USA > Louisiana > History of Louisiana, the Spanish domination > Part 46
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606
WITHDRAWAL OF THE SPANISH TROOPS.
freemen of color, and all its other officers were re-com- missioned. It is true that no alacrity was shown to accept these commissions ; but the French Prefect was unjust at the time, when he supposed that it was owing to the intrigues of the Spaniards. On the contrary, several natives, of Spanish descent, consented to be com- missioned as officers of the militia, and among others, Charles Anastase Gayarre,* the grandson of the Royal Comptroller, or Contador, who came to the colony with Ulloa in 1766. Although it may be that he was in- fluenced by his father-in-law, Etienne Boré, the new Mayor of New Orleans, nevertheless it is evident that he would not have pursued this course, if it had been contrary to the wishes of the Spanish authorities, as his feelings must have been enlisted on their side, and as he was then in officet under the appointment of the King of Spain.
By a special proclamation, the Black Code given by Louis XV. to the province, excepting such parts of it as were inconsistent with the Constitution and Laws of the United States, was declared to be in force .¿
"Soon after," says Monette, in his History of the Val- ley of the Mississippi, "the Spanish troops were with- drawn and the military posts were evacuated. In the city and suburbs of New Orleans there were four military posts or forts, relinquished by the Spanish troops, which might be exposed to the depredations, and equally so to the unlawful occupancy of disaffected persons and noc- turnal disturbers of the peace. The troops of the United States, designed for the occupation of these forts, not having arrived within the limits of the ceded province, many were apprehensive of outrage and violence from a lawless and disaffected populace, composed of the lowest
* The Author's father. + Official de contadoria.
# Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. ii., p. 197.
607
WITHDRAWAL OF THE SPANISH TROOPS.
class of Spaniards, Mexicans, and free persons of color who infested the city, and other disorderly persons and desperadoes of all nations, who, released from the re- straint of a standing army, might be prompted by the hope of pillage to fire the city, or to commit other acts of violence.
" To guard against any such attempt, and to preserve order in the city, a number of enterprising young Ameri- cans associated themselves into a volunteer battalion, to be placed under the command of Daniel Clark, Jr., the American Consul. Their first muster was at Davis's rope-walk on Canal St., where they were joined by a number of patriotic young Creole Frenchmen, who con- tinued to serve until the battalion was finally discharged. Having organized, they placed themselves under their commander, and proceeded to the head-quarters of the Colonial Prefect, to whom they made a formal tender of their services for the purpose of preserving order in the city, and for the occupancy of the forts until the arrival of the American Commissioners and troops. The bat- talion* continued to increase by the voluntary enrolment of Americans and French Creoles, until the whole number exceeded three hundred men. The Americans were chiefly captains and mates of vessels, supercargoes, mer- chants, clerks, and seamen belonging to vessels in port. The French, by their zeal, vigilance, and patriotism dur- ing their time of service, proved themselves worthy of American citizenship. Their services were gladly accept-
* The battalion of volunteers was formed at the instance of the following gen- tlemen, then resident in New Orleans: George Martin, since parish judge of St. Landry, Colonel Reuben Kemper, George King, George Newman, Benjamin Mor- gan, Daniel Clark, American consul, Doctor William Flood, since a distinguished physician of New Orleans, Maunsel White, since a wealthy merchant and planter and a state senator, and Woodson Wren, who subsequently settled in the State of Mississippi, where he was lately postmaster at Natchez .- Monette's Valley of the Mississippi, vol. i., p. 561.
608
LAUSSAT'S VERSION OF WHAT HAPPENED.
ed, and detachments from their numbers were detailed upon regular tours of duty in patrolling the city by day and by night."
The following confidential despatch addressed by Laus- sat to his Government, on the course he deemed proper to pursue on that occasion, and dated on the 10th of December, will not be read without interest.
