Combat· American Revolutionary War
Capture of Manchac
Spanish forces under Governor Bernardo de Galvez captured the British post at Manchac in West Florida on September 7, 1779.
Manchac had been garrisoned in 1778 by a British force sent from Pensacola, made up of 40 regulars, 60 rangers, and a small party of Carolina refugees. Once Spain and Britain were at war, Galvez drew up plans for operations against Manchac, Pensacola, and Mobile. By late August 1779 he set out for Manchac with nearly 600 Spanish, American, and Indian troops. To protect this force from English vessels on Lake Pontchartrain, Galvez had an armed schooner transferred to Oliver Pollock to replace the Morris, and her officers and crew were ordered to engage the enemy on the lake. Lieutenant Daniel Longstreet and his Marines were transferred to the new vessel. On September 10, 1779, after an action of about twenty minutes, the schooner captured the British armed sloop West Florida. After the capture of Manchac, Galvez returned to New Orleans to prepare an attack on Mobile.
Record no. 142