USA > Alabama > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period, v. 1 > Part 18
USA > Georgia > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period, v. 1 > Part 18
USA > Mississippi > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period, v. 1 > Part 18
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through the provinces of Virginia and the Carolinas, personating the princess, and levying contributions upon the credulity of the inhabi- tants. She was at length arrested in Charleston, prosecuted and pub- licly whipped.
* Equal to one hundred and seventy-six dollars.
15
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER Biloxi, Mobile, Alabama, Yazoo, Natchitoches, Arkansas, and VI. Illinois ; that in the chief town of each there should be a commandant and a judge, from whose decisions an appeal could be had to the supreme council of New Biloxi.
STATE OF THE COLONY AT THE CLOSE OF 1721. .
" In the vessels which the India Company has sent thither from the 25th October, 1717, to May, 1721, there have emi- grated, on the forty-three belonging to it, and in the squad- ron of M. de Saunjor, - - - - 7020
These, with the 400 who were already there, - 400
7420
Of this number those who have died, deserted, or re-
turned to France, -
- 2000
5420
To them the number of colonists is added, to which may be set down about 600 negroes."
1723 March 12
From this statement it appears that the colony of Louisiana had really begun to prosper, but many impediments still re- tarded its more rapid advance, among which may be enume- rated its expenses, which, for the year 1721, amounted to four hundred and seventy-four thousand, two hundred and seventy- four livres. The company, too, issued an ordinance prohibit- ing the inhabitants from selling their negroes to the Spaniard -. or to other foreigners, or taking them out of the colony, under a severe penalty, besides their confiscation.
Bienville, writing from Mobile, acquainted the Minister
--
April 20
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
with the difficulty of discharging the cargoes of vessels upon CHAPTER the low shores of New Biloxi, and again brought to his VI. consideration the superior advantages of New-Orleans, for the capital of the colony. One more councillor was added to the supreme council, which, now, consisted of Brusle, Fazende, Perry, Guilhet and Masclary. Two hundred and fifty Germans, commanded by the Chevalier D'Arensbourg, 1722 June 4 a Swedish officer, arrived at Mobile, with whom came Marig- ny de Mandaville, who had obtained, in France, the Cross of St. Louis and the command of Fort Conde, in Mobile. This was by far the best fort in the colony, and was now rapidly drawing to a state of completion ; it was built of brick, with four bastions, and a great many casements for soldiers .* The vessel which brought over these Germans, bore the distressing news that the great royal bank, which Law, the Scotch financier, under the auspices of the Duke of Orleans, had established in France, had utterly failed ; that Law had left the country in disgrace, and that the people whom he had induced to take stock, found it worthless and themselves ruined. All Paris was in a ferment, and no one could anticipate an end to the long train of commercial evils which the scheming ability of this Scotchman had engendered.
* Mr. E. T. Wood, of Mobile, who wrote a history of that place, embodied in a directory, which he published, says that when Fort Conde (which was also called Fort Charlotte by the British after they took possession of it,) was pulled down by the Americans some years after the place fell into their hands, that the corner-stone was found with the date of 1717, distinctly engraved upon it.
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER The company which had charge of Louisiana, and indeed the VI. chief inhabitants of the province, were soon made to feel the explosion of this once powerful and popular institution. Louisiana, herself, was deeply involved in the failure, and her inhabitants now feared that the government of France would abandon them. But some supplies continued to arrive, in spite of the panie which pervaded the mother country. Duvergier, who had been appointed director-gene- 1722 July 15 ral and commander of the marine, disembarked at Pensacola. bearing the Cross of St. Louis for Boisbriant, St. Dennis and Chateaugné.
