| Capture of Mobile | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theWar of 1812 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 United States |  Spanish Florida | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| James Wilkinson | Cayetano Pérez  [1] | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| 3rd Infantry Regiment[2] | Fuerte Carlota garrison | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 600[2]–Over 1,000 regulars[3] 5 gunboats[2] | 80 regulars 50 cannons[2] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| None | Entire garrison surrendered | ||||||||
In 1813, the city ofMobile, Alabama was captured by American forces underJames Wilkinson during theWar of 1812.
In November 1803, theMobile Act was introduced into theHouse of Representatives byUnited States House Committee on Ways and Means chairmanJohn Randolph. The act was signed into law by PresidentThomas Jefferson on 24 February 1804.[4] Even after the annexation of theRepublic of West Florida in 1810 by the United States,Mobile had remained under the control ofSpain. However, due to thewar with Napoleon andseveral wars in its South American colonies, Spain was in a weakened state.[5] The situation was so dire thatLuis de Onís, the Spanish envoy to the United States, objected in any military actions (including by Spain's allies, Britain and allied native tribes) to defend Spanish Florida as he believed that Spain could only retain control over its holdings in Florida through diplomatic means.[5] In 1813, American PresidentJames Madison ordered GeneralJames Wilkinson to depart fromNew Orleans and captureMobile from Spain.[6]
Opposing Wilkinson was Spanish Captain Cayetano Pérez. Surrounded, outnumbered, and lacking support from the Spanish government, Pérez surrenderedFuerte Carlota on 13 April 1813 to American GeneralJames Wilkinson.[7][8] The American flag was raised over the fort, marking the first time that the American flag had been raised in the city of Mobile.[9]
After the Spanish surrender,Mobile and the surrounding area was annexed into theMississippi Territory.[10][11] On 30 August 1813,Fort Bowyer was established atMobile Point.[12] The capture and annexation of Mobile marked the only permanent territorial acquisition made by the United States during theWar of 1812.[13]