[Leguizamo]: Here we are at the monument of the Unknown Soldier.
Both of us know that there were 10,000 unknown Latino patriots that fought in the American Revolution, and there were a total of 80,000 troops.
So we were one in eight, which is a huge contribution.
And yet, you don't ever hear about it anywhere.
That's a huge number.
When the American Revolution began, George Washington had never really commanded an army, because the Continental Congress didn't have an army.
It was all militias or mercenaries.
A lot of them were merchants, farmers, and so they needed to get paid to sustain their livelihood.
As a result, when the Continental Congress didn't have enough money, these people didn't want to fight.
There were a lot of mutinies and Washington, in fact, had to execute some of the leaders of the mutiny in order to maintain discipline.
- You don't have a large base of finances that can be used to buy musketry, or artillery, or food to keep your armies going.
This is why the support from Spain and France and other nations was decisive in winning the American Revolution.
Without that support, we don't win.
Did you know that our Latino ancestors saved the day?
That's right -- Latinos tipped the scale in the American Revolution against the British.
And of course you've heard of Paul Revere, right?
"One if by land, two of by sea."
But have you ever heard of Bernardo de Gálvez?
Bernardo de Gálvez was Español.
He served in the Spanish military.
The Spanish Crown sent Bernardo de Gálvez with a mandate, which was: Assist the 13 colonies clandestinely, with materials, with men, and -- more importantly -- gunpowder.
And he did so by getting rid of the British along the Mississippi River.
[Leguizamo:] As a young soldier in Spanish territory, Bernardo de Gálvez participated in a brutal campaign against local Apache people.
So by the tim the American Revolution began, he was already experienced in the ways of war.
Do you know what you need to fight a war?
dinero, plata, chavo -- that's right, and lots of it.
So when George Washington was running low on cash to pay his army, he turned to his Latino amigos for help.
The Cuban, Spanish, and Mexican people delivered the needed money, making it possible for Washington's troops to keep fighting.
- A lot of people donated wedding rings, gold and silver, churches with chalices, and deliver it so that they pay the militias.
De Gálvez raises this multicultural army as well as his navy, comprised of Españoles, Native Americans, manumitted slaves, free slaves, what we'd now consider Cubanos, Puertorriqueños, Mexicanos, Ecuadotorianos.
This multicultural army fought battles along the Gulf Coast against all those established forts, which were Baton Rouge, Mobile Bay, and then eventually Pensacola Harbor and the taking of Fort George.
Look, I know Latinos can be really stubborn because once we get something into our heads, it's hard to let go.
Now, the British had a notoriously impenetrable stronghold at Fort George.
Their cannon firepower was so great that no one could get close.
But de Gálvez said, I'm going to take it.
So when de Gálvez brought his fleet to the mouth of the bay, a lot of the captains from the other ships refused to sail into the harbor because it was essentially a suicide mission.
And so one of the captains even threatened to have him arrested and sent back to Spain.
So he climbed aboard his ship, and by himself sailed into that harbor.
But the British were so surprised by the act that they couldn't lower their cannons in time to blow his ship apart.
[Leguizamo:] De Gálvez and reinforcements successfully captured Fort George, and he became known for his catchphrase: "Yo solo," or "I alone."
Because he attacked when others would not.
And thanks to de Gálvez, the British were driven out of the South.
