fernando deleyba

Fernandode LeybaThe Ceuta native that changedthe American Revolutionary War

BY César Cervera Moreno

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May 2021ISSN 2444-2933

Fernando de Leyba,the Ceuta native that changedthe American Revolutionary War

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St. Louis may be many things in the collectiveimagination. A city attached to a river. One ofthe big engines of the heavy industry in theUSA, already in decline. An important passagein the French colonial history. The location of theOlympic Games in 1904, which were the first onescelebrated outside Europe. And even thebirthplace of T.S. Eliot, Nobel Prize winner inLiterature. But, for almost no one, when one firstthinks about the City in Missouri, it is a placewhere Spain left deep traces for 40 years of itshistory. Four decades that were not truncated,mainly, thanks to the performance of a Spanishguard that has brushed off anonymity forcenturies.

Fernando de Leyba y Cordova Vizcaigaña is oneof those unknown heroes, without a face, without avoice, who roams as a spectre through the forgottenSpanish history. His chains make sounds beingpulled over the books and chronicles, but untilrecently, no one has made the effort to put allthe pieces together to understand theimportance of this character. For years, it waseven thought that he was born in Barcelona becausehis father was posted there, but thanks to theresearcher Kristine L. Sjostrom, and the chroniclerJose Luis Gomez Barcelona, who found his birthcertificate, we can be certain today that Fernandode Leyba was born in Ceuta, on July 24, 1734, inthe heart of a large family with long noblemilitary tradition from Antequera (Malaga) onhis father’s side and the daughter of a Notary Publicin the City of Ceuta on his mother’s side. The Plazade África was healing at that moment from thewounds that this thirty-three year siege byMoroccan forces had provoked and, like Leybahimself, was busy creating its own history.

Leyba was the fifth of seven brothers and hefound his future in the Army, that since theBourbons arrived in Spain, was subject to manychanges trying to make the career professionalaccording to the needs of the Catholic Monarchy.The Ceuta native entered his father’s profession,Geronimo de Leyba y Cordova, as a cadet in theSpanish infantry regiment when he wasseventeen, staying there until he becamesecond lieutenant of the company (1756), laterflag second lieutenant (1763) and after five years,captain. The fact that he took so long to enter theArmy, when it was possible to do so at the age oftwelve, and that the entering date matched hisfather’s death, makes us speculate about himchoosing this career because of his familysituation.

During his career of almost thirty years, thesoldier would serve in the garrisons of Oran,New Orleans, Arkansas, Saint Louis and Cuba.He was in the Aragon regiment defending LaHavana from an English attack, in the context of

Map of Saint Louis, 1780.

Fernando de Leyba,the Ceuta native that changed

the American Revolutionary War

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the Seven Years’ War, when he was takenprisoner by them during the defense of theMorro Castle in 1762. The conflict in which theSpain of Carlos III had positioned itself withFrance was resolved with serious losses for theEmpire. The King ceded La Florida to Great Britainto recover La Havana and Manila, which were lost

in a matter of months. The France of Louis XV, forits part, compensated its battered ally with thepoisoned candy of Louisiana, a territory thatthe Gauls were not in a position to keep afteryears of sterile struggle against the indigenouspopulation and border tensions with the Spanishand British.

Defense of the Morro Castle in La Havana (Jose Rufo, 1763).


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Louisiana had an area of more than twomillion squared kilometers, but when Franceceded it to Spain, less than twenty thousandcolonists lived there. That population did notstop increasing in the following decades, partlydue to the emigration of Andalusians andCanary Islanders who came from the otherside of the Atlantic.

This vast province was increasing its miningresources, and, under French control, they hadbeen languishing for a century in the colonialfailure that was the whole New France. TheSpanish governors tried to avoid the mistakesof their predecessors and distanced themselvesas far as possible from the French and Britishcolonial models, starting with improvingrelations with the Indian tribes. It was nodifferent from what the Spaniards had beendoing for centuries elsewhere. The SpanishCrown had a long tradition of commercialand military agreements with local tribes.As stated by Abelardo Levaggi, a historianspecialized in Law, “the tradition to celebratethe peace treaties spread to all the borders inthe Indies, and during the whole Hispanicperiod, as far as being also carried out -at leastin some cases- in the independent era.” Manyof these treaties were still in effect whenterritorial sovereignty passed to Americanhands.

This improvement in the treatment of theindigenous people in Louisiana was also helpedby the absolute prohibition of theirenslavement in Spanish territory, a principlerooted in the Testament of Isabella theCatholic and in pioneering legislation forthe protection of rights. Although theprohibition against subjecting Indians toslavery was strictly applied to the acquisition of

new human beings and those already enslavedwere left in a kind of limbo, Spanish legislationhelped the number to reach zero over thedecades. Of the 161 native slaves that therewere in French Louisiana in 1732, there werebarely around one hundred in times ofGovernor Bernardo de Galvez and, at theend of the Spanish presence in that area,there were no native slaves registered. Thispolicy caused many black slaves to claim theirown freedom before the Spanish courts on thegrounds that they had some kind of nativeancestry. Some of these cases would even beheard by U.S. courts after the U.S.acquisition of Louisiana.

