Siege of Pensacola

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The Battle of Pensacola marked the culmination of Spain's conquest of Florida from Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War in 1781.

Commanded by Field Marshal Bernardo de Gálvez, Governor of Louisiana and architect of the successful Spanish campaign, a powerful flotilla of warships, that had exploited a weakness in the British land based naval defenses, neutralized outer British defenses and began an amphibious siege (led by the Infanteria de Marina) of the town on March 9. The Spanish forces included 580 officers and men (or about nine percent of the entire Spanish soldiery) from the Regiment of Hibernia, one of the three regiments, at that time, of the Irish Brigade of Spain.

British Major General John Campbell clung tenaciously to the sturdy defenses of Fort George until Spanish artillery fire struck close to the door of the British powder magazine and set fire to it on May 8 at 9:30 in the morning. When the smoke cleared away, over 100 British casualties could be seen strewn about the emplacement, most of them fatalities. The Spaniards then took possession of the Redoubt, entering through a yawning breach caused by the explosion. Just before three o'clock, Campbell raised a white flag.