Bernardo de Gálvez,
Count of Gálvez
Galveston's Texas founding
Galveston island was originally inhabited by members
of the Karankawa and Akokisa tribes. The Spanish explorer
Cabeza de Vaca was shipwrecked on the island in 1528
and there began his famous trek to Mexico. In the
late 1600s French explorer Robert Cavelier La Salle,
although he did not reach Galveston Island, claimed
this area for King Louis and named it St. Louis.
The island was named in honor of Bernardo
de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez,
in 1785 by Spanish explorer José de Evia, who
charted the Gulf Coast. The first permanent European
settlements on the island were constructed around
1816 by the pirate Louis-Michel Aury as a base of
operations to support Mexico's rebellion against Spain.
Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid,
Viscount of Galveston and Count of Gálvez
(Spanish: Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, vizconde
de Gálveztown y conde de Gálvez) (July
23, 1746, Málaga, Spain—November 30,
1786, Mexico City) was a Spanish military leader
and the general of Spanish forces in New Spain who
served as governor of Louisiana and governor of
Cuba. He spent the last two years of his life as
viceroy of New Spain, succeeding his father Matías
de Gálvez y Gallardo, who had been viceroy
before him. Gálvez is remembered for aiding
the United States in its quest for independence
in the American Revolutionary War. Galveston, Texas
and several other places are named for him.
In 1817 Aury returned from an unsuccessful
raid against Spain to find Galveston occupied by the
pirate Jean
Lafitte, who took up residence there after having
been driven from his stronghold in Barataria Bay off
the coast of New Orleans, Louisiana. Lafitte organized
Galveston into a pirate "kingdom" he called
"Campeachy" (or "Campeche"), anointing
himself the island's "head of government."
Lafitte remained in Galveston until 1821 when he and
his raiders were given an ultimatum by the United
States Navy: leave or be destroyed. Lafitte burned
his settlement to the ground and sailed under cover
of night for parts unknown. There are still rumors
that Lafitte's treasure is buried somewhere between
Galveston Island, Bolivar Peninsula and High Island.
Gálvez was born in Macharaviaya,
a mountain village in the province of Málaga,
Spain, on July 23, 1746. He studied military sciences
at the Academia de Ávila and at the age of
16 participated in the war against Portugal, where
he was promoted to lieutenant. He arrived in New Spain,
then Mexico, in 1762. As a captain, he fought the
Apaches, with his Ópata Indian allies. He received
many wounds, several of them serious. In 1770, he
was promoted to commandant of arms of Nueva Vizcaya
y Sonora, northern provinces of New Spain, comprising
even New Mexico.
In 1772, he returned to Spain in the
company of his uncle, José de Gálvez.
Later, he was sent to Pau, France with the Cantabria
regiment. There, he learned to speak French, which
served him well when he became governor of Louisiana.
He was transferred to Seville, in 1775, and then participated
in the disastrous expedition of O'Reilly to Algiers.
Gálvez himself was seriously wounded. After
capturing the fortress that guarded the city, he was
promoted to lieutenant colonel. He then became a professor
at the military academy of Ávila.
In 1777, he was sent to Louisiana, as
a colonel and interim governor of the province. This
was the large territory that later became the Louisiana
Purchase. It had been ceded by France to Spain, in
1763, in compensation for the loss of Florida to England.
In 1779, he was promoted to brigadier.
In 1777, he married doña Marie
Felice de Saint-Maxent Estrehan, a young Criolla widow.
They had three children, Miguel, Matilde and Guadalupe.
He practiced an anti-British policy
as governor, taking measures against British smuggling
and promoting trade with France. He also established
free trade with Cuba and Yucatán. He founded
Galvez Town, in 1778, and promoted colonization of
Nueva Iberia.
Gálvez was sent to Florida by
New Spain Viceroy Martín de Mayorga, at the
head of an expedition of colonial troops to aid British
colonists in their rebellion against the mother country.
Spain's motive was the chance to recover territories
lost to the British, particularly Florida, and to
remove the on-going British threat.
On June 21, 1779 Spain declared war
on England. On June 25, 1779 a letter from London
marked secret and confidential, went to General John
Campbell of Strachur at Pensacola from King George
III and Lord George Germain. General John Campbell
was instructed that it was the object of greatest
importance to organize an attack upon New Orleans.
If General John Campbell thought it was possible to
reduce the Spanish fort at New Orleans, he was ordered
to proceed immediately to make preparations. These
preparations included: (1) secure from Vice-Admiral
Sir Peter Parker as many armed vessels as could be
spared from Jamaica, (2) collect all forces which
could be drawn together in the province, (3) take
as many faithful Indians as the Superintendent could
supply, (4) draw on the Lords Commissioners of the
Treasury for all expenses.
As an unfortunate twist of fate for
General John Campbell, upon which his whole career
was decided, this secret communication fell into the
hands of Governor Galvez. After reading the communication
from King George III and Germain, Gálvez, Governor
of Louisiana swifty and secretly organized Louisiana
and New Orelans for war.
