USA > Louisiana > Louisiana : its history as a French colony. Third series of lectures > Part 20
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Foucault, who had taken so active a part in the conspiracy, although in his official acts and his language in public, he had endeavored so to equivocate as to be able to side, when the time should come, with the victorious party, and to claim the merit of having always belonged to its flag, having studied the signs of the horizon, and ascertained from which quarter the wind was likely to blow, trimmed his sails accordingly. The cloak which had concealed the conspirator was partially laid aside, not to show the true character beneath its folds, but to allow the head of the informer to peer out, and watch the opportunity for open denunciation. Thus, on the 21st of March, he had written to the French cabinet at Versailles, to justify himself for having convened the Council, which had expelled Ulloa, and he had given it out as an excuse, that he had yielded to force only, as he had not at his
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disposal over one hundred and fifty men, to oppose the one thousand rebels who threatened the Spaniards. He also declared that, if there were any truth in the rumors whispered about, the Syndics or headmen, who had been selected by the different classes of the inhabitants, to watch over their interests, had sadly misused the powers delegated to them; that the number of persons demanding the complete expulsion of the Spaniards had considerably diminished, and furthermore, that many were opposed to it, because they feared losing, in that case, what was due to them for the Spanish obligations they held in their hands.
The cautious phraseology in which the whole of Foucault's despatch is written, may be offered as a model of composition to such artful villains. "Were it possible for me," said he, "to feel the public pulse on these matters, I should perhaps verify that these rumors are well founded. Should this be the fact, I would then, jointly with Mr. Aubry, pursue such a course as would be sufficient to overawe certain individuals, who take themselves to be very important beings. They are, after all, but pretty bad fellows, who, being loaded with debt, seem striving, with eager emulation, to avail themselves of the overthrow of the colony, in order to retain with impunity the funds which have been advanced to them, and who are indifferent about the country they may live in, considering that they are not bound to Louisiana by the actual possession of any real estate. I think that, were it not for them, I should no longer stand witness to the most indecent and audacious deportment. There would no longer be any reason to fear the execution of the detestable project, which is said to have been formed, of burning New-Orleans, on the first news of the arrival of the Spanish troops, if it be still decreed that Louisiana must belong to his
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FOUCAULT'S TREACHERY.
Catholic Majesty. Mr. D'Acosta, the captain of the frigate, would be at liberty to prepare himself quietly to regulate his departure, according to the orders given to him by Ulloa, and the other Spaniards might do the same. The officers of the Spanish administration would no longer be exposed to a forced departure, without having time to settle their accounts, and the anarchy and confusion which have taken the place of the small amount of good order that prevailed in this colony, would soon disappear. But, being under the apprehen- sion, when trying to avoid one evil, of falling into another equally great, I have taken the resolution to be silent and inactive, whilst waiting for the orders of the two courts of France and Spain. Without caring, however, for the discontent produced by all my acts of opposition to the enterprises of these turbulent spirits against the Spaniards, I will use the most practicable means, to contrive that the officers of the Spanish administration remain here until the receipt of those orders."
It is no very far stretch of the imagination to suppose that, on the very day when this letter was written, in which the fathers of the insurrection to which Foucault had stood sponsor, were denounced as boot thieves, detestable incendiaries, and the like, this shmrs. fan enter- tained at supper, as usual, at the country of his paramour, Madam Pradel, those turbulent spirits and would be important beings whom he had denounced to the French government, and who, of course, could be no other than his friends and confederates, Lafrenière, Villere, Noyan, Masan, &c .- whom he had goaded on to shake off the hated Spanish yoke, and with whose destinies he seemed to have linked his fortunes. There are few conspiracies and perilous enterprises, in which such men as Foucault are not to be detected. They are the alloy, the baser metal which appears to be
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DEPARTURE OF THE FRIGATE.
necessary to the composition of the great human coinage. Experience teaches, and the study of histori- cal records demonstrates, that, within the shadow of every man of noble thoughts and deeds, there always lie some evil spirits, crouching in ambush, and watching for every opportunity to prey on the object of their envy and hatred. It must be admitted that, in the drama in which he was engaged, Foucault acted his part, with a consistency of infamy, and a cool, systematic regularity of treachery, which must obtain for him much credit with congenial minds. It is but tardy justice, consola- tory, it is true, as all acts of justice are, that such a felon should be dragged before the tribunal of posterity, and hung up on the gibbet of atonement.