The failure of the Royal Bank of France, and the distress which it produced in all parts of that kingdom, caused Lou- isiana, for a time, to be so neglected, that the inhabitants became destitute of provisions. The officers were obliged to dismiss the garrisons of Mobile and Biloxi, and send them to the Choctaw nation to procure subsistence among the Indians, while many of the colonists abandoned their homes and be- took themselves to the sea-side to procure a scanty living upon fish and oysters. It was even worse at some of the more distant posts, particularly at Fort Toulouse, upon the Coosa, now in Alabama. There, the soldiers were tortured by famine. and corrupted by some British traders, who induced them to desert and fly to Charleston. The command consisted of a captain, a lieutenant, an ensign, a corporal and twenty-siv soldiers. When the latter had perfected their mutiny, the planning of which had occupied several days, they rose npon the officers, one morning, about breakfast. Capt. Marchand was
August
1
-1
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
instantly slain. Lieutenant Villemont and Ensign Paque CHAPTER made their escape through a port-hole of one of the bastions, VI. and fled to the Hickory Ground, a town of Creek Indians, three miles above, on the east bank of the Coosa, and embracing the lower suburbs of the modern city of Wetumpka. Here Villemont made irresistible appeals to the warriors to march against the mutineers. He, at the same time, despatched Paque across the river to the town of Coosawda, where then lived the great Chief, Big Morter, whom the ensign succeeded in enlisting in the cause of the King. In the meantime, the mutineers, having killed the captain, intimidated the corporal, who now joined them in a general pillage of the fort. They appropriated to themselves the money and clothing of the officers, leaving only the sacred wardrobe of the priest, a Jesuit father, whom they did not molest. The magazine, constructed of brick, was forced open, and arms and ammunition taken from it .* The store-room was plundered of its contents, con- sisting of a very limited supply of flour and meat. The mutineers, after partaking of a hearty repast, marched off to the Red Warrior's Bluff,t where they crossed the Talla- poosa and took up the line of march for Charleston. Ville- mont, with the Indian force which he had speedily raised, marched against them. A battle ensued at the ford of Line
# Some of the brick of this magazine are yet to be seen lying about the ruins of old Fort Toulouse, now called old Fort Jackson, and I have several of them in my house, taken from that place.
The Red Warrior's Bluff of that day, is the present Grey's Ferry.
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER Creek, which now divides the modern counties of Montgom- VI. 1722 August ery and Macon. Sixteen of the deserters were slain. - They all fought with the desperation of tigers .* The others. except two who escaped, were taken prisoners, and Villemont. who was wounded in the action, marched with them back to Fort Toulouse. Here, the fort was found to be in a very solitary condition, being inhabited only by the Jesuit father, who had resolved to remain until he could get a favorable opportunity of going to Mobile, not believing that the brave and indefatigable Villemont could subdue the deserters ; the body of the unfortunate Captain Marchand had been already interred by him and some Indians. Villemont, the next day, obtained some canoes and placed the deserters in them, in charge of an Indian guard, at the head of which was Ensign Paque, who conveyed them to Mobile, where September they were, shortly afterwards, executed. Villemont and the priest were solitary inmates of Fort Toulouse for several months, until another garrison was sent up the river. The lieutenant had, however, many Indian warriors lying around the fort, who were ready to aid him, if he had been attacked by the English, who were anxious to occupy this post.t
* The bones of these sixteen Frenchmen lay, for many years, very near the house which Walter B. Lucas afterwards erected, and where he, for a long time, kept entertainment.
t The revolt of the garrison of Fort Toulouse, upon the Coosa, is mentioned by Gayarre, in his History of Louisiana, vol. 1, p. 190 ; by La Harpe, p. 261; by Judge Martin, vol. 2, p. 239 ; but I have derived the chief facts from Indian traditions handed down by General Alexander
1
-
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
Fortunately, a vessel arrived with provisions for the King's CHAPTER troops. She brought the news that the Regent had entrusted VI. the affairs of the colony to the management of three commis- September 28 1722 sioners : Ferrand, Faget and Machinet. A detailed account of a great hurricane which swept along the coast of Louisi- ana, of the desertion of soldiers, sailors and workmen, and a recommendation to allow free passage to all who might choose to return to France, as a remedy for desertions generally, formed the subjects of a communication addressed by Del'Orme October 30 to the Minister. While the distressing situation of the colony rendered the offices of the three commissioners by no means sinecures, embarrassments were further produced by a war which the Natchez had begun, and the worthlessness of the paper money hitherto used in the colony, to remedy which, cards were substituted, after the notes were suppressed. One Michel, of Mobile, was the person appointed to engrave these cards.