A DESERTED PROVINCE

Map of Louisiana, 1804.



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When he returned to his military professionafter his breif imprisonment, Fernando de Leybawas assigned to the command of the third riflecompany of the fixed regiment of Louisiana,located in New Orleans, as captain. He arrived inthis territory hostile to Spanish rule in 1769 withthe expedition of the Irishman Alejandro O'Reilly,who was ordered by the king to regain control ofthe province after the French colonists rose upagainst the governor Antonio de Ulloa, morescientist than administrator, whom they managedto expel the previous year. The captain fromCeuta was assigned the position in Our Lady ofArkansas, 800 kilometers from New Orleans,where he found a fort in terrible conditions, thestockade and barracks hanging by a thread,soldiers that were not paid and a chronic lack offlour in their storehouses.

In addition to solving these emergencies, theCeuta native had to face the sameinconveniences as the French, who hadcemented their relationship with the QuapawIndians (East Arkansas-Upper Louisiana)with daily gifts in exchange for peace andcalm. The thousandth conflict came up whenthe chief of the Quapaw Cazenonpoint rejecteda Spanish medal because it was smaller thanthe one that he once received from the French.

De Leyba had to get hold of a larger one andnew gifts to convince the Indian chief not toslit the throat of the Spanish garrison. In orderto avoid this type of snubs in the future,Bernardo de Gálvez would ask Madrid toissue new, larger silver medals (54 mm.diameter instead of the prior 36 of the oldmodel). However, the new biggercommendation medals, of which very few arepreserved, one of them in the Lazaro Galdiano

Antonio deUlloa (Andres Cortes yAguilar, around 1856).

Of the 161 nativeslaves that therewere in FrenchLouisiana in 1732,there were barelyaround one hundredin times of GovernorBernardo de Galvezand, at the end of theSpanish presence inthat area, there wereno native slavesregistered.


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Museum, created a new problem due to thelovely receipt. They became so demanded bythe Indian chiefs that the governor ofLouisiana had to limit its granting to oneper chief and per tribe.

That a military officer would pay so muchattention to alliances with local tribes had areason beyond good neighborliness. De Leybahad received clear instruction from Luis deUnzaga y Amezaga, substitute of AlejandroO’Reilly as governor in Louisiana, claiming toimprove the relations with Osages and otherNative American tribes who were close to theMississippi river.

This general from Malaga, who was thearchitect of the world's first bilingual publiceducation system in New Orleans, earned thenickname of the Conciliateur (conciliatory) formaintaining social peace with the FrenchCreoles of Louisiana and allowing freedomof trade with an initiative that boosted theeconomy of New Orleans and St. Louis. Whencries of revolution began to be heard in Boston,Unzaga and the captain general of Cuba,Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, were thefirst to sense the magnitude of the uprisingthat was brewing in British territory. Theyordered to reinforce the defenses of theprovince and to look for a way to attract thegreatest number of allied natives to theprotection of the extensive and almostuninhabited Louisiana.

Fernando de Leyba was not only the spearheadof their plans on the northern frontier, but also thesharpest ear of Unzaga and Bucareli, who since1770 had been creating a wide network ofspies, recruited among fishermen, merchantsand clergymen, to find out what washappening in the Thirteen Colonies. Withoutknowing the scope of his superiors’ plans, thecaptain from Ceuta gave weapons to several tribesand secretly helped the American rebels, who in1775 aimed at London with their muskets. Whatseveral years earlier begun as a protest against thetax regime became, based on the repression andlack of tact by the royal authorities, an unequalfight between North American bad-equippedand untrained militias against the powerfularmy of George III, who, however, had the hugehindrance of directing the operations from theother side of the Atlantic, five thousand kilometersaway. A war that would last for eight years offighting in which Spain did more than justclandestinely supply blankets, ammunition,cloth for uniforms and quinine (a much-demanded remedy against high fevers) to therevolutionaries... Quite a bit more.

Captain general of Venezuela (1777-1782, Luis de Unzaga yAmezaga.



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Health problems kept Leyba away from thefrontier and the action for three years, when helived in New Orleans. With the RevolutionaryWar in process, the captain becamelieutenant governor of Upper Louisianafrom July 14, 1778, until he died. Guardianand administrator of a hostile territory thatextended from the Ohio river mouth to Canada,and from the bank of the Mississippi river tothe Rocky Mountains, and where an ideal mixof a strong hand and a left hand wasrequired to keep the peace with the borderterritories without losing the respect of thetribes. In the middle of the crossfire, evenfurther North than Arkansas, the Crowndeliberately threw in an experienced andmordant soldier.