Notwithstanding the disheartening prospect they had before them, some of the conspirators persisted in their designs, and attempted to make another demonstration against the Spanish frigate, by inducing the Germans to come to town for that purpose. But Aubry sent to the German Coast several officers, whose presence and exhortations prevented the outbreak which was intended. " Mr. de Lafrenière," wrote Aubry, " has much contri- buted to restore tranquillity. This, to be just to him, must be said in his favor, whatever may have been his previous errors." Great indeed must have been the reaction, when Lafrenière came forth to advocate acquiescence !
But the captain of the frigate, in order to do away with all pretexts for further disturbances, resolved to sail on the 20th of April. On that day, all the officers of that vessel waited in a body on Governor Aubry, and thanked him for the protection and the many favors they had received at his hands. On their returning to the frigate, they met on the bank of the river a large concourse of people, who had assembled to witness their
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DEPARTURE OF THE FRIGATE.
departure. The crowd was silent, and gave no sign of hostility. On the contrary, some among them addressed words of sympathy, of personal respect and of friendly greeting to the officers, as they passed along. As soon as Captain D'Acosta stepped on the deck of the Volante, men were seen running up the masts, and she began to unfurl her broad sails to the strong breeze which courted them to its embrace. Soon after, the three Spanish- dignitaries, Loyola, Gayarre and Navarro, who had ac- companied D'Acosta on board, were seen descending into their boat, and rapidly approaching the bank of the river. On their landing, the crowd opened before them with respect, and as these gentlemen trod through this human avenue, on their way to their residences, they bowed, right and left, with some degree of stately for- mality. No outward signs showed what they may have felt, at being thus left alone in the midst of a hostile population. In the steady look with which they met the public gaze, there was no fear, no anger, no defiance, but only an expression of cold indifference, although perhaps a close observer might have detected the sup- pressed scrutinizing glance, which strove to study on the surrounding faces the secret feelings of the hearts.
In the mean time, the frigate had begun to move on the water, and, as she gracefully glided by, Captain D'Acosta, standing up on the quarter deck, raised his hand to his hat, took it off, and bowed to the crowd with, as some affected to believe, all the pride of mock humility. . At this very moment, the frigate poured out her broadsides, in a salute to the town, and emerging from the cloud of smoke, with all her colors gaily sport- ing in the wind, was seen, in a few minutes, turning round that point, on the opposite side of the river, where now stands the town of Algiers. Thus the last satis- faction which the colonists had desired, had been
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INCREASE OF THE REACTION.
granted to them ; yet it was evident that no feeling of exultation existed among the assemblage, that stood gazing at the turbid waters of the Mississippi, for some time after the frigate had disappeared. No shouts of joy or triumph had been uttered ; silence was on the lips, and anxiety in the hearts of all. They seemed to be in an atmosphere of gloom ; and that undefined feel- ing which proceeds from the vague anticipation of coming danger, pervaded the whole multitude. At last, they dispersed in small detached groups, whispering to each other, and bearing stamped on their brows the thoughts that worked in their brains.
The revolutionary tide was indeed ebbing fast away, and leaving stranded on the shore, those it had borne onward to momentary success. The conspirators had hoped at first, that, on their showing a strong aversion to a foreign domination, and on their expelling the Spanish Governor, they might have induced both the French and Spanish governments, to consider as null the treaty of cession-the more so, that Spain did not seem to set any value on the donation which had been presented to her. . When this hope had been frustrated, they attempted to throw themselves into the arms of England, by sending emissaries to the governor of Pen- sacola, with whom they were to enter into arrange- ments. But the reception which they met in that quarter, convinced them that they were to look else- where for support. England, besides the breach of faith of which she would have been guilty, and besides giving the bad example of encouraging the rebellion of colonies, was not then disposed to renew the long wars she had waged against France and Spain, merely for the then paltry consideration of the acquisition of Louisiana.