The new commissioners who had succeeded to the director- ship of the company, readily acceded to the long cherished wish of Bienville, to remove the seat of government to New- Orleans, and it was accordingly established at that place .*
1723
McGillivray, a very great Indian Chief of mixed blood, who was the grandson of the unfortunate Captain Marchand, who was killed upon this occasion.
* Histoire de la Louisiane, par Charles Gayarre, vol. 1, pp. 166-193. Journal Historique de l'Etablissement des Français a la Louisiane, par Bernard de la Harpe, pp. 144-289 .- Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. 1, pp. 218-244.
15*
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER The population of New-Orleans at that period, numbered only VI. two hundred souls, who occupied a hundred huts and cabins !
The commissioners of the company, in a new code of regu- lations, declared that negroes should hereafter be sold at six hundred and seventy-six livres,* payable in one, two or three years, either in rice or tobacco. The province was divided into nine districts, civil and military, as follows : Alabama, Mobile, Biloxi, New-Orleans, Natchez, Yazoo, Illinois, Wa- bash, Arkansas, and Natchitoches. There was a commandant and a judge appointed for each of these districts. Three great ecclesiastical districts were also formed. The first was entrust- ed to the Capuchins, and extended from the mouth of the Mississippi river to Illinois. The bare-footed Carmelites were stationed at Fort Toulouse, upon the Coosa river, at Mobile and at Biloxi, while the Jesuits labored upon the Wabash and Illinois. Churches and chapels were ordered to be construct- ed, for many of the colonists had been forced to worship in the open air, around crosses, the bottom parts of which were buried in the ground !
January 1 1723
Bienville restored Pensacola to the Spaniards in pursuance of orders from his government ; for Spain and France had concluded a peace. In a despatch to the Minister, he stated that his allies,-the Choctaws,-had destroyed three towus of the Chickasaws, and had brought to him one hundred prison- ers and four hundred scalps ! Bienville communicated this intelligence with much apparent gusto, accompanied with the
* Equal to one hundred and sixty-nine dollars.
269
THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
remark that "this important result was obtained without risk- CHAPTER ing the life of a single Frenchinan." VI.
Although the colonists often existed in a state of penury and want, they did not abandon their passion for gambling, which was carried to such an extent that the government issued an ordinance against all games of chance. An ordi- nance was also promulgated against the trade which many of the colonists were illicitly conducting with the Natchez In- dians. The month of September terminated with a dreadful tornado, which prostrated the church, the hospital, and thirty houses in New-Orleans ; destroyed the crops upon the Mobile and Pearl rivers ; dismantled the shipping in the different ports, and left the whole colony in a condition of wretchedness and famine. Added to all this, a whole company of Swiss infan- try, which had embarked at Biloxi for New-Orleans, rose upon the captain of the vessel and compelled him to carry them to Charleston. Yet, in the midst of all these calamities, the indefatigable Bienville departed from New-Orleans with seven hundred men to punish the Natchez, who had recently killed several Frenchmen. He returned after having terminated the second war with them, by procuring the heads of the principal offenders. Notwithstanding the important services which this great man was continuing to render the colony, his relentless enemies songlit every opportunity to make him odious to the ruling powers of France. Aspersed in despatches, which were speedily borne across the ocean, he was at the same moment insulted at home by libellous placards in the streets. At length he received orders to sail for France, to answer the
1723 October
1721 February 16
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER charges against him, leaving the command to Boisbriant until · VI. his return.
1724
March
But before Bienville embarked upon the broad Atlantic, he issued the celebrated "BLACK CODE," in the name of the King. It declared that all Jews should leave the colony : that all slaves should be instructed in the Roman Catholic religion ; that no other religion should be tolerated in the colony ; that if the owners of negroes were not true Catho- lies, their slaves should be confiscated ; and that the white inhabitants should not enter into marital relations with ne- groes, nor live with them in a state of concubinage.
The "Black Code" contained many other articles in rela- tion to the government of slaves,-some of which were pre- cisely like those now in force in the South-western States of the present confederacy. The year 1724 was remarkable for arbitrary edicts ; but there was one which was beneficial. The inhabitants had become so accustomed to rely upon France for all the necessaries of subsistence, that valuable cattle, sent to Lonisiana for purposes of propagation, were always killed and devoured. An ordinance was issued by the King, at the request of the Superior Council, punishing with death every person who should intentionally kill or severely wound any horse or horned animal which did not belong to him.
