USA > Louisiana > A history of Louisiana, Volume II > Part 8
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On the twenty-ninth a barge was sent to Mobile to order that the ships which were there should sail imme- diately. The guns were carried on board the vessels to a place nearer Pensacola, and on March 30 the grena- diers, cazadores, and light troops, to the number of eleven hundred, with Galvez at their head, reached a place within cannon-shot of Pensacola, and there the camp was set. Colonel Ezpeleta received orders to join Galvez, and at one o'clock in the afternoon he arrived at the new camp. There the Spaniards were attacked by the Indians and by troops from Fort George, and Colonel Ezpeleta drew up the army in line of battle. Galvez, who had gone on board one of the ships to provide for a hospital and to order the fleet to come as near the shore as possible,
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returned while Ezpeleta was preparing to resist the at- tack. Seeing that he had to deal with an enemy who never abandoned the woods, he attacked them there and repelled both the Indians and the English. In this en- gagement the colonel of the Regiment of the King, Don Luis Pebolo, was killed.
On March 31 a deserter from the Maryland Regiment announced that General Campbell had in the fort one hundred men of the regular troops, three hundred sailors, many armed negroes, and a large number of Indians - camping under the protection of Fort George. For sev- eral days in April the siege continued without marked effect, and the brig Galveztown was employed on several occasions in capturing English schooners. On April 12 Galvez was wounded by a ball that passed through one finger of his left hand and grazed his abdomen. The com- mand of the army devolved temporarily upon Brigadier- General Ezpeleta. On the fourteenth a terrible tempest of rain, wind, and thunder took place. The ammunition of the soldiers was rendered useless, and they were or- dered, if attacked, to use their bayonets. Most of the tents were blown down, including the hospital, and many wounded men died. The soldiers feared that their gen- eral would succumb also. On April 18 two vessels ar- rived from Havana with provisions, and the general heard the agreeable news that his father, the President of Guatemala, had driven the English from the Castle of Nicaragua. To celebrate this event, Galvez ordered that the biggest guns on land and at sea fire a triple volley.
On the nineteenth the approach of a fleet was an-
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nounced, and the general feared it was the reinforce- ments which the English were expecting from Jamaica. It turned out to be, however, a Spanish fleet commanded by Don Joseph Solano and M. Monteill, carrying six- teen hundred soldiers under the orders of the mariscal de campo, Don Juan Manuel de Cagigal. On the twenty-first the French cutter Serpent arrived, having on board the mariscal de campo and Don Francisco Saavedra. On the twenty-second arrived two companies of French chasseurs and batteries of artillery. The gen- eral then ordered that the army be formed in four bri- gades, commanded respectively by General Geronimo Giron, Colonel Manuel de Pineda, Don Francisco Lon- goria, Ship-captain Don Felipe Lopez Carrizoza, and the French division by Ship-captain M. de Boiderout.
On April 24 repeated volleys were fired by the English, and the Spaniards heard the next day that it was to cele- brate a victory of Lord Cornwallis over the Americans. From April 24 to May 8 the Spaniards continued their attacks on Fort George, erecting trenches and repelling the sallies of the English, who fought valiantly. On May 8, in the morning, one of the Spanish shells set fire to the powder-magazine, which exploded, killing one hun- dred and five men. Galvez ordered General Giron and General Ezpeleta to advance against the fort, and a brisk fire was kept up on both sides until three o'clock in the afternoon, when a white flag was displayed from Fort George. Galvez refused to consent to a cessation of hostilities, and demanded an immediate capitulation, of which the terms were agreed upon at one o'clock in the
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morning of May 9. The articles of capitulation, of which there were twenty-eight, were signed by General Campbell and Governor Chester for the English, and by Governor Galvez for the Spaniards. The first and most important article was as follows:
All the forts and posts which are occupied at present by the troops of His Britannic Majesty will be (within the specified time) surrendered to those of His Catholic Majesty. The Eng- lish soldiers and the marines will march out with all the honors of war, carrying their arms, drums beating, banners flying, with two field guns with six cartridges, each soldier with the same number of cartridges, to a distance of five hundred yards from their various posts, where they will surrender their arms, and the officers will retain their swords, and will embark as soon as pos- sible in ships in good condition and provided with provisions at the expense of His Catholic Majesty, to be taken to whatever ports of Great Britain Major-General Campbell may choose, ex- cept the ports of the island of Jamaica and St. Augustine, Flor- ida. The troops and sailors will be under the immediate super- vision of their respective officers, and shall not serve against Spain or her allies until exchanged for an equal number of Span- ish prisoners, or of the latter's allies, Spanish prisoners to be given the preference, according to the custom established with regard to equality of rank and other equivalents.
