The Count of Gálvez | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by José Germán de Alfaro, 1785 | |
| 49th Viceroy of New Spain | |
| In office 18 June 1785 – 30 November 1786 | |
| Monarch | Charles III |
| Preceded by | Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo |
| Succeeded by | Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta |
| 5th Spanish Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office 1777–1783 | |
| Monarch | Charles III |
| Preceded by | Luis de Unzaga |
| Succeeded by | Esteban Rodríguez Miró |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid (1746-07-23)23 July 1746 |
| Died | 30 November 1786(1786-11-30) (aged 40) |
| Spouse | Marie-Félicité de Saint-Maxent d'Estrehan (m. 1777)[1] |
| Awards | Order of Charles III Honorary U.S. Citizenship |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Spain |
| Branch/service | Spanish Army |
| Years of service | 1762–1786 |
| Rank | Captain General Marshal |
| Battles/wars | |
Bernardo Vicente de Gálvez y Madrid, 1st Count of Gálvez (23 July 1746 – 30 November 1786) was aSpanish military leader andgovernment official who served ascolonial governor ofSpanish Louisiana andCuba, and later asViceroy ofNew Spain.
Acareer soldier since the age of 16, Gálvez was a veteran of several wars across Europe, the Americas, and North Africa. While governor of Louisiana, under the orders of the Spanish Crown he supported the colonists and their French allies in theAmerican Revolutionary War, helping facilitate vital supply lines and frustrate British operations in the Gulf Coast. Under Gálvez's command, Spanish troops achieved several victories on the battlefield, most notablyconquering West Florida and eliminating the British naval presence in the Gulf.[2] This campaign led to the formal return of all of Florida to Spain in theTreaty of Paris, which he played a role in drafting.
Gálvez's actions aided the American war effort and made him a hero to both Spain and the newly independent United States. The U.S. Congress endeavored to hang his portrait in theCapitol, finally doing so in 2014.[3] He was granted many titles and honors by the Spanish government, which in 1783 appointed him viceroy of one of its most valuable territories, New Spain, succeeding his fatherMatías de Gálvez y Gallardo. He served until his death fromtyphus.
While somewhat forgotten in the United States, Gálvez remains in high esteem among many Americans, particularly in the southern and western states that once formed part of Spain's North American territory.[4] Gálvez Day is celebrated as a local holiday inPensacola, and several places bear his name, includingGalveston, Texas andGalvez, Louisiana. In 2014, Gálvez became one of only eight people to have been awardedhonorary U.S. citizenship.[4]
Bernardo de Gálvez was born inMacharaviaya, a mountain village in theprovince of Málaga,Spain, on 23 July 1746.[5][6][7][8] He was the son ofMatías de Gálvez and his wife María Josefa de Madrid, who died when Bernardo was only 2 years old. He studiedmilitary sciences at theAcademia deÁvila and at the age of 16 participated in theSpanish invasion of Portugal, which stalled after the Spanish hadcaptured Almeida. Following the conflict he was promoted to infantrylieutenant.[9] He arrived at the Viceroyalty ofNew Spain (present day Mexico plus several U.S. states) in 1769.[10][11] As acaptain, he fought theApaches, with hisOpata Indian allies.[12][13] He received many wounds, several of them serious.[14] In 1770, he was promoted to commandant of arms ofNueva Vizcaya andSonora, northern provinces of New Spain.[15]
In 1772, Gálvez returned to Peninsular Spain with his uncle,José de Gálvez. Later, he was sent toPau, France, where he served with the Royal Cantabria regiment,[16] an elite Franco-Spanish unit, for three years. There, he learned to speakFrench, which would serve him well when he became governor of Louisiana. Gálvez was transferred toSeville in 1775, and then participated inAlejandro O'Reilly's disastrousexpedition to Algiers, where he was seriously wounded during the Spanish assault on the fortress that guarded the city.[17][18] Afterward he was appointed aprofessor at the military academy ofÁvila and promoted tolieutenant colonel; he was made colonel in 1776.[14]
On 1 January 1777, Bernardo de Gálvez became the new governor of the formerlyFrench province of Louisiana,[14][19]ceded to Spain in 1762 as compensation for the loss ofFlorida toBritain, after Spain was urged to enter theSeven Years' War on the French side.