" Citizen Minister, I deferred writing to your Excel- lency by the last mail, in the hope that the commission- ers of the United States were to arrive here yesterday, and that the same despatch would have conveyed to you the information of our taking and delivering possession, in the name of the French Republic, without any inter- vening delays. It seems, however, that the arrival of the Americans is postponed until next week. I cannot, therefore, and will not put off any longer, giving you an account of the actual state of things. * * *
"On the 23rd of November, General Wilkinson, one of the commissioners for the United States, came to my house at six o'clock in the evening. The other commis- sioner is W. C. C. Claiborne, Governor of the territory of Mississippi.
" Wilkinson was returning from the frontiers of Flo- rida, and was on his way to join his colleague at Fort Adams, near the dividing line between the territory of Mississippi and the district of Baton Rouge. We had just had a conference of two hours in reference to the course to be pursued towards the Spanish commissioners in all possible contingencies, when, on breaking up the interview and stepping out of my room, I met the French officer, citizen Landais, who had been sent to put me in possession of the original documents containing the in- structions of our Government for taking possession of Louisiana, and delivering it over to the United States.
609
LAUSSAT'S VERSION OF WHAT HAPPENED.
"I did not hesitate, and I resolved to accelerate that event; for, you have seen in my preceding despatches that I suspected the good will of the Spaniards, and it was prudent not to give them time to know the system of opposition which the Minister of his Catholic Majesty at Washington had openly and impetuously pursued in protesting against the cession, because it was to be feared that the Spanish commissioners might in their turn be tempted to imitate him.
" On the morning of the next day, I urged General Wilkinson to hasten his departure and to go and wait for further information from me at the head of his troops, whose numbers he might increase or diminish accordingly.
" Moreover, I immediately busied myself with pre- paring the ground around me.
" In the first place, I secured a chief for the militia, and I was lucky indeed in laying my hands on an officer who had served twenty-four years, who was not person- ally well disposed towards the Marquis de Casa Calvo, on account of his having been dismissed from active service on unfavorable terms, and who enjoyed an excel- lent reputation and much popularity in the country. He is, besides, the owner of considerable property in the vicinity of the city, and his name is Deville de Goutin Bellechasse. Once sure of him, I availed myself of his aid in all the principal and subordinate military mea- sures which I had to conceive and execute.
"I thought also of securing, without loss of time, an imposing support in the civil department of the government, and I selected for Mayor of the city, M. Etienne Boré, a native of Louisiana, of a distinguish- ed family, formerly Mousquetaire* in France, one of the
* The "Mousquetaires" were privileged companies in the King's household troops, each private having the rank of Captain, and every Captain the rank of
39
610
THE FIRST MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS.
largest and most skilful planters of the province, and a gentleman renowned for his patriotism and for a cha- racter of undeviating independence. I made a powerful appeal to him in the name of his country, whose interests required his services, and I had the satisfaction to win him over.
" As we were in the grinding season for the sugar cane, there could not have been a more unpropitious time to draw the planters away from their fields and the superintendence of their negroes.
" After M. Boré, and through his influence, I secured the services of some of the most distinguished among the colonists. I took every care to join with them in authority some of the most respectable inhabitants of the city, who had a capacity for business, who were used to it, who were known as such, and who had a knowledge of the three languages spoken in the colony- the French, English and Spanish.
"It was with a true feeling of joy that I put in authority M. Villere, the son of one of the most interest- ing of O'Reilly's victims, himself much loved in the colony, and held in great repute for his probity, his good conduct and his merit. I thus discharged a second debt on the part of France.
"It was essential for me to have, immediately, a municipality animated with a proper disposition, enlight- ened, active and respectable. Under the Spanish domination, the municipal council (cabildo) was an insignificant institution-a mere show or parade, lacking real power, generally composed of heterogeneous ele- ments, of devoted tools, of beings mostly disgraced and bespattered with mud .* The Governor, individually,
Lieutenant-General. To enter this corps it was necessary to prove gentle birth.
* On the contrary, that body was generally composed of respectable citizens.
611
LAUSSAT'S PREPARATIONS.
was the army-the law-the tribunal of justice-the police -- the administration of the country.
" It was therefore an indispensable obligation for me, considering the circumstances in which I might be placed and the total want in which I was of every thing, to create immediately a moral power which, as soon as I should assume the reins of the government, might of itself become an irresistible political lever.
