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Gc 976.3 M36h1 v. 2 1776033
1VI. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02282 3642
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/historyoflouisia02mart
THE
HISTORY
OF
LOUISIANA,
FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD.
V.2
BY FRANÇOIS-XAVIER MARTIN.
Hæc igitur formam crescendo mutat, et olim Immensi caput orbis erit. Sic dicere rates. Ovid. Metam. xv. 434 & 435.
VOLUME 11.
2
ELcw-Orleans:
PRINTED BY A. T. PENNIMAN, & CO.
1829.
490
-
? 1
1776033
Eastern District of Louisiana, ss.
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, and of the independence of the United States the fifty-first FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARTIN, of the said district, hath deposited in the Clerk's office for the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor and pub- lisher, to wit:
" The History of Louisiana, from the earliest period. By François- Xavier-Martin.
Hæc igitur formam crescendo mutat, et olim Immensi caput orbis erit. Sic dicere vates. Ovid. Metam. xv. 434 & 435."
In conformity to an act of Congress of the United States, entitled " An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned;" and also, to an act entitled " An act sup- plementary to an act, entitled ' an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the tinies therein mentioned,' and ex- tending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching historical and other prints."
W. F. LEA, DPT. CLERK, U. S. DIST. COURT, Eastern District of Louisiana.
18484
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Commission and powers of O'Reilly. Ilis asses- sors. Census of New-Orleans. Arrest of Fou- cault and others. Death of Villere. Proceedings against the prisoners; their pleas, sentence and ex- cution. The superior council abolished .. A cabil- do established. The Spanish laws substituted to the French. Regidors. Alcades. Attorney-gen- eral-syndic and clerk. Alforez Real. Principal provincial Alcade. Alguazil mayor. Depository General. Receiver of fines. Regiment of Louis- iana. Dearth of provisions. Oliver Pollock. Don Louis de Unzaga. Governor. Commandants. O'Reilly visits the German and Acadian coasts. Iberville and Point Coupee. Bobe Descloscaux. French paper money. Ordinances for the grant of land, and police regulations. Slavery of In- dians. Black code. Don Cecilio Odoardo. Ec- clesiastical arrangement. Hospital. Nuns. Re- venue of New Orleans. Departure of O'Reilly. Massacre in Boston. p. 1.
B 2
v
TABLE OF
CHAPTER II.
Buccarelly. Doucet and his companions released. Commerce of New Orleans. Royal Schedule. Marquis de la Torre. Hurricane. Spanish lan- guage. Bishoprick of Cuba. Bobe Descloseaux. Daniel Boone. Tea destroyed in Boston. Fagot de la Gariniere. Grant of lands. Creeks and Chickasaws. First Congress in Philadelphia. Par- liamentary proceedings. General Gage. General Lyman. Battles of Lexington and Bunkerhill. Invason of Canada. Olivier de Vezin. La Barre de la Cestiere. Don Bernard de Galvez. Unzaga promoted. The British land on Long Island. Battle of Brooklyn. Washington evacuates New York and crosses the Hudson. Attack at Tren- ton. p. 24. .
CHAPTER III.
Don Bernard de Galvez. Don Diego J. Navarro. Commercial regulations. Captain Willing. Coun- ties of Illinois and Washington. Battles of Prince- ton and Bandywine. Philadelphia taken. Battle of Germantown. Surrender of Burgoyne. Mi- - grations from the Canary islands. Royal schedule.
Vincennes taken. French treaty. Philadelphia evacuated. Savannah taken. Don Diego D. del Postigo. Migration from Malaga. War between Great Britain, France and Spain. Galvez's suc- cess at Manchac. Baton Rouge and Natchez. Hurricane. First settlement on Cumberland river. Mobile taken. Attack on St. Louis. Charleston taken. Don Juan M. de Cagiga. Siege of Pensa- cola, p. 39.