The small village of Saint Louis de Ilinueses,its base, had been founded in the heat of thelucrative fur trade business in 1764 and itspopulation, of barely 700 neighbors,consisted mostly of French Creoles. Ingeneral, the percentage of Spanish populationwas very low in the whole province and neverexceeded 15% of the total, which furthercomplicated the room for maneuver.

They were not the most reliable allies to goto war in such a remote place that was soenclosed in a strategic point, and less so whena few years ago Louisiana had shown its ownrevolutionary longings, but that was the onlything Spain could count on to protect itselfagainst what was to come.

When France and Spain, at different rates,entered the American Revolutionary War tomake up for the prior blows and weaken theBritish, De Leyba became more exposed thananyone, in the middle of the enemy lineswith his men and his wife and his two youngdaughters, who accompanied him to hisdangerous destination on a 93-day journey upthe river to Saint Louis. Entrenched, withoutreinforcements, in his particular Thermopylaepass, the orders from New Orleans demandedthat he keep the flag of St. Andrew, with redblades on a white background, flying at all costs.

With theRevolutionaryWar inprocess, the captainbecame lieutenantgovernor of UpperLouisiana from July14, 1778, until he died.


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On July 04, 1776, the representatives of theThirteen Colonies gathered together in Philadelphiato declare their independence from England, afact that is globally known as the founding of theUnited States that, however, disguised morecomplex matters that would have a huge effect onSpain. The document that came from the pen ofThomas Jefferson was in a way, more than adeclaration of Independence, a declaration ofdependence on France and Spain.The new republicdesperately needed military support from thelarge European monarchies to defeat the powerfulBritish forces.

Several months before that friendship declaration,the American Revolution was agonizing in front ofthemuch superior British army.

New York had fallen, Philadelphia was walkingin thin ice, and George Washington's nationlacked a navy, artillery, military preparednessand even gunpowder. “The Army didn't evenhave five cartridges of powder per man. Everyonewondered why we hardly ever fired the guns: wecouldn't afford it”, wrote Benjamin Franklin,another one of the revolutionary leaders thatclamored for external support. The reply was notlong to come. France soon committed to sendammunition, money and supplies for theinsurgents. Then they went straight for theBritish jugular across the globe.

Carlos III of Spain became more desirablethan Louis XVI of France, who thought only ofavenging past affronts without consideringthe political consequences. Nourishing arepublican state in the New World was an obviousrisk for the monarchies and for the future of theEuropean powers. Who described best thesuicidal path assumed by old France until itsent its kings to the guillotine was theviscountess of Fars-Fausselandry whoproclaimed:

“The American motive seemed ours, we feltproud of their victories, we groaned with theirdefeats, we seized their bulletins and we readthem in all our houses. None of us consideredthe danger that the New World could mean forthe Old.”

The American revolution was, for people suchas the Count of Floridablanca, a challenge to“the sacred rights of all the sovereigns intheir respective territories.” The fear of a newdefeat facing the British squadron and theattraction of the neutrality agreed with Londonwas added to that. In spite of everything, discretenegotiations were opened with the rebel leaders:

AT THE EPICENTER OF THE WAR

Manuscript copy of the United States Declaration ofIndependence Reproduction of theWilliam Stone’s facsimile.

rebel chief, George Rogers Clark, who he shallhelp as much as possible and provide him withgunpowder and weapons on credit. The highestcategory American officer in the Northwestborder begun his crusade against the British incharge of the militia of Kentucky (part of Virginiaat that time) and became famous due to the

famous conquests of Kaskaskia (1778) andVincennes (1779), that decisively weakened theBritish influence in the Northwest Territory.The Spanish ammunition transported down theriver had much to do with the success of Clark,who would become the strongest militarycommander on the east side of the Mississippiand hold the present states of Illinois, Indianaand Kentucky under his responsibility.

Clark visited Saint Louis of Illinois short laterafter his victory in Kaskaskia and he was receivedwith artillery salutes by the Spanish garrison. Thecaptain from Ceuta organized dinners andfestivities for thirty people, with a ball andcelebrations, after which he lodged themilitiamen in his residence with "as much



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the Count of Aranda in Paris, John Jay in Madridand the trader Juan Miralles in Havana. Therewas no decisive breakthrough in the talksuntil the arrival in Spain in 1777 of ArthurLee, envoy of the Thirteen Colonies, whomanaged to extract indirect aid for the rebels at atop secret summit.

The substitute of Unzaga, his brother-in-lawMr. Bernardo de Galvez y Madrid, substitutegovernor in Louisiana in New Orleans, orderedcaptain Fernando de Leyba to keep him informedabout “all news regarding what was happening inthe English part concerning the war of that powerwith the colonist” and, also, he commanded himthe secret correspondence with an esteemed

Portrait of Carlos III of Spain(Anton Raphael Megns, circa 1765).

The document thatcame from the pen ofThomas Jeffersonwas in a way, morethan a declaration ofIndependence, adeclaration ofdependence onFrance and Spain.


