USA > Louisiana > The history of Louisiana : from the earliest period, Volume I > Part 29
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Thus beggared, these people were, in small num- bers and at different periods, cast on the sandy shores of the southern provinces, among a people of whose language they were ignorant and who knew not theirs, whose manners and education were different from their own, whose religion they abhorred and who were rendered odious to them, as the friends and countrymen of those who had so cruelly treated them, and whom they considered as a less savage foe, than he who wields the tomahawk and the scalping knife.
It is due to the descendants.of the British colonists, to say that their sires received with humanity, kind. ness and hospitality those who so severely smarted under the calamities of war. In every province, the humane example of the legislature of Pennsylvania. was followed, and the colonial treasury was opened
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to relieve the sufferers ; and private charity was not outdone by the public. Yet, but afew accepted the .profered relief and sat down on the land that was offered them.
The others fled westerly, from what appeared to them a hostile shore-wandering till they found themselves out of sight of any who spoke the English language. They crossed the mighty spine and winter- ed among the Indians. The scattered parties, thrown off on the coast of every colony from Pennsylvania to Georgia, united. and trusting themselves to the wes- tern waters, sought the land on which the spotless ban- ner waved, and the waves of the Mississippi brought them to New Orleans.
The levee and square of that city presented, on their arrival, a spectacle not unlike that they offered, about a quarter of a century before, on the landing of the women and children snatched from the hands of the Natchez. Like these, the Acadians were greet- ed with tenderness and hospitality ; every house in the city afforded a shelter to some of these unfortu- nate people. Charity burst open the door of the clois- ter, and the nuns ministered with profusion and cheer- fulness to the wants of the unprotected of their sex.
Kerlerec and Auberville allotted a tract of land to each family : they were supplied with farmning uten- sils at the king's expense, and during the first year the same rations were distributed to them out of the king's stores, as to the troops. They settled above the Ger- man coast, on both sides of the Mississippi, and in course of time their plantations connected the latter settlement with that of Baton Rouge and Pointe Cou- pee. It is, at this day, known by the appellation of the Acadian coast.
In the meanwhile, the British, under general Brad- dock, made on fort Duquesne an unsuccessful attack.
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in which the commander lost his life. Governor Shir- . ley of Massachusetts failed also in an attack against the fort of the French at Niagara, and in his advance to lake Ontario. Colonel Johnson of New York made likewise a vain attempt against Crown point on lake Champlain.
Although there had been no actual declaration of war between France and Great Britain, both govern- ments had granted letters of marque, and sent consi- derable forces to North America.
The Baron de Dieskau, at the head of a small force marched against the British post at Oswego, but was overpowered and defeated.
At last, on the seventeenth of May, George the first 4 published his declaration of war.
This document sets forth, that the injurious pro- ceedings of the French, in the West Indies and North America since the peace of Aix la Chapelle, and their usurpations and encroachments in the Western he- misphere, had been so frequent and notorious, that they manifested a settled design, and undeviating re- solution of invariably prosecuting the most efficacious measures for the advancement of their ambitious views, without any regard for the most solemn en- gagements and treaties.
The King urges that his frequent and serious re- presentations to the cabinet of Versailles, on these reiterated acts of violence, and his endeavours to ob- tain satisfaction and reparation for the injuries sus- .. 'tained by his subjects, and to guard against the re- currence of similar causes of complaint, have produ- ced nothing but assurances that every thing should be settled according to existing treaties, and particular. 'ly that the evacuation of the four neutral islands should be effected, as had been expressly promised to the British ambassador. Yet, the execution of
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this promise and the clause of the treaty on which it was grounded had been eluded, on the most frivolous pretences ; and the illicit practices of the French go- vernment and its officers had been carried to such a degree, that in April 1754, they broke out into open hostilities; and in a moment of profound peace, with. out any previous remonstrance, a body of French troops openly attacked and captured a British fort on one of the branches of the Ohio.
Hostilities on the Ohio, as we have seen, had been commenced, by the attack of major Washington on the party commanded by Jumonville, in which the latter fell, and the march of Villiers against Fort Ne- cessity was only a matter of retaliation.
