Bernardo de Gálvez

Bernardo de Gálvez was born in Macharaviaya, a mountain village in the province of Málaga, Spain, on 23 July 1746.{{cite book|author=José Antonio Calderón Quijano|title=Los Virreyes de nueva España en el reinado de Carlos III.: Martín de Mayorga (1779–1783), por J. J. Real Díaz y A. M. Heredia Herrera. Matías de Gálvez (1783–1784), por M. Rodríguez del Valle y A. Conejo Díez de la Cortina. Bernardo de Gálvez (1785–1786), por Ma. del Carmen Galbis Díez. Alonso Núnez de Haro, 1787, por A. Rubio Gil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RtlAAAAMAAJ&q=%2225%20de%20julio%20de%201746%22|year=1968|publisher=Escuela Gráfica Salesiana|page=327}}{{cite book|author=David J. Weber|title=The Spanish Frontier in North America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KOPdX2qaVrkC&pg=PA443|year=1992|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-05917-5|page=443}}{{cite book|author=Luis Navarro García|title=Don José de Gálvez y la Comandancia General de las Provincias Internas del norte de Nueva España|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uB1lAAAAMAAJ&q=%2225%20de%20julio%20de%201746%22|year=1964|publisher=Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas|page=143}}{{cite book|author=José Miguel Morales Folguera|title= Urbanismo hispanoamericano en el sudeste de los EE.UU. (Luisiana y Florida). La obra del malagueño Bernardo de Gálvez y Gallardo (1746–1789) |chapter-url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=3004458|series=Andalucia y America en el siglo XVIII: actas de las IV Jornadas de Andalucia y America (Universidad de Santa María de la Rábida, marzo, 1984)|year=1985|publisher=Editorial CSIC - CSIC Press|location=Seville|language=es|isbn=84-00-06091-1|page=122|chapter=I. Antecedentes, causas y modalidades de la nueva expansión colonial española hacia norteamérica en el siglo xviii}} He was the son of Matías de Gálvez and his wife María Josefa de Madrid, who died when Bernardo was only 2 years old. He studied military sciences at the Academia de Ávila and at the age of 16 participated in the Spanish invasion of Portugal, which stalled after the Spanish had captured Almeida. Following the conflict he was promoted to infantry lieutenant.{{cite book|author=José Rodulfo Boeta|title=Bernardo de Gálvez|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8YeAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Avila%22|year=1977|publisher=Publicaciones Españolas|page=42|isbn=9788450021561 }} He arrived to the Viceroyalty of New Spain (present day Mexico plus several U.S. states) in 1769.{{cite book|author=John Walton Caughey|title=Bernardo de Gálvez in Louisiana, 1776–1783|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lx8OAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Apaches%22%20%221769%22|year=1934|publisher=University of California Press|page=62}}{{cite book|author=René Chartrand|title=American War of Independence Commanders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ny8VDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA53|date=20 March 2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-0300-9|pages=53}} As a captain, he fought the Apaches, with his Opata Indian allies.{{cite journal|author1=Kieran McCarty|title=Bernardo de Galvez on the Apache Frontier: The Education of a Future Viceroy|journal=Journal of the Southwest|date=1994|volume=36|issue=2|page=127|jstor=40169957}}{{cite book|author=Pekka Hämäläinen|title=The Comanche Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jd4Km3Y8oAwC&pg=PA124|year=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-15117-6|page=124}} He received many wounds, several of them serious.{{cite journal|author1=Light Townsend Cummins|title=The Gálvez Family and Spanish Participation In the Independence of the United States of America|journal=Revista Complutense de Historia de América|date=2006|volume=32|page=187|url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/RCHA/article/download/RCHA0606110179A/28534|access-date=8 June 2017|publisher=Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid|language=en|format=pdf|issn=1132-8312}} In 1770, he was promoted to commandant of arms of Nueva Vizcaya and Sonora, northern provinces of New Spain.{{cite book|author=Max L. Moorhead|title=The Presidio: Bastion of the Spanish Borderlands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gF3v_B1st9kC&pg=PA99|year=1991|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-2317-2|page=99}}

File:Portrait of Bernardo de Gálvez.jpg, c. 1785]]

In 1772, Gálvez returned to Peninsular Spain with his uncle, José de Gálvez. Later, he was sent to Pau, France, where he served with the Royal Cantabria regiment,{{cite book|author=Eduardo Garrigues|title=El que tenga valor que me siga: En vida de Bernardo de Gálvez|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3eECwAAQBAJ&pg=PT301|date=9 February 2016|publisher=La Esfera de los Libros|language=es|isbn=978-84-9060-614-8|page=301}} an elite Franco-Spanish unit, for three years. There, he learned to speak French, which would serve him well when he became governor of Louisiana. Gálvez was transferred to Seville in 1775, and then participated in Alejandro O'Reilly's disastrous expedition to Algiers, where he was seriously wounded during the Spanish assault on the fortress that guarded the city.{{cite book|author=José Rodulfo Boeta|title=Bernardo de Gálvez|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8YeAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Algiers%22|year=1977|publisher=Publicaciones Españolas|page=46|isbn=9788450021561 }}{{cite book|author=José Montero de Pedro|title=The Spanish in New Orleans and Louisiana|url=https://archive.org/details/spanishinneworle00mont|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Pelican Publishing|isbn=978-1-4556-1227-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/spanishinneworle00mont/page/48 48]}} Afterward he was appointed a professor at the military academy of Ávila and promoted to lieutenant colonel; he was made colonel in 1776.

On 1 January 1777, Bernardo de Gálvez became the new governor of the formerly French province of Louisiana,{{cite web|author1=Michael Klein|title=Louisiana: European Explorations and the Louisiana Purchase – Louisiana under Spanish Rule|url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/static/louisiana-european-european-explorations-and-the-louisiana-purchase/images/lapurchase.pdf|website=loc.gov/collections|publisher=United States Library of Congress|access-date=9 June 2017|page=40}}ceded to Spain in 1762 as compensation for the loss of Florida to Britain, after Spain was urged to enter the Seven Years' War on the French side.

In November 1777, Gálvez married Marie Félicité de Saint-Maxent d'Estrehan, the Creole daughter of the French-born Gilbert Antoine de Saint-Maxent and the Creole Elizabeth La Roche, and young widow of Jean Baptiste Honoré d'Estrehan, the son of a high ranking French colonial official. This marriage to the daughter of a Frenchman{{cite book|author=Madame Calderón de la Barca (Frances Erskine Inglis)|title=La vida en Mexico durante una residencia de dos afios en ese pais|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nDDVAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Elizabeth%20La%20Roche%22|year=1959|publisher=Porrúa|page=44}}{{cite book|author=Sanders, Mary Elizabeth|title=St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, Heirship Series Vol. II: Selected Annotated Abstracts of Marriage Book 1, 1811–1829|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S2D4PaSZ_5MC&pg=PA122|year=2002|publisher=Pelican Publishing|isbn=978-1-4556-1234-5|page=122|chapter=II}} won Gálvez the favor of the local Creole population.{{cite book|author1=Virginia Parks|author2=Pensacola Historical Society|title=Siege! Spain and Britain: Battle of Pensacola, March 9-May 8, 1781|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmETAAAAYAAJ&q=%22good%20relations%22|date=1 April 1981|publisher=Pensacola Historical Society|page=24|isbn=9780939566006 }}{{cite book|author=Larrie D. Ferreiro|title=Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_uZDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133|year=2016|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-101-87524-7|page=133}} They had three children, Miguel, Matilde, and Guadalupe.{{cite web|author1=Dictionary of Louisiana Biography|title=ST. MAXENT, Marie Félicité (Felicítas)|url=http://www.lahistory.org/site36.php|website=www.lahistory.org|publisher=Louisiana Historical Association|access-date=8 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716204559/http://www.lahistory.org/site36.php|archive-date=July 16, 2016|date=2008|url-status=dead}}

As governor, Gálvez enacted an anti-British policy, taking measures against British smuggling and promoting trade with France.{{cite book|author=Paul E. Hoffman|title=The Louisiana Purchase and Its Peoples: Perspectives from the New Orleans Conference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dbp2AAAAMAAJ&q=%22smuggling%22|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Louisiana Historical Association and Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Louisiana at Lafayette|isbn=978-1-887366-51-9|page=119}}{{cite book|author=William R. Nester|title=The Frontier War for American Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U02_ypmz6PgC&pg=PA182|year=2004|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-0077-1|page=182}} He damaged British interests in the region and kept it open for supplies to reach George Washington's army during the American Revolutionary War."Caughey 1934, p. 250"{{cite book|title=Louisiana Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hUPjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22strategic%20importance%22://books.google.com/books|year=1975|publisher=Conseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane.|page=68}}{{cite book|author=David Narrett|title=Adventurism and Empire: The Struggle for Mastery in the Louisiana-Florida Borderlands, 1762–1803|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LHNpBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA82|date=5 March 2015|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=978-1-4696-1834-0|pages=78–82, 101}} He founded Galvez Town in 1779, promoted the colonization of Nueva Iberia, and established free trade with Cuba and Yucatán.{{cite book|author=Fernando Benítez|title=De la Conquista a la Independencia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MG5lBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT566|date=7 October 2014|publisher=Ediciones Era|language=es|isbn=978-607-445-280-8|page=566|quote= 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 of New Iberia.}} Galvez Street in New Orleans is named for him. In 1779, Gálvez was promoted to brigadier.{{cite book|author=Thomas E. Chávez|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z96CAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA153|title=Spain and the Independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift|date=11 April 2002|publisher=UNM Press|isbn=978-0-8263-2795-6|page=153}}

