The City of Pensacola is celebrating the legacy of General Bernardo de Gálvez in a series of events this week. Please see the following schedule and make plans to join us.
Friday, May 9
- 9:45 a.m. The Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution will march from Fort George down Palafox Street to the Gálvez statue at Palafox and Wright Streets.
- 10:00 a.m. A brief ceremony will be held with remarks from Mayor D.C. Reeves and a special song and dance from the students at Episcopal Day School.
- 11:00 a.m. A public luncheon will be held at the Pensacola Yacht Club, 1897 Cypress St. Reservations and pre-payment are required. Purchase tickets here: Historic Pensacola
- 3:00 p.m. Wreath laying ceremony at the Minuteman statue at Veterans Memorial Park, 200 S. 10th Ave.
Saturday, May 10
- 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The UWF Historic Trust is hosting a public day to celebrate Gálvez with activities in the Historic Village, which is found around 205 E. Zaragoza St. The celebration includes Spanish soldiers, colonial cooking, games and candle dipping. The Museum of History and Historic Pensacola Village will be free to the public.
Galvez Monument Project
Jim Green described the Pensacola Heritage Foundation’s mission to save history and present it to the public, noting they felt “there hadn’t been enough done for us and the Spanish influence here.”
The Foundation sought to create a full-size statue of General Galvez due to his significant influence not only for Pensacola but also “for the whole United States and the Revolutionary War.”
Nancy Fetterman explained that their Galvez Monument Project would feature “a full-size horse and rider going up the hill on top of a beautiful piece of Spanish granite or Spanish limestone,” created by local sculptor Captain Bob Rasmussen.
She described how the monument will represent Galvez as if he were “riding up the hill to say, come on boys, let’s take the fort,” calling it “a wonderful representation of the type of man Galvez was.”
Fetterman highlighted Galvez’s broader impact: “By the time he got to Pensacola, he had already taken down three forts… for the good of our Revolutionary War heroes that were having a hard time fighting on the East Coast.”
