8 to 10 May 1781
Pensacola: the Crescent explodes
On 8 May a Spanish howitzer shell strikes the magazine of the Crescent. The explosion kills 57 British soldiers. Ezpeleta leads the light infantry into the wrecked work before the defenders can recover, and the Spanish haul guns and howitzers into it.
The explosion of the British magazine during the siege of Pensacola, wash drawing by Nicolas Ponce, 1784Wikimedia Commons, Nicolas Ponce, Public domain (Prise de Pensacola.jpg)
From the Crescent the Spanish fire down on the Prince of Wales Redoubt and Fort George. The guns of Fort George reply and are overwhelmed. On 10 May General John Campbell surrenders Fort George and the Prince of Wales Redoubt with more than 1,100 British and Loyalist soldiers. The Spanish lose 74 dead and 198 wounded in the siege.
Sources
- John W. Caughey, Bernardo de Gálvez in Louisiana, 1776–1783 (1998).
- Bernardo de Gálvez, Diario de las operaciones de la expedición contra la plaza de Panzacola (1781).
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