{{main|Gulf Coast campaign}}

File:Cuadro por españa y por el rey, Galvez en America.jpg by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau]]

In December 1776, King Charles 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.{{cite book|author=Paul W. Mapp|editor=Edward G. Gray |editor2=Jane Kamensky|title=The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nOURDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311|year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-025776-7|page=318|chapter=The Revolutionary War and Europe's Great Powers}} In 1777, José de Gálvez, newly appointed as minister of the Council of the Indies, sent his nephew, Bernardo de Gálvez, to New Orleans as governor of Luisiana with instructions to secure the friendship of the United States.{{cite book|author=Library of Congress|title=The Impact of the American Revolution Abroad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQDgr_XvsHoC&pg=PA167|year=2002|publisher=The Minerva Group, Inc.|isbn=978-0-89875-978-5|page=167}} On 20 February 1777, the Spanish king's ministers in Madrid secretly instructed Gálvez to sell the Americans desperately needed supplies. The British had blockaded the colonial ports of the Thirteen Colonies, and consequently the route from New Orleans up the Mississippi River was an effective alternative. Gálvez worked with Oliver Pollock, an American patriot, to ship gunpowder, muskets, uniforms, medicine, and other supplies to the American colonial rebels.{{cite book|author=Larrie D. Ferreiro|title=Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ER2cCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA134|date=15 November 2016|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-101-87525-4|page=134}}

On October 31, 1778, the Continental Congress issued a resolution thanking de Gálvez for his "spirited and disinterested conduct towards these states".File:October 31, 1778 Resolution by Continental Congress.jpg{{cite book|author=Continental Congress|title=Journals of the Continental Congress 1774–1789, Edited from the original records in the Library of Congress by Gaillard Hunt, Volume XIV, 1778, September 2 - December 31|date=1908|publisher=Library of Congress Manuscript Division, United States|pages=1034–1035, October 31, 1778 entry}}

Although Spain had not yet joined openly the American cause, when an American raiding expedition led by James 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.{{cite book|author=Sam Willis|title=The Struggle for Sea Power: A Naval History of the American Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TfZ1CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT172|date=15 February 2016|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-24883-8|page=172}}{{cite book|author=Naval History & Heritage Command (U.S.)|title=Naval Documents of the American Revolution Volume 12, American Theater, April 1, 1778 – May 31, 1778; European Theater, April 1, 1778 – May 31, 1778|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dWXGN1p3lewC&pg=PA252|date=14 July 2014|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-945274-72-8|page=252}} In 1779, Spanish forces commanded by Gálvez seized the province of West Florida, later known as the Florida Parishes, from the British.{{cite book| author=Samuel C. Hyde Jr. |title=Pistols and Politics: The Dilemma of Democracy in Louisiana's Florida Parishes, 1810–1899|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TxDWVElnTQ8C&pg=PA19|date=1 February 1998|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-2270-9|page=19}} Spain's motive was the chance both to recover territories lost to the British, particularly Florida, and to remove the ongoing British threat.{{cite book|author=Helen Hornbeck Tanner|title=Zéspedes in East Florida, 1784–1790|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZEYAAAAYAAJ&q=%22recover%20Florida%22|year=1963|publisher=University of Miami Press|page=11}}{{cite book|author=Wilbert H. Timmons|title=El Paso: A Borderlands History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WOsTAAAAYAAJ|year=1990|publisher=University of Texas at El Paso|isbn=978-0-87404-207-8|page=53}}{{cite book|author=Desmond Gregory|title=Minorca, the Illusory Prize: A History of the British Occupations of Minorca Between 1708 and 1802|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xPTtBRTfoNYC&pg=PA208|year=1990|publisher=Associated University Presses|isbn=978-0-8386-3389-2|page=208}}

