Battle of St. Louis

The Battle of St. Louis, also known as the Attack on St. Louis and the Battle of Fort San Carlos, was fought on May 26, 1780, between British-allied Indians and defenders of the Franco-Spanish village of St. Louis, Louisiana (present-day U.S. state of Missouri) during the American Revolutionary War. The garrison, a motley assortment of regulars and militiamen led by Upper Louisiana's lieutenant governor, Captain Fernando de Leyba, suffered a small number of casualties.

Battle of St. Louis
Part of the Western Theater of the
American Revolutionary War

Diorama of the Battle of St. Louis in the Gateway Arch Museum, Old County Courthouse, St. Louis, Missouri.
DateMay 26, 1780
Location
St. Louis and Cahokia, Illinois
38°37′29.2″N 90°11′25.1″W
Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
 Spain
 United States
Commanders and leaders

Fernando de Leyba

John Montgomery
  • Emanuel Hesse
  • Matchekewis
  • Wapasha I
Strength
30 regulars
168 militia		 24 partisans
750–1,500 allies
Casualties and losses
21–100 killed 4 killed
4 wounded
St. Louis
Location within North America

De Leyba fortified St. Louis as best as he could and successfully withstood the British invasion. On the opposite bank of the Mississippi River, a simultaneous attack on the nearby American village of Cahokia was also repulsed. The retreating British-allied Indians destroyed crops and took captive inhabitants outside the protected area. The British failed to defend their side of the river and, thus, effectively ended any attempts to gain control of the Mississippi River during the Revolutionary War.

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