Reduced to the last stage of despair, the Hotspurs among the insurgents proposed to expel Aubry, and the
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SCHEME OF A REPUBLIC.
fcw French troops that were in the colony, to proclaim New-Orleans a free port, and to form a, republic, where the oppressed and the needy among all the nations of the earth, would find a refuge and a home. The chief of the republic was to be styled Protector, and to be assisted by a council of forty men elected by the people, either for life, or for a certain number of years. A bank, on the plan of that of Amsterdam or of Venice, was to be created, and to furnish the commonwealth with the currency of which it would stand in need. The Swiss captain Marquis had originated this scheme of a republic; and he violently and openly recommended its adoption -so much so, that it became a subject of discussion, for and against, in printed and in manuscript documents, which were circulated through the colony, and some of which are really of a curious character.
If the plan of Marquis could have been executed, and a Lord Protector elected, it is probable that Lafrenière would have become the Cromwell of Louisiana. There is no doubt but that the colonists would have eagerly adopted this form of government, had it been possible at the time ; for it must be recollected that, from the earliest existence of the colony, almost all its governors had uniformly complained of the republican spirit which they had observed in the inhabitants. It would seem as if the European emigrants, on their arriving in Loui- siana, had so imbibed the conception and the love of independence from the roaming life of the aborigines, from the sight of the boundless forests, from the im- mensity of the domain which invited conquest, that they waxed impatient of the yoke imposed upon them by a distant power. But the colonists, on maturer and cooler reflection, became convinced that France, Spain and England, for reasons too obvious to be enumerated, would never permit their rebellion to terminate successfully
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ANXIETIES OF THE PUBLIC MIND.
into the establishment of a republic in Louisiana. They therefore abandoned the idea as quixotic; but they, nevertheless, bequeathed to their posterity the right of claiming for Louisiana the merit of having been the first European colony that entertained the design of pro- claiming her independence. The stoutest hearts, how- ever, and the noblest minds cannot achieve impossibili- ties. The thought of a republic had been but a rosy colored bubble of the imagination, or rather a flitting rainbow, spanning the firmament of a dream, and en- couraging hopes but to have them extinguished in the night of the gathering storm. So was it with the majority of the colonists, who, in the wreck of their fortunes, having in vain looked round for any means of salvation, now abandoned themselves to the course of events, and were constrained passively to wait for what fate would ultimately decide.
Rumors were rife in the colony, as to the prepara- tions which Spain was making, to take possession of Louisiana, and to punish the insult which had been offered to her. Nothing positive, however, could be ascertained, and the very vagueness of the information received, added to the anxieties of the public mind. Those who had played the most conspicuous part in the conspiracy were advised to fly ; but this could be more easily proposed than executed. It would have been impossible for them to sell their property, on account of the extreme penury to which the province was reduced ; and if there had been men able to purchase, they would have hesitated to invest their money in so insecure a manner; for, these sales might perhaps have been set aside, on the ground that they were not made in good faith, but, in collusion, only to protect traitors, and to defraud the Spanish treasury of what confiscation would have brought into its coffers. The leaders of the
REACTION IN FAVOR OF THE SPANISH OFFICERS. 281
insurrection, therefore, recoiled from the idea of break- ing the ties which bound them to Louisiana, where some of them were born, and where the rest had passed the greater portion of their lives; and they turned away from the dire prospect of dragging, in poverty, with their families, the miserable existence of exiles in foreign lands. Besides, many among them flattered themselves that a prompt and entire submission on their part, coupled with assurances of repentance, would secure pardon and safety.
