Louisiana's Legacy Echoes in America's Birthday
AMERICA: 250 YEARS IN THE MAKING
The Louisiana Colony During the American Revolution
* A complete chronological journey of Louisiana History will be added to the website over the course of the next few months.
1775Louisiana colonists, such as merchant Oliver Pollock, begin to secretly support Americans rebelling against the British.
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August, 1776General Charles Lee sends two Continental Army officers to request supplies from Louisiana’s Spanish Governor, Luís Unzaga y Amezaga, in New Orleans.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Center for Louisiana Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
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September 19, 1776The Spanish Crown issues a royal order replacing Unzaga with Colonel Bernardo de Gálvez as governor of Louisiana.
Image credit: Library of Congress
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January 1, 1777Galvez officially assumes the governorship of Louisiana
- see https://64parishes.org/entry/bernardo-de-galvez-adaptation for more information.
Image Credit: Louisiana State Museum
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Summer, 1777American ships retrieve more ammunition and supplies from the Spanish in New Orleans.
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- Winter, 1778
Oliver Pollock receives an official appointment from the Continental Congress to be its agent in Louisiana
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April 12, 1779France and Spain sign the Convention of Aranjuez providing an offensive alliance against Britain
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- June 21, 1779
Spain formally declares war against Great Britain. Gálvez begins to organize a militia to attack British settlements near the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico
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August 27, 1779The “Marcha de Gálvez” begins. Gálvez leaves New Orleans with the Regimiento de Luisiana regulars. Militiamen including whites, free blacks, and Native American join along the way, bringing the total to over 1,400 men.
- See https://american-revolution-experience.battlefields.org/people/bernardo-degalvez#galvez-citizen for more information.
Image Credit: United States Senate, U.S. Capitol
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September 21, 1779Gálvez defeats British forces at Baton Rouge
- see https://64parishes.org/entry/battle-of-baton-rouge-1779 for more information
Image Credit: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
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- March 14, 1780
In an attempt to continue capturing British holdings in their West Florida colony, Gálvez takes Mobile after a month-long siege.
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May 8, 1781Gálvez Army captures Pensacola from the British, culminating Spain’s conquest of West Florida
- See https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/siege-pensacola for more information
Image info: Sketch by Nicolas Ponce showing the Spanish army during the Siege of Pensacola (1781) under the command of Bernado de Gálvez.
Image Credit: Library of Congress.- 1999
