p576  Chapter X
Salcedo's Administration
1801 to 1803

I have endeavored, in the two preceding chapters, to relate with fidelity, and with as much condensation as the nature of the subject would admit, all the transactions relative to Louisiana, which, in 1802 and 1803, had occurred in the United States, France and Spain. I shall now call the attention of the reader to the events which, in the meantime, had happened in the colony itself, and those which were the result of the transactions I have recorded. Thus, on the 26th of November, 1802, the Marquis de Casa Irujo, the Minister of Spain at Washington, had written to the Intendant, Morales, and represented to him the fatal consequences of his having closed the port of New Orleans to the Americans as a place of deposit, and of his having refused them the free navigation of the Mississippi, "giving," said the Minister, "to the citizens​1 of the United States good cause for claiming indemnities in return for the serious damages which their commerce will inevitably suffer." On the 15th of January, 1803, Morales answered with some tartness: "That the orders alluded to by the  p577 Minister emanated solely from the Intendancy, and had been issued notwithstanding the opposition of the Governor, with whom he, the Intendant, had, in consequence thereof, had some difficulties; and that he assumed the whole responsibility of the measure, the object of which had been to strike at the root of the infinite irregularities and abuses, which were the result of the right of deposit granted to the Americans at New Orleans."2

It appears from a despatch of the same officer, that the revenue accruing to the King's treasury, from every source in the colony, amounted, in 1802, to $121,041. "The revenue," observed the Intendant, "would have been much more considerable, if it had not been for the contraband trade carried on by the flatboats which come down the river."

On the first day of March, says Judge Martin in his History of Louisiana, the King disapproved of the order of Morales, prohibiting the introduction and deposit of goods, wares and merchandise from the United States in the port of New Orleans, and ordered that the United States should continue to enjoy their right of deposit in New Orleans, without prejudice of his right to substitute some other spot on the banks of the Mississippi.

On the 23rd of the same month, the Cabildo had completed all the preparations necessary to receive and supply with provisions the large body of troops expected with General Victor. On the next day, by the arrival of a vessel from Havre, the colonists were put in possession of the documents which gave them information of the new form of government intended for Louisiana. Its principal officers were: a Captain-General, with a salary of 70,000 francs; a Lieutenant-Captain-General,  p578 who was to command in Upper Louisiana, with a salary of 20,000 francs; two Brigadier-Generals, each with 15,000 francs a year, and two Adjutant-Commandants, with 9,000 francs each. The Colonial Prefect had a salary of 50,000 francs. Next to the Colonial Prefect in the civil department, came the Commissary of Justice.

"The captain-General​3 was commander-in‑chief of the land and naval forces, and had the care of the exterior and interior defence of the colony. He provisorily filled vacancies in military offices, according to the order of advancement, as far as the grade of chief of division or squadron (chef de division ou d'escadre), and proposed to the Minister proper persons to fill higher grades. He delivered passports, regulated the bearing of arms, and corresponded with the governors of other colonies, whether belonging to allies, neutrals or enemies. With the Colonial Prefect he regulated the works to be done on the fortifications, and the new roads to be opened; and, finally, exercised all the powers formerly granted to governors-general. He was forbidden to interfere with the attributions of the Colonial Prefect, or of the Commissary of Justice; but was authorized to require from either of them information on any matter relative to the service. Power was given him to suspend provisorily the execution of laws, in whole or in part, on his responsibility, after having consulted the Colonial Prefect, or the Commissary of Justice, according to the nature of the case.

"Copies of every deliberation were to be sent yearly to the Minister.

"Vacant lands were to be granted by the Captain-General and Colonial Prefect; but, in case of disagreement, the opinion of the former was to prevail.

 p579  "Vacancies in the departments of the Colonial Prefect and Commissary of Justice were to be filled by the Captain-General on their nomination; but no appointment was final until confirmed by the First Consul.

"In case of the absence of the Captain-General, he was to be represented by the Colonial Prefect, or by the highest military officer.

"The Colonial Prefect's powers extended to the administration of the finances, the general accountability and destination of all officers of administration. He was exclusively charged with the police of the colony, including all that related to taxes, receipts and expenditures, the Custom House, the pay of the troops, the public stores, agriculture, navigation, commerce, the census, the suppression of contraband trade, the police of slaves, highways, levees, public instruction and worship, the press, and generally all the powers formerly exercised by Intendants and ordaining Commissaries (Commissaires ordonnateurs). In the assessment of taxes he was to consult three merchants and three planters. In case of absence, he was to be represented by the officer of administration next in rank.

