page_title: History of St. Louis (1763–1803)
section_title: St. Louis in the American Revolution
hierarchical_section_title: History of St. Louis (1763–1803) / St. Louis in the American Revolution
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of a mural entitled Indian Attack on the Village of Saint Louis, 1780, depicting the Battle of St. Louis.
context_page_description: The history of St. Louis, Missouri from 1763 to 1803 was marked by the transfer of French Louisiana to Spanish control, the founding of the city of St. Louis, its slow growth and role in the American Revolution under the rule of the Spanish, the transfer of the area to American control in the Louisiana Purchase, and its steady growth and prominence since then.
context_section_description: Since the beginning of hostilities between the British and their American subjects, Spanish governors in New Orleans assisted the American rebels with weapons and ammunition. Along with his appointment as the new commander of St. Louis, Fernando de Leyba was instructed to abet any rebel Americans in British territory and recruit Catholics living in British territory to move to St. Louis. Upon his arrival in St. Louis, Leyba invited George Rogers Clark, an American colonel who was leading the Illinois campaign and had recently captured the town of Kaskaskia, to a two-day banquet and reception in his honor. Leyba also encouraged St. Louis merchants to supply Clark's forces with weapons and provided guarantees of credit for Clark.
  By early 1779, the British commander Henry Hamilton had retaken the town of Vincennes, and his forces were advancing on Kaskaskia. Hamilton informed Leyba and Galvez that if American forces retreated to Spanish territory, he would pursue them there and attack Spanish forces, likely attacking St. Louis. However, Clark managed to defeat the British forces and capture Hamilton himself in February 1779, averting the threat to the town. After the entrance of Spain on the side of the Americans in June 1779, the British developed a strategy to attack St. Louis and other Spanish settlements along the Mississippi using fur traders and Indians.
  The British force departed Prairie du Chien on May 2, 1780 with more than 200 traders and Indians. Prior to their departure, however, an American trader had alerted Leyba in St. Louis as to the plan, giving time to develop defensive measures around the town. Only one of four planned masonry towers was built, near the current intersection of Fourth and Walnut streets, and the rest of the town was surrounded by more than a mile of entrenchments. As a British force of nearly 1,000 approached in early May (augmented along its journey by more Indian forces), more than 150 militia took up positions in the fortifications around St. Louis.
  On May 26, the British and Indian forces attacked the town of St. Louis, but were forced to retreat due to the fortifications and defections of some Indian forces. In spite of their defeat, the British attack destroyed much of St. Louis' agricultural lands and cattle stock, killed 23 residents, wounded 7, and captured 25 as prisoners. The battle losses and his inability to pay merchants for supplies given to the Americans damaged Leyba's reputation in St. Louis, and Leyba died after a lengthy illness on June 28, 1780. Galvez quickly reappointed former commander Francisco Cruzat, who arrived in St. Louis with ammunition, weapons and supplies to defend the town. In late 1780, Cruzat sent an expedition force from St. Louis to attack British forces at Fort St. Joseph, which successfully destroyed any future British plans to attack St. Louis or other Mississippi outposts.
  After 1781, the British permanently evacuated the lands east of the Mississippi, leaving the land to the Americans. A lack of effective American government there led many remaining Creole families to emigrate to St. Louis from 1780 to 1783, bringing about a 19% increase in the population to about 900, not including slaves. Among these families was that of Gabriel Cerre and Charles Gratiot, merchants from Kaskaskia and Cahokia. Upon his arrival in St. Louis, Cerre was counted as the wealthiest merchant in the town, owning more than 850 acres of land around St. Louis and 6,000 acres along the Meramec River. Cerre's daughters married into the elite of Creole society, including eldest daughter Marie Anne who married Pierre-Louis Panet of Montreal in 1781; second daughter Marie Therese who married Auguste Chouteau, co-founder of St. Louis in 1786, and the youngest daughter Julia married Antoine Soulard, a surveyor who added significant property additions at the periphery of St. Louis.
  Charles Gratiot, the second major merchant to relocate to St. Louis at the end of the American Revolution, also added to the wealth of the community. His English and trade skills allowed him to aid th
caption: The Battle of St. Louis as depicted in a mural at the Missouri State Capitol
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