The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and West Florida to Galveztown.
There are often unsung heroes whose pivotal roles remain hidden in the shadows and names given to our cities and geography. One such figure is Bernardo Vicente Apolinar de Gálvez y Madrid, known today by the abbreviated version of his name, Bernardo de Gálvez. His name might not immediately ring a bell, but his contributions during a time of revolutionary fervor were nothing short of remarkable.
Born in Macharaviaya, Spain, in 1746, a mountain village in the province of Málaga, Spain, young Bernardo de Gálvez initially found himself embroiled in the tumultuous conflicts of his era.
In this short episode, we will be covering only a sliver of Bernardo de Gálvez's life. His accomplishments are worth picking up a book on and diving deeper into his life.
A soldier since the age of 16, Gálvez participated in several wars across Europe, the Americas, and North Africa. He participated in the Spanish army's invasion of Portugal and faced off against the Portuguese and their British allies during the Seven Years' War. Little did he know that his journey would lead him to a critical juncture in the birth of a new nation across the Atlantic.
Bernardo de Gálvez was not born into high society but used his family connections, military experience, language skills, and relationships to propel himself to become an invaluable asset to the Kingdom of Spain. He arrived in Mexico, which was then part of New Spain, in 1769. In 1776, the same year when America boldly declared its independence, Bernardo de Gálvez ascended to the rank of colonel. But his appointment as the governor of Spanish-controlled Louisiana on January 1, 1777, set the stage for a series of clandestine events that would shape the course of history.
The geopolitical landscape of the time was complex. Great Britain had emerged victorious over Spain in the Seven Years' War and sought ways to consolidate its power while dealing with those pesky American colonies. Spain harbored its own ambitions, a tightly held secret, to weaken the British empire and gain global trading and colonial expansion advantages.
Spain's loss of Florida during the Seven Year's War left a significant portion of the American coastline under British control, which did not align with Spanish interests.
Enter Bernardo de Gálvez, stationed in New Orleans, the main outpost and port in Spanish Louisiana. In the 1770s, Spanish Louisiana was encompassed within the borders of the Gulf Coast of modern-day Louisiana and Texas and extended from the Mississippi River as far north as the modern-day Canadian border and as far west as the Rocky Mountains. From the strategic vantage point of New Orleans, Bernardo de Gálvez became the crucial link in Spain's covert support of the American revolutionary cause.
Of course, Spain was not particularly interested in fighting a war for the American Colonies' interests. The Kingdom of Spain had its own goals of expansion in the Americas, and Britain's goals of expansion in the same region were impeding Spain's mission. Spain was happy to support the colonies fighting the British and assist in expending their enemy's resources.
Gálvez's meticulous planning allowed American and ally ships to slip into New Orleans undetected, evading the British Navy's watchful eye that encircled most eastern ports. These ships bore much-needed supplies including muskets, gunpowder, and more essentials for the American colonies rebelling troops' survival. Gálvez orchestrated the transportation of these supplies up the mighty Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, ensuring they reached the hands of those fighting for American independence, all while avoiding British detection.
When American forces launched raids against the British along the Mississippi River in 1778, Governor de Gálvez displayed extraordinary generosity to the Americans. He allowed the Americans to sell their captured goods in New Orleans, bolstering American cash flow and the supply of weapons for Spanish forces, forging an unspoken alliance between Gálvez and the Colonies. France's role in the American Revolution cannot be understated. France was an early supporter of the colonies, sending supplies and weapons. As soon as the colonies declared independence from Britain.
But the true game-changer arrived in 1779 when Spain signed a treaty of alliance with France, uniting against their common foe, Great Britain. King Charles III of Britain declared war on June 21, 1779. This act immediately placed Bernardo de Gálvez in the hot seat of overseeing the entire Spanish war effort in North America. The Americans were happy to have Spain on their side of the war. The sentiment "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" was the consensus between Spain, France, and the American Colonies.
With just 600 soldiers made up of Spaniards, Americans, Free Black men, and immigrants from around the world and two warships, Gálvez embarked on a daring campaign with one of the most sparse and diverse military forces of the era.
To feed the Spanish troops and supply American forces engaged in the Revolution, Gálvez asked for support from neighboring Texas in the form of Texas cattle. Between 1779 and 1782, in what is believed to be the first major Texas cattle drive, thousands of heads of cattle were herded from La Bahia, near modern-day Goliad, Texas, to New Orleans, for Spanish soldiers preparing to fight the British along the Gulf Coast.
