Prince of Wales Redoubt
Prince of Wales Redoubt (1780-1781) - A British redoubt built in advance of Fort George (9) in 1780 in present day Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida. Captured by Spanish forces in 1781 and renamed Fort Sombrero.
One of two British redoubts built in advance of Fort George (9) in 1779 the other redoubt was the Queen Ann's Redoubt.
The Fort George complex was attacked by Spanish General Bernardo de Galvez and besieged from 24 Apr 1781 to 8 May 1781. On the 8th of May a Spanish howitzer shell exploded in a powder magazine of the Queen Ann's Redoubt destroying the redoubt and killing many of the British troops. The Spanish occupied the destroyed redoubt and trained their cannons on the fort and the remaining redoubt at short range. This action made the British positions untenable and the British Garrison surrendered that day. British General John Campbell signed the formal capitulation documents the next day, 9 May 1781. With the capture of Pensacola, Bernardo de Galvez controlled of all the major ports on the gulf coast and the British were denied access to the American Colonies from the gulf for the remainder of the Revolutionary War.
The Prince of Wales Redoubt was renamed Fort Sombrero by the Spanish after the battle.
Private property in Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida
Location: Private property, Pensacola, Escambia County, Flordia.
Lat: 30.42097 Long: -87.22008
Elevation: .....'
Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 208
North American Forts - Fort Prince of Wales Redoubt
Pensapedia - Prince of Wales Redoubt
Visited: 3 Jan 2012
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This page was last modified 14:14, 23 September 2021 by Bill Thayer. Based on work by John Stanton.