9,487
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
[[Image:Spanish troops at Pensacola.jpg|thumb|right|Spanish grenadiers and Havana militia pour into the breached British defenses]][[Image:Siege1781.jpg|thumb|right|Contemporary engraving depicting the explosion of the powder magazine]]The '''Siege of Pensacola''' marked the culmination of Spain's conquest of Florida from [[British Pensacola|Great Britain]] during the American Revolutionary War in [[1781]].
Commanded by Field Marshal [[michael jackson the 3rd lololololBernardo 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 [[Wikipedia:Spanish Navy Marines|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 [[Wikipedia:Regiment of Hibernia|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 [[Queen's Redoubt]], entering through a yawning breach caused by the explosion. Just before three o'clock, Campbell raised a white flag.
