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When Spain became an ally of the American colonies during the American Revolution, its primary motive was to put pressure on its traditional European enemy, Great Britain. As the conflict wore on, however, both Spain and America began to see the advantages of a mutual alliance; before the war would end, Spain would provide the American revolutionaries with men and money for their cause, and America would help Spain to gain lasting control over territory in the Caribbean.
As a result of the Treaty of Paris of 1763, with the close of the French and Indian War (Seven Years War), Spain was ceded the vast Louisiana Territory and established its territorial capital in New Orleans. With General Bernardo de Galvez as Spanish Governor of Louisiana at New Orleans, Spanish money and materials for the Americans were sent up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) under the command of Colonel George Morgan. In 1779, Spain declared war on England. With its vast colonies in Latin America, Spain undoubtedly realized that it was playing a dangerous game in siding with a rebellion against a mother country; however, priority was given to the defeat of its eternal foe.
Upon actively entering the war in 1779, Galvez cleared British forces from the Mississippi River just above New Orleans. The following year, the Spanish Army captured the British fort at Mobile. Then in 1781, the Spaniards conquered the British bastion at Pensacola, Florida. In these coastal campaigns, American volunteers accompanied their Spanish allies. In addition, a powerful Spanish fleet under the command of Admiral Jose de Solano operated in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean. Had Spain not diverted British strength from operating solely against the beleaguered American colonies in these areas, American forces might have suffered a powerful setback that would have prolonged the war.
The terms of peace were not signed until 1783 in France, and many Americans tend to think of the British capitulation at Yorktown on 19 October 1781 as the final campaign of the war. However, in May 1782 a joint American and Spanish expeditionary force successfully captured the British fort at Nassau, on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. This base had been captured in 1776 and in 1778 by John Paul Jones, but had been retaken by the British. British corsairs and naval forces operated out of these strategically situated islands, harassing American and Spanish shipping in the Bahama Channel, the Atlantic Ocean, and in the Caribbean.
At this time, powerful French and Spanish naval units were gathering near the Caribbean island of Hispaniola to attack the British base at Jamaica. This assault was to have been commanded by General Galvez..The Spanish fleet operating in this area, in conjunction with the French fleet led by the Comte de Grasse, was commanded by Admiral Jose Solano, who had received the title of the Marquis de Socorro (“Help”) for his naval role at Pensacola. The British had their own fleet in this area, commanded by one of the outstanding sailors of the war, Admiral George Rodney.
Because of this threat, Spain could not divert warships to support the invasion of the Bahama Islands, as Spanish soldiers at Havana, Cuba, prepared for the assault. The commander of the Spanish force at Havana was Juan Maria de Cagigal, Spanish Governor of Cuba. Spanish transport shipping was ready, but armed escort ships were required. In January 1782, Cagigal accepted an offer of assistance from an American, Commodore Alexander Guillon, who commanded the frigate South Carolina with eight ad-
ditional armed American brigantines.
Cagigal later paid tribute to the navigational skills °f Commodore Guillon "... for taking the convoy through a route of the Bahama Channel to Providence then considered impossible to navigate.” Guillon was named fleet commander and Cagigal was to command the invasion in a display of allied solidar- Jty. Cagigal sailed in the South Carolina, which he said was superior in armament to any other ship of her class.
On 22 April 1782, this force left Havana Bay and sailed for the Bahama Islands. The fleet consisted of oine American warships and 54 small Spanish transport vessels. On board were 2,500 Spanish soldiers, otany of whom served at the sieges of Mobile and Pensacola. Contingents from Spanish regiments were tepresented: Guadalajara, Espana, Corona, Rey, Principe, Soria, Granada, Navarra, Havana, and Aragon. Ironically, the Aragon unit was commanded hy a then obscure Spanish Army captain, who would later become one of the great heroes of Latin America’s struggle for independence—Francisco Miranda.
Against adverse winds, the fleet made slow progress and did not arrive in the Cuban city of Matanzas until daybreak of 30 April. The winds changed, progress was rapid, and the Biminis in the Straits of Florida were sighted on 2 May.
Progress was slowed again the following day as Commodore Guillon turned eastward to enter the Northwest Providence Channel for the dangerous southeastern route to Nassau. Guillon’s seamanship Was superb, and on the morning of 4 May the invasion fleet reached its objective and anchored off the
small island of Hoz in front of Nassau.
A blockade of the British harbor of Nassau was established and part of the invasion fleet was dispatched to the nearby island of Salt Cay to feign an invasion. The British Captain General of the Bahama Islands, Vice Admiral John Maxwell, had meager forces with which to repel a determined attack. Cagigal dispatched Francisco Miranda, his aide-de-camp, to parley with Admiral Maxwell, who was given an ultimatum on 6 May to surrender the Bahama Islands within 12 hours.
Miranda returned to the flagship South Carolina with Maxwell s reply to Cagigal, which stated how difficult it was for a naval officer to surrender. The following morning Cagigal sent another letter to Maxwell demanding the capitulation. Hopelessly outnumbered, the British agreed and the Bahama Islands were surrendered; Cagigal and Maxwell signed the capitulation terms on 8 May. The British surrendered 12 warships, 159 cannon, 6 howitzers, 36 hand grenades, 868 muskets, 31 pistols, and 86 swords, along with 274 veteran troops and 338 militiamen.
Peace came in January 1783- The following year, members of the South Carolina congressional delegation passed a resolution asking Spain for compensation for the participation of the South Carolina on the assault of the Bahama Islands in 1782. A grateful Spain gave ample and due compensation, part of which included two Spanish jackasses sent to General George Washington at Mount Vernon. Thus ended the little known American and Spanish expedition at the close of the American Revolution.