Gálvez carried out a masterful
military campaign and defeated the British colonial
forces at Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez in 1779.
The Battle of Baton Rouge on September 21, 1779 freed
the lower Mississippi Valley of British forces and
relieved the threat to the capital of Louisiana, New
Orleans. In 1780, he recaptured Mobile from the British
at the Battle of Fort Charlotte
His most important military victory
over the British forces occurred May 9, 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. The
loss of Mobile and Pensacola left the British with
no bases in the Gulf of Mexico, except for Jamaica.
In 1782, he captured the British naval base at New
Providence in the Bahamas.
He received many honors from Spain for
his military victories against the British, including
promotion to lieutenant general and field marshal,
governor and captain general of Louisiana and Florida
(now separated from Cuba), the command of the Spanish
expeditionary army in America, and the titles of viscount
of Gálveztown and count of Gálvez.
The American Revolution ended while
Gálvez was preparing a new campaign to take
Jamaica.
The importance of Galvez's campaign
from the American perspective was that he denied the
British the opportunity of encircling the American
rebels from the south, and kept open a vital conduit
for supplies. Galvez also assisted the American revolutionaries
with supplies and soldiers, a good deal of it through
intermediary and committed revolutionary, Oliver Pollock.
Gálvez, who was personally an
admirer of the American revolutionaries, was among
those who drafted the terms of the Treaty of Paris
(1783) that ended the war. By the treaty Spain officially
regained East and West Florida from the British. The
American Congress cited Gálvez for his aid
during the Revolution.
Galveston, Texas and St. Bernard Parish,
Louisiana were both named after him. The Louisiana
parishes of East Feliciana and West Feliciana were
named after his wife Marie Felice de Saint-Maxent
Estrehan.
Gálvez returned to Spain, in
1783, and fought in the campaign in the Netherlands.
The following year he was sent back to the Indies,
this time as governor and captain general of Cuba.
Shortly after he arrived in Havana, his father, Matías
de Gálvez y Gallardo (then the viceroy of New
Spain), died. Bernardo de Gálvez was named
to fill the position. He arrived in Veracruz, on May
26, 1785, and made his formal entry into Mexico City
in June.
During his administration two great
calamities occurred, the freeze of August 27, 1785,
which led to famine, and the plague of 1786. During
the famine, he donated 12,000 pesos of his inheritance
and 100,000 pesos he raised from other sources to
buy maize and beans for the populace. He also took
measures to increase agricultural production in the
future.
He reconstructed the castle of Chapultepec,
which had been unoccupied. He began the installation
of street lights in Mexico City, and the construction
of the towers of the cathedral. He continued work
on the highway to Acapulco, and he 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.
He promoted science in the colony by
sponsoring the expedition of Martín Sessé
y Lacasta and Vicente Cervantes. This expedition sent
to Spain a comprehensive catalog of the diverse species
of plants, birds and fish found in New Spain.
On one occasion, when the viceroy was
going 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.
On January 16, 1786, the first public
coffeehouse in Mexico City opened.
He was simple, amiable, gallant and
frank. He traveled about the city in an open, two-horse
carriage, attended bullfights, pilgrimages and public
fiestas, and was generally welcomed with applause.
The Audiencia, however, did not have such a favorable
view of the viceroy. They were suspicious of Gálvez's
popularity, fearing that he would follow the American
example and declare New Spain's independence. The
Audiencia communicated these suspicions to Madrid,
and the Crown severely rebuked Gálvez. He became
melancholy and unsociable.
Then, he became ill and was confined
to his bed. On November 8, 1786, he turned over all
his governmental duties except the captain generalship
to the Audiencia. He died November 30, 1786, in Tacubaya
(now part of Mexico City). Rumor had it that he was
poisoned by his enemies with the approval of the Court.
His body was interred in the cemetery of San Fernando,
in the city proper.
He left some writings, including Ordenanzas
para el Teatro de Comedias de México and Instrución
para el Buen Gobierno de las Provincias Internas de
la Nueva España.
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DISCOUNTED GALVESTON HOTELS, MOTELS AND BED AND BREAKFAST
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References
(Spanish) "Gálvez, Bernardo de,"
Enciclopedia de México, v. 6. Mexico City:
1987.
(Spanish) García Puron, Manuel, México
y sus gobernantes, v. 1. Mexico City: Joaquín
Porrua, 1984.
(Spanish) Orozco L., Fernando, Fechas Históricas
de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial,
1988, ISBN 968-38-0046-7.
(Spanish) Orozco Linares, Fernando, Gobernantes de
México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985,
ISBN 968-38-0260-5.
Following its successful revolution
from Spain, Mexico designated Galveston a port of
entry in 1825, erecting a customs house in 1830. During
the Texas Revolution, Galveston served as the main
port for the Texas navy. Galveston also served briefly
as the capital of the Republic of Texas in 1836.
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