In November 1777, Gálvez marriedMarie-Félicité de Saint-Maxent d'Estrehan, the Creole daughter of the French-bornGilbert Antoine de Saint-Maxent and the Creole Elizabeth La Roche, and young widow of Jean Baptiste Honoré d'Estrehan, the son of ahigh ranking French colonial official. This marriage to the daughter of a Frenchman[20][21] won Gálvez the favor of the local Creole population.[22][23] They had three children, Miguel, Matilde, and Guadalupe Felicitas.[24][1]
As governor, Gálvez enacted an anti-British policy, taking measures against British smuggling and promoting trade with France.[25][26] He damaged British interests in the region and kept it open for supplies to reachGeorge Washington's army during the American Revolutionary War.[27][28][29] He foundedGalvez Town in 1779,[28] promoted the colonization ofNueva Iberia, and established free trade withCuba andYucatán.[30] Galvez Street inNew Orleans is named for him. In 1779, Gálvez was promoted tobrigadier.[31]
In December 1776, KingCharles III of Spain decided that covert assistance to the United States would be strategically useful, but Spain did not enter into a formal alliance with the U.S.[32] In 1777, José de Gálvez, newly appointed as minister of theCouncil of the Indies, sent his nephew, Bernardo de Gálvez, to New Orleans as governor ofLuisiana with instructions to secure the friendship of the United States.[33] On 20 February 1777, the Spanish king's ministers in Madrid secretly instructed Gálvez to sell the Americans desperately needed supplies.[26] The British had blockaded the colonial ports of theThirteen Colonies, and consequently the route fromNew Orleans up theMississippi River was an effective alternative. Gálvez worked withOliver Pollock, an American patriot, to ship gunpowder, muskets, uniforms, medicine, and other supplies to the American colonial rebels.[34]
On October 31, 1778, the Continental Congress issued a resolution thanking de Gálvez for his "spirited and disinterested conduct towards these states".
Although Spain had not yet joined openly the American cause, when an American raiding expedition led byJames Willing showed up in New Orleans with booty and several captured British ships taken as prizes, Gálvez refused to turn the Americans over to the British.[34][36][37] In 1779, Spanish forces commanded by Gálvez seized the province ofWest Florida, later known as theFlorida Parishes, from the British.[38] Spain's motive was the chance both to recover territories lost to the British, particularly Florida, and to remove the ongoing British threat.[39][40][41]
On 21 June 1779, Spain formally declared war on Great Britain.[42][43][44] On 25 June, a letter from London, marked secret and confidential, went to GeneralJohn Campbell at Pensacola fromKing George III and LordGeorge Germain.[45] Campbell was instructed that it was the object of greatest importance to organize an attack upon New Orleans.[46] If Campbell thought it was possible to reduce the Spanish fort at New Orleans, he was ordered to make preparations immediately. These included securing fromVice-Admiral Sir Peter Parker as many fighting ships as the fleet atJamaica could spare,[47] gathering all forces in the province that could be assembled, recruiting as many loyal Indians as the Superintendent could provide,[48] and drawing on His Majesty's Treasury through theLords Commissioners to pay expenses.[49] As an unfortunate twist of fate for Campbell, upon which his whole career was decided, the secret communication fell into the hands of Gálvez. After reading the communication from King George III and Germain, Gálvez, as Governor of Louisiana, swiftly and secretly mobilized the territory for war.[50]
Gálvez carried out a masterful military campaign and defeated the British colonial forces atFort Bute,Baton Rouge, andNatchez in 1779.[51][52] The Battle of Baton Rouge, on 21 September 1779, freed the lower Mississippi Valley of British forces and relieved the threat to thecapital ofLouisiana,New Orleans. In March 1780, Gálvez recapturedMobile from the British at theBattle of Fort Charlotte.[53][54]
