms, ammunition, blankets, tents, uniforms, food, etc. At the time Spain was officially neutral, so Gálvez had to disguise his aid to the American rebels in every possible way. Crates labeled as con- taining supplies for the Spanish army mysteriously appeared in the depots of the Continental army. American privateers found safety in Spanish ports and their ships were even refitted at the cost of the Spanish Treasury. Captain James THE CAPITOL DOME

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