Spanish hero Bernardo de Gálvez: Honorary Citizen of the United States

It was done last week, at last¡¡¡ ¡¡¡All we need is just Obama signature!!! (In Spanish)

Only seven people have been honored, five posthumously, and two, Sir Winston Churchill and Mother Teresa, during their lifetimes. Captain General Bernardo de Galvez could be the eighth[1].

In order to know better who Bernardo de Gálvez was, some few notes can easily be found on the Internet.

Gálvez aided the Americans in their quest for independence and led the Spanish forces against Britain in the Revolutionary War, defeating the British at the Siege of Pensacola (1781) and reconquering Florida for Spain.

The importance of Galvez’s campaign from the American perspective was that he denied the British the opportunity of encircling the American rebels from the South, and kept open a vital conduit for supplies. Galvez also assisted the American revolutionaries with supplies and soldiers.

Galveston Bay, Galveston, Texas, Galveston County, Texas, Galvez, Louisiana, and St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana were, among others, named after him. The Louisiana parishes of East Feliciana and West Feliciana were named after his wife Marie Felice de Saint-Maxent Estrehan.

He was governor and captain general of Louisiana (which had been ceded by France to Spain) and Florida.

In recognition of his work and help to the American cause, George Washington placed him to his right in the parade of July 4 and the American Congress cited Gálvez for his aid during the Revolution.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_citizen_of_the_United_States