File:Jaillot-Elwe, Norteamerica, 1792.jpg's borders after Bernardo Gálvez's military actions, which appear to include Spanish Louisiana and Spanish Texas, as well]]

On 21 June 1779, Spain formally declared war on Great Britain.{{cite book|author=David Marley|title=Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdvp3cGJUZoC&pg=PA321|year=1998|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-87436-837-6|page=321}}"Chávez 2002" p. 135{{cite book|author=Terry M. Mays|title=Historical Dictionary of the American Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3CvVcvmxUQC&pg=PA79|date=18 November 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7503-6|page=79}} On 25 June, a letter from London, marked secret and confidential, went to General John Campbell at Pensacola from King George III and Lord George Germain.{{cite book|author=Piers Mackesy|title=The War for America: 1775–1783|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6AB_z6v0Pb0C&pg=PA266|year=1964|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=0-8032-8192-7|page=266}} Campbell was instructed that it was the object of greatest importance to organize an attack upon New Orleans.{{cite journal|author1=George C. Osborn|title=Major-General John Campbell in British West Florida|journal=Florida Historical Quarterly|date=April 1949|volume=XXVII|issue=4|url=https://ucf.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/ucf%3A22328/datastream/OBJ/view|access-date=11 June 2017|page=335|quote=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.}} If Campbell thought it was possible to reduce the Spanish fort at New Orleans, he was ordered to make preparations immediately. These included securing from Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Parker as many fighting ships as the fleet at Jamaica could spare,{{cite book|author=Virginia Parks|title=Siege! Spain and Britain: Battle of Pensacola, March 9-May 8, 1781|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmETAAAAYAAJ|date=1 April 1981|publisher=Pensacola Historical Society|page=34|isbn=9780939566006 }} gathering all forces in the province that could be assembled, recruiting as many loyal Indians as the Superintendent could provide,{{cite book|author1=Robert Marshall Utley|author2=Wilcomb E. Washburn|title=Indian Wars|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cc3l29gVaHkC&pg=PA109|year=1985|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=0-618-15464-7|pages=109–}} and drawing on His Majesty's Treasury through the Lords Commissioners to pay expenses.{{cite book|author=Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts|title=Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MAKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA162|year=1906|publisher=H. M. Stationery Office|page=162}} 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."Osborn1949" p. 326

Gálvez carried out a masterful military campaign and defeated the British colonial forces at Fort Bute, Baton Rouge, and Natchez in 1779.{{cite book|author=Henry Putney Beers|title=French and Spanish Records of Louisiana: A Bibliographical Guide to Archive and Manuscript Sources|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CxO3RcGScEUC&pg=PA90|date=1 March 2002|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-2793-3|page=90}}{{cite book|author=James W. Raab|title=Spain, Britain and the American Revolution in Florida, 1763–1783|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCc8BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA135|date=5 November 2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-3213-4|page=135}} The Battle of Baton Rouge, on 21 September 1779, freed the lower Mississippi Valley of British forces and relieved the threat to the capital of Louisiana, New Orleans. In March 1780, Gálvez recaptured Mobile from the British at the Battle of Fort Charlotte.{{cite book|author=Robert D. Bush|title=The Louisiana Purchase: A Global Context|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSVrAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA19|date=15 October 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-07772-3|page=19}}{{cite book|author=Joseph G. Dawson III|title=The Louisiana Governors: From Iberville to Edwards|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Us6aJWqAdZ0C&pg=PA57|date=1 February 1990|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-1527-5|page=57}}

Gálvez's most important military victory over the British forces occurred 8 May 1781, when he attacked and took by land and by sea Pensacola, the British (and formerly, Spanish) capital of West Florida from General John Campbell of Strachur.{{cite book|author1=N. Orwin Rush|title=Spain's Final Triumph Over Great Britain in the Gulf of Mexico: The Battle of Pensacola March 9 to May 8, 1781|date=1966|publisher=Florida State University|pages=82–83}}"Ferreiro 2016", p.253–254 The loss of Mobile and Pensacola left the British with no bases along the Gulf coast.{{cite book|author=Greg O'Brien|title=Pre-removal Choctaw History: Exploring New Paths|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CG10CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA124|date=20 May 2015|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-4988-2|page=124}}

