Battle at The Village

at the Historic Blakeley State Park

Anniversary Reenactment

After the loss of the Fort Charlotte (present day Colonial Fort Condé in Mobile, Alabama) to the Spanish under Governor-General Bernardo de Gálvez, the British under General John Campbell launched a counter-attack on Mobile. The Spanish had deemed Fort Charlotte as indefensible after their siege had caused critical damage to the fort; therefore, they built a palisade fort and earthworks across the bay to defend Mobile from any advances made from Pensacola, which was still under British rule. The palisade fort was most likely constructed near ‘the point’ in modern day Daphne, Alabama. The settlement in this area was known as “French Village” or just “The Village.”

The assault on the fort was initially supposed to be supported by two English frigates and a war bilander, but the shallow waters of the bay made the nautical support impossible. The Spanish palisade fort was garrisoned by approximately 150 men (consisting of regulars and militia), but the British forces are more difficult to quantify. General estimates indicate a widely varied force of approximately 60 men of the Waldeck 3rd Regiment, 100 from the 60th Regiment of Foot, 200 of the Pennsylvania-Maryland Loyalists, a couple dozen West Florida Royal Foresters, and 300 Indians of the Creek and Choctaw tribes (based on research by Jack D.L. Holmes and Albert W. Haarmann). The British forces were led by Colonel Johann von Hanxleden of the Waldeck 3rd Regiment–by most accounts, he was considered the most experienced commander in British West Florida at the time.

British forces arrived early in the morning, and under the cover of fog, were able to take the outer works of the Spanish defenses by the bayonet with very little resistance. However, the British were not able to sustain the initial momentum of catching their adversaries off-guard. Colonel Hanxleden was killed during the assault, reportedly as the Waldeckers pushed into the Spanish works. The British forces were plunged into disarray, and subsequently, the attack failed.

Historic Background

Next Event: January 9-10, 2027

Participant information (reenactor packet, registration, event details) coming soon.

Contact the Organizer