Mobile
In early 1780 Gálvez embarked on an expedition to capture Mobile, which was one of the only major British military establishments left in West Florida (the capital, Pensacola, was the other). Assembling 750 men at New Orleans, he sailed for Mobile on January 11, reaching Mobile Bay on February 9 after being delayed by storms. He was joined on February 20 by a supporting force of 450 from Havana, but did not begin siege operations until March 1. After 14 days of bombardment, Fort Charlotte's walls were breached, and its commander, Captain Elias Durnford, surrendered.
Gálvez in the fall of 1780 sought to capture Pensacola, but his expedition was devastated by a major hurricane. Its tattered remnants made their way back to either Havana or New Orleans, and planning began again for an expedition in 1781.
British authorities in Pensacola had, when war with Spain was imminent, attempted to shore up West Florida's defenses, but the meager resources allocated to the region meant that General John Campbell, the military commander at Pensacola, had been able to do little to stop Gálvez's advance. By late 1780 he had received some reinforcements, and managed to recruit a significant force of local Indians to bolster Pensacola's defenses. The destruction of Gálvez's expedition emboldened him to attempt the recapture of Mobile. In January 1781 he dispatched more than 700 men under the command of the Waldecker Captain Johann von Hanxleden to go overland. This force was defeated when it attacked one of the forward Spanish defenses of Mobile, and Captain Hanxleden was killed. The attack prompted Spanish authorities in Cuba to enlarge to Mobile garrison.
Read more about this topic: Gulf Coast Campaign
Famous quotes containing the word mobile:
“From three to six months, most babies have settled down enough to be fun but aren’t mobile enough to be getting into trouble. This is the time to pay some attention to your relationship again. Otherwise, you may spend the entire postpartum year thinking you married the wrong person and overlooking the obvious—that parenthood can create rough spots even in the smoothest marriage.”
—Anne Cassidy (20th century)