1725
De la Chaise, nephew of the famous father of that name, who was the confessor of Louis XIV., presided over the coun- cil, which was now held monthly in the town of New-Orlean -.
But to return to Bienville. That brave man appeared at
271
THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
Paris, after a prosperous voyage, and submitted an eloquent CHAPTER memoir to the King, in justification of his official conduct. It VI. also contained a history of the services to which he had, from the commencement of the colonial establishment, devoted a period of twenty-five years. But, in despite of this true expo- sition of his arduous labors spent in the insalubrious forests of America, among savages and reptiles, and in spite of the exertions made by his friends, both in France and Louisiana, to re-establish him in the confidence of the King, he was removed from office, and Perrier nominated Governor of 1726 August 9 Louisiana. The government did not stop here. Chateaugue, the brother of Bienville, lost the post of royal lieutenant, while two nephews of Bienville, named Noyan, one a captain and the other an ensign, were cashiered without any just cause. Thus the influence of Bienville was overthrown in Louisiana. In the meantime, the new governor arrived at New-Orleans.
1
Governor Perrier, in a despatch to the Minister, employed this language in reference to the encroachments of the English of South-Carolina :- " The English continue to urge their commerce into the very heart of the province. Sixty or seventy horses, laden with merchandize, have passed into the country of the Chickasaws, to which nation I have given orders to plunder the English of their goods, promising to recompense them by a present. As yet I have heard nothing from that quarter. It appears that a league was formed among all the Indian nations of their neighborhood, to attack the Spanish settlements. Wherenpon the Governor of Peut- sacola requested assistance from me. Having no news from
1727
272
THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER Europe, I thought it was for our interest not to have the VI. English so near us, and, in consequence, informed the Talla- poosas,* who were before Pensacola, that if they did not immediately retire, I should attack them with those nations who were friendly to us. I also gave notice to the Alabamas, that if they attacked the Spaniards, who were our friends. 1 should be compelled to assist the latter. But I should have taken care not to have interfered with the natives who were friendly to us, in order that I might not commit myself with regard to the English. This had a good effect. The gover- nor thanked me, informing me that war was declared in Europe. Notwithstanding, I shall indirectly assist the Spanish until I re- ceive other orders from your highness, at the same time taking the liberty to represent that our sole effort should be to pre- vent the English from approaching us.
"I have caused all the nations, from the Arkansas to the mouth of the river, to make peace with each other. There remain at variance only the Choctaws and Chickasaws, who have a discussion concerning a Chief of the latter nation, who was killed by the former. I shall go to Mobile to settle their affairs, and shall take measures, with them, to prevent the English from entering our territory during the ensuing year. and by degrees to abolish the custom which they have formed. of trading for all the deer-skins obtained by the Indians, in order that the latter may not be obliged to trade with the English to get rid of them."
* Meaning the Creeks, who lived upon the Tallapoosa river.
خشية التورية ب Sick
1727
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
A vessel belonging to the company arrived with quite a CHAPTER number of young girls, who, unlike many others who had VI. 1728
. been sent to Louisiana, had not been taken from the houses February of correction. They were each provided with a little chest, containing articles of apparel, and from this circumstance they were called girls de la cassette -- girls of the chest. They were placed under the surveillance of the Ursuline nuns until they could be disposed of by marriage .*
* Histoire de la Louisiane, par Charles Gayarre, vol. 1, pp. 193-235.
A
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER VII.
TERRIBLE MASSACRE AT NATCHEZ.