"The Commissary of Justice has the superintendence of all the courts of justice and their ministerial officers; he was to have an eye to the regular administration of justice, the safety and salubrity of jails as well as the conduct of officers and clerks, and was intrusted with the police of vagrants. He might preside and vote in any court of justice, he was to require monthly statements of every case tried from the President and clerks of each court, and he communicated them to the Captain-General. He was authorized to make rules for the administration of justice, and, with the consent of the Captain-General, to order them to be observed. Agents of government were not suable for any matter relating to their offices,  p580 nor could any citizen in the public service be arrested without the Commissary's fiat, and said Commissary was to give an account of his proceedings in this respect to the Minister. He was to prepare a civil and criminal code, and submit it to the Captain-General and Colonial Prefect for their examination, and transmit it, with the procès-verbal of their deliberations thereon, to the Minister." Such were the principal outlines of a government which was destined to be never carried into execution.

On the 26th of March, the Colonial Prefect Laussat arrived at New Orleans, and was received with the customary honors on such occasions, by the Spanish Governor and Intendant, round whom had assembled, for the reception of the French Dignitary, all the Clergy of New Orleans, and the principal officers of the regular troops, of the militia, and of the civil administration. The circumstance called for an address from the new ruler of the land, and he expressed those conciliating sentiments which were expected to flow of course from his lips. The French Government,​4 he said, would have but one object in view, which was the prosperity of the colony; this had been the sole aim of the French Consul in making this important acquisition; order was to be rigidly maintained; laws and customs were to be respected; treaties with the Indian nations were to be observed; and no change was intended in the public worship and in the organization of the clergy, over which the most liberal protection was to be extended. Notwithstanding the suavity of these promises, a good deal of excitement prevailed in the province, and some there were, who, considering the course pursued by the French in St. Domingo, entertained considerable fears  p581 as to the security of the tenure of a certain kind of property. Those fears were made more keen by the discovery of a conspiracy among the colored population, at the instigation and under the leader­ship of an American, named Sopper. This fact is related, and the name thus spelt, in a despatch from Morales, of the 29th of March, to the Spanish government.

"The Louisianians," says Barbé Marbois in his History of Louisiana, "had reason to fear for themselves the calamities which had been, for many years, ruining the other colonies of France. St. Domingo was the most agitated and unfortunate of all. The colonists repeated with horror, at New Orleans, these words which the First Consul had caused to be proclaimed, in his name, in the revolted colony, and which were addressed to all classes. "Inhabitants of St. Domingo, whatever may be your color or your origin, you are all free; all equal in the eyes of God and the Republic." General Leclerc, on his arrival in the colony, had said: "I promise liberty to all the inhabitants."

[. . .]

"Some of the refugee colonists of St. Domingo had brought a part of their negroes to Louisiana, and were therefore, secretly, far from desiring another removal, or participating in the views of those who had lost every thing. They easily made the Louisianians acquainted with the danger that they would incur, in case the French Republic, as the supreme Legislative power, should one day proclaim manumission and freedom in this colony [. . .] From all those disasters the Louisianians expected to be preserved, if the sovereignty of the Catholic King was not transferred to the French Republic."

If these facts had been taken into due consideration, an eye-witness, speaking of the sentiments which were  p582 manifested on the arrival and reception of Laussat, would not have been as much surprised as he was.

One of Laussat's first cares was to examine the fortifications which, eleven years before, had been erected by the Baron de Carondelet, and this is the description which he gave of them to the minister Decrès:

As to the administration of justice under the Spanish government, Laussat thus expressed his opinion in a despatch of the 24th of May:

Laussat's statement is unfortunately confirmed by a communication from Daniel Clark, the United States' consul at New Orleans, addressed in 1803 to the Department of State at Washington: "The auditor of war," said he, "and the assessors of government and intendancy, have always been corrupt; and to them only may be attributed the mal-administration of justice, as the Governor and other judges, who are unacquainted with law, seldom dare to act contrary to the opinions they give. Hence, when the auditor, or assessor, was bribed, suitors had to complain of delays and infamous decisions. All the officers plunder when the opportunity offers; they are all venal. A bargain can be made with the governor, intendant, judge, or collector, down to the constable; and if ever an officer be displeased at an offer of money, it is not at the offer or offerer, but because imperious circumstances compel him to refuse, and the offerer acquires a degree of favor which encourages him to make a second offer, when a better opportunity is presented." This is a frightful picture. That there were but too many cases of corruption seems to be true, but that it should have been systematically carried of the extent here described by Laussat and Daniel Clark, is somewhat rebutted by other testimony, and not confirmed by living witnesses of great respectability.

Immediately after his arrival, Laussat obtained from  p585 the Intendant, that French vessels, on their coming into the colony and on their going out, be put exactly on the same footing with Spanish vessels.

On the right of deposit which had been granted by the Spaniards to the Americans, Laussat said, in a despatch to his Government: "The consequence of this privilege is, that the Anglo-Americans can keep their goods and effects in deposit at New Orleans, without paying anything else than storage. So far, this deposit has been effected on the single declaration of the owners of the goods when putting them in the stores of individuals, whereby the profits of the storage accrued only to the merchants in whose hands the merchandise was placed. But the Government made nothing by it, because in an open city and in an open province like these, every sort of fraudulent importation may be safely carried on. To remedy this evil, all that is necessary is, that the goods of the Americans be deposited in the stores of the Government, out of which they would not be taken without its knowledge; or, in conformity with the right reserved by Spain to establish the place of deposit elsewhere after the expiration of a certain time, should it be required by her interests, it would be proper to designate, instead of New Orleans, the Balize, or some other untenable spot." It appears by this document that the French Prefect, Laussat, was quite as hostile to the continuation of this privilege in favor of the Americans, as the Spanish Intendant, Morales.

Struck with the necessity of increasing as soon as possible the population of the boundless province he had been sent to govern, Laussat hastened to write to Chaptal, the Minister of the Interior, that it was of the utmost importance to transmit annually to Louisiana, at least from one thousand to twelve hundred families, from the departments contiguous to Switzerland, the Rhine, or the  p586 Low Countries, "because," said he, "the emigrants from the southern provinces are good for nothing."

A few days after his arrival, Laussat had issued a proclamation in the name of the French Republic.

This document begins, says Judge Martin, in his History of Louisiana, "by stating that the separation of Louisiana from France marked in the annals of the latter one of the most shameful eras under a weak and corrupt Government, after an ignominious war and dishonorable peace. With this unnatural abandonment by the mother country, the love, loyalty, and heroic courage of the people of Louisiana formed a noble contrast, with which every heart in France was now moved, and would long preserve the remembrance of. The French still remembered that a portion of the inhabitants of Louisiana were their descendants, with the same blood running in their veins. As soon as France, by a prodigious succession of triumphs in the late revolution, had recovered her own freedom and glory, she turned her eyes towards Louisiana, the retrocession of which signalized her first peace. But the period was not yet arrived — it was necessary that a man, who is a stranger to nothing that is national, great, magnanimous or just; who, to the most distinguished talent for conquering, adds the rare one of obtaining for his conquests the happiest results, and who, by the ascendency of his character, at once strikes terror into his enemies and inspires his allies with confidence — whose expansive mind discovered at once the true interests of his country, and was bent on restoring to France her pristine grandeur and her lost possessions — should accomplish this important work.

"This man," said the Prefect, "presides over the destinies of France and Louisiana, to insure their felicity. In the latter nothing more is necessary than to improve  p587 the advantages of which nature has been so prodigal towards her.

"He observed that it was the intention of the Government to live in peace and amity with the neighboring Indians, and to protect the commerce of the colony, encourage its agriculture, people its deserts, promote labor and industry, respect property, opinions, and habits, protect public worship, preserve the empire of the laws, amend them slowly and with the light of experience only, maintain a regular police, introduce permanent order and economy in every branch of the administration, and tighten the bonds which a common origin and a similarity of manners had already established between the colony and the mother country.

"After a short eulogy of the two high magistrates with whom he was associated, and of the officers who had hitherto governed the colony under the authority of Spain, whom he said that the French officers would endeavor to imitate, he concluded with the assurance that the devotion of the people of Louisiana to the French Republic, their gratitude for those by whom they were reunited to it, and the spectacle of their prosperity, were the rewards which he aspired to, and should endeavor to deserve by a zeal which would know no limits in the fulfilment of his duties."

These were honied words indeed — promising halcyon days; but not many changes of the moon had happened since they were uttered, when the magnanimous, just and powerful government of Bonaparte, after a prodigious succession of triumphs, and after having recovered for France her freedom and glory, did exactly what had been done by the shameful, weak and corrupt government of Louis XV, after an ignominious war and dishonorable peace. Bonaparte had been as anxious to sell  p588 what he could not keep, as Louis had been to give what was an expensive encumbrance to him. There is no doubt that France, when ceding Louisiana to the United States, acted wisely for herself and beneficially for that province. But it is not the less true, that the similarity of the policy which she was compelled to pursue, with that which her representative had so bitterly censured, shows the imprudence of vituperation, particularly in connexion with any thing dependent on the political mutability of human affairs.