VII
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
The garrison driven out of fort Panmure. Distress of the inhabitants. Hurricane. Excessive flood. Battle of Guilford. Surrender of the British army at York. Galvez's promotion. Father Cyrillo. Don Eestevan Miro. Commercial regulations. Preliminary articles. Don Joseph de Espeleta. Treaty of peace. p. 63.
CHAPTER V.
Galvez's promotion. Lepers. Unzaga's residence. Census. Colonial expenditures. A commissary of the holy office. Acadians. Commerce. Bando de buen gobierno. Don Pedro Piernas. Ken -. tucky. Irish priests. Don Diego de Guardoqui. Trade with the western part of United States. General Wilkinson. Trade with Philadelphia. Northwestern territory of the U. States. p. 75.
CHAPTER VI.
Conflagration. Permission given to Wilkinson to trade. Emigrants. Census. Navarro's departure. His ideas in regard to the people of Kentucky. Their plans. Charles IV. Wilkinson. Encour- agement to migration. Irish emigrants. Federal
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TABLE OF
constitution of the United States. Washington, Nootka Sound. Negotiations at Madrid. South- western territory. Don Francisco de Bouligny. . Don Nicholas Maria Vidal. Indian affairs. Insur- restion in Hispaniola. State of Vermont. p. 97.
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CHAPTER VII.
The Baron de Carondelet. Bando da buen gobierno. Regulations as to slaves. Gen. Wayne. Guinea trade. Louis XVI. War against France. Forti- fications. Militia. New commercial regulations. Don Francisco de Rendon. Bishoprick of Louis- iana. Don Louis de Penalvert. Genet's medita- ted expedition against Louisiana. The Floridas. Moniteur de la Louisiane. Canal Carondelet. Manufacture of sugar resumed. Conflagration. Negro plot at Point Coupee. Police regulations. Extensive grants. 'The Marquis de Maisonrouge. Gayoso sent to confer with Kentucky patriots. Treaty of San Lorenzo. p. 11]. .
1
CHAPTER VIII.
Treaty between Spain and the United States. The Count de Santa Clara. The Baron de Bastrop. Lighting of the city. Power's mission to Kentucky. Clark and Lachaise's expeditions, Roval audi- ence at Puerto del Principe. New regidors. El- licot. Lieutenant M'Leary. The Baron seeks to
1
.
1X
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CONTENTS.
delay the evacuation of the Spanish posts. Lieu- tenant Pope. Power's second mission. His in- structions. The Baron reinforces the garrisons of Fort Panmure and Walnut Hill. Commotion at Natchez. Gayoso retires into the fort. His proc- lamation. General meeting of the people. Com- mittec of safety. Their propositions are approved by Gayoso. The Baron acceeds to them. Ilis departure. State of Tennessee. John Adams. p. 129.
CHAPTER IX.
Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos. Don Carlos de Grandpre. Power's report. General Collet. In- structions to commandants. The French princes .; Captain Guion brings a reinforcement to Natchez. Line of demarcation. Mississippi territory. Geor- gia claim. Schedule for the disposal of vacant land. Deposit suspended. Arrangement as to deposit. Land regulations. Death of Gayoso.
The Marquis de Casa Calvo. Upper Louisiana.
Don Ramon de Lopez. Warlike measures of the United States. Vacant land. Division of the northwestern territory. Deposit restored. Lou- isiana ceded to Spain. Grant of land to the city. Thomas Jefferson. Treaty between the United States and France. p. 149
CHAPTER X.
Don Juan M. de Salcedo. Treaties with the Chick- asaws and Coctaws. Don Carlos de Jaen. Royal
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TABLE OF
schedule. The land office shut. The deposit disallowed. . The state of Ohio. The deposit par -- tially . restored. Form of government. Laussat. His proclamation. Address of the inhabitants. The Marquis de Casa Calvo. Commissioners' proclamation. Cession of Louisiana to the United States. Possession delivered to the commissioner of France. His proclamation. Municipal body. Claiborne and Wilkinson receive possession for the United States. p. 178.
CHAPTER XI.
