A402 - Bay and harbour of Pensacola in the Province of West Florida.

George Gauld

h27" x w35.5"

L

The edition presented here is taken from a 'pull' (print) made by the British Admiralty in about 1947 from Des Barres' original copper plates, before the plates were presented to the US government. The result of the pull was that we are presented with an authentic view of what the charts of the Atlantic Neptune would have looked like when they were originally made.

 

The area depicted on this chart was surveyed by George Gauld who was responsible for a great deal of the survey work along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico at this time (see Heritage Charts A403).

 

It is typical of the work of Gauld to include detailed notes on the area surveyed, including descriptions of the density of the sand-banks, the position of trees and other land-marks as well as information on tides. Des Barres includes a similar note on this chart.

 

Pensacola, had been acquired by the British in 1763, after the Treaty of Paris which had marked the end of the French & Indian war (known in Europe as the 7 Years War). Spain, the previous occupiers of the territory had enjoyed little economic success in the area and effectively traded the area of for possession of the island of Cuba. The British relocated the town from its original location on Santa Maria Island, across the bay to its present location depicted on this chart. The British carefully mapped-out streets, a water-well and improvements to the port. They built Fort George in 1779 and established the town as the Capital of West Florida.

 

Over the next few years Pensacola was to become the center of commerce with trade in lumber, furs and naval stores. It was at the heart of British operations in West Florida until it was lost in 1781 back to the Spanish.

 

Throughout the Revolutionary War the significance of ports and towns such as New Orleans, Mobile and Pensacola was not so much strategic, but economic. They were, after all, a long way from the fighting taking place in the northern and middle states. These ports effectively controlled the flow of supplies to the American war effort. In addition, Spain and France had their own interests in the Gulf area and were anxious to remove the British strangle-hold on them.

 

At the time of the siege of Pensacola in 1781, just after this chart was published, the British under General John Campbell had begun the construction of additional defences around the bay and town. These included the Prince of Wales Redoubt to the north of Fort George, the Queen's Redoubt to the northwest and a battery near the mouth of the bay, but all to no avail.

Bay and harbour of Pensacola in the Province of West Florida.