A large number of planters, among whom were A. Trouard, De Pain, Manuel Andry, Jacques de la Groue, Noel Perret, P. St. Martin, Louis Foucher, Charles Perret, &c., replied to Laussat's proclamation by a spirited address, in which they declared that their most ardent wish had always been to resume the glorious name of Frenchmen, and that the proclamation which announced to them that their long cherished hope was gratified had filled their souls with the delirium of extreme felicity. "But," said they, "we should be unworthy of what is to us a subject of so much pride, if we did not imitate you in the example you have given us by your expressing such generous sentiments, and if we did not acknowledge that we have no cause of complaint against the Spanish Government. We have never groaned under the iron yoke of an oppressive despotism. It is true that the time was, when our unfortunate kinsmen reddened with their blood the soil which they wished to preserve for France. A weak and unfeeling Government aimed at depriving us of that cherished possession. But the calamities which were inflicted upon us were due to the atrocious soul of a foreigner (the Irishman O'Reilly) and to an extreme breach of faith. O plaintive shades, if you still haunt the spot which witnessed your martyrdom, forget your sorrows! Your descendants, your  p589 friends, are called back to the bosom of their beloved mother. Their grateful tears will wash out the traces of the blood you have shed. Long ago, we proved to the Spaniards, in the plains of Baton Rouge, of Mobile, and Pensacola, that we did not consider them as the accomplices of those atrocities. We have become bound together by family connexions and by the bonds of friendship. Let them have the untrammelled enjoyment of all the property they may own on the soil which has become the land of freedom, and let us share with them, like brothers, the blessings of our new position."

The inhabitants of New Orleans presented also an address to Laussat. It was signed by M. Fortier, Cavalier Sr., Etienne Boré, Labatut, M. Lefebvre, G. Debuys, J. Livaudais, P. Derbigny, N. Brouin, St. Avid, E. Plauché, L. Chabot, B. Durel, A. Garidel, F. Blache, S. Hiriart, J. B. Verret, R. Ducros, and many others. It read thus:

These two addresses are very remarkable testimonials in favor of the Spanish administration in Louisiana. It is not often that departing power is greeted with such hosannas, and that the incense of public worship is offered to the setting sun.

On the 10th of April, Sebastian de Casa Calvo de la Puerta y O'Faril, Marquis de Casa Calvo, who, it will  p591 be recollected, had acted formerly as military governor of Louisiana after the death of Gayoso de Lemos, arrived from Havana, he and Salcedo having been made joint commissioners to deliver the province to France. On the 18th of May, they issued a proclamation,​6 in which they announced the intention of their sovereign to surrender the province to the French Republic, and declared that his Majesty, retaining as ever the same affection for the inhabitants of Louisiana, and desiring to continue to them the same protection which they had enjoyed, had determined:

In relation to the effect produced by his arrival and by the news of the cession of Louisiana by Spain to France, Laussat wrote to Decrès, the minister of marine, a confidential despatch, in which he said:

The ill-humor displayed in this despatch was the result of the awkward position in which Laussat found himself. The fact is, that he had discovered the ground on which he stood to be beset with difficulties, which seemed to thicken upon him as he attempted to push his way through them. The Spaniards and their adherents had no cause to be disposed to favor him and his Government, and there was a great deal of discontent  p598 among the natives of Louisiana, and even among the French, some of whom feared the doctrines of which he was supposed to be the representative, whilst others thought that he was not sufficiently progressive.​11 Besides, a furious conflict of authority had sprung up between him and the Adjutant-General Burthe, and was carried on with such animosity as to betray both parties into disgraceful acts and expressions. For instance, the Prefect Laussat, having been invited to dinner by the Marquis de Casa Calvo, and finding, on entering the saloon of the Marquis, that Burthe was one of the guests, retired abruptly, much to the astonishment and mortification of the punctilious Spaniard, who even took some offence at the Frenchman's unceremonious retreat. In illustration of General Casa Calvo's habits, turn of mind, and extreme courtesy, it may not be improper to relate here the following anecdote. One day when, in company with his private secretary, he was sauntering in the streets of New Orleans, a negro having bowed to him, he took off his hat with as much respectful courtesy as if he had been saluting an equal. Being under the impression that this had been done from sheer absence of mind, his secretary remarked with a smile; "Your Excellency did not observe that it was a negro." — "On the contrary, Sir," was the reply, "but did you think I  p599 would permit myself to be excelled in politeness by a negro!"​b

On the 28th of July, Laussat wrote to the French Government, that the rumor of a cession of Louisiana to the United States was still gaining ground in the colony, but that he had treated it as a calumnious report. But hardly had his despatch been sealed and sent, when, by the arrival of a vessel from Bordeaux, he discovered that the supposed calumny was an authentic and undeniable truth. On the 6th of June, the First Consul had appointed Laussat Commissioner on the part of France, to receive possession of the province of Louisiana and deliver it to the Commissioners to be appointed on behalf of the United States.