On May 10, says Galvez in his Diary, six companies of grenadiers and those of the French chasseurs were drawn up at a distance of five hundred yards from Fort George. General Campbell delivered the flags of the Waldeck Regiment and one of the artillery, with the usual ceremonies, and the troops surrendered their arms. Two companies of grenadiers were ordered to take pos-
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session of Fort George, and the French chasseurs of the circular battery. On the eleventh the Fort Red Cliffs in the Barrancas was occupied. It had had a garrison of one hundred and thirty-nine men and eleven guns.
Galvez ordered that preparations be made for the troops to return immediately to Havana. The number of prisoners was eleven hundred and thirteen, and the garri- son had consisted of about sixteen hundred men, of whom three hundred had succeeded in escaping to Georgia, fifty-six deserted, and one hundred and five perished by the explosion of the powder-magazine. The number six- teen hundred did not include the men killed during the siege, many negroes who aided in the defense, and a mul- titude of Indians. Besides the prisoners there were one hundred and one women and one hundred and twenty- three children who were to accompany the prisoners. The Spanish army lost seventy-four men killed and one hundred and ninety-eight wounded; and the fleet, twenty- one killed and four wounded.
The achievements of Galvez at Pensacola were bril- liant. He displayed great gallantry and ability as a commander. He was rewarded by being promoted to lieutenant-general, and made a knight pensioner of the Order of Charles III, and captain-general of Louisi- ana and Florida. We are grateful to him for having aided the Americans in their great Revolution, and for having given to the Louisianians the right to declare that they took part in the war for the independence of the United States.
CHAPTER IV
END OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF GALVEZ- BEGINNING OF MIRÒ'S
Insurrection against Spain at Natchez-Sufferings of the fugitive insurgents -Trial and pardon of the insurgents-Terrible hurricane-Sympathy of Intendant Navarro-Galvez wishes to conquer the Bahama Islands and Jamaica-Important commercial privileges-Treaties of peace-Controversy about navigation of the Mississippi-Alexander McGillivray-Intense cold in 1784-Departure of Galvez-Royal schedule concerning Galvez-Death of Galvez-Governor Mirò-Juez de residencia-Census of 1785-Arrival of commissioners from Georgia-Letter of Mirò to the commissioners-Help to honest debtors-Bando de buen gobierno-Navarro's wise suggestions- Census of the Acadians-Don Diego de Gardoqui-Terrible conflagra- tion-Schools-Census of 1788.
E have seen that Fort Panmure, near Natchez, was surrendered to the Spaniards after the conquest of Ba- ton Rouge by Galvez in 1779. Gen- eral Lyman, from Connecticut, had established a settlement in that neighborhood in 1775, and those peo- ple had passed with regret under the rule of Spain.1 Dur- ing the siege of Pensacola they believed in the success of the British, and while Galvez was away from the province they decided upon capturing Fort Panmure from the Spaniards. The followers of Lyman, who was now dead, persuaded a number of inhabitants to join them, and on
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April 22, 1781, they raised the British flag. They at- tacked the fort, which was surrendered on April 29, only ten days before the capitulation of Pensacola. When the insurgents heard of that event, they resolved to flee from the vengeance of the Spaniards, as the fate of Lafre- nière and his brave companions was a terrible warning to insurgents against Spain. Galvez, however, had none of O'Reilly's cruelty, and the British sympathizers in the Natchez district were treated with clemency by the gallant young conqueror of Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola. Nevertheless, the participants in the insurrection at Fort Panmure determined to go to Savannah, Georgia, in the British lines. The distance was great, and was made much greater by the circuitous route which they were forced to take to avoid the Americans. "They were obliged," says Judge Martin, " to enter North Carolina, descend below the Altamaha, and cross again the State of Georgia to Savannah, on its northern limit."
