4th Note: British at Mobile
by Thomas E. DeVoe and Karl T. Martinsen
Early in 1780, the British garrison of Fort Charlotte at Mobile numbered more than 300 men, in addition to Artillerymen, Engineers, 21 Artificers and at least 56 Sailors, the garrison included troops from the following units:
United Provincial Corps of Pennsylvania and Maryland Loyalists (16 men) Captain Walker's "Provincial Dragoons" Captain Ree's Militia ( The last two units were part of a total of 52 local "volunteers", 15 of whom deserted during the siege. ) The garrison was under the command of Captain Elias Durnford, sometime Lieutenant Governor of the province. Besides the fighting men mentioned above, there were 55 non-combatants in the fort, including a chaplain, a commissary, a surgeon's mate and 52 negro servants ( these negroes may have been armed ) and workmen. Among Captain Durnford's 12 officers were Lieutenants Loup and Macdonald of the 4/60th Foot. In a letter dated the 14th March 1780, Durnford informed Campbell that he had surrendered the garrison to Galvez , he reported that the number of killed, wounded and prisoners was 304. With the capture of Mobile, Galvez made two slightly different lists of the prisoners that he had taken there. In his Diary of the Expedition against Pensacola and Mobile.., he lists 285 prisoners made up of;
1 Sergeant, 1 Corporal, 2 Privates, 15 Artillerymen, and 1 Armourer of the "Maryland Corps. Plus 2 Surgeons, 60 Sailors, 54 Habitants, and 51 Negroes. On the 20th March 1780, Galvez made another list in which he reported 307 prisoners; 13 Officers, 113 Privates, 56 Sailors, 70 Hunters and Habitants, and 55 Armed Negroes. SourcesThe Spanish Conquest of British West Florida 1779-1781, by A. W. Haarman, pub. Florida
Historical Quarterly, Vol. XXXIX, pp.107-134.
More Spanish and British Units: American Revolution
2nd Note: Spanish in Louisiana 3rd Note: Spanish at St. Louis 4th Note: British at Mobile 5th Note: Spanish at Mobile 6th Note: British Attack St. Louis 7th Note: Spanish Garrison of St. Louis 8th Note: Spanish "Regular" units in Louisiana and West Florida Back to Table of Contents -- El Dorado Vol IX No. 1 Back to El Dorado List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by The South and Central Military Historians Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |