USA > Louisiana > Historical memoirs of Louisiana, from the first settlement of the colony to the departure of Governor O'Reilly in 1770; > Part 12
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This picture, which the sight of the Spanish colonies daily presents to the people of Louisiana in still more odious colors, was brought to New-Orleans with the announcement of the speedy arrival of the Spaniards. The general terror would necessarily call up the patriotic feelings which attach French- men to their king, and in general every man sensible to a government which watches over its happiness and well-being. We shall see the effects in the third part of this work, which
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will comprise the interval between the arrival of De Ulloa and that of O'Reilly. It is unhappily the period of the deca- dence of Louisiana. It had since the peace enjoyed some splendor only to prove itself susceptible of it. We shall see its flattering hopes vanish, like the flash of lightning followed by the storm.
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1
THIRD PART.
WHAT LOUISIANA WAS FROM THE ARRIVAL OF THE SPANIARDS TO THE YEAR 1771.
SECTION I.
FROM THE ARRIVAL OF ULLOA TO HIS DEPARTURE.
W HIEN posterity shall cast a serious glance on preceding ages, and a natural fecling of justice and humanity shall fix their attention on the events which I have now to relate, they will scarcely believe that an age as polished as ours could have produced acts of such cruel severity; they will confront epochs, and be tempted to ascribe facts so incredible to those barbarous times when the human heart, abandoned to itself, was capable of the most sanguinary acts.
* When posterity shall read that a judgment so iniquitous and so full of inhumanity as that pronounced against some inhabit- ants of Louisiana, issued from a court where some enlighten- ment and philosophy too are reigning, they will doubt the authenticity of the facts, or at least will draw the reflection of the wise man on the misery inseparable from the throne.
" Truth never approaches it; daily deceived by those around him, the best king commits the evil he abhors, and lets the guilty go unpunished, innocent in his belief, while desolated families mourn the death of the just man."
With the torch of truth in my hand, I am about to mark with care the steps of those noble-hearted men whose patriot- ism I can never sufficiently praise; of those men, whose 1
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virtues, firmness and magnanimity will ever be an honor to our race-of those men whom a barbarous animosity seems to have chosen, that the splendor of their merit might make it more remarkable. So, in a numerous herd, the fattest and best-looking are selected for sacrifice. So, in his garden, the cruel Roman struck down the poppy-heads that nature had raised above the others. Sad emblem of that reflective cruelty which the world calls prudence and policy, but which the wise man more justly deems barbarity.
However, let us first relate the facts which usher in that cruel event.
A year had elapsed since the receipt of the king's letter an- nouncing the cession of Louisiana, when Don Antonio de Ulloa wrote from Havana to the superior council at New-Orleans a letter, in which he assumed the title of Governor of Louisiana, -announcing the protection of a beneficent king was prepar- ing all hearts to gratitude, and such was the feeling which pre- pared the brilliant reception given to Ulloa.
A man threatened with a great danger believes that he has escaped as soon as he sees the least help, no matter how bar- barous the hand that proffers it. Such was the position of the inhabitants of Louisiana." They justly shuddered at the cruel- ties and vexations with which the Spanish colonics were op-
* Ulloa to the Superior Council.
"GENTLEMEN,-Having lately received orders from his Catholic majesty to repair to your city and take possession of it in his name, and in conformity there- with, I avail myself of this occasion to acquaint you with my mission, and to give you notice that I shall soon have the honor of coming among you to fulfill this commission. I fiatter myself in anticipation, that it will afford me a favor- able occasion to render all the service that you or the colonists can desire, of which I beg you to assure them that in this I will but discharge my duty and gratify my inclinations.
" I have the honor to be, &c.,
" ANTONIO DE ULLOA."
"HAVANA, July 10, 1765."
.
ICTRIES
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pressed; but an animal to be broken to the yoke must be petted for a time. No one expected that the first years of this domination would not be stamped with beneficence and equity. Hope, the faithful companion of desire, showed a retreat to Europe as an easy thing at the end of a few years, and it was supposed that, at the moment of taking possession, a term would be fixed for those who should decide to leave the country.