In 1782, forces under Gálvez's overall command captured the British naval base at Nassau on New Providence Island in the Bahamas without a shot being fired. However, Gálvez's was angry that the operation had proceeded against his orders and ordered the arrest and imprisonment of Francisco de Miranda, aide-de-camp of Juan Manuel Cajigal, the commander of the expedition. Miranda later explained Gálvez's actions as stemming from jealousy of Cajigal's success.{{cite book|author=William Spence Robertson|title=Francisco de Miranda and the Revolutionizing of Spanish America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jchmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA240|year=1909|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=240–242}}"Chávez 2002" pp. 208–209

File:May 9,1783 Congressional Congress journal.jpg

On May 9, 1783, the Congressional Congress issued a resolution to display a portrait painting of de Gálvez which was obtained by Oliver Pollock "...in the room in which Congress meet."{{cite book|author=Continental Congress|title=Journals of the Continental Congress 1774-1789, Edited from the original records in the Library of Congress by Gaillard Hunt, Volume XXIV, 1783, January 1 - August 29|date=1922|publisher=Library of Congress Manuscript Division, United States|page=33, May 9, 1783 entry}}

File:Bernardo de Gálvez's Order of Carlos III (a.k.a. Order of Charles III) insignia.jpg insignia]]

Gálvez received many honors from Spain for his military victories against the British, including promotion to lieutenant general and field marshal,{{cite book|author=Paul K. Davis|title=Besieged: 100 Great Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKhZHVtIX8UC&pg=PA188|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-521930-2|page=188}} 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 and Count of Gálvez.{{cite book|author=Lawrence N. Powell|title=The Accidental City|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4g61SUSPqtQC&pg=PA186|date=13 April 2012|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-06544-4|pages=185–186}} As evidenced by the insignia that he wore in most every official portrait painting of him, de Gálvez was also awarded the Order 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|date=September 2024}}

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 through Oliver Pollock,"Chávez 2002" p. 108 from whom he received military intelligence concerning the British in West Florida.{{cite book|author=F. Todd Smith|title=Louisiana and the Gulf South Frontier, 1500–1821|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VySPAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA160|date=17 November 2014|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-5711-4|page=160}}{{cite book|author=Alan Taylor|title=American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750–1804|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E92aCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT148|date=6 September 2016|publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-25387-0|page=148}} For France and Spain, Gálvez's military success in the American war effort led to the inclusion of provisions in the Peace of Paris (1783) that officially returned Florida, now divided into two provinces, East and West Florida, to Spain. The treaty recognized the political independence of the former British colonies to the north, and its signing ended their war with the British.{{cite book|author=Department of Defense|title=Hispanics in America's Defense|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oq9BCzQuq8MC&pg=PA5|date=August 1997|publisher=Diane Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-7881-4722-7|pages=5–6|chapter=American Revolution (1775–1783)}}{{cite book|author=Kathleen DuVal|title=Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RTPTCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA229|date=April 2016|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8129-8120-9|pages=229–230}}

File:Bernardo de Gálvez.png, by Mariano Salvador Maella]]

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.{{cite book|author=J. Chu|title=Stumbling Towards the Constitution: The Economic Consequences of Freedom in the Atlantic World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udPIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA10|date=14 April 2012|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-137-01080-3|page=10}} He was given the titles Count of Gálvez ("conde de Gálvez") and Viscount of Gálvez-Town ("vizconde de Gálvez-Town") by Carlos III on May 20, 1783.{{cite book | last=Quintero Saravia | first=Gonzalo M. | title=Bernardo de Gálvez: Spanish Hero of the American Revolution | publication-place=Chapel Hill | date=2018 | isbn=978-1-4696-4080-8 | oclc=1029828120 | pages = 242, 472–473n153}} 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.{{cite book|author=David J. Weber|title=Spanish Frontier in North America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MUCmD15yEAYC&pg=PA169|date=14 May 2014|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-15621-8|page=169}} He arrived in Vera Cruz, on 21 May 1785,{{cite book|author=James Madison|title=The Papers of James Madison|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NNDWWBYryLkC&pg=PA10|year=1962|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-36300-4|page=10}} and made his formal entry into Mexico City in June.