The fugitives, among whom were many women and children, endured great sufferings and great dangers. The Choctaws were hostile to them, and the country trav- ersed was very rugged. They finally formed two com- panies, of which one was captured by the Americans and the other succeeded in reaching Savannah at the end of October. The people from Natchez had suffered great hardships in order to reach British possessions, but when they arrived at Savannah, Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, and the battle for Ameri- can freedom was won.
Don Carlos de Grandpré, who had been appointed civil
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and military commandant of the post and district of Natchez, entered upon the duties of his office in July, 1781, and measures were instituted to punish the in- surgents. The property of the fugitives was confiscated, and seven of the leaders whom the Spaniards succeeded in arresting were sent to New Orleans and kept in close confinement. Seven of the insurgents were convicted and sentenced to death, but they were pardoned by Gal- vez. Monette gives the names of the chief insurgents as follows : 2
Those who had fled the country were Philip Alston, John Ogg, Christian Bingaman, Caleb Hansbrough, Thaddeus Lyman, John Watkins, William Case, John Turner, Thomas James, Philip Mul- key, Ebenezer Gosset, Thompson Lyman, Nathaniel Johnson. The following were "Leaders of the rebellion," who were prisoners in New Orleans on the 16th of November, awaiting their trials, viz: 1, John Alston, who was arrested in the Indian nation, 2, Jacob Blomart, " chief of the rebels," 3, John Smith, " lieutenant of rebels," 4, Jacob Winfrey, " captain of rebels," 5, William Eason, 6, Parker Caradine, 7, George Rappleje.
On August 24, 1780, a terrible hurricane desolated Louisiana, and the river rose to an extraordinary height. Don Martin Navarro, the intendant, addressed to the people a circular in which he expressed his sympathy for them and exhorted them to bear their misfortunes with fortitude. The people thanked him for his kind words and expressed their satisfaction with his administration and with that of Galvez.
The indefatigable young governor was not satisfied with his conquest of West Florida, but wished to take part
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in an expedition against the Bahama Islands. Don Manuel de Gagigal, however, was appointed to the com- mand of the troops, and conquered the islands, and Gal- vez went to Hispaniola for the purpose of commanding an expedition for the conquest of Jamaica. Unfortu -. nately for the ambitious, brave, and patriotic governor, peace was signed between England and Spain before he had time to win new laurels by conquering Jamaica. During his absence Colonel Estevan Mirò was intrusted with the government of Louisiana.
The English having been expelled from the province by the exploits of Galvez, the inhabitants suffered greatly by the loss of the trade carried on by the British on the Mississippi, and the governor obtained from the Spanish government important privileges for the commerce of the province. The King of Spain wished to reward the Louisianians for their gallant conduct and their fidelity during the war with the English. These privileges were thus set forth:
1. Permission is given, during a period of ten years, to be com- puted from the day on which peace may be proclaimed, to all ves- sels of the King's subjects in the province of Louisiana, bound to New Orleans or Pensacola, to sail directly with their cargoes from any of the ports of France in which a Spanish consul resides, and to return thereto with peltries or the produce of Louisiana or West Florida (except specie, the exportation of which, in this way, is absolutely forbidden), under the express condition that a detailed invoice of all the merchandise on board, signed by the consul, shall be delivered by him, in a sealed cover, to the captain, to be presented by the latter at the custom-house of the place of destination.
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' 2. In case of urgent necessity in the colony, the existence of which necessity is to be certified by the governor and intendant, permission is given to the colonists to resort to any port in the French West India Islands.
3. To encourage the commerce of the province to the ports of the peninsula to which it is allowed, permission is given to export, from New Orleans and Pensacola, any species of merchandise directly imported there from Spain, to be landed in any port within the King's American dominions to which trade is allowed, paying only the duty with which such merchandise would have been charged on its exportation from the peninsula, according to the regulations of the 12th of October, 1778; but the exportation of foreign merchandise imported into Louisiana is forbidden.
