I didn't know about this, so I thought I'd pass it along. The only history of the American Revolution I've read concentrated on the colonists efforts in the colonies. I had no idea we were getting help from Spain. This short article was very enlightening...Enjoy!

Muchas gracias for the freedom, friends
By KENT STEINRIEDE / The News Journal

The contributions of France's Marquis de Lafayette and the Comte de Rochambeau during the American Revolution are well known. Fewer people realize that thousands of Spaniards and Latin Americans also helped the United States gain its independence.

This Saturday at 4 p.m. on WVUD (91.3 FM), the bilingual radio program "Radio Uno" will feature Felix Gonzalez and Diego Castellanos, who will tell the stories of Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Spaniards who fought against the British during the revolution. "In the U.S., history books are incomplete," says Gonzalez, an attorney and history lover who was born in Cuba and came to Philadelphia with his family when he was 11 years old.

One of the most important contributors to American independence is Bernardo de Gálvez (1746-1786), the Spanish governor of Louisiana. Galveston, Texas, is named after the Spaniard, who fought the British on two fronts. He captured Baton Rouge, La., Natchez, Miss. and British bases in Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla.

Before the Battle of Yorktown, Gálvez bailed out George Washington by sailing to Havana to collect gold to pay the French army, which was on the verge of mutiny because its troops hadn't been paid for six months. Gálvez and his troops went on to fight at the decisive battle, where about 4,000 Spanish soldiers died, Gonzalez says.

I went to Galvez Elementary school in Galvez, LA. Named after Mr. Galvez, I believe.

wow, I grew up in Mandeville, LA, named after Bernard du Marigny du Mandeville (what a strange name) who was one of the first French settlers in New France...