Zéspedes Y Velasco, Vincente Manuel de
Zéspedes Y Velasco, Vincente Manuel De
ZÉSPEDES Y VELASCO, VINCENTE MANUEL DE. (1720–1794). Spanish officer and official. Born in Spain in 1720, Zéspedes entered the military in 1734, serving in several postings in North Africa, South America, and Cuba. Named captain of grenadiers, he was sent in 1761 to Pensacola, Florida, which he successfully defended against the Creeks, receiving a royal citation for his performance. In 1768 he was sent to New Orleans to put down French resistance to Spanish control. When Spain and England went to war in 1779, Zéspedes was promoted to colonel and placed in command of the Havana Regiment, serving as interim governor in 1782. With the end of the American Revolution, he was promoted to brigadier general and made governor of East Florida, overseeing the transfer of authority from Britain to Spain. Zéspedes's primary duty was to protect Spanish territory from the encroachment of the new United States. Toward this end, he entered into a number of mutually beneficial treaties with the Indian nations of the region and supplied the Creeks with arms and ammunition for their struggle against Georgia. He also established an extensive intelligence network through which he could keep the Spanish government aware of American expansionism. In 1790 he returned to Havana, where he died on 21 July 1794.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Tanner, Helen Hornbeck. Zéspedes in East Florida, 1784–1790. Coral Gables, Fla.: University of Miami Press, 1963.