" I labored without intermission to obtain that result, on the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday which preceded the cession .*
"I shall always remember with pleasure that, on Tues- day evening, at nine o'clock, I had succeeded in gather- ing round me what Louisiana possesses of most respect- able and distinguished, within thirty miles, in point of reputation, virtue, talent, influence and wealth. The gentlemen thus assembled were the first to whom, ac- cording to your despatches, Citizen Minister, and your instructions, I made known the treaty of cession, and the views of the Government in negotiating it. I explained to them the successive changes of domination which would be the sudden result of that cession, and the first of which would take place on the next day. I laid out before them the plan on which I intended to proceed, commented on the difficulties which might be in the way, unfolded what I expected from their co-operation, and discussed the powerful motives which ought to induce them to give me their assistance.
" The day before, I had delivered your letter of intro- duction to the Spanish Commissioners, and I had declared to them that my intention was to take possession two days after, that is, on Wednesday, 30th of November.
But Laussat was an excitable and prejudiced man, looking at every thing Span- ish with the inflamed eye of passion,
* The cession was effected on Wednesday, the 30th of November.
1
612
LAUSSAT'S EMBARRASSMENT.
I had communicated to them the procès-verbal, such as it was subsequently signed, and such as I send a copy of to your Excellency.
" In answer, the first thing which was said to me by the Spanish Commissioners was: What are the forces with which you will take possession ?- I replied : with the militia and the French who are in New Orleans .- As this is but a mere formality, observed the Spanish Com- missioners, our troops might assist you, and might con- tinue in your service until the arrival of the Americans. We shall thus contribute with pleasure to help you, con- sidering the union which exists between the two nations. -This would be contrary to my instructions, and I can do very well without it .- But the officers of the militia are mostly, and especially the Colonel who commands them, commissioned and paid by the King of Spain .- I will recommission them instantly. All that I ask of you is to draw the militia together, and to keep them under arms at the moment when you will deliver the colony to me .- We have received no orders different from the first, and therefore the colony shall be delivered to you .- The Marquis de Somoruellos wrote to me, a few days ago, that he had lately renewed to you the orders to do so .- This evening, one of us will call on you, and we shall come to some final understanding as to the style of the procès-verbal and as to the details of the ceremony.
" At nine o'clock, the Marquis de Casa Calvo called at my house with the Secretary of the Government, Ar- mesto. Some insignificant expressions were altered in the procès-verbal, and we examined the Spanish trans- lation, in which we concurred. We easily came to an agreement as to what was a mere matter of etiquette The Marquis renewed the proposition, or the equivalent of it, which he had made in the morning. I declined it peremptorily, as I had done already. He observed that
613
LAUSSAT AND THE DISAFFECTED MILITIA.
the Cabildo was composed of officers appointed by his Catholic Majesty, but that, on the eve of passing under the domination of the United States of America, they would willingly, in concert with the Commissioners of their Sovereign, give such assistance as circumstances might require. I answered that I would establish a new municipal body.
" On Tuesday, I understood from various sources that the militia companies had been operated upon, and that they would not answer the call when summoned to the ceremony of the next day. .
"For the last few days, I had been on the best footing of intelligence, at the request of the American Government, with Mr. Daniel Clark, their Consul, and a rich planter and merchant, who knows perfectly this country, in which he has resided twenty years, who is extremely zealous in favor of the cession, and whose penetration and talents for intrigue are carried to a rare degree of excellence.
" Whilst I was counteracting, through M. de Belle- chasse and some other military gentlemen, the practices which were carried on among the militia, and which were but the continuation of those I had witnessed with- out being able to check them, Mr. Clark was forming a numerous company of American volunteers, and, through my friends, I caused to be drummed up about a hundred of the Frenchmen who have lately come here; and most of whom had served in our armies during the revolution.
" I undoubtedly knew that there would be no impe- diment to the execution of the treaty, but it was neces- sary to prevent its becoming a cause of annoyance for France in a country peopled with Frenchmen, who, in reality, love her passionately. It was necessary to avoid that the Commissioner of the French Government
614
LAUSSAT'S DISTRUST OF THE SPANIARDS.
be laughed at, on account of the state of embarrassment and isolation in which he might be placed. It was necessary to prevent the Americans and the Europeans from turning into a joke our manner of taking possession. It was necessary not to run the risk of some disturb- ances, and not to be compelled perhaps to adjourn the ceremony, and to make an appeal to the troops of the United States.
