Fernando de Leyba
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Don Fernando de Leyba (1734–1780)Fernando de Leyba Vizcaigaña (1734-1780)
''elpueblodeceuta.es'', December 9, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2017. was a Spanish officer who served as the third
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
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from 1778 until his death.


Biography

Little is known of De Leyba's life until his appointment to the position of governor on June 14, 1778. Immediately upon his appointment to the post, he was ordered by
Bernardo de Galvez Bernardo is a given name and less frequently an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname. Possibly from the Germanic "Bernhard". Given name People * Bernardo the Japanese (died 1557), early Japanese Christian convert and disciple of Saint Fran ...
to keep abreast of events occurring in the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, and to keep any correspondence with an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
chief secret and report it at once to Galvez. De Leyba met
George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, soldier, and militia officer from Virginia who became the highest-ranking American patriot military officer on the northwestern frontier during the Ame ...
barely two months later, when Clark, fresh from his victory at
Kaskaskia The Kaskaskia were one of the indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in t ...
, visited
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
and met with the governor. Fearing an attack from
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, Clark suggested that De Leyba fortify the town; upon being notified of this, Galvez responded that De Leyba would have to make do on his own, as no fortifications would be provided. War was declared between
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
and
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in June 1779, and attack was launched on St. Louis the next year. Given fair warning, De Leyba managed to raise 1000
piastres The piastre or piaster () is any of a number of units of currency. The term originates from the Italian for "thin metal plate". The name was applied to Spanish and Hispanic American pieces of eight, or pesos, by Venetian traders in the Levant ...
, including 400 of his own money, for the construction of
Fort Carlos Fort Carlos III was a Spanish fort located at the ''Ecores Rouges'', '' Luisiana'' in present-day Arkansas County, Arkansas. Named for King Carlos III, it was located on the left bank of the Arkansas, about 29 miles from the mouth. This woode ...
. Already deep in debt from his gifts to the Indians, the governor could ill afford paying for the entire fort on his own. In any event, only one tower was completed, with part of a second also built. This was enough to repel the attack, which came on May 26. After their failure, the invaders laid waste to the surrounding farms as part of their retreat. De Leyba's health was already poor, and, by June 28, he was dead. His report of the action reached Galvez only after his death, yet the general was impressed enough to promote the governor, posthumously, to the rank of
lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
. After De Leyba's death, many of the villagers from the area around St. Louis began to blame him for their troubles, writing anonymous letters to the government in
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; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
detailing his supposed misbehaviors. Some people began calling him a "Spanish
Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...
". In 1831, one historian Judge
Wilson Primm Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson R ...
wrote a lecture in which he stated that the governor had not only sold the gunpowder stores to the enemy, he had acted in a cowardly manner during the engagement and deliberately impeded the defense of the village. Supported by accounts made by survivors some fifty years after the battle, these accusations were accepted by many historians for much of the nineteenth century, and it is only recently that some have begun to reconsider the role De Leyba played in the defense of the American frontier.


References


External links


Contribution of Spanish and Latin Americans to the American Revolutionary War


Graphic/Fine Arts Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Leyba, Fernando de 1780 deaths Spanish military personnel of the American Revolutionary War People from St. Louis People from Ceuta Commandants and Lieutenants of the Illinois Country 1734 births