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The Spanish position did not take much longerto be defined. The last hurdle to reach a formalcompromise with the American Congress wasovercome by Carlos III in the spring of 1779,when he signed the Treaty of Aranjuez, whichratified the alliance with France andcommitted the Empire to firmly support therebels. The failure of the intervention of Spain,the benefits assured by France in case of theSpanish entering the conflict and, finally, anintense press campaign from newspapers such asEl Mercurio in favor of belligerency, were keyfactors to tip the scales. Spain declared war onEngland on June 16.

General Washington wrote on September 3 togeneral John Sullivan announcing that the rebelcause had gained an important ally: “I have thepleasure of informing you that Spain has finallytaken a decisive part... It is expected that thisformidable division of the House of Bourbon doesnot fail in establishing in short-term the NorthAmerican independence.” Spain competed thechallenge against England in theMediterranean (Gibraltar and Minorca), in theCaribbean (Honduras) and in the Gulf ofMexico. The priority was, above all, to regaincontrol of Florida, where Spain had founded thefirst stable settlement by Europeans in what isnow the U.S. and which it had been deprived of atthe negotiating tables. All Spanish moves toretake the territory discovered for Europe byPonce de Leon were aimed at conquering thefinal stretch of the Mississippi, where theEnglish garrisons (Natchez, Pensacola, Mobile)had been strong since 1763.

When Spain entered the conflict, Bernardo deGalvez made several military incursionsthrough the left bank of the great river anddestroyed the British fortifications. During histriumphal march he managed to connect with therebel forces and close agreements with theIndians in the area, although at the end of the

decency as possible". The American did notspare any praise for the treatment received duringthis gala visit:

“As I had never been accompanied bySpanish before, I was pleasantly surprised withmy expectations; because I did not find thepeculiar mistrust in that nation, I did not findthe minimum sign of it; having so muchfreedom, almost excessive, was highlypleasant...”

He found in De Leyba an intelligent and affableman, who was concerned about the Americancause, even beyond the instructions received.Before the terrible state of the equipment andclothes of the North American army, theSpaniard allowed Clark to establish aContinental Store in Saint Louis with fabricsand items sent from New Orleans, which weresecured with De Leyba’s own credit. "But whatwas I to do... seeing that not even the main chief,for all the American documents he was carrying,could find a shirt to cover his nakedness, if not topresent myself to his aid," he would justifyhimself.

“This gentleman is very concerned about theStates, much more than I expected”, stated Clark,who recommended the Spaniard to strengthenits defenses before a possible attack fromDetroit. Nevertheless, they were both aware thatwhile Spain continued officially out of the fight, thearrival of funds and troops in dribs and drabs wouldmake it impossible to have an effective oppositionagainst the English. De Leyba was driven todespair due to his precarious means and thelack of support from the settlers of Saint Louis,who did not see the threat as close enough to investin a fort. What is paradoxical about that matter isthat if Spain manifestly entered the war, Saint Louisand other forts would receive reinforcements, yes,but the English would also arrive behind or, in theworst-case scenario, ahead of them.



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year, he was stuck in front of Mobile andPensacola. His movement destroyed LordGermain’s plans, the secretary of State forAmerica of the British Crown, who had beenfinalizing all the details of a double offensive toconquer the Mississippi valley from the South,with the conquer of New Orleans fromPensacola, and from the North with, above all,native fighters. Both fronts would later meet inNatchez, approximately 300 km upstream of NewOrleans, thus closing a pincer on the Spaniards.

As Florida was threatened by the torrent fromMalaga, the British had no other option than trustall its counterattack to the North, whatnecessarily meant to capture Saint Louis and allthe Spanish posts in Upper Louisiana. The war

thus fell in early 1780 on the garrison of thesmall town, captained by Fernando de Leyba,who suffered the fury of three hundred Englishsoldiers and nine hundred Indian warriors fromthe forts of Michilimackinac and Detroit, in theGreat Lakes region. The British and Canadianleather traders hired the services of thesesoldiers, mainly Sioux, Chippewa, Menominee,Winnebago Sauk and Fox, under affirmation ofgetting a good dose of looting. The conquest ofthe town was a priority due to its riverlocation as supply for Washington’s troopsand its importance as advanced placement of theSpanish Crown.

The British assumed that Saint Louis was aninside position that would offer little resistance,because no one imagined that a Spanishcaptain would be that stubborn. On March 9,De Leyba promised Galvez that he would makethe British not forget the name of the villa:

"...although it is an open place with fewgarrisons, neither Indians nor Englishmen cantake possession of the post without costingthem dearly...".Bernardo de Galvez (Mariano Salvador Maella, circa 1783-1784).


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De Leyba did not have time to close anyalliance with the neighboring tribes and couldnot count on reinforcements from New Orleans,more than two thousand kilometers away. Tomake matters worse, his friend Clark, who evenhad a romantic relationship with one of hisrelatives, was at that moment involved in askirmish on the other side of Mississippi andall the plans to create joint forces with theAmerican major in the neighboring Cahokianever came to be settled on. He onlycommanded twenty-nine soldiers and twohundred and eighty-one armed citizens. A great

part of this militia of volunteers was drawnfrom the inhabitants of Saint Genevieve, afarming town with a population similar tothat of Saint Louis, located 100 kilometerssouth of this place, and from the dispersedhunters that populated the Illinois’ forests.

