The French lost territory two ways after the Seven Years War, 1756-1763. Most of what had been New France, i.e., Quebec, the Maritimes, and the Old Northwest, went to England. Louisiana, which included the Gulf States, went to Spain. When the Revolution began in 1775, Britain saw an opportunity not only to punish some rebellious colonies, but take away all of Spain's land in North America. Spain still had control over much of her vast colonial empire, but centuries of weak, inbred kings had turned the once mighty Hapsburg-Bourbon dynasty into a rotting hulk. Spain, as with any European power, had difficulty garrisoning the many French forts turned over after Seven Years War and kept only a small garrison at St. Louis. The British commander at Fort Michilimackinac thought he saw easy pickings in St. Louis, and Cahokia across the Mississippi River, which was occupied by Patriots. With control of these two outposts would also come control of the Mississippi. The only problem was manpower. The Brit took care of that by appointing a local trader, Emanuel Hesse, to recruit as many Native warriors as would fight with him and march against St. Louis/San Carlos. Among the tribes who sent warriors were the Sioux, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Sac, Fox, Winnebago/Ho-Chunk and Ojibwe/Chippewa.
The Spanish weren't sitting idle in New Orleans. Bernardo de Galvez, who would later prove a valuable ally to George Washington, speedily installed garrisons in New Orleans, Pensacola, Mobile, and other key outposts in the Southeast. He also dispatched the Lieutenant-Governor Fernando de Leyva, to beef up the outpost at St. Louis. De Leyva roused the inhabitants of the town and with his small force of Spanish soldiers and militia prepared to meet the Native army now amassing at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He ordered the construction of four stone towers and helped pay for one of them from his own money, naming it Fort San Carlos. Meanwhile, about 750-1,000 warriors came to Prairie du Chien, many of them Sioux under Wapasha. Although Native forces operated under a command team, Hesse designated the overall Native commander as Matchekewis of the Ojibwe. They quickly made their way downriver to St. Louis, believing they had the element of surprise and a lax Spanish presence.
A local trader got wind of what was about to happened and tipped de Leyva, who hadn't managed to get the other three towers built. De Leyva persuaded a group of French lead miners to make up an impromptu militia to help bolster their defenses. These miners brought a valuable commodity, lead for bullets. On May 23, the Natives beached their canoes fourteen miles upriver of St. Louis and made ready for a land assault. Hesse sent Canadian fur trader Jean-Marie Ducharme and 300 Natives across the river to deal with Cahokia, while his main force advanced on St. Louis. On May 25, 1780, lookouts in rickety Fort San Carlos saw them coming and began firing shots. Leyva directed the town's defense from the tower, ordering his men to fire again and again at the Native onslaught. While some of the smaller contingents of Natives fell back, Wapasha and his Sioux kept on coming. The continuing barrage of lead finally convinced the Natives to leave St. Louis alone. George Rogers Clark showed up across the River to take charge of Cahokia, repulsing the attack there. St. Louis would remain in Spanish hands for the time being.
Casualties in St. Louis were between 50-100 killed, wounded and captured, most of them civilians who had volunteered to defend their town. As the whole town was about 700 people, this was a costly victory. Fernando de Leyva died a month later, not realizing he'd been made a Lieutenant-Colonel by the King of Spain. The site of Fort San Carlos is on 4th and Walnut Streets in St. Louis, where a yearly commemoration is held.
This post also appears on https://greatwarriorsII.blogspot.com.
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