A view of the province at the cession. Boundaries. Civil divisions. Lands. Population, Indians. Officers. Clergy. Paper securities. Taxes. Du- ties. Expenditures. Imports. Exports. Ship-
. ping. p. 201.
CHAPTER XII.
Claibone's finst proclamation. Superintendant of the revenue. Court of pleas. Communication from the Spanish minister. Spanish convention. First ter- ritorial form of government. Collection and nav- igation laws. Proclamation of pardon to deserters. Departure of Laussat and Wilkinson. Dissatis- faction of the inhabitants. General meeting. Me- morial to congress. A deputation chosen to carry it. Bank of Louisiana. Military associations. Expedition to the Pacific ocean. Insurrection at
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XI
CONTENTS.
Natchez. Burling sent to Mexico. Wilkinson goes down to New Orleans. He fortifies that city. Sends an officer to Jamaica. Meeting of the mer- chants. . Arrest of Bolman, Swartwout and Ogden. Writs of habeas corpus. The prisoners shipped to United States. Judge Workman. Second session of the legislature. Arrest of Adair, Workman, Kerr and Bradford. Burr arrested at Natchez, is bound over, escapes and is retaken. Burling re- turns from Mexico and Swann from Jamaica.
p. 259.
CHAPTER XIV.
Court of inquiry on Wilkinson's conduct. Clark's statement. Legislature. Civil code. Hostile ap- pearances. Troops ordered to New Orleans. Wil- kinson sent to command them. Canal Carondelet. James Madison. Great migration from Cuba. Camp at Terre aux Bœufs. Sickness among the troops. Their removal to the Mississippi territory. Terrible mortality. Clark's pamphlet. Wilkinson ordered to Washington City. Hampton takes the command. Legislature. Claiborne's departure. Robertson. The Spanish garrison driven from Baton Rouge. Skipwith. Prelamation of the. president of the United States. Claiborne's return. He takes possession of St. Francisville and Baton Ronge. Parishes of Feliciana, East Raton Rouge. St. Helena and St. Tammany. Insurrection among the negroes. Lunislature. The inhabitants of the territory authorised to form a state constitution.
p. 290,
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XII
TABLE OF
Bayou Sarah. The new government put into ope- ration. First session of the legislative conncil. Exploring parties to the Washita and Red Rivers. Bishop of Montelrey. Second form of territorial go- gernment. Amendments proposed by the deputa- tion. Land laws. Office of discount and deposit of the bank of the United States. Second session of the legislative council. Exploring party to the sources of the Mississippi. Captain Lewis reaches the Pacific ocean. The Marquis de Casa Calvo and the remaining Spanish troops leave New Or- Jeans. Pope's bull. The Kempers seized at Pinck- neyville and liberated near Point Coupec. p. 237
CHAPTER XIII.
New form of government. Officers. Meeting of the house of representatives. Bishop of Baltimore. Vicar general. Return of the Marquis of Casa Calvo. Encroachment of the Spaniards in the west. Major Porter. Don Simon de Cordero. Don An- tonio de Herrera. First territorial legislature un- der the new government. Secretary of war's orders to Wilkinson. Pike's expedition up the Missouri. Claiborne goes to Natchitoches. His communica- tion to Herrera. Cushing sent to Natchitoches. Wilkinson arrives there. Ilis communication to Cordero. First rumours of Burr's movements. Wilkinson marches towards the Sabine. The . president sends a confidential agent to the western states. Proclamation. Wilkinson enter into ar- rangement with Cordero and Herrera, and sends the troops to New Orleans. He proceeds to
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1
CONTENTS. XIII
CHAPTER XV.