In proportion as all ideas of resistance were gradual- ly abandoned, and as the schemes of the authors of the revolution were successively demonstrated to be imprac- ticable, Loyola, Gayarre, and Navarro, had seen the circle of their friends increasing, and their own importance rising in the colony. It was supposed that, from their having gone through all the phases of the revolution, and from their official position, they might exercise great influence on the determination, which the Spanish government might subsequently take, and it is very natural that a propitiation of their favor should have been sought by those who trembled for their lives, or for the safety of the objects they loved. These three Spanish officers were men capable of sympathiz- ing with the deep anxieties which they saw, and they became painfully affected by the direct and indirect appeals, which were repeatedly made to their feelings. Not knowing what their government intended to do, and careful not to commit themselves to any course of action in their official capacity, they were obliged to act with a considerable degree of caution, imposed upon them by the peculiar circumstances under which they were placed, and they had to confine themselves to mere assurances, as to their personal feelings and wishes, and as to the expectations to be formed from
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ARRIVAL OF O'REILLY.
the well-known clemency, which was a distinguished feature in the character of Charles III.
Thus matters stood, when, on the morning of the 24th of July, 1769, the whole town of New Orleans was thrown into violent commotion, by the news that a formidable Spanish fleet had made its appearance at the Balize, that General O'Reilly was the officer whom the court of Madrid had appointed to take possession of Louisiana, and that he brought with him such large forces, that any attempt at resistance would be prepos- terous. Marquis, however, stuck a white cockade in his hat, and appeared on the public square, where he . made ineffectual efforts to persuade the people to oppose the landing of the Spaniards. Only one hundred men joined him, and set up the white cockade of France. Petit made his appearance with a pair of pistols in his hands, spoke with the most passionate violence against the Spaniards, whom, he said, the colonists were bound to fight to the last, and declared himself ready to blow out the brains of every coward that would not co-operate in that holy war. But they both soon retired, when they found out that their words met with no sympathizing echo, and that theirs was the voice in the wilderness.
Seeing the hopelessness of their condition, the leaders of the insurgents became greatly alarmed, on being convinced that they could not even make a show of resistance, so as perhaps to secure favorable terms of capitulation ; and, being humbled by the desperate state to which they were reduced, presented themselves before Aubry, to ask for his advice and protection. They were evidently thrown into dismay, by the magni- tude of the armament which had been fitted out against them, and put under the direction of one of the most skilful generals of Europe. Aubry did all he could to
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THE CAREER OF O'REILLY.
cheer and encourage them; he expressed the belief that General O'Reilly could not possibly come with the intention of carrying terror and desolation through the land, and he observed that, no blood having been spilt, it was to be hoped that the colonists, if they submitted promptly, would not in vain trust to the good heart and clemency of his Catholic Majesty. He also promised that he would make them acquainted with O'Reilly's intentions, as soon as he should be informed of them. In the mean time, he ordered them to remain quiet, and they took the engagement to obey his instructions. Then, without loss of time, Aubry despatched an officer to the German Coast, to tranquillize its inhabit- ants, and to command them, in the name of the King, not to stir, under the penalty of being punished as rebels.
The Spanish general, whose arrival was soon to be expected, was born in Ireland,* about the year 1735. He was a Catholic, and following the example of many of his countrymen who belonged to that creed, and who, on that account, labored under many disabilities in their · native country, he sought to better his fortunes by enlisting in the armies of one of the continental powers. For this purpose, Alexander O'Reilly went to Spain, when very young, and entered the service of the Spanish nation, by joining a body of Irishmen known under the name of the Hibernia regiment. In the war to which gave rise the pretensions of the different princes of Europe to the Austrian succession, on the death of the emperor Charles VI., who left no other lineal descendant than Maria Theresa, O'Reilly served with distinction in Italy, and received a wound which lamed him for the remnant of his days. In 1757, he obtained permission to enter the Austrian army, and, under the orders of his countryman, Field-marshal de
* Biographie universelle de Michaud.
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THE CAREER OF O'REILLY.