The entry of the Spanish governor was too flattering not to seduce three-fourths of the colonists, but sensible men easily discovered the poison under the honey. Some superstitious minds viewed as an ill omen the thunder and lightning which accompanied the Spaniards from their entrance into the river till their arrival at New-Orleans. We leave to ages of ignorance these auguries and omens; our business is with facts.
They sufficed to strike terror into the firmest minds. Polite- ness, courtesy, civility, nothing was spared to prove to Ulloa the desire of corresponding to the happy intentions which he manifested. The Creole, naturally good, credulous, generous . and sensible, carried his attentions even to meanness. Per- haps this conduct excited the interior contempt of a man who had imbibed all the Spaniard's hatred for other nations, and especially the French. It and his character soon appeared in their true colors in this way.
Don Antonio de Ulloa,* a man to whom knowledge and
* Don Antonio de Ulloa was descended from a family distinguished in the maritime annals of his country. He was born in Sevillo, on the 12th of January, 1716, and entered the navy at a very early age. The first scientific expedi- tion in which he served was that which was sent out by France and Spain to measure an arc of the meridian at the equator, to determine the configuration of the earth.
He returned to Spain in 1746, and in two years afterwards published his
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erudition were ascribed, had not the proper talents for manag- ing men. He had not penetration enough to know them, nor impartiality enough to avoid injustice or correct a false judg- ment. He had not that amenity, that mildness, that engaging way which gains all hearts, and above all a Frenchman's. He had not that happy combination of severity and clemency which can punish or pardon in reason. Obstinate, nothing was better than his own plans; violent, he confounded in his rage all those he dealt with ; imperious, his will was law ; minute in his projects, vexatious in their execution, arrogant when yielded to, timid and supple when resisted, inconsiderate in his plans, destitute of dignity, of generosity, shut up in his cabinet, appearing only to disoblige. Such was the man in soul. In body it would be hard to be thinner or smaller than Ulloa; a sharp, weak voice announced his disposition. His
" Historical Relation of a Voyage to South America." Shortly after, he was pro- moted to a captaincy in the navy, and set out on a tour through Europe by order of the king. On Charles III. ascending the throne, he was promoted to the com- mand of a fleet to the East Indies. He returned to Spain, and was appointed to the government of Louisiana. On the 5th of March, 1766, he arrived at New- Orleans. Acting with his usual benevolence, the king instructed Ullua not to make any changes in the laws and usages of the province, and so desirous was Ulloa to conciliate those over whose destinies he had come to preside, that on his arrival he promised to keep at a fixed rate the depreciated paper of the coun- try, which now amounted to about seven millions of livres. He likewise ascer- tained the wants and resources of the country, and agreed to discharge the most · pressing demands against it.
On the 6th of May, Spain issued a decree, permitting a direct commerce be- tween Louisiana and the French islands. The colonists, however, became dis- satisfied with subsequent commercial restrictions, which produced a great ex- citement in the colony, and Ulloa had to flee for safety to the Balize. Here he effected an arrangement with Aubry, the nominal French governor, to deliver the province up to him, which was accordingly dene. A greater part of the year passed away in comparative quict, but a secret conspiracy had been set on foot to drive him from the province ; among whom, wero Lafreniere, Foucault, Mar- quis, Noyan, Villere, Milhet, Petit, Caresse, Poupet and Boisblanc.
On the 28th of October, a petition was signed by about six hundred persons, demanding restoration of some ancient rights and liberties, and the expulsion of he Spaniards from the country. This was presented to the superior council,
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features, though regular, had something false withal; large eyes, always bent on the ground, darted only stealthy glances, seek- ing to see and be unseen. A mouth, whose forced laugh an- nounced knavery, duplicity and hypocrisy, completes the por- trait of Don Antonio de Ulloa.
Let us have the French governor's to act as companion- piece. A knowledge of a man's natural disposition often enables us to judge a man's actions more certainly than we can judge character by actions often misrepresented. M. Aubry was a little, dry, lean, ugly man, without nobility, dignity or car- riage. His face would seem to announce a hypocrite, but in him this vice sprang from excessive goodness, which granted all, rather than displease ; always trembling for the conse- quences of the most indifferent actions, a natural effect of a mind without resource or light; always allowing itself to be guided,
who issued a decree that Ulloa and the Spanish troops should leave the colony in three days. On the evening of the 31st of October, Ulloa embarked with all his troops and sailed for Cadiz, where he arrived on the 4th of December, 1769. Here he wrote an account of all that had transpired to the Marquis of Grimaldi.
Aubry, the French governor, also wrote a dispatch to the same minister, stating, that " notwithstanding his great learning, Ulloa was not the proper per- son to govern Louisiana-for, instead of endeavoring to gain the hearts of the colonists, he did every thing to alienate them ; while Foucault wrote that Ulloa committed every day some act of inhumanity or despotism. The superior coun- cil represented to the Duke de Praslin that through the misdeeds of Ulloa the colony had been thrown into a state of beggary and starvation, and by malicious and restrictive legislation they were prevented fromn acquiring the means to pay their debts. They concluded, by supplicating the king to retake possession of the colony and annul the treaty of cession. After Ulloa returned to Spain he was promoted to the grade of lieutenant-general of the royal navies of Spain. He died in the island of Leon, on the 3d of July, 1795, at the advanced age of eighty. He published, in 1772, a work entitled " Noticias Americanas ;" and in 1773, a valuable work on the Naval Forces of Europe and Africa. Townsend, who visited him a short time before his death in Cadiz, represented him as a true philosopher, full of wit and learning, sprightly in conversation, and of elegant manners. The different points of his character have been discussed by Gayarre in liis admirably written History of Louisiana, from which this sketch has been in part drawn up.
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and thus often swerving from rectitude in conduct ; religious through weakness rather than from principle; incapable of wishing evil, but doing it through a charitable, human weak- ness; destitute of magnanimity or reflection ; a good soldier, but a bad leader; ambitious of honors and dignity, but possess- ing neither firmness nor capacity to bear the weight.
Such is the portrait of the two men who ruined Louisiana, the one through malice, the other by weakness; the Spaniard from hatred and animosity, the Frenchman by ignorance of his powers and what he owed to the position he filled.
Let us see them in action.
The first act which should have followed Ulloa's arrival in New-Orleans was the taking possession of Louisiana in the name of the Spanish king; but eighty wretched soldiers whom he had brought with him were not in his eyes a sufficiently re- spectable force to control a colony of which he had already con- ceived a most unfavorable idea, and this was the pretext which he gave when called upon to take possession. An offer was made to let the French troops remain in Spanish pay, but the soldiers demanded their discharge. The term of their engage- ment was already tripled, and they could not without injustice be made to serve another prince ; they were accordingly left in the French pay, because Ulloa threatened, in case they persisted in pressing him to take possession, to leave and report to the king, his master, the reasons of his retirement.
Aubry, fearful of prejudicing the courts of Versailles and Madrid against him, if he pressed it, acquiesced in all that Ulloa wished, abstained from pressing the act of taking posses- sion, and let himself be guided completely by that man's caprice.
Examine the memoirs published on the revolution which took place in that country, and we see Aubry acting as ser-
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geant-major, and often as valet to Ulloa. We see him blindly follow his will, and obey him as eagerly as he would a supe- rior. At every step we see this French governor and his authority exposed to humiliation and the contempt of an arro- gant Spaniard. Meanwhile, the French troops continued to act under their national flag ; the eighty Spanish soldiers were in barracks and unemployed. The council acted in the name of the French king, and it appeared natural that till possession was taken all orders should emanate from Aubry. The whole colony turned to him ; when anything was asked of Ulloa he put it off till after the taking possession, and that moment was considered as that of the change of government.
The Spaniard's delay in taking this authentic and necessary step left a hope that he would sicken his country of a colony which he every day repeated was unfit for Spain, and this hope stifled some of the groans which his conduct would otherwise have elicited.
When Ulloa was sufficiently certain that his threats had alarmed the feeble mind, and his promises seduced the inter- ested heart of Aubry, he no longer kept up appearances. If . he needed a conference with the French governor, he sent a sergeant or a negro for him; if he spoke to him, it was with the arrogance of an insolent superior. Once only Aubry, moved by his impertinence, resented it. The supple Spaniard at once bent and yielded, to resume soon after, with more assu- rance than ever, an empire which he feared to dispute too long.