First steam boat on the Mississippi. Apostolic ad- ministrator. Wilkinson's acquittal. Louisiana admitted into the Union. Conditions. Extension of limits. Proclamation of the president of the convention, ordering elections, under the authority of the state. War declared against Great Britain. Wilkinson assumes the command of the seventh Military District. First session of the first State Legislature. Governor Claiborne. The extension of limits assented to. Hurricane. Second session
of the Legislature. Judicial system. Congress directs possession to be taken of the territory west of the Rio Perdido. Wikinson drives the Spanish garrison from Fort Charlotte at Mobile. He is or- dered to the northern frontier of the U. S. and is succeeded by General Flournoy. Attack of Fort Mimms. The Creeks chastised at 'Tallusatche and other places. Embargo. One thousand mili- tia of Louisiana called into the service of the U. S. Third session of the Legislature. The Indians fur- ther chastised. A further requistion of the Militia. Peace with the Creeks. Brig Orpheus. Colonel Nichols. His proclamation. He attempts to se- cure the assistance of the Barrataria people. At- tack on Fort Bowyer. The Barrataria people dis- persed. Committee of defence in New-Orleans. Jackson marches to Pensacola, and compels the Governor to receive garrisons of his army in the Forts. p. 311.
CHAPTER XVI.
First session of the second Legislature. Jackson ar- rives at New-Orleans. British fleet off Pensacola.
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TABLE OF
Capture of the flotilla on Lake Borgne. Barrataria men join the army. Proceedings of the Legislature. Generals Coffee and Carroll. Major Hinds. Em- bargo. Affair of the twenty-third of December. p. 334.
CHAPTER XVII.
Jackson establishes a line of defence. Morgan crosses the river with his detachment. Destruction of the Carolina. Action of the 28th of December .--- The legislature prevented from sitting. Affair of New Year's day. Both armies reinforced. Battle of the 8th January. British operations on the right bank of the Mississippi. Suspension of hostilities. Armistice. Bombardment of Fort St. Phillip .- Retreat of the British army. P. 359.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The legislature adjourns. Fort Bowyer taken. First intelligence of peace. Jackson's proclamation .- Confirmation of the intelligence. French subjects demand their discharge from military service. Ap- ply to the consul, and are discharged on his certifi- cate. The Consul and them ordered into the inte- rior. They remain at home. Louaillier's publica- tion. His arrest. Writ of Habeas Corpus issued by Hall, who is also arrested. The Clerk of the Court brought to head-quarters. A record taken and withheld from him. He avows his intention to · issue the writ and is threatened. The Marshal avows his intention to execute it, and is threatened. Intel- ligence of the treaty being ratified. State militia . discharged. Proceedings against Hall and Louaillier.
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XV
CONTENTS.
Order against the French subjects suspended .- Lewis and Dick ordered to be arrested. Orders against Lewis and Dick countermanded. Supreme Court. Hollander discharged. Louaillier acquit- ted. The sentence disapproved. Hall sent out of the city. Peace proclaimed.
CHAPTER XIX.
A rule to show cause why an attachment for contempt, issued against Jackson. He shows cause. The rule is made absolute. He declines answering in- terrogatories, and is fined.
.
HISTORY
OF LOUISIANA.
CHAPTER I.
Commission and powers of O'Reilly .- His asses- sors .- Census of New-Orleans .- Arrest of Fou- cault and others .- Death of Villerc .- Proceed- ings against the prisoners; their pleas, sentence, and execution .- The superior council abolish- cd .- A cabildo established .- The Spanish laws substituted to the French-Regidors ~Alcades .-- Attorney-general-syndic, and clerk .- Alfores Real .- Principal provincial Alcade .- Alguazil mayor .- Depository General-Receiver of fines. Regiment of Louisiana .- Dearth of provisions. -Oliver Pollock .- Don Louis de Unzaga .- Governor .- Commandants -O' Reilly visits the German and Acadian coasts .- Iberrille and Pointe Couper .- Bobe Descloseaux -- French on- per money .- Ordinances for the grant of lands, and police regulations .- Slavery of Indians .- Black code .- Don Cecilio Odourdo .- Ecclesias- ticalarrangement .- Hospital .- Nuns .- Revenue of New-Orleans .- Departure of O'Reilly .- Mas- sacre in Boston.