It is said, in the manifesto, that notwithstanding this act of hostility, which could only be considered as a signal for war, so sincere was the desire of the king to remain at peace, and so sanguine his hope that the French monarch would disown this act of violence and injustice, that he contented himself with sending over to America such forces only as were necessary to the immediate defence of his subjects, and their protection against new insults or attacks. But, in the mean while, a great naval armament was made in France, and a considerable number of troops were sent to Canada; and 'although the ambassador of France gave the most specious promises of the spee- dy arrangement of all existing differences, the real design of his court was to gain time, in order that such reinforcements might reach the armies of France in the new world, as would insure superiority, and ena- ble their prince to execute his unjust and ambitious projects. The king complains that the measures, which were required from him by the necessity of preventing the landing of the French troops in Ame- rica, were followed by the departure of the Frencham-
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bassador, the fortifying of Dunkirk, and the gathering of a considerable number of armed men on the coast of France, threatening his subjects with an invasion.
He declares that, in order to avert the impending calamity, and provide for the safety of his kingdom, he was compelled to give orders for the seizure of Frenchvessels. Yet, unwilling to forego the hope, or to throw difficulty in the way, of an amicable adjust. ment, he had expressly commanded, that the cargoes of these vessels should remain in a state of sequestra- tion. But, the actual invasion of the island of Minor- ca evinced the determination of the French cabinet not to lend its ear to any amicable proposition, but to prosecute the war it had begun, with the utmost vio- lence, and compel him to abandon the system of mo- deration, in which he had so long persisted.
Vast preparations were made, under the directions of the Earl of Loudoun, who had succeeded General Abercrombie in the chief command of the king's for- ces in North America. A considerable number of troops were raised in the New England provinces, and - in those of New York and Pennsylvania, and lesser bodies were procured in the southern provinces for the campaign of the next year.
In the meanwhile, the Marquis de Montcalm had arrived in Canada and taken the command of the for- ces of France.
The earl, notwithstanding his great preparations, did not strike any blow-the marquis with far less means was more successful. In the month of August, he made himself master of Fort Oswego: this post,. situated at the mouth of Onondago river, commanded a commodious harbour on lake Ontario. It had been erected by Governor Shirley, with a view to the pro- tection of the country of the five nations, the security of the fur trade, the obstruction of the communica-
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tion between the French establishments, and to open a way for the British forces to Niagara and Fort Frontenac. Montcalm's military means not allowing him to keep it, he ordered the British fort to be razed, and told the Indians, his views were not hostile to them-he came into the country for their protection : he wished no strong house to keep them in awe : his nation desired only to live in peace, trade with them and protect them against their enemies, who were those of the French.
The marquis met with an equal success in the at- tack of Fort William Henry on lake Champlain, which surrendered in the beginning of August.
This year, Auberville died and was succeeded in the office of commissary ordonnateur of Louisiana by Bobé Descloseaux.
The tide of events turned against France in the following year. The British took the islands of Cape Breton and St. John, and razed Fort Frontenac on lake Ontario, during the summer. In the fall gene. ral Forbes marched against Fort Duquesne; the . French commander, finding himself unable to defend it, embarked his artillery and ammunition, sat fire to the buildings and evacuated it. In the latter part of November, the garrison floated down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans.
In their way, they stopped and built a fort, on the right bank of the former stream, not far from the place at which it falls into the latter. It was called Fort Massac, after the officer, who was left to attend to its erection and to command it.
On the arrival of the forces from Fort Duquesne at New Orleans, new buildings were required for the accommodation of the troops, and Kerlerec began the barracks in the lower part of the city.
Although the essay, which the Jesuits had made
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in 1751, to naturalise the sugar cane in Louisi- ana. had been successful, the culture of it, on a large scale, was not attempted till this year, when Dubreuil erected a mill for the manufacture of sugar, on his plantation, immediately adjoining the lower part of New Orleans -- the spot now covered by the suburb Marigny.