Since the declaration of war, the Ceutanhad understood the urgency of his situationand how important the position to protectthe rear guard in Florida was and, in turn,the intersection of the troops of GeorgeWashington. At the end, the British would take

TWO SPARTAN HOURS

Image of the Saint Louis city and the Mississippi’s brook (1874).



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six weeks to join their forces and leave for SaintLouis, but the lieutenant governor did not knowthat when he received news about an imminentattack. Against the clock, he began theconstruction of the Fort of San Carlos (inhonor of Carlos III) at his own risk, usingthe labor of soldiers and French Creoles, aswell as funds from his own pocket. He wantedto build four stone towers in a hill to the Westof the city and then obtaining the benefitprovided by height, but during the thirty-ninedays of the building they only had time tofinish one tower and part of a second onebefore the British arrived eager to recovercontrol of the Mississippi.

The Spanish captain had five bronze cannonsbrought from an old fort at the mouth of theMissouri River. In the cylindrical tower aboutten meters high he placed the cannons (it isassumed that he had more than the five hebrought) and located the majority of hisforces behind two trench lines constructedat the ends of the unfinished fortress, whichstretched along all his borders to the South andNorth of the city, while women and childrenwere confined in the major’s house protected bythe lieutenant Francisco Cartabona and twentymen. Not so a warrior woman namedMadame Rigauche who, sheathed in hermilitiaman husband's coat and bearing hisweapons, took his place on the front line ofbattle.

The British troops led by Emanuel Hesse, aformer British army officer originally fromPennsylvania, went down the river andappeared preceded by their Indian warriors inSaint Louis on May 26, 1780. “To the weapons,to the weapons!” yelled a civilian giving thealert at noon that day. The first attack was atthe North part of the settlement, which seemeddefenseless, but the British soon discoveredthat the position was well fortified. From thetower where De Leyba himself was, the cannons

gave a thunderous welcome to the attackers andboth the troops and the civilians showed their“most courageous spirit, insistently askingto be allowed to make an exit” from “thathuge party of inhumane men”, as stated by theMadrid Gazette on February 16 of the followingyear. The 150 muskets located in the trench

repulsed some attacks that, if successful,may have changed the course of Americanhistory. In two hours, the British defeat wasforged.

At times, the main concern of the Spanishwas to maintain the counterattack of thedefenders, who were cheered up by themassacre and also exalted before themutilations that their peers were sufferingwhen they were imprisoned by the Indianwarriors, who used to use this strategy to trick

Since the declarationof war, the Ceutanhad understood theurgency of hissituation and howimportant theposition to protectthe rear guard inFlorida was and, inturn, the intersectionof the troops ofGeorgeWashington.


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their opponents to take them to open land. Themass of Indians attacked in disorganized linesand, commanded by their leader, they dispersedto regroup, as a flock of birds migrating, andthrow themselves again against the enemysides. However, the attacks tended to lackdepth and obstinacy, because the Indianswere reluctant to finish an attack if they didnot see a clear victory. They preferred to set atrap and force lures.

Mutilations were a fundamental part of theirstrategy of terror. Fernando de Leyba reflectedin one of his reports to Gálvez the savage waythe natives fought:

“Oh my governor! Your paternal heartwould have shed tears if it had been able tosee with your own eyes such an emotionalspectacle. It was a general affliction anddismay, to see these poor corpses cut topieces, their entrails (extracted), theirlimbs, head, arms and legs scattered allover the field, it was a horrible sight, mygeneral in detailing this to you, I findmyself very saddened, with great sorrow.”

The British officers did not expect to find anyopposition beyond four poorly-armed farmersand, when they had done no more than start,they saw their expedition fray. All thecampaign in the Mississippi valley wasuntidily dissolved, and the Indian troopsheaded home on their own. One of the long-term consequences of this and similar setbackswas the loss of British prestige among thetribes, who were increasingly reluctant tocooperate in operations against the rebels andthe Spanish.

Before retreating, the British and their alliesscoured the surrounding farms with frustrationto achieve any profitability that explained theoffensive. The final toll left 21 dead and

dozens wounded and captives in Saint Louis,especially at the expense of villagers trappedoutside the fortified area. Epidemics, which arealways in the rear of places in the history, alsocaused an undetermined trail of deceased whenthe shooting was over. A few weeks later, afterthe British left the region, Fernando de Leybainformed Galvez on June 20 that he probablyhad malaria (“la maladie”), and that he wasleaving Cartabona in charge of Saint Louis dueto the expected worsening of the disease. Assome type of modern Cid Campeador,Fernando de Leyba was sick from thebeginning of the combats and, althoughneeding to be transported from one place toanother in a sedan chair, he did not abandonthe watchtower. The Ceuta native died on June28 and was buried the same day, in front of thealtar of the Parish church of the city by aCapuchin monk named Bernad:

“In 1780, on June 28, I, F. Bernad Capuchinmonk and apostolic missionary, priest inSaint Louis, county of Illinois, province ofLouisiana, bishopric of Cuba, have buried inthis church, right opposite the balustrade onthe right, the body of Mr. Fernando de Leyba,infantry captain of the Louisiana battalion,and major in this place, after he received allthe sacraments of our Mother, the SaintChurch.”