Lascy, he made two campaigns against the Prussians. In 1759, he volunteered in the armies of France, and distinguished himself so much, that the Marshal Duke of Broglie warmly recommended him to the King of Spain, when he returned to that country. This recommenda- tion procured for O'Reilly the grade of Lieutenant- colonel, and, as such, he served in Portugal with the Spaniards, against the Portuguese assisted by the English. This war was not glorious for Spain; but O'Reilly obtained great reputation at the head of a body of light troops, which had been intrusted to his com- mand. Even at that time, he was reputed one of the best officers in the Spanish armies. Hence he soon rose to the rank of Brigadier-General, and the post of drilling adjutant was created for him. It was in the discharge of these functions, that he taught the Spanish troops the German manœuvres and tactics. On the conclusion of the peace treaty signed at Fontainebleau, in 1762, which restored Havana to Spain, he was raised to the rank of Major-General, and sent to that city, where he was to be the second in command. He re-established the fortifications of the island of Cuba, and particularly of Havana, which had been ruined by the English, and returned to Spain, where he was appointed Inspector- General of the king's infantry; and Charles III. paid him the compliment of honoring with his presence the operations of a manœuvring camp, of which he gave him the command. He was next sent to New Orleans, in '1769, where I shall have to relate in details the part which he acted. In 1765, General O'Reilly, by his presence of mind, the rapidity of his movements, and his cool intrepidity, had had the good luck to save the King's life in the famous Madrid insurrection, which forced the sovereign to fly to Aranjuez. From that time, he continued to rise in the favor of a monarch,
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THE CAREER OF O'REILLY.
who was well known for the persevering and extraordi- nary gratitude which he always cherished for all services rendered to his person. Although O'Reilly, as a foreigner, had excited antipathies and jealousies, which threw many impediments in his way, yet his merits could not but be acknowledged, and it was admitted that the Spanish armies were indebted to him for many useful reforms and marked improvements. He was made a Count, and his breast glittered with military decorations.
In 1774, he was given the command of the great expedition, which Spain undertook against Algiers, and which was composed of forty ships of the line, three hundred and fifty transports, and thirty thousand men ; but this immense convoy did not arrive in time; and O'Reilly not receiving, when wanted, the flat boats which had been prepared to facilitate a simultaneous landing of the whole of his forces, and after having waited fifteen days, in daily danger of running his ves- sels aground, was obliged to resort to a partial landing of his troops, and put out a body of ten thousand men, commanded by the Marquis of La Romana. This corps had been ordered so to establish itself on the shore, as to protect the landing of the rest of the army. But La Romana, carried away by his own impetuosity and by that of his men, pursued the vanguard of the enemy to a point in the interior, where he had to con- tend with very superior numbers, intrenched behind fig trees and hedges of nopals. The Spanish troops fought with undaunted courage, and lost four thousand men, with their chief La Romana. During that time, the rest of the army was landing; but this first check had demoralized the troops ; the reluctance which they had to serve under a foreigner, was fast ripening into a spirit of sedition ; it was maliciously circulated that O'Reilly
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THE CAREER OF O'REILLY.
had sacrificed La Romana, of whom he was said to be jealous ; and he discovered that he no longer had at his command the proper elements to secure success. Under these circumstances, he found it necessary to return to his ships, and he went back to Spain with much grief at the frustration of his hopes. His only consolation was, that the plan of attack he had con- ceived, was approved by all the judges of military art, and that the bravery he had displayed was much admired. His enemies themselves admitted, that he had shown himself wherever there was most danger, during the engagement with the Algerines, that he had exposed his person with the utmost recklessness, and that the horse he mounted had received two wounds. The unfortunate result of this expedition lowered him, however, in the estimation of the Spanish nation; but the King remained true to him and put him at the head of a military school, lately established. He was after- wards appointed Commander-general of the province of Andalusia and governor of Cadix, where he exhibited all the talents of a great administrator. But, at the death
of Charles III., in December, 1788, he fell into com- plete disfavor, and lived in absolute retirement in the province of · Catalonia. His name had, nevertheless,
retained considerable influence in the Spanish armies ; and, after the death of General Ricardos, in 1794, he was thought to be the most skilful general to be opposed to the French. He was therefore appointed to the com- mand of the army of the East Pyrenees, and he was on his way to his destination, when he died suddenly at an advanced agc. His descendants now reside in the
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