Kerlerec, having been directed to have the part of the province, around lake Barataria and along the sea shore, west of the Mississippi, explored, Marigny de Mandeville, a son of the late commandant of Fort Conde of Mobile, made an accurate map of the south- westernpart of the province.
Overtures towards negociation were made by the cabinet of Versailles, to that of St. James, through the channel of the Danish ambassador in London.
Rochemore, who had been appointed commissary ordonnateur. arrived early in the following year. Soon after bis landing, an unfortunate misunderstanding, between him and Kerlerec, disturbed greatly the tran- quillity of the colony. It was then the practice of government to send large quantities of goods, for the Indian trade : they were entrusted to the officers sent in command to the distant posts, to whom they furnished the means of considerably increasing their fortunes. The ordonnateur, who had the disposal of these, found in it an opportunity of attaching those officers to his party, which the governor complain- ed, he did not neglect. Each of these chiefs imagin- ed he had grounds of recrimination against the other ; a considerable degree of irritation was excited, and a circumstance of no great moment brought matters to a crisis.
Diaz Anna, a Jew from Jamaica, came to New Or- leans, on a trading voyage. We have seen that by an edict of the month of March 1724, that of Louis
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the thirteenth, of the 13th of April, 1615, had been extended to Louisiana. The latter edict declared that Jews, as enemies of the christian name, should not be allowed to reside in Louisiana; and, if they staid in spite of the edict, their bodies and goods should be confiscated: Rochemore had the vessel of the Israelite and her cargo seized. Kerlerec sent soldiers to drive away the guard put on board the vessel, and had her restored to the Jew. Imagining he had gone too far to stop there, he had Belot, Rochemore's secretary, and Marigny de Mandeville, de Lahoupe, Bossu and some other officers, whom he- suspected to have joined the ordonnateur's party, ar- rested, and a few days after shipped them for France. He entrusted Grandmaison, an officer who having obtained a furlough had taken his passage in the ves- sel, on board of which these persons were placed, with his despatches for the minister, containing the reasons which, in his opinion, justified this violent measure.
As the vessel approached the coast of France, she was driven by a storm on that of Spain and entered the port of St. Sebastian. Grandmaison, according to Kerlerec's instructions, went to deposit the des- patches in the hands of the consul of France. Belot and his companions in misfortune accompanied the messenger to the consulate. The despatches being delivered were placed on a table, from which it is supposed they were purloined by one of the consul's visitors, while he was attending on the others, whose attention had been drawn to some fine engravings on the walls of the apartment.
On their arrival in Paris, Belot and his associates filled the court with their complaints of Kerlerec's ar- bitrary, proceedings. He was, universally blamed.
During the summer, the most rapid success atten-
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ded the British forces in Canada. They possessed themselves of Ticonderoga on the 22d of July. of Crown point, in the beginning of August, of Niagara on the 24th, and of Quebec on the eighteenth of Sep- tember.
In the following year, they found themselves mas: ters of all Canada, by the reduction of Montreal.
On the eleventh of August, Ferdinand the sixth of Spain died, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, without issue. He was succeeded by Charles the third, his brother, then king of Naples, the third son of Philip the fifth, who wielded the Spanish sceptre.
George the second of Great Britain ended his life, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years; on the twenty-fifth of October; he was succeeded by George the third, his grandson.
On the fall of Canada, a number of the colonists, unwilling to live under their conquerors, sought the warm clime over which the spotless banner still waved; most of them settled in the neighbourhood of the Acadians. Others of a more roving disposition crossed the lakes that separate the right bank of the Mississippi from the western prairies and began the settlements of Attakapas, Opelousas and Avo- yelles.
The province was at this time inundated by a flood of paper money. The administration, for several years past, had paid in due bills all the supplies they had obtained, and they had been suffered to accu- malate to an immense amount. A consequent depre- ciation had left them almost without any value. This had been occasioned, in a great degree, by a belief that the officers who had put these securities atloat. had, at times, attended more to their own, than to the public interest, and that the French government, on the discovery of this, would not perhaps be found rea-
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dy to indemnify the holders against the misconduct of its agents. With a view, however, to prepare the way for the redemption of the paper, the colonial treasurer was directed to receive all that might be presented, and to give in its stead certificates, in order that the extent of the evil being known, the remedy might be applied.