During his administration two great calamities occurred: the freeze of September 1785, which led to famine in 1786,{{cite book|author=Carol Helstosky|title=The Routledge History of Food|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ul6vBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA81|date=3 October 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-62113-3|page=81}} and a typhus epidemic that killed 300,000 people the same year.{{cite journal|title=The Mexican Drought Atlas: Tree-ring reconstructions of the soil moisture balance during the late pre-Hispanic, colonial, and modern eras|author1=David W. Stahle|author2=Edward R. Cook|author3=Dorian J. Burnette|author4=Jose Villanueva|author5=Julian Cerano|author6=Jordan N. Burns|author7=Daniel Griffin|author8=Benjamin I. Cook|author9=Rodolfo Acuna|author10=Max C.A. Torbenson|author11=Paul Sjezner|author12=Ian M. Howard|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|date=1 October 2016|volume=149|page=43|language=en|quote=The worst famine of the colonial era in Mexico occurred in 1786, and is referred to as El 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|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.06.018|bibcode=2016QSRv..149...34S|doi-access=free}} 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.{{cite book|author=Steven Otfinoski|title=The New Republic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqAaRdNGCYIC&pg=PA17|date=September 2008|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-2938-8|page=17}} He also implemented policies to increase future agricultural production.

In 1785, Gálvez initiated construction of Chapultepec Castle.{{cite book|author=Juan Pedro Viqueira Albán|title=Propriety and Permissiveness in Bourbon Mexico|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ve2YrAJBzI0C&pg=PA20|year=1999|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8420-2467-9|page=20}}"Chávez 2002", p. 12{{cite book|author=Eduardo Philibert Mendoza|title=Personajes Notables de la Historia de México 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Wd6AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA66|date=15 April 2011|publisher=Panorama Editorial|isbn=978-607-452-266-2|page=66}} 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.{{cite book|author=Juana Vázquez Gómez|title=Dictionary of Mexican Rulers, 1325-1997|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmexi0000vazq|url-access=registration|year=1997|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-30049-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmexi0000vazq/page/45 45]}} He continued work on the highway to Acapulco,{{cite book|title=The Historical Magazine, and Notes and Queries Concerning the Antiquities, History, and Biography of America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXwFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA141|volume=VIII|year=1864|publisher=C. Benjamin Richardson|page=141}}{{cite book|author=Elías Trabulse|title=Ciencia y tecnología en el Nuevo Mundo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=suweAQAAIAAJ&q=%22virrey%20Bernardo%20de%20G%C3%A1lvez%22|date=January 1994|publisher=El Colegio de México|isbn=978-968-16-4390-4|page=145}} 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 the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Spain, led by Martín Sessé y Lacasta. This expedition of botanists and naturalists resulted in a comprehensive catalog, a collaborative work published in Spain as the Flora Mexicana, which catalogued the diverse species of plants, birds, and fish found in New Spain.{{cite book|author=Shelley E. Garrigan|title=Collecting Mexico: Museums, Monuments, and the Creation of National Identity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9D3wU-HBmMC&pg=PA71|year=2012|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-7092-5|pages=71–72}}

On one occasion, when the viceroy was riding on horseback to meet with the Audiencia (according to his own report), he encountered a party of soldiers escorting three criminals to the gallows. He suspended the hanging, and later had the criminals freed.{{cite book|author=José Rodulfo Boeta|title=Bernardo de Gálvez|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8YeAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Court%20in%20Madrid%22|year=1977|publisher=Publicaciones Españolas|page=130|isbn=9788450021561 }}

After the typhus epidemic of 1786 had abated in early autumn, Bernardo de Gálvez apparently became one of its last victims,{{cite book|title=Publications of the University of California at Los Angeles in Social Sciences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQ4dAQAAMAAJ&q=%22epidemic%20of%20fever%22|year=1934|publisher=University of California Press|page=256}} and was confined to his bed. On 8 November 1786, he turned over all his governmental duties except the captain generalship to the Audiencia.{{cite book|title=Artes de México|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=We4MAQAAIAAJ&q=%22summoned%20the%20audiencia%22|year=1960|publisher=Frente Nacional de Artes Plásticas|page=90}} On 30 November 1786, Galvez died at the age of 40 in Tacubaya (now part of Mexico City). Gálvez was buried next to his father at San Fernando Church in Mexico City."Chávez 2002", p. 219{{cite book|title=Revista complutense de historia de América|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EgUrAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Iglesia%20de%20San%20Fernando%22|year=2006|publisher=Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid|page=192}}