De Leyba's wife died "of melancholy" on thesame dates and was also buried in this parish.With more debts and recognitions than hard cash,the daughters of the couple ended up in a conventin Malaga, where they were supported with almsand charity.

Without yet knowing that he was dead, the kinggranted as an award for “the vigorous defense”made by captain Fernando de Leyba, 45 years old,and the lieutenant Francisco Cartabona, first classlieutenant colonel for the former, and captain for



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the latter. It was not surprising, the Spanishvictory over such a better force was key tomaintaining the supply of weapons,ammunitions and other goods for rebels acrossthe great river to prevent any offensive. First,Galvez in the South and then, De Leyba in theNorth, the Spanish had effortlessly ruined theplans that the British had designed for years toevacuate Spaniards from the Mississippi.

To answer the question about how such a hugearmy succumbed against such a small one, thedoctor in History Gonzalo M. Quintero Saraviastates in his recent biography about Galvez thatthe key may have been “the cohesion anddiscipline of the Spanish troops who knew howto use their scarce artillery, while the assailantsjust threw themselves to attack completelyuncoordinated.”

These “hungry wolves”, as the storytellerMartin Navarro defined the natives, were feared inopen land due to the unpredictable attack tacticsand due to the horrors they made on theirenemies, but they were unable to take part inan ordered siege against well trained troopsthat were well sheltered behind a fence. Farfrom being an only army, the Indians competedwith each other, among tribes and warriors, toattack as a ball of fire the first in small raids,apparently more concerned about showingtheir personal bravery than to follow theBritish commands. The initial warlike impulsegave way, as the minutes passed, to frustrationand then to the demoralization of Indians andredcoats.

Mural of the Saint Louis Battle in the Missouri State Capitol.


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The conflict that led to the independence of theThirteen Colonies -a country that Spain opposed torecognize until the last moment- ended with a hugesuccess for Carlos III. One year after theunsuccessful attack on Saint Louis, Galvezattacked the plaza of Pensacola, the control ofwhich set Florida at his feet, and he kept theBritish troops busy with his maneuvers when theyneeded more than ever every man and every ounceof gunpowder in the determining battle of Yorktown,which confirmed the British defeat. In addition,general Juan Manuel Cagigal conquered the islandof New Providence, considered a key position forthe British at the gates of the Thirteen Colonies inMay 1782.

From few wars did Spain get so much at such alow price. The progress through Florida by thegovernor of Louisiana, the spartan resistanceof Saint Louis and the subsequent expeditionof 140 Spanish soldiers that ventured fromSaint Louis hundreds of kilometers Northeastand arrived in winter to drive the homeland flagin the far British fort in Saint Joseph, on theshores of the Michigan lake, among other notedactions, established the Spanish Empire in afavorable position in North America that the

Count of Aranda did not miss in the diplomacytables in Paris.

Through what was signed in September 1783,Spain recovered many plazas in Central America,Florida and Menorca, this last one regained in afast sudden attack.

The most bittersweet aspect of the war, besidesthe impossibility of taking Gibraltar, was tocontribute to breathing life into a republicangiant hostile to European presence, the futureUnited States, aiming to the Spanish America’s side.Just a few decades later, the influential Americanhistorian George Bancroft, with his work “History ofthe United States of America”, completely removedthe contribution of this monarchic and catholicnation to the independence of his country, andeven demonized its actions. The brother in arms,Catholic, monarchical and formal, had become Cain.Names such as Galvez or De Leyba were just castinto abolition.Nationally and internationally.

Although Galvez’s campaign in Florida hasrecently been recovered for the general public, it isnot the case for the actions developed further North,even in the American Midwest, which remain in afoggy terrain. When De Leyba died, the Frenchcreoles promoted a discredit campaign againsthim accusing him of not doing enough to protect theowners of the lands located far from the fort from theIndian robbery. When the local militia tried toorganize a departure to chase the attackers andejecting the Indian warriors, De Leyba wasagainst it due to the fear of the British takingadvantage of that to counterattack. The Ceutanative ordered the population to stay in the fortifiedarea until the combative natives, who he called“barbarians encouraged by the British”, finallysurrendered.

BROTHERS IN ARMS

New Providence Island, Bahamas.



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Statue of Bernardo de Galvez in Washington, D.C.

