STE. GENEVIEVE – The Battle of Fort San Carlos Annual Commemoration will take place in Ste. Geneviève, Missouri, on May 27-28, 2023
Drawing by Daniel F. Carr
To remember this extremely important part of our history, French Colonial America (FCA)/The Centre for French Colonial Life, the Battle of Ft. San Carlos Commemoration Committee, the Foundation for the Restoration of Ste. Geneviève, the Ste. Geneviève Milice, and the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) will be hosting various activities on Saturday and Sunday May 27-28, including:
• Saturday, May 27 at 10 AM and 2 PM – the Milice and SAR will march from the Jacques Guibord house at 1 N 4th St. to the nearby Memorial Cemetery to honor men who took part in the battle and are buried in this vicinity.
• Both Saturday and Sunday, from 11 AM to 4 PM — the Milice (recreated 18th century militia) and SAR members will set up a living history camp and offer historic demonstrations in the FCA yards between 2nd and Main on Market Street – the living history area will be open to the public with free admission.
• Sunday, May 28, at 2 PM — the Commemoration Committee will conduct a ceremony of remembrance in Ste. Geneviève Catholic Church at 49 Dubourg Place.
• Sunday, May 28, at 3:15 PM – Historian Robert Moore will do a presentation about the battle, “Courage and Cannonballs: A New Look at the Military Aspects of the Battle of Fort San Carlos” in the Centre for French Colonial Life Museum at 198 Market St
The story begins in July of 1779, when the empire of Spain entered the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain. The British decided to attempt to take control of the Mississippi River valley, starting with the villages of St Louis on the Spanish side of the river, and Cahokia on the Illinois side, which by that time was held by the Americans.
The Spanish under Lt. Governor Fernando de Leyba, however, learned of the impending attack and began fortifying St. Louis with a stone tower that became known as Ft. San Carlos, and a defensive trench around the village.
Being greatly outnumbered by the approaching force of 1,300 British, Canadians, and Native Americans the Spanish sent to Ste. Geneviève for its tiny garrison of regulars and 60 of its militia – mostly men of French descent.
The attacking force arrived on May 26, 1780, but after finding that they could not break through the defenses, withdrew back to British-held territory.
On the same day, across the river at Cahokia, a force of Americans under George Rogers Clark also defeated a British-led attack. The British attempt to gain control of the Mississippi valley was thwarted.
For more information, contact French Colonial America at 573-883-3105