Great Britain Choctaw 1781 1782 1783 The siege of Pensacola, fought from March 9 to May 10, 1781, was the culmination of Spain's conquest of West Florida during the Gulf Coast Campaign of the American Revolutionary War.

When Spain entered the American Revolutionary War in 1779, Bernardo de Gálvez, the energetic governor of Spanish Louisiana, immediately began offensive operations to gain control of West Florida beginning with his assault at Fort Bute.

In September 1779 he gained control over the lower Mississippi River by capturing Fort Bute and then shortly thereafter obtaining the surrender of the remaining forces following the Battle of Baton Rouge.

Gálvez began planning an assault on Pensacola, West Florida's capital, using forces from Havana with the recently captured Mobile as the launching point for the attack.

British reinforcements arriving in Pensacola in April 1780 delayed the expedition, however, and when an invasion fleet finally sailed in October it was dispersed by Solano's Hurricane a few days later.

[12][1] Gálvez had received detailed descriptions of the state of the defenses in 1779, when he sent an aide there ostensibly to discuss the return of escaped slaves, although Campbell had made numerous changes since then.

O'Neill's Hibernians landed at the island battery, which he found undefended, and set up artillery which he used to drive away the British ships taking shelter in the bay.

Calvo, claiming that his assignment to deliver Gálvez' invasion force was now complete, sailed back to Havana in the San Ramon.

Once the bay had been entered, O'Neill's scouts landed on the mainland and blunted an attack by 400 mainly pro-British Choctaw Indians on the afternoon of March 28.

[16] The engineers also dug trenches and built bunkers and redoubts, besides constructing a covered road to shield the troops from the constant fire of grapeshot, grenades, and cannonballs.

[18] A second attack by the Choctaws began on April 19, interrupting the siege preparations, and that day a large fleet was sighted heading towards the bay.

[24] In early May, Gálvez was surprised to receive chiefs of the Tallapoosa Creeks, who came offering to supply the Spanish army with meat.

Gálvez arranged the purchase of beef cattle from them and also requested that they appeal to the British-allied Creeks and Choctaws to cease their attacks.

Fifty-seven British troops were killed by the devastating blast, and Ezpeleta quickly led the light infantry in a charge to take the stricken fort.

On May 10, realizing his final line of fortification could not survive the barrage General John Campbell reluctantly surrendered Fort George and Prince of Wales Redoubt.

[25] Gálvez personally accepted the surrender of General John Campbell, ending British sovereignty in West Florida after signing the capitulation.

The royal commendation stated that since Gálvez alone forced the entrance to the bay, he could place on his coat of arms the words Yo Solo (literally, "me alone").