On the 30th of November, in consequence of the orders received, Casa Calvo, Salcedo, and Laussat, accompanied by a large retinue of the clergy and of all the civil and military officers in the employ of France and Spain, and of many other persons of distinction, met in the City Hall, where Laussat exhibited to the Spanish Commissioners an order from the King of Spain for the delivery of the colony, and his credentials from the French Government to receive it. Whereupon, the keys of New Orleans were handed to Laussat; and Salcedo and Casa Calvo declared that from this moment, according to the powers vested in them, they put the French Commissioner in possession of Louisiana and its dependencies, in all their extent, such as they were ceded by France to Spain, and such as they remained under the successive treaties made between his Catholic Majesty and other Powers. They further declared that they absolved from their oath of fidelity and allegiance to the crown of Spain, such of his Catholic Majesty's subjects in Louisiana as might choose to live under the authority of the French Republic. A record was made of these proceedings in  p600 French and Spanish,​12 and the three commissioners walked to the main balcony, when the Spanish flag was saluted by a discharge of artillery on its descent from a pole erected on the public square in front of the City Hall, and that of the French Republic greeted in the same manner on its ascent. The square was occupied by the Spanish troops and some of the militia of the colony. It was remarked that the militia had mustered up with difficulty, and did not exceed one hundred and fifty men. It was the indication of an unfavorable feeling, which had been daily gaining strength, and which Laussat attributed in his despatches to the intrigues of the Spanish authorities. Although the weather had been tempestuous in the preceding night and in the morning, and continued to be threatening, the crowd round the public square was immense, and even the very tops of the neighboring houses.

On the same day, Laussat issued this proclamation:

On that same day (30th November), the Prefect issued several decrees in relation to the organization of the government of the province. M. Garland was appointed, provisionally, Administrator-General and Director of the Custom-house, and Navailles, Treasurer. For the Spanish Cabildo were substituted a Mayor, two Adjuncts, and a Municipal Council composed of ten members. By order, the following list of officers was immediately published: Etienne Boré, Mayor; Pierre Derbigny, Secretary; Destréhan, First Adjunct; Sauvé, Second Adjunct; Livaudais, Petit Cavelier, Villeré, Johns, Fortier, Donaldson, Faurie, Allard, Tureaud, and John Watkins, members of the Municipal Council. Labatut was appointed its Treasurer. To Bellechasse was given, with the grade of Colonel, the command of the militia of New Orleans, including the companies formed by the  p606 freemen of color, and all its other officers were re-commissioned. 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 commissioned as officers of the militia, and among others, Charles Anastase Gayarré,​13 the grandson of the Royal Comptroller, or Contador, who came to the colony with Ulloa in 1766. Although it may be that he was influenced 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 office​14 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.15

"Soon after," says Monette, in his History of the Valley of the Mississippi, "the Spanish troops were withdrawn 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 nocturnal 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  p607 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 restraint 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 Americans 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 continued 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 battalion​16 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, merchants, clerks, and seamen belonging to vessels in port. The French, by their zeal, vigilance, and patriotism during their time of service, proved themselves worthy of American citizen­ship. Their services were gladly accepted,  p608 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 Laussat 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.

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,​20 who witnessed those festivities, says: "M. Laussat exhibited in brilliant entertainments, embellished 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  p617 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 Louisianian ladies, who may justly be said to be remarkable for their habitual gravity, are generally tall and exquisitely shaped; the alabaster whiteness of their complexion, 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, particularly, astonished me by its magnificence. After tea and the concert were over, the dancing were 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 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 hundred 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 entertainments, 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  p618 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 consequence of the energetic protests recently made at Washington by the Spanish Minister, in the name of his Catholic Majesty, the President​21 had ordered a part of the militia of the States of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, 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 Dogherty.º Claiborne, the Governor of Mississippi, had ordered a volunteer company of horse of that territory to be prepared to march with him on the 10th of December.

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 commissioners 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 Vinache, 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 Mississippi horse volunteers, and, on their approach, were saluted with nineteen guns. The next day, at half past  p619 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,​22 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 formed on the opposite side of the square, facing the militia.