The colony witnessed with lively indignation Aubry, daily for hours together, awaiting in Ulloa's ante-chamber, until the moment when the haughty man should deign to appear. Authority was weakened, the royal dignity dishonored in the man appointed to sustain it. All the French were mortified
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at this humiliation, and when it falls on hearts unused to it, it inspires rage and fury, if vengeance is not prompt enough.
Ulloa daily extended his powers, and Aubry kept only a shadow of authority ;* and this went so far that it was impos- sible to distinguish which was the head. Each gave orders ; yet Aubry often sent men to Ulloa, and the Spaniard always affected to leave the whole authority to Aubry, always say- ing that he had not taken possession. He had, however, per- suaded the court of the contrary in this way :
An act was passed between Aubry and Ulloa, by which the former certified that he had resigned to the latter the colony of Louisiana agreeably to the orders of the king, his master, and in virtue of the powers received by said Ulloa from his court. This act was signed by the two governors in duplicate, and was to be exchanged to the two courts.
It will, perhaps, be imagined that this treaty was made pub- lic, read, posted up, and attended with all the formalities that announce a change of government. Not at all. The inhabit- ants of Louisiana had not even on this occasion the necessary satisfaction given to a sold slave, that of knowing the moment · when he was to obey his new master. M. Aubry communi- cated this iniquitous and informal act to only two persons, after pledging them to the most profound secrecy, and they divulged it only after the revolution. But it is not enough to have put this invalid and unjust act before the reader ; but let us hear from Aubry's own lips the means employed by Ulloa to extort it.
" Ulloa, intimidated by the representations of the merchants to the council, and by some threats purposely pronounced in
+ We shall hereafter see, however, Aubry avowing in open council, that Ulloa had never shown him anything but a letter of M. de Grimaldi, in Spanish, a language that Aubry did not understand, and this letter announced to Ulloa, as he explained it, his appointment as Governor of Louisiana.
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his hearing, retired to the Balize, which is at the mouth of the river, thirty-two leagues from the capital. I received a letter from him, in which he informed me that he had matters of the greatest importance to communicate. I at first hesitated as to abandoning my government, but circumstances, it seemed to me, required this step on my part, and I went to the Balize. Ulloa represented to me that the two courts would, perhaps, take it amiss that possession had not yet been taken, and I knew it was impossible for him to take it; that, accordingly, to satisfy both monarchs he begged me to sign an act which he proffered, by which I certified that I transferred the colony to him by virtue of the powers I had from my court and he from his. So informal a transaction shocked me, and I in- sisted on an authentic taking of possession, which could be ignored by none-such, in a word, as good sense, custom and the law of nations required. Ulloa tried to convince me of its inutility ; I insisted. He then promised to take possession as soon as he returned to town. I was some days irresolute. Ulloa was continually after me; at one time he entreated, at another he threatened to complain of my refusal. I was greatly embarrassed ; but I at last accepted a proposal he made me, and which seemed to fulfil the object of the publicity. I signed the act in question, on condition that the act of taking should be performed publicly on his return to town, and that the act passed between us should be read publicly before the garrison of Balize, which was to be immediately relieved by a Spanish detachment."
Have you never seen a school-boy threatened, coaxed, fright- ened, by a severe master, to do something he required? The child resists, eries, is stubborn, but yields at last, but under conditions that seem to him a complete victory gained over his
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master. Such was M. Aubry before Ulloa. But let us con- clude the French Governor's account.
" The act passed between us," continues Aubry, "and it was agreed that each should send a copy to his court. I gave orders to M. de Lorme, a French officer commanding at the Balize, to have his troops under arms next day at eight o'clock. Ulloa gave the same order to the Spanish officer, who had accom- nied him with a detachment; but at daybreak Ulloa enter- ed my room to tell me that it was useless to read the act before the troops at the Balize, as he would soon go to town. I countermanded the order given to the French officer, and he did the same with the Spanish officer. The next day I return- ed to town, leaving Ulloa at the Balize."