Bernardo de Gálvez left some writings, including Ordenanzas para el Teatro de Comedias de México{{cite book|author=Francisco Pimentel |title=Obras completas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZASAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA351|volume=IV|year=1904|publisher=Tipografía económica|page=351}} and Instrución para el Buen Gobierno de las Provincias Internas de la Nueva España (Instructions for Governing the Interior Provinces of New Spain, 1786),{{cite book|author1=New Spain|author2=Bernardo de Gálvez|title=Instructions for Governing the Interior Provinces of New Spain, 1786|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_3iAAAAMAAJ|year=1951|publisher=Quivira Society}} the latter of which remained in effect until the colonial period ended.{{cite book|author=David J. Weber|title=Bárbaros: Spaniards and Their Savages in the Age of Enlightenment|url=https://archive.org/details/barbarosspaniard0000webe|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-10501-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/barbarosspaniard0000webe/page/165 165]}} In his "Instructions", Gálvez advocated a policy of selling the Indians rifles and trade goods to make them dependent on the Spanish government,{{cite book|author=Raphael Brewster Folsom|title=The Yaquis and the Empire: Violence, Spanish Imperial Power, and Native Resilience in Colonial Mexico|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jkPYBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA251|year=2014|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-19689-4|page=251}} and sanctioned war against the Apache if these inducements failed to pacify them.{{cite book|author=William B. Griffen|title=Apaches at War and Peace: The Janos Presidio, 1750–1858|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lTLS_XZj-a0C&pg=PA53|date=1 September 1998|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-3084-2|page=53}}{{cite book|author=Roberto Mario Salmón|title=Indian Revolts in Northern New Spain: A Synthesis of Resistance, 1680–1786|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sf3JVJRIUigC&pg=PA117|year=1991|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-8191-7983-8|page=117}}

File:Bernardo de Gálvez in DC.JPG, Washington D.C.]]

File:Statue of Bernardo de Galvez.JPG

Galveston, Texas, Galveston Bay, Galveston County, Galvez, Louisiana, and St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, were, among other places, named after him. The Louisiana parishes of East Feliciana and West Feliciana (originally a single parish) were said to have been named for his wife Marie Felicite de Saint-Maxent d'Estrehan.{{cite book|author=Lawrence N. Powell|title=The Accidental City|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4g61SUSPqtQC&pg=PA180|date=13 April 2012|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-06544-4|page=180}}

The Cabildo, a branch of the Louisiana State Museum located on Jackson Square in New Orleans, has a portrait of General Gálvez accompanied by a display of biographical information. Spanish Plaza, in the Central Business District of the city, has an equestrian statue of Gálvez adjacent to the New Orleans World Trade Center.{{cite book|author=Robert Jeanfreau|title=The Story Behind the Stone|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUUDM4bYZDkC&pg=PA23|date=14 March 2012|publisher=Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.|isbn=978-1-4556-1519-3|page=23}} There is also a Galvez Street in New Orleans.{{cite book|author=Sally Asher|title=Hope & New Orleans: A History of Crescent City Street Names|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X9p2CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT31|date=18 March 2014|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1-62584-509-2|page=31}} Mobile, Alabama, also has a Spanish Plaza with a statue of Gálvez.{{cite web|author1=Robert B. Kane|title=Bernardo de Gálvez|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3763|website=Encyclopedia of Alabama|publisher=Auburn University|access-date=25 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625224230/http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3763|archive-date=June 25, 2017|language=en|date=August 2, 2016|url-status=dead}}

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana (present-day state capital), Galvez Plaza is laid out next to City Hall and used frequently as a site for municipal events.{{cite book|author=David K. Gleason|title=Baton Rouge: Photographs and Text|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ACD3iD_XO8AC&pg=PA35|year=1991|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=978-0-8071-1715-6|page=35}} 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, the Hotel Galvez was built in Galveston Avenue P, where the hotel is located, is known as Bernardo de Galvez Avenue. The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 4 April 1979.

On December 16, 2014, the United States Congress conferred honorary 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."{{cite web|title=H.J.Res.105 - Conferring honorary citizenship of the United States on Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Viscount of Galveston and Count of Gálvez.|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-joint-resolution/105/text|website=Congress.gov|access-date=20 December 2014|date=2014-12-16}} In 2019, the Spanish Government placed a {{Convert | 32 | in | cm | adj = mid |-tall | -1}} statue of Galvez in front of the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C.John Kelly (July 17, 2019), "The Spaniard Who Helped Win the Revolutionary War Has a New Statue in D.C.," The Washington Post. Also, on December 9, 2014, a replica of a 1784 portrait of Gálvez by Mariano 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."Happy Birthday Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid–An Honorary U.S. Citizen",https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2018/07/bernardo-de-galvez/"When Gálvez Came to Congress",https://www.herenciahispanaoculta.com/77-when-galvez-came-to-congress.html/

