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Battle of Fort Charlotte

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Battle of Fort Charlotte
Part of American Revolutionary War
DateFebruary 20 - March 9, 1780
Location
Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Spain Britain
Commanders and leaders
Bernardo de Gálvez Elias Durnford
Strength
754 regulars and militia 98 regulars
169 militia
Casualties and losses
Unknown 267 dead, wounded, or captured. 100% casualties.

The Battle of Fort Charlotte was a two-week siege conducted by Spanish General Bernardo de Gálvez against the British fortifications guarding present-day Mobile, Alabama during the American Revolutionary War. Fort Charlotte was the last remaining British frontier post capable of threatening New Orleans in Spain's neighboring Louisiana colony, Its fall drove the British from the western reaches of West Florida.

Gálvez's army sailed from New Orleans aboard a small fleet of transports on January 28. On February 10, the Spaniards landed near Fort Charlotte. The outnumbered British garrison resisted stubbornly until the sight of several hundred regular infantry and artillerymen rowing ashore to bolster Gálvez's army broke their resolve on March 9 (the garrison commander, Captain Elias Durnford, had expected relief from Pensacola which never arrived). Their capitulation secured the west shore of Mobile Bay from the British and opened the path for Spanish operations against Pensacola.