Within a month of Britain declaring war on Spain, Gálvez led his troops in capturing four British forts, including Baton Rouge, Natchez, Mobile, and Pensacola. This effort was dubbed "The Gulf Coast Campaign" to take back the Gulf Coast from the British. Gálvez and his forces also captured British ships during these strategic attacks. One of which was called the HMS WEST FLORIDA, captured in 1779 during a skirmish on Lake Pontchartrain. The captured vessel was swiftly renamed the GALVEZTOWN in honor of the Spanish leader, Bernardo de Gálvez.
The siege of Pensacola, lasting from March 9 to May 8, 1781, stood as one of the Revolutionary War's longest sustained sieges. Yet, the fruits of de Gálvez's labor proved invaluable. Following the fall of Pensacola, all of British West Florida fell under Spanish control. With the help of Spain and Bernardo de Gálvez, the weakened British army and navy found themselves unable to sustain their hold of vital territory to effectively support other theaters of the war. The tide of the American Revolution had turned.
In the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, the Treaty of Paris in 1783 ceded Florida back to Spain. Bernardo de Gálvez ordered one of his trustworthy associates, José Antonio de Evia, a man who commanded the Port of Mobile after it was captured by Spanish troops, to survey the Coastline of the Gulf of Mexico to aid in the navigation in the now "somewhat" secured Spanish empire.
José Antonio de Evia had a spectacular career on Spanish vessels serving the Kingdom of Spain. Evia was trained at a prestigious naval training academy and stepped onto Spanish Naval vessels at the age of 13 in 1753. By 1760, his destiny took him to the coast guard of Cartagena de Indias, a pivotal moment in his maritime career. From here, he set sail to explore the Gulf of Mexico. José Antonio de Evia embarked on numerous voyages, shuttling between Havana, New Orleans, Veracruz, and Mobile, navigating the treacherous waters of the Gulf of Mexico. During the American Revolution, Evia served under Bernardo de Gálvez, proving himself as a trusted and competent mariner. Throughout the Spanish occupation of Louisiana, he held the position of port master of New Orleans, overseeing the maritime operations that kept the region thriving.
José Antonio de Evia's most enduring legacy lay in the meticulous maritime charts he crafted. Commissioned by De Gálvez himself, he painstakingly mapped the Gulf Coast from West Florida to Tampico, leaving an indelible mark on navigation, exploration, and borders.
In 1783, he embarked on an arduous expedition, venturing by canoe to explore the rivers and inlets of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico. This monumental task culminated in September 1786 when he reached Tampico. During this journey in 1785, off the coast of Spanish Texas, he explored San Bernardo Bay, named by a French explorer in the 1720s. De Evia bestowed a new name to the bay, "Bahia De GálvezTown," known in English as "Galveston Bay" in honor of his patron, De Gálvez, and one of the British vessels he captured, the aforementioned HMS WEST FLORIDA defeated and taken by the Spanish on Lake Pontchartrain in 1779, which was renamed GALVEZTOWN.
De Evia's efforts to chart and rename modern-day Galveston Bay after De Gálvez's contribution to defeating British forces along the Gulf Coast are often overlooked. Jose De Evia's contribution to charting and mapping the coastline and river systems of the Gulf Coast settled border disputes, and many of the names he gave to geographical landmarks during his charting mission have remained to this day, including Bahia De Galveztown, or Galveston Bay.
It's unlikely that Bernardo De Gálvez ever stepped foot on the land surrounding Bahia De Galveztown, his namesake bay. But the name Galveztown stuck. In the early 1800s, the name was anglicized to Galveston. By 1839, the city of Galveston was incorporated, locking in Bernardo De Gálvez's legacy and contribution to the American Revolution to this day.
Unfortunately, Bernardo de Gálvez did not live long enough to savor the honors he deserved. Yellow fever claimed his life in 1786, but his legacy endured.
Even after passing, Spanish and American citizens continued to venerate him as a hero. Today, his memory lives on, especially in Galveston, Texas, where his name still resonates. A bronze statue of de Gálvez gazes proudly over Virginia Avenue in Washington, D.C., a symbol of his enduring influence. In 2014, the U.S. Congress bestowed honorary citizenship upon Bernardo de Gálvez, a fitting tribute to the man who played an instrumental role in securing the independence of a nation, whether he intended to or not. His portrait now hangs prominently in the hallowed halls of the United States Capitol building, a lasting testament to a hero of Spanish, United States, and Galveston history.
Jose Antonio de Evia spent most of his life at sea, and his mission of charting the Gulf Coast, painstakingly canoeing around bays and up rivers to chart and map depths and details.
This short episode definitely does not include all of the details of Bernardo de Gálvez or Jose Antonio De Evia's life, but it merely gives you a glimpse into two men who had a hand in shaping America, mapping the Gulf Coast and naming Galveston Bay.
Far too often, we hear a name of a person, place, or thing. And we don't always think about where it came from. I trust this gives you a new perspective on American history, the American Revolution, and Galveston, Texas.
