Queen's Redoubt

Queen's Redoubt
Gage Hill
Built	1779
Builder	General John Campbell
Construction materials	Timber logs, sand, earth
In use	1779-1821
Controlled by	Britain
Armament	Five cannons (originally four)
Garrison	1100 men between three Gage Hill forts
Battles	Siege of Pensacola
Present status	No longer extant

The Queen's Redoubt was a British fortification located on Gage Hill that served as one of two advanced redoubts to Fort George. (The Prince of Wales Redoubt was the other.) It was located about 600 yards north of Fort George, near the modern-day intersection of Spring and Brainerd Streets, and consisted of a parapet surrounded by a protective ditch. The side facing Fort George was stockaded.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

Spanish grenadiers and Havana militia pour into the breached British redoubt

The redoubt played an integral role in the 1781 Siege of Pensacola, allowing Spanish forces under Bernardo de Gálvez capture the city. On May 8, at around 9:30 a.m., a Spanish artillery round landed near the door of the redoubt's powder magazine, detonating it. The resulting explosion killed 76 British troops and wounded two dozen more. Spanish troops occupied the shell of the fortification and installed a new battery bearing down on the nearby Prince of Wales Redoubt and Fort George. Facing a siege force at such close proximity, Peter Chester and John Campbell requested terms of surrender at 3:00 p.m. that day.

The Spanish renamed the redoubt Fort San Bernardo and maintained it throughout their occupation of Pensacola until 1821. The United States government allowed the fort to deteriorate, and nothing now remains of it.

References

• James C. and Irene S. Coleman. Guardians on the Gulf: Pensacola Fortifications, 1698-1980. Pensacola Historical Society, 1982.