Gálvez's most important military victory over the British forces occurred 8 May 1781, when he attacked and took by land and by seaPensacola, the British (and formerly, Spanish) capital ofWest Florida from GeneralJohn Campbell of Strachur.[55][56] The loss of Mobile and Pensacola left the British with no bases along theGulf coast.[57]
In 1782, forces under Gálvez's overall commandcaptured the British naval base atNassau onNew Providence Island in theBahamas without a shot being fired. However, Gálvez's was angry that the operation had proceeded against his orders and ordered the arrest and imprisonment ofFrancisco de Miranda,aide-de-camp ofJuan Manuel Cajigal, the commander of the expedition. Miranda later explained Gálvez's actions as stemming from jealousy of Cajigal's success.[58][59]
On May 9, 1783, the Congressional Congress issued a resolution to display a portrait painting of de Gálvez which was obtained byOliver Pollock "...in the room in which Congress meet."[60]
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Gálvez received many honors from Spain for his military victories against the British, including promotion to lieutenant general and field marshal,[61] governor and captain general of Louisiana and Florida (now separated from Cuba), and the command of the Spanish expeditionary army in America, and titles of Viscount of Gálvez-Town andCount of Gálvez.[62] As evidenced by the insignia that he wore in most every official portrait painting of him, de Gálvez was also awarded theOrder of Charles III. However, his insignia was different from the Knight's Cross Order of Charles III; on his, the medallion was connected to the ribbon by a crown device, whereas the Knight's Cross was connected via a wreath.[citation needed]
The American Revolutionary War ended while de Gálvez was preparing a new campaign to take Jamaica. From the American perspective, Gálvez's campaign denied the British the opportunity of encircling the American rebels from the south and kept open a vital conduit for supplies. He also assisted the American revolutionaries with supplies and soldiers, much of it throughOliver Pollock,[63] from whom he receivedmilitary intelligence concerning the British in West Florida.[64][65] For France and Spain, Gálvez's military success in the American war effort led to the inclusion of provisions in thePeace of Paris (1783) that officially returned Florida, now divided into two provinces,East andWest Florida, to Spain. The treaty recognized the political independence of the former British colonies to the north, and its signing ended their war with theBritish.[66][67]
In 1783, Bernardo de Gálvez was ennobled to the rank of count, promoted to lieutenant-general of the army, and appointed governor and captain-general of Cuba.[68] He was given the titlesCount of Gálvez ("conde de Gálvez") and Viscount of Gálvez-Town ("vizconde de Gálvez-Town") by Carlos III on May 20, 1783.[69] He returned to the Indies in October of the following year to assume his new office. Shortly after he arrived in Havana, his father, Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo (then the viceroy of New Spain), died in November, and Bernardo de Gálvez was appointed to fill the position.[70] He arrived inVera Cruz, on 21 May 1785,[71] and made his formal entry intoMexico City in June.
During his administration two great calamities occurred: the freeze of September 1785, which led to famine in 1786,[72] and a typhus epidemic that killed 300,000 people the same year.[73] During the famine, Gálvez donated 12,000 pesos of his inheritance and 100,000 pesos he raised from other sources to buy maize and beans for the populace.[74] He also implemented policies to increase future agricultural production.
In 1785, Gálvez initiated construction ofChapultepec Castle.[75][76][77] He also ordered the construction of the towers of the cathedral and paving of the streets, as well as the installation of streetlights in Mexico City.[78] He continued work on the highway toAcapulco,[74][79][80] and took measures to reduce the abuse of Indian labor on the project. He dedicated 16% of the income from the lottery and other games of chance to charity.
