From the commencement of the city of New Orleans up to the time of the
“Seven Years War,” which is now always spoken of as “The Old French
War,” between England and France, and in which many of our fathers
participated, the province of Louisiana, being then in possession of
the French, passed through many trying scenes; and several times barely
escaped annihilation, not only by sickness and starvation, but by well
concerted plans of massacre by the Indians who inhabited that range of
country. At the termination of the “Seven Years War,” came up a new
era, upon which soon followed those mighty developements, which to us
now in the distance appear like the work of enchantment. The cession by
France of all her rights and lands in North America to England, except
the province of Louisiana, was stipulated by the deputies of the two
governments, and the boundary line between their possessions, in the
wilds of America, was determined should run along the middle of the
Mississippi river from the gulf of Mexico, up as far as Ibberville,
thence along the centre of that river, through Lakes Maurepas and
Ponchartrain. This treaty was made in 1763, twelve years before the war
of the Revolution. Immediately following the treaty, France ceded the
entire province of Louisiana to Spain. This act of cession, however,
for certain considerations, existing with the government of France,
was not made known until about two years after the date of the treaty.
When, the decree was first published, making, by a mere dash of the
pen, Frenchmen into Spaniards, it produced the utmost consternation
among the inhabitants of the province. The act of being thus secretly
passed into Spanish hands, with new lords and masters, and without
being consulted, or even a knowledge of the fact imparted until long
after the consummation of the matter, was too revolting to those who
had abandoned home and friends, and braved the difficulties and dangers
of the savage wilds of the Mississippi valley, and who were as true and
loyal Frenchmen as ever paid court to Crown or King. Public meetings
were called, and they resolved as one man, not to submit to the outrage
which the new order of things would impose upon them. And they further
determined, that if they were to be thus dealt with, and finally
deserted by the Mother Country, they would endeavor, with the limited
means and power which they possessed, to commence business on their own
capital; and thus brave the displeasure of both Spain and France. This
determination they at once prepared fully to sustain.
On the arrival of the Spanish Governor, Don Ulloa, with a strong force,
in 1766, they met him at the point of the bayonet, and succeeded in
driving him off, forcing him to leave the country and return home
and lay down his commission. At this unexpected defeat and defiance
of authority, the King of Spain was highly enraged. In consequence,
however, of other troubles then on hand, which were such as to engage
his whole attention, no further attempt was made to take possession
of the province until 1769, when the King succeeded in finding a man,
with all the requisite qualifications to undertake the work of royal
vengeance, which had been three years waiting to glut itself with the
blood of Frenchmen. The fit instrument to do this work, was a man
by the name of Don O’Reilly, a renegade Irishman, who had “left his
country for his country’s good,” to whom he gave the appointment of
Governor. To accomplish a purpose by any means within the scope of
human ingenuity, a fitter tool, or a more arch fiend, could not be
found within the compass of royal favor. He came to the citizens of the
province with fair promises of government patronage and favor, pledging
them at the same time, that he would, in a great degree, respect the
laws and regulations which they had enacted, and retain in office a
due share of the citizens. By these assurances, impressed with so much
apparent honesty, he succeeded in prevailing upon the authorities
and the people to lay aside their arms, and meet him on the terms he
proposed, and acknowledge him as Governor. For some time he continued
to respect his pledges, and yet, while doing this, he was secretly
fortifying himself, and arranging his plans, by placing his own chosen
and subservient tools where he could at once call them out to do his
bidding, when the time should come to throw off the mask of hypocrisy.
He then assumed the power of the Dictator, made laws to suit his own
purpose, trampled under foot and disregarded written contracts, and
finally, to consummate his fiendish acts of treachery, and to gratify
the vengeance of his Spanish Master, and in defiance of the most
solemn pledges, he caused five of the principal men of the city to be
arrested, and, without trial, to be shot. Five others he sent to the
dreary dungeons of the “Moro Castle,” at Havanna, on the Island of
Cuba. These acts of outrage and vengeance, together with violations of
every assurance which he had given to seduce the too credulous people,
soon brought down upon him the execration and abhorrence of the whole
colony. The final result was, he soon worked out his own downfall.
Following the dictates of his own inclinations, and supposing, at
the same time, he was courting royal favor, the King was forced to
recall him, and cast him off disgraced. Under his successor, a Spanish
nobleman by the name of Unzoga, who remained with the colony a short
time, the province enjoyed a short time of comparative peace and
prosperity.
This, however, was soon broken up by the war between England and Spain,
which was declared in 1779. This occasion enabled the Governor, Don
Galvez, to display his martial prowess, by invading Florida, then
in possession of the English. Without meeting much to contend with,
he took Baton Rouge, and Fort Charlotte, which stood near where now
stands the city of Mobile. From thence he marched down upon Pensacola,
which, after a long and determined resistance, finally yielded to the
Spanish arms. By this decisive blow the laws and power of Spain were
established in Florida, and the thorough introduction of the Spanish
colonial system. This, however, was too severe a blow for the proud and
independent English and French to bear quietly, without showing some
signs of the galling nature of the yoke, which was thus being formed
upon them. Yet the impositions succeeded so well for a time, that an
attempt was made in 1785, to establish an office or branch of the Grand
Inquisition in the city of New Orleans.--Against this assumption and
scourge of despotism, the spirit of the hitherto subservient Frenchmen
took fire. They arrayed themselves at once in the most determined
hostility against it, and so daring and fearless were they in their
opposition, that it was crushed without leading to a collision between
the people and the troops. The agent who had the authority to arrange
the matter was taken from his bed in the night, and put on shipboard,
and sent back to Spain. Thus, ere it saw the light, was strangled one
of the most hideous monsters that was ever permitted to prey upon the
lives, property, and liberty of an unoffending people. And yet, this
was to come into a city, and among a population who had no sympathy
with the power that ruled them, nor any motive for obedience except
fear and self-preservation; and what is most astonishing in this event,
is, that such a system as the Spanish Inquisition should be attempted
on this continent, in the midst of the light and spirit of that age,
ten years after the announcement to the world of the Declaration of
Independence.