" This is, Citizen Minister, what was the constant basis of all my steps and acts.
" I will not relate to you the street talk and fibs which were current on Tuesday, during the whole day.
" On Wednesday morning, at 10 o'clock, M. Fortier, who commanded the militia, with the grade of Colonel, who was commissioned and paid as such by the King of Spain, and who, besides, was the intimate friend of the Marquis de Casa Calvo, came on the part of the Marquis, to inform me of the difficulties which were felt in the attempt to draw the militia together, in a number sufficiently large to be respectable. He proposed to me, in the name of the Marquis, to have recourse, either to the Spanish troops, or to the few militia that could be collected, as auxiliaries. This was his expression.
" After the militia had been assembled, rather poorly than otherwise, the Marquis had said to them : " We have mustered you up to take possession of the province in the name of the French Republic. It is for you to determine if you wish to serve her for fifteen days.
"My answer to the Marquis's message was short:
' Assure the Marquis,' said I, ' that if the companies of the militia are not, at 12 o'clock, drawn up under arms, in a respectable number, to obey the orders of the French Republic, the Republic and myself will lay the blame and responsibility where it ought to be ; that I have not reached my forty-seventh year to be the dupe of such
615
LAUSSAT'S EXCITEMENT.
child's play ; that France does not stand in need, on this occasion, of the auxiliaries he offers; that, in the absence of the means which he thinks are the only ones on which I can rely, I have others in readiness, and that my taking possession of the province will be accomplished ; and accomplished without delay, with efficacy and with dignity. Please further to inform the Marquis that, as we have already had together an intercourse of six months, I had flattered myself that he had had ample time to know me!
"I redoubled, however, my efforts to have, in case of need, a spontaneous armed force that might be ready to show itself simultaneously.
" It was not long before I was informed, that the Spanish officers were earnestly striving to draw together at least two or three companies of militia, and particu- larly that of the grenadiers.
" At twelve o'clock, I went, with a considerable escort of Frenchmen, to the City Hall, where I found the Spanish Commissioners. They delivered to me the province in the form and manner described in the procès-verbal hereto annexed.
* *
" As soon as the French flag had been hoisted up, and the Spanish Commissioners had withdrawn, I placed myself in the centre of the militia companies, and I pre- sented to them M. Bellechasse as their Colonel and Commander. I also caused to be proclaimed in their presence the composition of the staff.
"There were about one hundred and fifty militia-men present, among whom were about sixty grenadiers.
"I returned to the City Hall to establish and organize the Municipal body.
" I have published a proclamation sufficiently moderate not to displease the Spaniards, or the Americans.
616
REVIEW OF LAUSSAT'S COURSE.
" Possession of the province having been taken, it was proper that it should be solemnly authenticated and irre- vocably fixed. Hence the multiplicity of my acts.
" From the moment of the cession, Casa Calvo has be- haved towards me with exquisite politeness."
Such were Laussat's comments on what he had thought and done, and on what he believed he had seen, or had been correctly informed of. But it seems, from his own version of the facts, as related in this despatch, that if there was any indecent display of ill temper, hasty conclusions, undignified and offensive suspicions, as well as of arrogant language, it was not on the side of his adversaries ; that if there was, as he complains, a good deal of child's play, he had a handsome share in it ; and that his vision must have been singularly dimmed by his apprehensions of the supposed hostile dispositions of the Spaniards, not to have discovered, sooner than after the cession, the uniformity of Casa Calvo's exquisite politeness.