At the City Hall, the Commissioners of the United States exhibited their powers to Laussat. The credentials were publicly read, next the treaty of cession, the powers of the French Commissioner, and finally the procès-verbal. The Prefect proclaimed the delivery of the province to the United States, handed the keys of the city to Claiborne, and declared that he absolved from their allegiance to the French Republic such of the inhabitants as might choose to pass under the new domination. "Claiborne now rose," says Judge Martin in his History of Louisiana, "and offered to the people his congratulations on the event which irrevocably fixed their political existence, and no longer left it open to the caprices of chance. He assured them that the United States received them as brothers, and would hasten to extend to them a participation in the invaluable rights forming the basis of their own unexampled prosperity, and that, in the meanwhile, the people would be protected in the enjoyment of their liberty, property  p620 and religion; that their commerce would be favored, and their agriculture encouraged. He recommended to them to promote political information in the province, and to guide the rising generation in the paths of republican energy and virtue."

The three commissioners then went to one of the balconies of the City Hall. On their making their appearance, the French flag that was floating at the top of a pole in the middle of the square came down, and the American flag went up. When they met half way, a gun was fired as a signal, and immediately the land batteries began their discharges, which were responded to by the armed vessels in the river. "A group of American citizens who stood at the corner of the square," says Judge Martin, "waved their hats, in token of respect for their country's flag, and a few of them greeted it with their voices; no emotion was manifested by any other part of the crowd. The colonists did not appear conscious that they were reaching the Latium sedes ubi fata quietas ostendunt."​c

Laussat then presented the American commissioners to the militia, and delivered to them the command of that body. Afterwards, Claiborne and Wilkinson proceeded to have all the posts and guardhouses occupied by their troops. Thus ended the French domination, if it can be so called, twenty days after it had begun. The Spanish Government had lasted thirty-four years and a few months.

On this day, when he took possession of the colony (the 20th of December, 1803), Claiborne issued the following proclamation:

The situation in which Louisiana was, when transferred to the United States, is fully described in a document​23 communicated by the President to Congress on the 14th of November. When O'Reilly took final possession of the colony in 1769, its population was about 13,000 or 14,000 souls, allowing to New Orleans 3190 souls. In 1803, it was estimated at 49,000 or 50,000 souls for the whole province, putting down New Orleans at 8000 or 10,000 souls,​24 and not including the Indians, who, scattered about on that immense territory, were not supposed to number more than 25,000 or 30,000  p623 souls. The revenues of the city of New Orleans were $19,278, its expenses hardly amounted to ten thousand dollars. The annual produce of the province was supposed​25 to consist of 3000 pounds of indigo (rapidly declining) — 20,000 bales of cotton of 300 pounds each — 5000 hogsheads of sugar of 1000 pounds each — 5000 casks of molasses of 50 gallons each. The estimate of the produce shipped from New Orleans in the year 1802, including that of the settlements on the Mississippi, Ohio, &c., did not exceed 40,000 tons. The exports were estimated at $2,158,000, and the imports at $2,500,000. The revenues accruing to the King's Treasury hardly went up, on an average, to $120,000 a year, and the expenditures of the government had gradually risen so high as to exceed $800,000 in the year 1802.

When the Spaniards took possession of the colony, there were in it seven millions of paper money issued by the French Government, then losing 75 per cent. On its retrocession to France, the paper issued and to be redeemed by the Spaniards hardly exceeded six hundred thousand dollars. "It consisted of emissions made in the early part of the Spanish administration, and of a debt due by the Government for supplies furnished to the troops and the King's stores,​26 and for salaries of officers and workmen, for which liberanzas, or certificates, were regularly issued, of which there was afloat, at the time of the cession, a sum of from four hundred and fifty to five hundred thousand dollars. They bore no interest, and were commonly to be bought at a discount of from 25 to 50 per cent. At the change of Government the discount was thirty. This depreciation was not the result of a want of confidence, or of any apprehension that the certificates would not be paid, but the  p624 consequence of the increased value of money, produced by the scarcity of it in the market."

As far as I have been able to judge, I think I may safely come to the conclusion that the ordinary and extraordinary expenses incurred by Spain in relation to Louisiana, over and above the small revenue she derived from that colony, may, without exaggeration, be put down at about fifteen millions of dollars, from the 5th of March 1766, when Ulloa landed at New Orleans, to the 30th of November, 1803, when the retrocession to France took place.

It will be recollected that, as previously related, the Marquis of Grimaldi, who was a member of the Cabinet of Madrid, had written, on the 11th of May, 1767, to the Count of Fuentes, then Ambassador of Spain at Versailles: "The Duke of Praslin (one of the French Ministers) will remember that there were doubts on our part, as to the acceptation of the donation tendered by his most Christian Majesty. But, as the same reasons which had made France believe in the necessity of the cession, prompted Spain to accept it, the King gave his assent, although it was well known that we were acquiring nothing but an annual incumbrance of two hundred and fifty to three hundred thousand dollars, in consideration of a distant and negative utility — which is — that of possessing a country to prevent its being possessed by another nation."