In June 2024, the USS Galvez (FFG-67), a Constellation-class frigate, was named after him.{{cite web |access-date=22 June 2024 |date=21 June 2024 |language=en-US |title=SECNAV Names Future Guided Missile Frigate USS Galvez (FFG 67) |url=https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/3813156/secnav-names-future-guided-missile-frigate-uss-galvez-ffg-67/ |website=United States Navy}}

File:COA Count of Gálvez.svg|Coat of Arms as Count of Gálvez (1783–1786)

• Bernardo de Gálvez, the 1976 equestrian statue in Washington, D.C.
• Gálveztown (brig sloop) – captured British ship renamed and participated in the capture of Mobile (1780); replica built in Spain more than 200 years later.
• Spain and the American Revolutionary War
• Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo, Bernardo's father
• José de Gálvez, Bernardo's uncle
• USS Galvez, American frigate named after Bernardo

{{Reflist}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Caughey, John Walton (1998). Bernardo de Gálvez in Louisiana 1776–1783, Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company.
• Chávez, Thomas E. (2002). Spain and the Independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
• Gálvez, Bernardo de (1967) [1786]. Instructions for Governing the Interior Provinces of New Spain, 1786. New York: Arno Press.
• {{cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Barbara |title=America's Spanish Savior: Bernardo de Gálvez marches to rescue the colonies |journal=MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History |pages=98–104 |date = Autumn 2010 |url=http://www.historynet.com/americas-spanish-savior-bernardo-de-galvez.htm}}
• Quintero Saravia, Gonzalo M. Bernardo de Gálvez: Spanish Hero of the American Revolution (2018). 616 pp Scholarly biography; [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=52576 online review]
• Ritter, Luke. "The American Revolution on the Periphery of Empires: Don Bernardo de Gálvez & the Spanish-American Alliance, 1763–1783." Journal of Early American History (2017) 7#2:177-201.
• {{Cite book|last=Thonhoff|first=Robert H.|title=The Texas Connection With The American Revolution|publisher=Eakin Press|location=Austin, TX|year=2000|isbn=1-57168-418-2}}
• Woodward, Ralph Lee Jr. Tribute to Don Bernardo de Gálvez. Baton Rouge : Historic New Orleans Collection, 1979.
• {{in lang|es}} "Gálvez, Bernardo de," Enciclopedia de México, v. 6. Mexico City: 1987.
• {{in lang|es}} García Puron, Manuel (1984). México y sus gobernantes, v. 1. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrua.
• {{in lang|es}} Orozco L., Fernando (1988). Fechas Históricas de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, {{ISBN|968-38-0046-7}}.
• {{in lang|es}} Orozco Linares, Fernando (1985). Gobernantes de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, {{ISBN|968-38-0260-5}}.

{{div col end|2}}

{{Commons category|Bernardo de Gálvez}}

{{AmCyc Poster|Galvez, Bernardo, count de|Bernardo de Gálvez}}

• [http://www.nps.gov/foma/historyculture/galvez.htm De Gálvez entry] at United States National Park Service
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061016023219/http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/Spain.htm#galvez Bernardo de Gálvez] at Texas A & M University
• [http://www.americanrevolution.org/hispanic.html Spain's Role in the American Revolution] at AmericanRevolution.org

{{S-start}}

{{S-gov}}

{{Succession box| title = Viceroy of New Spain | years = 1785–1786 | before = Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo | after = Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta}}

{{S-reg|es}}

{{S-bef|before=New creation}}

{{S-ttl|title=Count of Gálvez|years=1783–1786}}

{{S-aft|after=Miguel de Gálvez}}

{{S-end}}

{{Viceroys of New Spain}}

{{Governors of Colonial Louisiana}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galvez, Bernardo de}}

Category:1746 births

Category:1786 deaths

Category:Colonial United States (Spanish)

Category:Counts of Spain

Category:Governors of Louisiana (New Spain)

Category:Governors of the Bahamas

Category:People from the Province of Málaga

Category:Spanish colonial period of Cuba

Category:Spanish generals

Category:Spanish military personnel of the American Revolutionary War

Category:Spanish West Indies

Category:Viceroys of New Spain

Category:Viscounts of Spain

Category:Deaths from typhus

Category:Infectious disease deaths in Mexico

Category:Spanish Catholics