The disastrous situation of the marine of France precluding the hope of recovering any part of her lost territory, in America, the Duke of Choiseuil, who, without the title, exercised the functions of prime minister, made an attempt at negociation with Great Britain. The conferences began on the twenty-eighth of March, but were closed soon after without success. Disappointed in this quarter, he formed the plan of joining the marine of Spain to that of France, and this was the end of the family compact, which was signed at Paris, on the fifteenth of August.
The avowed object of this arrangement was to give permanence and inviolability to the obligations result. ing from the friendship and consanguinity of the sover- eigns of France and Spain, and to rear up a solemn monument ofthe reciprocal interest which was the ob- ject of their wishes, and insure the continuance of the prosperity of their royal family.
They agree to consider, in future, any power at war with either of them, as a common enemy, they recip- rocally guarantee to each other his respective domin- ions, in every part of the world ; but, it is expressly stated that this guarantee is to have no other object, than the respective dominions of each crown, as they may exist at the first period of peace, with the other powers.
A like guarantee is to be extended to the King of the two Sicilies and the Duke of Parma, on their res- pective accession to the compact.
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Although the mutual guarantee is to be supported with all the forces of the parties, they stipulate that the first succour to be furnished is to consist of a given number of ships, horse and foot.
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The wars, which the French king may be engaged in, in consequence of his engagements, at the treaty of Westphalia, or his alliances with German princes, are exempted from the compact, unless a maritime power takes part in them, or his dominions are at- tacked.
The stipulated succour is to be considered as the minimum of what the required party is' bound to do ; and it is the understanding of the parties, that on a declaration of war against either, it is to be considered as common to the other. They shall jointly exert all their means : and arrangements will be made, relative to a common plan and the respec- tive, efforts of the parties, according to circum- stances.
No proposition of peace from the common enemy shall be listened to, without the joint consent of each party, who in peace and in war, shall consider the interest of the other as his own : all losses and ad- vantages are to be compensated and the two parties are to act, as if they formed but one.
The king of Spain stipulates for that of the two Sicilies and engages to procure his accession to the compact.
The droit d'aubaine is abolished, in favour of the subjects of the parties, and they are to enjoy the ad- vantages and immunities of national subjects.
The powers, with whom either party may make a treaty, shall be informed that these advantages and immunities are not to be extended to others.
At the close of the year, Rochmore went over to France. His conduct was approved by the minister,
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and orders were sent to Kerlerec, on the following year, to return and give an account of his : Foucault was sent to succeed Rochmore.
Early the next year, the sovereigns of Great Britain and Spain published formal declarations of war against each other. The success of the British arms, in the West Indies, were as rapid and brilliant, as they had been in Canada, in 1759. Martinico, Gren- ada, St. Lucia and all the other Caribee islands were conquered from France, and the city of Havana from Spain.
On the third of November, a secret treaty was signed at Paris, between the French and Spanish king, by which the former ceded to the latter the part of the province of Louisiana, which lies on the western side of the Mississippi, with the city of New Orleans and the island on which it stands.
The war between Great Britain, France and Spain was terminated by the treaty of Paris, on the sixteenth of February of the following year.
Marshal, Vergennes, Bossu, Archives, Gazettes.
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CHAPTER XIV.