Thus Spain had assumed an incumbrance, which cost her in the end fifteen millions of dollars, in the vain hope of establishing a barrier between her Mexican Colonies and the danger which she foresaw was to come from the Northern Colonies of England in America. Recent events have proved how futile was the attempt to protect herself against an inevitable evil, and experience has demonstrated that the application of European  p625 treasure, blood and industry to the creation, the purchase or the conquest of colonies in America, is not destined to be a profitable investment. Spain therefore acted wisely when she at last determined to part with a possession which was a useless and expensive incumbrance to her, and which was on the eve of being wrested from her by her powerful neighbors, who, by so doing, would have obeyed rather the dictates of a stern necessity, than of an ambition yet dormant in the cradle.

Louisiana, when in its colonial state, has the honor of having produced several distinguished men, among whom following are the most remarkable:

Aubert Dubayet​27 was born in Louisiana on the 17th of August, 1759. He was the son of Adjutant-Major Aubert, one of those officers who, in 1769, were sent by Governor Aubry, at the request of General O'Reilly, to arrest the French Commissary Foucault. He entered in early life into the French army, and served in America during the war of Independence between Great Britain and the United States. He was in France at the commencement of the Revolution, and soon began to take an active part in public affairs. In 1789, he published a pamphlet against admitting the Jews to the rights of citizen­ship. But he away became one of the principal advocates for innovation, and, in 1791, was chosen a member of the Legislative Assembly, in which he acted a conspicuous part. In 1793, he resumed his military profession, and was made Governor of Mayence,º which, after an obstinate defence, he was obliged to surrender to the King of Prussia. Aubert Dubayet then commanded as General-in‑chief in La Vendée, and, being defeated at Clisson, became the object of denunciations against which he  p626 successfully defended himself. Employed again at Cherbourg, he was called by the Directory to the post of Minister of War, which he held only three months, when he was appointed Minister of the Republic at Constantinople, where he closed a life of active service, on the 17th of December, 1797, at the age of thirty-seven.​d

Etienne Bernard Alexandre Viel, a learned Jesuit, was born in New Orleans, on the 31st of October, 1736, and died on the 16th of December, 1821, at the college of Juilly, in France, where he had been educated, and where, in his turn, he had devoted himself to the education of youth, after having resided many years in Attakapas, where he made himself beloved by all the inhabitants. He is known in the erudite world by a very beautiful translation, in Latin verse, of Fénelon's Telemachus, also by some little poems in Latin verse which he offered to the public, in 1816, under the title of "Miscellanea Latino-Gallica," and by an excellent French translation of the Ars Poetica, and of two of Horace's epistles.

Jean Jacques Audubon, the celebrated naturalist, was born near New Orleans, in 1780, and died in the State of New York, in 1851, bequeathing to posterity those works which have already acquired for him an immortal fame.

Bronier de Clouet, born in Louisiana, about the year 1764, entered the Spanish army in early life, rose to the grade of Brigadier-General, was for some time Governor of the province of Hagua in the island of Cuba, was created Count de la Fernandina de Hagua, and had just been raised to the Senate by Queen Isabella II, when he died in Madrid, lately, in his eighty-fourth year.

Daunoy, or rather D'Aunoy, was born in New Orleans, about the year 1775. Having become a Spanish officer, he rose by degrees to the grade of Lieutenant-General after having greatly distinguished himself against the  p627 French in the Peninsular war. He died at an age when he was still capable of rendering more services to the Spanish monarchy.

Joseph Villamil, who was born in New Orleans in 1789, took a part in the war of independence waged by the South American provinces, fought his way to celebrity and to the grade of General, and has lately been appointed Chargé d'Affaires by the Republic of Ecuador near the government of the United States.​e

Many other Louisianians, although having made themselves less conspicuous, rose to honorable distinction in the service of France, Spain and other powers; and the number of those who thus distinguished themselves becomes remarkable, when taken in connexion with the smallness of the colonial population from which they sprang.

In conclusion, I must call the attention of the reader to a singular anomaly — which is — that, with all the foul abuses and tyrannical practices with which it has been so long the general custom to reproach the government of Spain every where, her administration in Louisiana was as popular as any that ever existed in any part of the world; and I am persuaded that I can rely on the unanimous support of my contemporaries when I declare, that they scarcely ever met in Louisiana an individual, old enough to have lived under the Spanish government in the colony and judged of its bearing on the happiness of the people, who did not speak of it with affectionate respect, and describe those days of colonial rule as the golden age, which, with many, was the object of secret, and with others, of open regrets. Such a government would, of course, have been insupportable to us, but it is not hence to be inferred that it did not suit the tastes and feelings, and deserve the gratitude of our ancestors.

