Capture of Fort Bute was a Revolutionary War engagement fought in Louisiana, 1779. It was a Spanish victory.
On September 7, 1779, Spanish involvement in the American Revolutionary War, allied with France and the United States, began in earnest when a makeshift force overran a modest British outpost along Bayou Manchac. This clash, remembered as the Battle of Manchac Post, marked the seizure of Fort Bute. Bernardo de GĂĄlvez, serving as Governor of Spanish Louisiana, led the assault after assembling troops drawn from Spanish regulars, Acadian militia, and native levies, with Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent contributing to the effort. The small frontier garrison fell quickly to the attacking force.
King Charles III put Spain formally at odds with Britain when he issued his declaration of war on May 8, 1779. A second royal proclamation came on July 8, this one granting permission for Spanish subjects in the colonies to take up arms against the British on North American soil. It would be a mistake, though, to lump this in with the American Revolutionary War itself. Spain's conflict with Britain stemmed from its own separate aims and only in a secondary sense aided the American push for independence.
News of these developments reached Bernardo de GĂĄlvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana, on July 21, and he wasted no time setting secret offensive plans into motion. He had already been preparing for the possibility of war since April, and around this time he intercepted British communications out of Pensacola revealing a planned surprise assault on New Orleans. Rather than wait to be struck first, GĂĄlvez resolved to strike first himself. With that goal in mind, he kept the arrival of the second royal proclamation hidden from public knowledge.
After the fight, GĂĄlvez lingered at Fort Bute for six days, letting his troops recover before pressing on toward Baton Rouge. That post held out only briefly, falling on September 21 after a short siege. The surrender terms Dickson accepted at Baton Rouge also delivered to GĂĄlvez control of the last British outposts along the Mississippi River.
With this accomplished, GĂĄlvez made his way back to New Orleans, where he turned his attention to the next objective: Mobile and Pensacola, the two British strongholds still standing in West Florida.
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