Our recent post about Revolutionary War veteran John Pipes Jr. got us thinking about a figure in St. Louis history of whom most people are unaware. The name Fernando de Leyba may be completely unfamiliar, but he made a significant contribution to our city’s history during what turned out to be the only skirmish of the Revolutionary War fought west of the Mississippi.
Known as the Battle of Fort San Carlos, this encounter between Native Americans, a handful of British regulars, a rag-tag group of St. Louis residents, and a few officers of the Spanish army, was fought on May 26, 1780, in an area of downtown that is now occupied by the Ballpark Village. There are a handful of historical markers downtown commemorating the event (including here and here), but not many artifacts.
Fernando de Leyba’s involvement was due to his position as Lieutenant Governor of what was then Spanish Louisiana. When he learned of the impending attack by British forces, his boss, Governor Bernardo de Galvez, told him that he was on his own to fortify the village of St. Louis (which at that time was only about 16 years old, and had an estimated 700 residents). De Leyba not only contributed a significant sum of his own money, but, as a former military officer himself, he trained the locals in how to construct a cylindrical stone fort and other battlements that would prove critical to their ultimate victory. In fact, if it wasn’t for de Leyba’s dedication to her defense, it is possible that the city of St. Louis might have disappeared from the map entirely.
If you would like to learn more about this obscure battle, there is a 2020 documentary called House of Thunder, produced by THGC Publishing, that is very interesting. Also, it is unlikely that you will find a better account than that written by Cameron Collins over at Distilled History.
Artwork courtesy of THGC Publishing – used by permission.