FOL. IL
HASTRATES
2
CHAPTER
[1769
DON Alexander O'Reilly, a lieutenant-general of the armies of Spain, had, by a commission bearing date Aranjuez, April 16th, 1769, been appointed governor and captain-general of the province of Lou- isiana, with "special power to establish in this new part of the king's dominions, with regard to the mili- tary force, police, administration of justice, and finances, such a form of government as might most effectually secure its dependence and subordination, and promote the king's service and the happiness of his subjects."
'The Intendant of the province was Don Francisco de Loyola.
Don Manuel Joseph de Uristia, and Don Felix de Rey, accompanied the captain-general as his asses- sors or legal advisers in the judicial functions of his of- fice,and hisauthority was supported by a military force equal to three times the number of persons capable of bearing arms in the colony. We have seen that he took possession of it, with as little opposition or dif- ficultv, as if he had been a French governor, coming to supersede a former one.
He was waited upon, by every class of inhabitants, with respectful submission. A canopied seat was placed in the largest hall of the house he occupied, where he held a numerous levé, at which the ladies were not unfrequent attendants. An undisturbed tranquility seemed to prevail. Surprise, and after- wards anxiety, were excited by his delay to comply with the promise in his message from the Balise, to publish, after he had taken possession of the province, the ultimate intentions of his sovereign.
One of the first acts of his administration was an order for a census of the inhabitants of New-Orleans. It was executed with great accuracy. It appeared
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THE FIRST.
[1769
that the aggregate population amounted to three thou- sand one hundred and ninety persons, of every age, sex and colour. The number of free persons was nineteen hundred and two; thirty-one of whom were black, and sixty-eight of mixed blood. There were twelve hundred and twenty-five slaves, and sixty do- mesticated Indians. The number of houses was four hundred and sixty-eight: the greatest part of them were in the third and fourth streets from the water, and principally in the latter.
No census was taken in the rest of the province; but from a reference to the preceding and succeeding years, the following statement is believed to be cor- rect :
In the city of New-Orleans, as before, 3190
From the Balize to the city,
570
Bayou St. John and Gentilly,
307
Tchoupitoulas, 4192
St. Charles,
639
St. John the Baptist,
514
La Fourche,
267
Iberville,
376
Pointe Coupee,
783
Attakapas,
409
Avoyelles,
314
Natchitoches,
811
Rapides,
47
Washita,
110
Arkansas,
88
St. Louis, (Illinois,)
891
13,538
.
Towards the last day of August, the people were alarmed by the arrest of Foucault, the commissary-
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CHAPTER [1769
general and ordonnateur, De Noyant and Boisblanc, two members of the superior council; La Freniere, the attorney-general, and Braud, the king's printer. These gentlemen were attending O'Reilly's leve, when he requested them to step into an adjacent apartment, where they found themselves immediately surround- ed by a body of grenadiers, with fixed bayonets, the commanding officer of whom informed them they were the king's prisoners. 'The two first were con- veyed to their respective houses, and a guard was left there: the others were imprisoned in the barracks.
It had been determined to make an example of twelveindividuals; two from the army, and an equal number from the bar; four planters, and as many merchants. Accordingly, Marquis and De Noyant, officers of the troop; La Freniere, the attorney-general, and Doucet, (lawyers,) Villere, Boisblanc, Mazent and Petit, (planters,) and John Milhet, Joseph Milhet, Caresse and Poupet, (merchants,) had been selected.
Within a few days, Marquis, Doucet, Petit, Ma- zant, the two Milhets, Caresse and Poupet, were ar- rested and confined.
Villere, who was on his plantation at the German Coast, had been marked as one of the intended vic- tims; but his absence from the city rendering his ar- rest less easy, it had been determined to release one of the prisoners on his being secured. He had been apprised of the impending danger, and it had been recommended to him to provide for his safety by seek- ing the protection of the British flag waving at Man- shac. When he was deliberating on the step it be-
· came him to take, he received a letter from Aubry, the commandant of the French troops, assuring him he had nothing to apprehend, and advising him to re-
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THE FIRST.
