General Cornwallis

Lord Charles Conwallis was a military officer born in London, December 31, 1738. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge, and entered the army as captain when twenty years of age.

In the House of Lords he opposed the measures that caused the war with the Americans, but he accepted the commission of major-general and the command of an expedition against the Carolinas under Sir Peter Parker in 1776. He commanded the reserves of the British in the battle on Long Island in August, but he was beaten by George Washington at Princeton.

It was with Howe on the Brandywine and in the capture of Philadelphia that he returned to England, but soon came back. He was at the capture of Charleston in May, 1780. He also commanded the British troops in the Carolinas that year. He later defeated Gates near Camden in August and fought Greene at Guilford Courthouse early in 1781. He invaded Virginia, and finally took post at and fortified Yorktown, on the York River, and there surrendered his army to the American and French forces in October, 1781.

He was appointed governor-general and commander-in-chief in India in 1786, and was victorious in war there in 1791-92, compelling Tippoo Sahib to cede, as the price of peace, half his dominions to the British crown. He returned to England in 1793, he was created a marquis, and appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1798. He negotiated the treaty of Amiens in 1802, and received the appointment of governor-general of India in 1805. He died at Ghazipur, India, October 5, 1805.

Bernardo De Galvez

Bernardo de Gálvez was a Spanish military leader and the general of Spanish forces in New Spain. He served as governor of Louisiana and Cuba and, as viceroy of New Spain.

Gálvez helped the Thirteen Colonies in their quest for independence and led the Spanish armies against Britain in the Revolutionary War, he defeat the British at Pensacola and reconquered Florida for Spain. He spent the last two years of his life as viceroy, succeeding his father Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo, who had been viceroy before him.

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 Opata 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. 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.

In 1786, he become ill and died.

The Battle of Charleston

I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.

Vince Lombardi

In 1779, the British decided to concentrate their efforts on the southern colonies so that they could encourage loyalists and serve as a morale boost. In December 1779, Leiutenant General Henry Clinton of the British Army set sail for Charleston, South California, In February, he arrived there and after a month he was in Charleston. He crossed the Ashley River and cut off Charleston and Major General Benjamin Lincoln from reinforcements.

On April 2, siege weapons were brought and bigger armies joined the siege. Among the leaders of the other armies were General Cornwallis and Colonel Banastre Tarleton. On May 8, Clinton demanded surrender, and since Lincoln denied it, waiting for better terms, the bombardment started a day later. On May 12, Lincoln surrendered Charleston and 5000 Continental Soldiers to Clinton. It was the greatest loss of soldiers and equipment of the war and gave the British nearly complete control of the South.