Thus ends the Colonial History of Louisiana. I have attempted to write it faithfully, accurately and impartially,  p628 with an unabating love for truth, and with an unselfish desire of serving in this way, if not in any other, the country to which I am bound by so many ties — not only by birth, education and habit, but also by so many endearing recollections of the past, and even so many family associations and traditions, which, for me, clothe with the charm almost of private interest the relation of public events in Louisiana.

---

The Author's Notes:

1 Dando á los ciudadanos de los Estados Unidos lugar á reclamaciones de indemnizacion por los graves perjuicios que indispensablemente han de recibir en su comercio.

2 Que el (El intendente) habia tomado aquella medida y aceptaba para si solo la responsabilidad, deseando cortar de raiz los infinitos obstaculos y abusos que resultaban del dicho deposito.

3 Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. II, p182.

4 Martin's History of Louisiana.

5 Barbé Marbois's History of Louisiana.

6 Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. II, p188.

7 Laussat's despatch is not in accordance, on this point, with other reports.

8 Lettre confidentielle de Laussat à Decrès en date du 30 Messidor.

9 This affair, with other causes, gave rise to so serious a feud between the influential families of De Clouet, De Blanc, and others, that it almost threatened to produce a civil war in that district, and it became of sufficient importance to compel Governor Claiborne to go and quiet it in person, in 1804.

10 Ce misérable Burthe, etc, (one of the French Adjutants-General.)

11 A certain individual, named Fretté, who was notorious for the mad exaltation of his red republicanism, called on Laussat, a short time after the arrival of that functionary in the colony. Fretté burst into the Prefect's apartment with all the confidence derived from his faith in the doctrine that all men are born to fraternize on terms of equality, and addressed him in this familiar tone: "Citizen, I come to tell thee that we, the jacobins of New Orleans, have resolved," &c. &c., — "Who is this fool?" exclaimed Laussat, interrupting the intruder and looking at his secretary Daugerot, to whom he was dictating at the time. Without replying, Daugerot quietly got up from his seat, whispered a few words to some attendants in the next room, and citizen Fretté was much horrified at the expedition with which he was thrust out of the presence of the representative of the French Republic. This gave great offence to the progressists.

12 Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. II, p195.

13 The Author's father.

14 Official de contadoria.

15 Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. II, p197.

16 The battalion of volunteers was formed at the instance of the following gentlemen, then resident in New Orleans: George Martin, since parish judge of St. Landry, Colonel Reuben Kemper, George King, George Newman, Benjamin Morgan, 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, p561.

17 The "Mousquetaires" were privileged companies in the King's household troops, each private having the rank of Captain, and every Captain the rank of (p610)Lieutenant-General. To enter this corps it was necessary to prove gentle birth.

18 On the contrary, that body was generally composed of respectable citizens. (p611)But Laussat was an excitable and prejudiced man, looking at every thing Spanish with the informed eye of passion.

19 The cession was effected on Wednesday, the 30th of November.

20 Voyages dans l'intérieur de la Louisiane par C. C. Robin.

21 Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. II, p197.

22 Laussat's despatches.

23 American State Papers, vol. I, p344. Miscellaneous.

24 It is believed that the population was underrated, and that, to set it down at 60,000 souls would be a closer approximation to truth. Some contemporaries who are entitled to much credit even think that the population was considerably larger.

25 Martin's History.

26 Ib., vol. II, p211.

27 Gorton's Biographical Directory.

---

Thayer's Notes:

a Not a misspelling, but, as the despatch hints, a barbed joke. Caracol is the Spanish word for "snail"; I'd lay 10‑to‑1 odds that this "typo" is what the Marquis got for having been too slow and thus failing to prevent the massacre of Europeans.

b The same story is told of Father Charles Nerinckx, a Kentucky pioneer, in 1811 (Maes, Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx, p233).

c Vergil, Aeneid I.205: "Latium; where the Fates reveal (our) blessed dwelling-places." I.e., Louisianians had finally arrived in the Promised Land.

d Sic. By Gayarré's own reckoning, that should have made him thirty-eight. According to a biographical capsule at the French National Archives, though, Dubayet died at age 40: he was born on August 14, 1757 and died on December 7, 1797 of a "malignant fever".

e José Villamil's principal claim to fame is now usually considered to be that in 1832 he was the first to establish a settlement in the Galapagos Islands, thus claiming them for Ecuador, whose territory they are today.

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