1769]
turn to the city. Averse to flight, as it would im- ply a consciousness of guilt, he yielded to Aubry's recommendation and returned to New-Orleans; but as he passed the gate, the officer commanding the guard arrested him. He was immediately conveyed on board of a frigate that lay at the levee. On hear- ing of this, his lady, a grand daughter of La Chaise,the former commissary-general and ordonnateur, hasten- ed to the city. As her boat approached the frigate, it was hailed and ordered away. She made herself known, and solicited admission to her husband, but was answered she could not see him, as the captain was on shore, and had left orders that no communi- cation should be allowed with the prisoner. Villere recognised his wife's voice, and insisted on being permitted to see her. On this being refused, a strug- gle ensued, in which he fell, pierced by the bayonets of his guards. His bloody shirt thrown into the boat, announced to the lady that she had ceased to be a wife; and a sailor cut the rope that fastened the boat to the frigate.
O'Reilly's assessors heard and recorded the testimo- ny against the prisoners, and called on them for their pleas.
The prosecution was grounded on a statute of Al- fonso the eleventh, which is the first law of the sev- enth title of the first partida, and denounces the punishment of death and confiscation of property against those who excite any insurrection against the king or state, or take up arms under pretence of ex- tending their liberty or rights, and against those who give them any assistance.
Foucault pleaded he had done nothing, except in his character of commissary-general and ordonateur
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CHAPTER [1769
of the king of France in the province, and to him alone he was accountable for the motives that had di- rected his official conduct. The plea was sustained ; he was not, however, released; and a few days af- terwards, he was transported to France.
Braud offered a similar plea, urging he was the king of France's printer in Louisiana. The only ac- cusation against him, was that he had printed the pe- tition of the planters and merchants to the superior council, soliciting that body to require Ulloa to exhi- bit his powers, or depart, He concluded that he was bound, by his office, to print whatever the ordonna- teur sent to his press; and he produced that officer's order to print the petition. His plea was sustained, and he was discharged.
The other prisoners declined also the jurisdiction of the tribunal before which they were arraigned: their plea was overruled. They now denied the facts with which they were charged, contended that if they did take place, they did so while the flag of France wasstill waving over the province, and the laws of that kingdom retained their empire in it, and thus the facts did not constitute an offence against the laws of Spain; that the people of Louisiana could not bear the yokes of two sovereigns; that O'Reilly could not command the obedience, nor even the respect of the colonists, until he made known to them his char- . acter and powers ; and that the Catholic king could not count on their allegiance, till he extended to them his protection.
It had been determined at first, to proceed with the utmost rigour of the law against six of the prison- ers; but, on the death of Villere, it was judged suffi- cient to do so against five only. The jurisprudence of Spain authorising the infliction of a less severe
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1769]
THE FIRST.
punishment than that denounced by the statute, when the charge is not proved by two witnesses to the same act, but by one with corroborating circumstances. Accordingly, two witnesses were produced against De Noyant, La Freniere, Marquis, Joseph Milhet and Caresse. They were convicted; and O'Reilly, by the advice of his assessor, condemned them to be hanged, and pronounced the confiscation of their estates.
The most earnest and pathetic entreaties were employed by persons in every rank of society, to prc- vail on O'Reilly to remit or suspend the execution of his sentence till the royal clemency could be implor- ed. He was inexorable; and the only indulgence that could be obtained, was, that death should be in- flicted by shooting, instead of hanging. With this modification, the sentence was carried into execution on the twenty-eighth of September.
On the morning of that day, the guards, at every gate and post of the city, were doubled, and orders were given not to allow any body to enter it. All the troops were under arms, and paraded the streets or were placed in battle arrayalong the levee and on the public square. Most of the inhabitants fled into the country. At three o'clock of the afternoon, the victims were led, under a strong guard, to the small square in front of the barracks, tied to stakes, and an explosion of musketry soon announced to the few inhabitants who remained in the city, that their friends were no more.
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