Whilst all these mutations had been going on, or had been in the act of preparation, Laussat and Casa Calvo had been vieing in giving splendid entertainments to the inhabitants of New Orleans, and the republican Prefect had struggled not to yield in pomp and display to the proud and wealthy nobleman. It was no doubt with them a matter of policy, as well as of taste or pride. A French author,* who witnessed those festivities, says : " M. Laussat exhibited in brilliant entertainments, em- bellished by the graces of his affable and beautiful wife, that fascinating elegance which seems to be one of the attributes of the French character. The Louisianian ladies, who looked upon her as a model of taste, appeared at those entertainments with a magnificence which was a just
* Voyages dans l'intérieur de la Louisiane par C. C. Robin.
617
SPLENDID FESTIVITIES.
cause of astonishment in such a colony, and which might have been successfully compared with any efforts of that sort even in the principal cities of France. The Loui- sianian ladies, who may justly be said to be remarkable for their habitual gravity, are generally tall and exqui- sitely shaped ; the alabaster whiteness of their complex- ion, which was admirably set off by their light dresses, adorned with flowers and rich embroidery, gave a fairy- like appearance to these festivities. The last one, par- ticularly, astonished me by its magnificence. After tea and the concert were over, the dancing was interrupted at midnight, and the guests went down to a saloon- where, on a table laid for sixty to eighty persons, arose, on the top of rocks, the temple of Good Faith surrounded with columns, and surmounted by a dome, under which was placed the allegorical statue of the goddess. But, farther on, beyond that room, one was attracted by the flood of light which burst from an immense pavilion, in the shape of a gallery. There, forty or fifty tables, covered with a variety of dishes, were spread for the accommodation of four or five hun- dred guests, who grouped themselves round them in small detached parties.
" The tendency of these festivities was, no doubt, to spread the taste for pleasure and luxury in a colony which, being in its nascent state, still needs a great deal of economy and labor; but, nevertheless, these enter- tainments, under the circumstances in which they were given, were the result of a useful and enlightened policy, because they strengthened the common customs and manners which connected us and the colonists, causing them to cherish what is French, and impressing them with a proper sense of the grandeur of the mother country."
In the meantime, as apprehensions were entertained
618 CLAIBORNE AND WILKINSON'S JOINT COMMISSION
by the Government of the United States that difficulties might arise in relation to the cession, in consequence of the disposition manifested a few years before by the Colonial Government of Louisiana to retain possession of the posts situated above the 31st degree, and in con- sequence of the energetic protests recently made at Washington by the Spanish Minister, in the name of his Catholic Majesty, the President* had ordered a part of the militia of the States of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennes- see, to be held in readiness to march at a moment's warning. Considerable forces had been assembled at Fort Adams, and five hundred Tennesseans had come as far as Natchez, under the command of Colonel Do- gherty. Claiborne, the Governor of Mississippi, had or- dered a volunteer company of horse of that territory to be prepared to march with him on the 10th of Decem- ber.
Claiborne met at Fort Adams, on his way to New Orleans, General Wilkinson, who was coming from that city, where he had had with Laussat the interview I have mentioned. The troops who were at this post were set in motion in company with the volunteers, and, on the 17th of December, the two American commis- sioners encamped within two miles of New Orleans. On the day following, they despatched an officer to Laussat, to inquire whether he was disposed to receive their visit; Laussat answered in the affirmative, and immediately sent in his carriage an officer named Vi- nache, with Bellechasse, the Colonel in command of the militia, and a French citizen named Blanque, to meet Claiborne and Wilkinson. The commissioners came to Laussat's house with an escort of thirty of the Missis- sippi horse volunteers, and, on their approach, were saluted with nineteen guns. The next day, at half past
Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. ii., p. 197.
*
CLAIBORNE AND WILKINSON'S JOINT COMMISSION. 619
ten in the morning, Laussat went on horseback to their camp with an escort of sixty men, and thus returned officially the formal visit he had received.
On Tuesday, the 20th of December, the Prefect ordered all the militia companies to be drawn up under arms,* on the public square in front of the City Hall. The crowd of spectators was immense, and the finest weather favored the curiosity of the public.
The commissioners of the United States arrived at the gates of the city with their troops, and, before entering, were reconnoitred according to military usages, by a company of the militia grenadiers.
The American troops, on entering the city, were greeted with a salute of twenty-one guns from the forts, and form- ed on the opposite side of the square, facing the militia.
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