4. An exemption from duty is granted, during the same period, on negroes imported into Louisiana or West Florida; and per- mission is given to procure them in the colonies of neutral or allied powers, in exchange for produce or specie; paying only for such produce and specie the duties mentioned in the seventh article.
5. In order that the colonists may fully enjoy the favors and privileges now granted, they are permitted, during the term of two years, to be computed from the proclamation of peace in New Orleans, to purchase foreign vessels free from duty, and such ves- sels are to be considered as Spanish bottoms.
6. The exportation of pipe and barrel-staves from Louisiana to Spain, is permitted, free from duty.
7. It being just that commerce should contribute to the charges of the colony and the expenses it occasions, a duty of six per cent. is laid on all merchandise exported and imported by the King's subjects in the peninsula, Louisiana, and West Florida, according to a moderate assessment.
8, Custom-houses are to be established in New Orleans and Pensacola.
On January 20, 1783, the preliminary articles of peace between Great Britain and France and Spain were signed
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at Paris, and on September 3 definitive treaties were signed at Paris between the same governments and the United States. By the first, the King of Great Britain acknow- ledged the independence of the United States, and rec- ognized, as their southern boundary, a line to be drawn due east from a point in the river Mississippi, in latitude 31 degrees north, to the middle of the river Appalachicola or Cataouche; thence along the middle thereof to its june- tion with Flint River; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River; and thence down along the middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean. By the eighth ar- tiele it was expressly provided that the navigation of the Mississippi, from its source to the Gulf, should forever remain free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States.
The claim to the free navigation of the Mississippi gave rise to a controversy, which lasted until 1795, when it was settled by the treaty of Madrid. As Great Britain had ceded all the Floridas to Spain, the Mississippi flowed wholly within the dominions of the latter for the last three hundred miles. "His Catholic Majesty therefore claimed the exclusive right to the use of the river below the southern limits of the United States. Independent of this principle, Spain refused to recognize the southern boundary of the United States as extending farther south than the old British boundary of Florida, which was an imaginary line extending from the mouth of the Yazoo due east to the Chattahoochy, or in latitude 32 degrees 28 minutes north. As the treaty of 1783, in the cession of Florida to Spain, designated no boundaries, but pre-
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sumed that of the United States, Spain demanded Flor- ida with its British boundaries, alleging that England, by the treaty, confirmed to her the dominion of Flor- ida, which was then in her possession as a conquered province." 3
Independently of their claim through Great Britain, the United States asserted a natural right to the free navigation of the Mississippi, the right of following to the sea the currents of the eastern tributaries of the great river.
The Spaniards, through the conquests of Galvez, had acquired West Florida, and the dominion of Charles III had been considerably enlarged. The Spanish officers in Louisiana proved to be as wise statesmen as able warriors, and displayed tact and skill in their dealings with the In- dians. They were fortunate in obtaining the good will of Alexander McGillivray, a half-breed Indian, chief of the Talapouches.4 He was the son of Lachlan McGilli- vray, a Scotchman who owned extensive trading-houses in Augusta and Savannah, and plantations on the river. He was a royalist, and had left Savannah with the Brit- ish on the evacuation of that city. His property was confiscated by the whigs, and his Indian wife and his chil- dren were deprived of their estates. In 1781, at Pensa- cola, lived a wealthy merchant, another Scotchman named William Panton. He made the acquaintance of William McGillivray, and when Pensacola was captured by the Spaniards he introduced the great chieftain to the Span- ish authorities of West Florida. " McGillivray went to Pensacola," says Pickett, " and entered into a treaty of
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. alliance with Spain (June 1, 1784). Spain was repre- sented by Don Estevan Mirò, of New Orleans, Governor of West Florida; Don Arthur O'Neill, Commandant of - Pensacola; and Don Martin Navarro, Intendant-General of Florida. Colonel McGillivray represented the whole Creek and Seminole nations. It was stipulated that the Creek and Seminole Indians should defend and sustain the cause of His Catholic Majesty, and obey his orders, through his captain-general of the provinces of the Flori- das and Louisiana, in those points that are compat- ible with Indian character; that Spain should proportion among the Indians a desirable and permanent commerce, at the most judicious places; that the Creeks should es- tablish a general peace with the Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Cherokees; that all strangers, introducing themselves among the Indians for the purpose of stirring up rebel- lion against the King of Spain, should immediately be seized, and conveyed to the Governor of Pensacola; that the Indians should admit into their country no white per- son who did not bear a Spanish permit; that they should abandon the practice of taking scalps, if engaged in war; that they should deliver up all white prisoners, subjects of the United States, and not admit into their nations fugitive slaves from the provinces of Louisiana and Florida, but should apprehend and deliver them to the commandants."