Soon after, difficulties arose between the Spanish governor and the French officer commanding at the Balize. The latter had orders from Aubry to obey Ulloa as himself, in con- sequence of which the orders of Ulloa were obeyed. He changed the position of Balize and placed it on the left bank of the river, proceeded there and raised the Spanish flag .* The French flag floated on the other side, where the · French officer and his detachment still continued.
During his stay at the Balize, Ulloa sent twelve boats, loaded with troops and munitions, to go and take possession of the posts in the Illinois. The whole colony was amazed at this infraction of received usages. Nothing seemed more extraor-
* Balize.was the port at the entrance of the Mississippi on the west side in French times. Ulloa took it into his head to change this post, or rather to establish another on a little island, to which he gave the pompous name of Real Catolico San Carlos. This island, like all others at the mouth of the Mississippi, was not permanent, but exposed to the ravages of the sea and river. Ulloa under- took to make it solid, and spent £25,000 in his attempt, half of which was a dead loss.
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dinary than to see two different governments, two flags, and two commanding officers in the same country.# The colonists went to Aubry, who pacified them, by saying that he was to retain command till possession was taken, which Ulloa would do as soon as he came from the Balize. This moment was always deferred. " The troops," said the Spaniard, " were on the way," in fact, at Havana, as he pretended, although it is an indisputable fact he knew that at that port there were only fifteen or twenty men for Louisiana, intended to replace as many dead or deserted.
* This condition of things is confirmed by Aubry's dispatch to the French government, dated 20th of January, 1768. "I command," says Aubry, " for the King of France, at the same time I govern the colony as if it belonged to the King of Spain. A French commander is gradually moulding Frenchmen to Spanish domination. The Spanish governor urges me to issue ordinances in relation to the police and commerce of the country, which takes the people by surprise, considering that they are not used to such novelties. The Spanish flag is now waving at the extremities of the province. It is at the Balize, at Mis- souri, on the banks of Iberville River, and opposite Natchez. M. Ulloa has just established these posts, which was done peaceably. It has produced no change in our posts, which still continue in existence. So that, in all those which are on the banks of the Mississippi, from the Balize to the Illinois, the French flag is kept up as before."
Again, in another dispatch, Aubry says : " The governor whom His Catholic Majesty has sent here, is a man full of merit, of learning and of talents ; but as an exception to the well-known temperament of his nation, he is exceedingly hasty, and it seems to me, that he does not listen sufficiently to the representations addressed to him It is a cause of discontent in those who have business with him. I had wished that the officer sent to take command of this government had possessed the art of managing the public mind, and of gaining the hearts of the inhabitants. Men are not to be ruled with haughtiness and pride, with threats and punishments. Marks of kindness and benevolence, with judicious promises, would have been necessary to reconcile the colonists to the exchange of dominion which has come upon them. This was the only course to be pur- sued, in order to win the affection of new subjects who regret their former master.
" If the Spaniards do not act with mildness, and if they attempt to govern this colony like a Mexican one, most of the people will abandon their lands, and cross over to the English, who are on the opposite side of the river. Thus, in a few years, the Spanish part of Louisiana will become a desert." He concluded with informing the French court that the measures taken by Ulloa were not calculated to give popularity to the Spanish government .- Gayarre.
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Who does not feel indignant at such conduct ? What base, mean trickery! And yet it was on this illegal act only that O'Reilly was to judge as Spaniards, men who had been ceded without being told of it. But all I have thus far related is only a slight sketch compared to what remains for me to tell, or to omit, as I may think best.
Money at last came from Havana. Ulloa knew that the non- payment of the troops had caused some murmuring; he hoped, by appeasing them, to be able to appear in town with a little more security for his life; for, according to the idea which he had formed, he was in constant fear that the colonists would make an attempt on it .*
On returning to the city he was as polite as possible, flattered them with the fondest hopes, announced advantage- ous projects, which he never entertained, read letters of con- gratulation on the conduct of the colonists towards him, re- ceived, as he pretended, from the court. He flattered cupidity, promised to take possession soon, and somewhat restored calm in the public mind. But this calm lasted only as long as he could contain his temper, and above all his hatred and con- tempt for the French.
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