THE colony of Louisiana was now in a flourishing condi- tion; its fields were cultivated by more than two thousand negroes; cotton, indigo, tobacco and grain were produced : skins and furs of all descriptions were obtained in a trathe with the Indians; and lumber was extensively exported to the West India islands. The province was protected by eight hundred troops of the line; but the bloody massacre of the French population of Fort Rosalie, at the Natchez, arrested these rapid strides of prosperity, and shrouded all things in sadness and gloom. Our library contains many accounts of this horrible affair, which harmonize very well with each other; but in reference to the causes which led to it, more particularly, we propose to introduce the statement of Le Page DuPratz, who was residing in Louisiana at the time. We give his account, in his own faithful style:
"Chopart had been commandant of the post of the Nat- chez, from which he was removed on account of some act of injustice. Governor Perrier, but lately arrived, suffered lim- self to be prepossessed in his favor, on his telling him that
CHAPTER VII. 1728 1729
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
he had commanded that post with applause, and thus he CHAPTER obtained the command from Perrier, who was unacquainted VII. with his character. This new commandant, on taking posses- sion of his post, projected the forming of one of the most eminent settlements of the whole colony. For this purpose he examined all the grounds unoccupied by the French, but could not find any thing that came up to the grandeur of his views. Nothing but the village of the White Apple, a square league, at least, in extent, could give him satisfaction, and there he resolved immediately to settle. This ground was distant from the fort about two leagues." Conceited with the beauty of his project, the commandant sent for the Sun of that village, to come to the fort; upon his arrival, he told him, without ceremony, that he must look out for another ground to build his village on, as he, himself, resolved, as soon as possible, to build on the village of the Apple, and that he must directly close the huts and retire somewhere else. The better to cover his design, he gave out that it was necessary for the French to settle on the banks of the rivulet, where stood the great village and the abode of the Grand Sun. The commandant, doubtless,
*" The site of the White Apple village was about twelve miles south of the present city of Natchez, near the mouth of second creek, and three miles east of the Mississippi. The site was occupied by the :piantation of Col. Anthony Hutchens, an early emigrant to Florida. All vestiges of Indian industry have disappeared, except some mounds in the vicinity."-Monette's History of the Valley of the Mississippi, vol. 1, p. 255.
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THE FRENCH IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER supposed that he was speaking to a slave, whom we may
VII. command in a tone of absolute authority. But he knew not that the natives of Louisiana are such enemies to a state of slavery, that they prefer death itself; above all, the Suns. accustomed to govern despotically, have still a greater aver- sion to it.
* * *
*
Spring of 1723 "The Sun of the Apple made answer, that his ancestor- had lived in that village for as many years as there were hair in his double cue, and, therefore, it was good they should continue there. Scarce had the interpreter explained this answer to the commandant, when the latter fell into a passion and, threateningly, told the Sun, that if he did not quit his village, in a few days, he might repent it. The Sun replied : 'When the French came to ask us for land, to settle on, they told us there was land enough still unoccupied for them, and that the same sun would enlighten them all, and all would walk in the same path.' He wanted to proceed further, in justification of what he alleged, but the commandant, in a passion, said he was resolved to be obeyel. The Sun, without discovering any emotion or passion, the !! withdrew, only observing that he was going to assemble the old men of his village to hold a council upon the affair.
" In this council it was resolved to represent to the com- mandant, that the corn of all the people of their village was already shot a little out of the earth, and that all the helis were laying their eggs. That if they quitted their village
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now, the chickens and corn would be lost both to the French CHAPTER and to themselves. * VII.
* * * The commandant turned a deaf ear to these views, and threatened to chastise the Chiefs if they did not comply with his orders, in a very short time, which he named. The Sun reported this answer to his council, who debated the question. But the policy of the old men was, that they should be allowed to stay in their vil- lage until harvest, and until they had time to dry their corn and shake out the grain. In consideration of this privilege, they each proposed to pay the commandant, in so many moons, a basket of corn and a fowl. * The cupidity of Summer of 1729
the commandant made him accept the proposition with joy, and blinded him with regard to the consequences of his ty- ranny. He, however, pretended that he agreed to the offer out of favor, to do a pleasure to a nation so beloved. and who had ever been good friends of the French. The Sun appeared highly satisfied to have obtained a delay sufficient for taking the precautions necessary to the security of the nation, for he was by no means the dupe of the feigned benevolence of the commander.
" The Sun, upon his return, again caused the council to be assembled. * He stated to them that it was necessary to avail themselves of this time, in order to with- draw themselves from this proposed payment and tyrannie domination of the French, who grew dangerous in proportion as they multiplied. That the Natchez ought to remember the war made upon them, in violation of the peace concluded between them. That this war, having been made upon their
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