The Louisianians had acquired glory during the ad- ministration of Governor Galvez, and had obtained some relief from restrictions on commerce; but they suffered considerably from the inclemency of the weather. The
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winter of 1784 was extraordinary. Villars, one of the commissioners of the French government, in a letter dated New Orleans, February 25, 1784, makes wonderful state- ments about the weather. He says: 5
We have endured, and we endure yet, here a winter most rigor- ous, which will always appear an extraordinary phenomenon under the parallel of 30 degrees. The lower part of this colony, al- though 12 degrees more to the south than Provence, enjoys, in general, the same temperature. The summer is there exceedingly warm, and the winter has only the degree of cold sufficient to freeze, from time to time, the surface of the stagnant waters, and prepare the revival of nature. But the present winter has presented to us continually the spectacle of the disturbance of the zones. Since the months of July and August we had felt north winds cold enough to make us put aside our habitual light clothes. The heats of the canicular days had only had the mild temperature of the fine days of spring. The white frosts of the morning be- gan with the month of September, and became very frequent until the 15th of November. 'At that time the season took on a charac- ter of extraordinary rigor. The winds blew continually, in gusts and with incredible violence, from north to south, bearing from the east. In the first half rhumb they would cover the earth with ice; in the second they would bring us back to the heats of the month of April. The variations of the weather were such that I saw several times, in the space of six hours, the Réaumur thermometer pass from the 20th degree above ice, to two and three degrees below; this fact will appear incredible, but I have seen it myself with a thermometer placed in a room with fire. What rigor in a latitude where everywhere else one enjoys a perpetual summer ! But here is another phenomenon. On the 13th of February the Mississippi in front of New Orleans was covered with pieces of ice, of which most were from twelve to thirty feet in diameter, with a thickness which varied from two to five feet. Those masses were
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so numerous and so close together that they formed a field two hundred yards in width, so that communication between the two banks was completely interrupted during five whole days (until the 18th). The river ceased to carry the pieces of ice at that time ; it had then a velocity of twelve hundred yards an hour, which gives the mass of fragments of ice a length of 60 leagues. These floes descended from 400 leagues north, and although they trav- cled continually to the south during more than thirty days, the cold weather which they met at lower latitudes had prevented them from melting. These masses arrived at the passes of the Mississippi at the 29th parallel, and must have spread beyond the 28th degree. Several vessels met them between these two parallels. In the memory of man one had never seen ice in the neighborhood of the circle of the Pacific Ocean. May this phe- nomenon not have been fatal to some navigators surprised! The future will tell us, perhaps, to what exact latitude these masses have been transported by the winds and the currents. It would be very strange if some had reached the tropics. I have laid stress on this event, because I believe that the knowledge of it may be useful to the observations of the physicists, and especially to warn and protect the navigators against the false reasonings and the accidents of surprise, if they shall be carried toward regions where such a phenomenon might be repeated.
The colony suffered not only from the inclemency of the weather, and from bad crops, but also from the de- preciation of paper money, and from an unwise decree in 1784 which forbade foreign vessels from entering the river under any pretext whatever.6 In 1785 the province suffered a heavy loss in the retirement of Galvez from Louisiana. He was appointed captain-general of Cuba, of Louisiana, and of East and West Florida, and on the death of his father, in the summer of 1785, he was
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appointed to the viceroyalty of Mexico. He retained, however, the captain-generalship of Louisiana and the Floridas. During the administration of Galvez in Loui- siana Father Cirilo, the opponent of Father Dagobert, was made a bishop in partibus infidelium, for the see of Tricaly in Greece, and was named the coadjutor to Don Joseph de Estechevaria, Bishop of Cuba. The new bishop, however, was to remain in Louisiana.
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