Treaty of Paris .- East and West Florida .- Governor Johnston .- Pensacola .- Mobile and Fort Toulouse .- " Indian allies of. the French .- d' Abadie .- Major Loftus. -Baton Rouge .- Natchez .- Feliciana .- Manshac .- Petit Manshac .- The king's letter .- Consternation of the colonists .- General meeting .- Public securities .- Jean Milhet .- Sugar planters .- Dissentions in the Bri- tish provinces .- Aubry .- Pirates in the West India seas. -Madame Desnoyers .- Ulloa .- Introduction of Afri- can negroes .- Census .- Fort Bute .- A Peruvian la- dy .- Spanish troops .- New forts .- Great cold .- Ge- neral meeting .- Petition to the council .- Thoughts of resistance .- Aid asked from Governor Elliot .- Decree of the council .- Ulloa embarks .- The cables of the ship he was in cut .-- General meeting .- A deputation to France .- Spanish troops destined for Louisiana arrive at the Havana .- Urissa .- Ill success of the deputation .- Edict relating to paper securities .- Alternate hopes and fears .- A Spanish fleet arrives at the Balize .- O' Reil- ly's message .- Town meeting .- A deputation is sent .- The fears of the inhabitants subside .- The Spanish fleet reaches New Orleans .-- O' Reilly lands and takes posses- sion.
BY the treaty of Paris, the king of France renoun- ced his pretentions to Nova Scotia or Acadie, and guaranteed the whole of it, with its dependencies, to the king of Great Britain ; to whom he ceded and gua- ranteed in full right Canada. with all its dependen- cies, as well as the island of Cape Breton and all the other islands and coasts, in the river and gulf of St. Lawrence.
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The limits, between the French and British posses- sions in North America, are fixed irrevocably by a line drawn along the middle of the river Mississippi, from its source to the river Iberville ; and from thence by a line in the middle of that stream and lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the sea.
The king of France cedes to that of Great Britain the river and port of Mobile, and every thing posses- sed by him on the left side of the river Mississippi, ex- cept the town of New Orleans and the island on which it stands.
The navigation of the Mississippi is declared free to the subjects of either sovereign, in its whole breadth and length, from its source to the sea; and it is ex- pressly stipulated that vessels belonging to subjects of either, shall not be stopped, visited, or subject to any duty.
The British king promises to allow the inhabitants of Canada. the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, and to give the most precise and effective orders that his new Roman Catholic subjects may ex- ercise their religion, according to its rites, in as much as is permitted by the laws of Great Britain.
Eighteen months are allowed to the inhabitants to sell their property to British subjects, and withdraw wherever they please.
The same rights are granted to the inhabitants of the ceded part of Louisiana.
The king of Spain cedes to that of Great Britain the province of Florida with the fort of St. Augustine and the bay of Pensacola, as well as all the country he possesses on the continent of North America, to the east and southeast of the river Mississippi.
We have seen that all the part of Louisiana, not ce- ded to Great Britain, had already been yielded to
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Spain : so that France did not retain one inch of ground in North America.
The conquered islands were restored to France and Spain.
The island of Grenada and its dependencies were ceded by the king of France to that of Great Britain.
The islands, called neutrals were divided, but not equally; those of St. Vincent, Dominica and Tobago, being yielded to Great Britain, and that of St. Lucia to France.
Clement the thirteenth having expelled the Jesuits from the dominions of the kings of France, Spain and Naples, these monks were now driven from Louisia- na, and in the month of July their property, near New Orleans, was taken into the king's hands and sold, un- der a decree of the superior council. It produced about one hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
On the seventh of October, 1763, the king of Great Britain divided his acquisitions in North America in- . to three distinct governments; those of Quebec, and East and West Florida.
All the coast from the river St. John to Hudson's streights, with the islands of Anticosti and Madeleine, and all other small islands on that coast, were put un- der the care and inspection of the government of. New Foundland.
The islands of St. John, Cape Breton, with the les- ser ones adjacent thereto, were annexed to the pro- vince of Nova Scotia.
The land between the rivers St. Mary and Alta- maha was annexed to the province of Georgia.
The part of the territory acquired from Spain, ad- joining Louisiana, was erected into a separate pro. vince, called West Florida : it was bounded on the .. south by the gulf of Mexico, including all islands within six leagues of the sea coast from the river Apa-
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lachicola to lake Pontchartrain-on the west by that lake, lake Maurepas and the river Mississippi-on the north, by a line drawn due east from a point in the middle of that river, in the thirty.first degree of northern latitude to the river Apalachicola or Cata- houche, and to the east by that river.
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