Revolutionary War Battlefield and Burial Ground at Spanish Fort
During the Revolutionary War, France, Spain, Britain, and the United States were interested in the fate of this region. In March 1780, Spanish forces captured Mobile. They established a palisaded fort with trenches (one mile north of here) to protect nearby Frenchtown, also known as The Village from British forces based in Pensacola. Early on the foggy Sunday morning of 7 January 1871, the British, under Col. von Hanxleden, attacked with about 200 German, Swiss, English, loyalist American troops and some 200 to 500 Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek Indians. The Spanish garrison, under Lt. Castro, included 190 Spanish, Irish, French, Cuban troops and units of New Orleans militia. Both sides suffered heavy losses, but the Spanish retained the fort. This facilitated the Spanish capture of Pensacola in May 1781 and the expulsion of the British from the Gulf Coast.
Marker is at the intersection of U.S. 98 and US 98 (Interstate 10), on the right when traveling south on U.S. 98.
Courtesy hmdb.org