The cautious behavior of the Spaniard madethem a caricature in a satirical poem entitled«Chanson de L'Année du Coup» («Ballad of the yearof the surprise»), presumably written by theleather trader Jean Baptiste Truteau. In thistext, a courier tells the governor of New Orleans

what happened in Saint Louis and why it wasimpossible to chase the Indian forces:

“But, as an order, we were prohibitedTo leave the trench where our lines werehiding.The governor replies, in the poem, with ironyto the courier:What did they do then?Were all men lacking weapons?What! You did not have the great Leyba withyou! Where was the famous Cartabona?;Your major! Where was him?”

The creoles spread the lie that De Leyba hadbeen shooting villagers that did not fulfill hiscommands about staying in the fort. Some evensaid that the English had bribed the Ceutanative to not leave and that Cartabona washiding in an attic during all the battles.

It is enough to read the correspondence of theSpanish commanders to understand howunfair this criticism against the captain was,whose only concern was the well-being of thesettlers in Saint Louis. In a letter he sent Galvezon June 8, De Leyba explained his efforts toavoid locals to cover the economic effort ofthe villa’s defense:

“I collected 1000 piaster. I included 400from my own pocket to lighten the burden ofthese poor people. My own means do not allowme to make more efforts because I have twodaughters. These good people had beenconsumed and have done the impossible to getthe 600 piaster and in addition to around 400work days.”

The distorted version that the critics gaveabout De Leyba left a mark with somenineteenth-century historians, little or notinterested at all in outlining the Spanishpresence in the area, the the importance of the


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defense of Saint Louis and, like Galvez, hisenormous contribution to George Washington’scause became blurred over time. One of the fewexceptions of this neglect is in the City ofSaint Louis, where there is an associationnamed Fernando de Leyba / St. Charles.MISSOURI, which every year commemoratesthe date of the victory of Saint Louis reading thenames of the people that lost their lives in thebattle. A little plaque in the city, located in thecorner of South Broadway and Walnut Street,marks the place where these historical factstook place:

“Near this place was the San Carlos Fortbuilt in 1780. It was attacked on May 28, 1780by the British and the Indians, and it wassuccessfully defended by the Spanish garrisoncommanded by captain Fernando de Leyba.This victory prevented Great Britain from

taking control of the Mississippi valley in thelast years of the United States’ War ofIndependence”.

Fort San Carlos, whose exact location todaywould be in some undetermined point in thecenter of the city, close to the St. LouisCardinals Baseball Complex, continued beingbuilt after De Leyba died. The new lieutenant ofthe Governor, Francisco Zavier Cruzat, usedlarge funds sent by the Crown after theattack to complete the fortress with fences,bastions, and walls. Under his command, theSpanish militias made several counterattacksover the rivers. The fort was demolished in 1818due to the urban renovation of the city. Severallocal archaeologists have advocated that therecould be remnants of the fort found underwhat is now the Cardinals Arena. The battleis also commemorated in a diorama located inthe Missouri State Capitol.

In Ceuta, for its part, there have been manyrecent efforts to defend the figure of theirdistinguished countryman. In March 2019, theCastillo del Desnarigado was home to a homageto the captain made by the AssociationFernando de Leyba in Ceuta, the MilitaryHistory and Culture Center of Ceuta and theGeneral Command Headquarters of Ceuta towhich attended, among others, authorities andgroups, beside a representation of units fromthe Legion and of Regulars, the National SocietyDaughters of the American Revolution in Spain(NSDAR-Spain), the Association of Sons of theAmerican Revolution in Spain (Spain SAR) andthe president of the Autonomous City. Duringthe act, a monument in the shape of abronze plaque on a monolith that representsthe USA in construction, with the flag of theThirteen Colonies emerging from the ground.The writer and police Cristobal Tejon publisheda novel in 2018 starring the Ceuta nativeentitled “La llave olvidada” (the forgotten key).

Themost bittersweetaspect of the war,besides theimpossibility of takingGibraltar, was tocontribute tobreathing life into arepublican gianthostile to Europeanpresence, the futureUnited States, aimingto the SpanishAmerica’s side.



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The Spanish history of Louisiana, and with itthat of Saint Louis, ended at the beginning of thenineteenth century. The unstoppable progress ofthe American colonists over the properties of theSpanish Crown forced Charles IV to createcontrolled areas, such as the surroundings ofNatchez and New Madrid, where many of theseinhabitants were allowed to settle under theobligation of swearing loyalty to Spain. Somenoted civil servants, such as the baron ofCarondelet, new general governor of the province,

warned about the risk of these actionsallowing to conquer the Spanish properties“without drawing the sword.” The lack ofinterest that the American governors had to solvethe imprecise limits of the borders with theSpanish Crown was added to that. They were wellaware that time was on their side and that, asfinally happened, the policy of the accomplishedfacts would end up recognizing most of theterritories adjacent to Louisiana and Floridaas theirs.

THE END OF THE SPANISH LOUISIANA

Map of the Louisiana and Florida coasts (1764).


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This happened in 1795, when the Treaty ofSan Lorenzo was signed in El Escorial where theking renounced to vast territories such as Ohioor the strip of 160 kilometers down the Yazzoriver, where the territory was already underrepublican control. The most damaged inthese concessions were the tribes in theSoutheast, allied with Spain by the Treaty ofNogales, which closed an offensive-defensiveagreement to “contribute to protect all theprovinces of Louisiana and the two Floridasunder the Spanish control” and where theIndian nations named the King of Spain asmediator with the United States to resolve thelimits of such nations. The alliance was scrapof paper when a big part of the tribes fellunder the American area. In the followingyears, the natives were deprived of their landsand were obliged to move to West, beyond theMississippi, in what was the second phase of along exodus.

In 1798, Spain revoked the right of theUnited States to travel across theMississippi river and to use the port of NewOrleans for their trade deals. Due to thetemperature rising between the nations, manyvoices in Madrid were in favor of pushing backborders back to boundaries that were easier todefend, thinking to focus all the warlikeefforts around the rich mineral deposits ofNorthern New Spain. The chance to get rid ofsome territories that would guarantee a waragainst Washington sooner or later came fromthat snake charmer named NapoleonBonaparte. Portrait of Napoleon (Jacques-Louis David, 1812).



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As a compensation for some concessions inthe center of Italy, Charles IV secretly cededLouisiana to Napoleon, who took less thantwo years to sell it to the United States inexchange of a tiny amount that was directlyused to defray his wars in Europe. The amountwas 15 million dollars, later raised to 23 forinterest, and the whole transaction was madebehind Spain’s back, who for obvious reasonshad preferential sale rights. Taking advantageof the fact that the Louisiana borders werenever established, USA used the transfer ofpower to expand the territory in alldirections, including Texas and WesternFlorida. In March 1804, the French dramatizedthe transfer of the territory to the newauthorities in a ceremony in Saint Louis.

Taking advantage ofthe fact that theLouisiana borderswere neverestablished, USAused the transfer ofpower to expand theterritory in alldirections, includingTexas andWesternFlorida.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Los tratados entre la Corona y los indios, y el plan de conquista pacífica. Revista Complutense deHistoria de América, 19, 81. Abelardo Levaggi.

• The battle of St. Louis, the attack on Cahokia, and the American Revolution in the West (THGCPublishing, 2017), book edited and written by a descendant of one of the protectors of Saint Louis,Stephen L. Kling, with Kristine L. Sjostrom and Marysia T. Lopez as coauthors.

• Banderas lejanas: la exploración, conquista y defensa por España del territorio de los actualesEstados Unidos, EDAF, Madrid, 2009. Martínez Láinez, Fernando y Canales Torres, Carlos.

• Carlos III, un monarca reformista, Espasa, Madrid, 2016. Roberto Fernández.

• La huella de España y de la cultura hispana en los Estados Unidos, 2007. Borja Cardelús.

• Bernardo de Gálvez: Un héroe español en la Guerra de Independencia americana. Alianza. 2021.Gonzalo María Quintero.

• The British-Indian Attack on St. Louis, May 26, 1780.Missouri Historical Review 55. 1960. DonRickey.

• Hermanos de armas. Desperta Ferro Ediciones. 2019. Larrie D. Ferreiro.

• El gobernador Luis de Unzaga (1717-1793) Precursor en el nacimiento de los EE. UU. y en elliberalismo. Fundación Málaga/Ayuntamiento de Málaga. Frank Cazorla Granados. 2019.

• La olvidada batalla en que España defendió Misuri con 300 hombres del cruel ataque británico.Press article by Manuel Trillo looked up on 04-06-21 on the online ABC edition: https://www.abc.es/cultura/abci-olvidada-batalla-espana-defendio-misuri-300-hombres-cruel-ataque-britanico-201805260026_noticia.html

• Fernando de Leyba Vizcaigaña (1734-1780). Press article by Luis Mauricio looked up on 04-06-21 inCeuta: https://elpueblodeceuta.es/art/13593/fernando-de-leyba-vizcaigana-1734-1780-

• St. Louis: An Informal History of the City and Its People, 1764-1865, por Charles Van Ravenswaay.



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Cesar Cervera Moreno (Candeleda, Avila, 1988)graduated from the Universidad Complutense andhas a master’s degree in written journalism by ABC.He has published four books about historicaldisclosure, “Los Austrias, el Imperio de losChiflados”, “Superhéroes del Imperio”, "LosBorbones y sus locuras", edited by La Esfera de losLibros, and “Historia de España sin mitos nitópicos», Penguin Random House. He is currentlyworking as an editor in the History section of thenewspaper ABC and is specialized in culturalcontent. He collaborates with opinion articles in ElDebate de Hoy, and he has given several lecturesabout Isabella the Catholic and other subjectsrelated to the history of the 16th and 17thcenturies.He is also the founder andmanager of thewebsite www.unapicaenflandes.es

About the author

With the support of:

www.hispaniccouncil.org

fernando deleyba

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