Gálvez helped advance science in the colony by sponsoring theRoyal Botanical Expedition to New Spain, led byMartín Sessé y Lacasta. This expedition of botanists and naturalists resulted in a comprehensive catalog, a collaborative work published in Spain as theFlora Mexicana, which catalogued the diverse species of plants, birds, and fish found in New Spain.[81]
On one occasion, when the viceroy was riding on horseback to meet with theAudiencia (according to his own report), he encountered a party of soldiers escorting three criminals to thegallows. He suspended the hanging, and later had the criminals freed.[79][10][82]
After the typhus epidemic of 1786 had abated in early autumn, Bernardo de Gálvez apparently became one of its last victims,[83] and was confined to his bed. On 8 November 1786, he turned over all his governmental duties except the captain generalship to the Audiencia.[84] On 30 November 1786, Galvez died at the age of 40 inTacubaya (now part of Mexico City). Gálvez was buried next to his father at San Fernando Church in Mexico City.[85][86]
Bernardo de Gálvez left some writings, includingOrdenanzas para el Teatro de Comedias de México[87] andInstrución para el Buen Gobierno de lasProvincias Internas de la Nueva España (Instructions for Governing the Interior Provinces of New Spain, 1786),[88] the latter of which remained in effect until the colonial period ended.[89] In his "Instructions", Gálvez advocated a policy of selling the Indians rifles and trade goods to make them dependent on the Spanish government,[90] and sanctioned war against the Apache if these inducements failed to pacify them.[91][92]
Galveston, Texas,Galveston Bay,Galveston County,Galvez, Louisiana, andSt. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, were, among other places, named after him. The Louisiana parishes ofEast Feliciana andWest Feliciana (originally a single parish) were said to have been named for his wife Marie Felicite de Saint-Maxent d'Estrehan.[93]
The Cabildo, a branch of theLouisiana State Museum located onJackson Square inNew Orleans, has a portrait of General Gálvez accompanied by a display of biographical information.Spanish Plaza, in theCentral Business District of the city, has anequestrian statue of Gálvez adjacent to the New Orleans World Trade Center.[94] There is also a Galvez Street in New Orleans.[95]Mobile, Alabama, also has aSpanish Plaza with a statue of Gálvez.[96]
InBaton Rouge, Louisiana (present-day state capital), Galvez Plaza is laid out next to City Hall and used frequently as a site for municipal events.[97] Also, the 13-story Galvez Building is part of the state government's administrative office-building complex in the Capitol Park section of downtown Baton Rouge.
In 1911, theHotel Galvez was built inGalveston Avenue P, where the hotel is located, is known as Bernardo de Galvez Avenue. The hotel was added to theNational Register of Historic Places on 4 April 1979.
On December 16, 2014, theUnited States Congress conferredhonorary citizenship on Gálvez, citing him as a "hero of the Revolutionary War who risked his life for the freedom of the United States people and provided supplies, intelligence, and strong military support to the war effort."[98] In 2019, the Spanish Government placed a 32-inch-tall (80 cm) statue of Galvez in front of the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C.[99] Also, on December 9, 2014, a replica of a 1784 portrait of Gálvez byMariano Salvador Maella—the replica of which was painted by Spanish artist Carlos Monserrate—was unveiled December 9, 2014, in Senate Foreign Relations Committee room (S-116 of the United States Capitol Building). This act fulfilled the May 9, 1783, resolution to display such a portrait of de Gálvez in Congress.[100][101]
In June 2024, theUSSGalvez (FFG-67), aConstellation-class frigate, was named after him.[102]
Estableció el libre tráfico de Nueva Orleáns con Cuba y Yucatán y fomentó la colonización de Nueva Iberia." (English): "He established New Orleans' free trade with Cuba and Yucatán and promoted the colonization ofNew Iberia.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Again, in November 1780, Germain informed Campbell that it was "the King's Wish" that Governor Dalling, Vice-Admiral Parker and he collaborate in an attack on New Orleans. General Campbell was to do all in his power to render the attack successful.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)The worst famine of the colonial era in Mexico occurred in 1786, and is referred to asEl Ano de Hambre the year of hunger (Florescano and Swan, 1995; Therrell, 2005). Two to three years of drought and an early fall frost in 1785 again appear to have led to crop failure and famine in 1786 (Therrell, 2005; Therrell et al., 2006). An estimated 300,000 people died during El Ano de Hambre due to both famine and an outbreak of epidemic typhus in 1785–1787 (Cooper, 1965; Burns et al., 2014). The MXDA indicates that drought conditions were most serious during the two-year period from 1785 to 1786 when drought extended over most of Mexico, most severely over central and northeastern Mexico
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Viceroy of New Spain 1785–1786 | Succeeded by |
| Spanish nobility | ||
| Preceded by New creation | Count of Gálvez 1783–1786 | Succeeded by Miguel de Gálvez |
Viceroys ofNew Spain (1535–1821) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Charles V (1535–1564) |   | |
| Philip II (1566–1603) | ||
| Philip III (1603–1621) | ||
| Philip IV (1621–1665) | ||
| Charles II (1665–1701) | ||
| Philip V (1701–1746) | ||
| Ferdinand VI (1746–1760) | ||
| Charles III (1760–1789) | ||
| Charles IV (1789–1809) | ||
| Ferdinand VII (1809–1821) | ||
| First French Louisiana (1682–1762) |   | |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish Louisiana (1762–1802) | ||
| Second French Louisiana (1802–1804) | ||
