Louisiana,
Was first visited by
La Salle, who discovered the mouth of the
Mississippi (1691), and took possession of the country in the name of Louis,
King of
France.
Settlements were soon afterwards formed.
In 1712 Louis XIV.
named the region
Louisiana, in honor of himself, and granted it to
M. Crozat.
The territory was granted to “The Western Company” in 1717.
The
French remained in possession until 1762, when they ceded it to
Spain.
In 1800 it was retroceded to
France, and in 1803 it was bought from the latter by the
United States for $15,000,000, and the
American flag was first raised in New Orleans on Dec. 20, 1803.
In 1804 the territory was divided into two governments—namely, “Territory of
Orleans” and “District of Louisiana.”
The former entered the Union as the
State of Louisiana April 8, 1812, and the name of the latter was changed, June 4, 1812, to
Missouri.
At the close of 1814
Louisiana was invaded by British troops, but they were speedily driven away.
As soon as the election of
Mr. Lincoln was known, the governor of
Louisiana took measures looking to the secession of the
State from the
Union.
A convention assembled, Jan. 8, 1861, and on the 26th passed an ordinance of secession.
The public property of the national government was seized by the
State authorities.
In the spring of 1862 an expedition under
General Butler and
Admiral Farragut captured all the defences on the
Mississippi below New Orleans, and took possession of the city.
The State became the theatre of stormy events during the
Civil War. On Dec. 4, 1862,
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two congressional districts, under the control of National troops, were permitted to elect delegates to Congress, and
Benjamin F. Flanders and
Michael Hahn were chosen and took their seats.
Local courts were organized under military rule, and in November, 1862, a provisional court for the
State was organized by the
President.
In April, 1863, he appointed judges of the Supreme Court.
Late in 1863 an election of State officers was held in a portion of
Louisiana.
Michael Hahn was elected governor and inaugurated March 4, 1864, and on the 15th was made military governor likewise.
In April a convention adopted a constitution abolishing slavery and providing for the education of both races, which was ratified in September, when five Congressmen (
Unionists) were chosen.
The
legislature ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the national Constitution, but the
Senators and Representatives of
Louisiana were not admitted to seats in Congress, and the
State was placed under military rule in 1867,
Louisiana and
Texas constituting one military district.
Early in 1868 a convention in New Orleans formed a State constitution, which was ratified on April 17 and 18, and
Henry C. Warmouth (Republican) was elected governor.
By act of Congress, June 25, 1868,
Louisiana delegates were admitted to seats in that body.
Soon afterwards the State legislature ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the national Constitution and chose
United States Senators.
The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified by the same body March 1, 1869.
In 1899 the
State had an assessed property valuation of $267,723,138; and, April 1, 1900, a total bonded debt of $10,877,800, a floating debt of $913,597, and an unrecognized debt of $3,953,000. The population in 1890 was 1,118,587; in 1900, 1,381,625.
In October, 1698, King William sent three ships to take possession of the
Mississippi River, and prepare for planting a colony of French Protestants on its borders.
Nothing came of it. In the same month
Iberville and others sailed for the same river, and planted the seeds of French dominion there.
The first settlement in
Louisiana was made at
Biloxi (now in
Mississippi) in 1699.
In 1702 there were settlements begun on
Dauphin Island and at
Mobile, now in
Alabama.
The French government, wishing to promote more rapid settlements in that region, granted (1712) the whole province, with a monopoly of trade, to
Anthony Crozat, a wealthy French merchant, who expected large profits from mines and trade with
Mexico.
Crozat contracted to send ships from
France, with goods and emigrants, every year; and he was entitled to import a cargo of negro slaves annually.
The French government also agreed to pay $10,000 a year for the civil and military establishments.
Crozat established a trading-house on the site of
Montgomery, on the
Alabama River, and another at
Natchitoches, on the
Red River.
Fort Rosalie was built on the site of
Natchez, about which a town soon grew up, the oldest on the
lower Mississippi.
Crozat made ineffectual attempts to open a trade with
Mexico, and the intercourse by sea was prohibited after the war. After five years of large outlay and small returns,
Crozat resigned his patent (1717); but other speculators soon filled his place.
The Mississippi Company (see
law, John) was granted the monopoly of all trade with
Louisiana for twenty-five years. They attempted to introduce 6,000 white people and half as many negroes, and private individuals to whom grants of land had been made also sent out colonists.
Law, having 12 square miles of
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land in
Arkansas, undertook to settle the domain with 1,500 Germans.
The Mississippi Company resigned
Louisiana to the crown in 1732.
On Oct. 21, 1764, the
King of
France gave orders to his director-general and commandant for
Louisiana to deliver up to the
King of
Spain all the
French possessions in
North America not already ceded to
Great Britain.
These orders were given in consequence of an act passed at
Fontainebleau on Nov. 3, 1762, by which the
French King ceded to the
King of
Spain, and to his successors, “the whole country known as
Louisiana, together with New Orleans, and the island on which the said city is situated,” and of another act passed at the Escurial on Nov. 13, in the same year, by which his Catholic Majesty accepted that cession.
When
Bonaparte became actual ruler of
France as First Consul he felt an ardent desire to re-establish the colonial empire of his country, and with that view he obtained from
Spain (1800) the retrocession of
Louisiana.
Bonaparte had formed a plan for taking immediate possession of New Orleans by an armed expedition.
Livingston, the
American minister in
France, advised his government of this expedition, and declared that it would not only oppress American commerce on the
Mississippi, but that attempts would be made to seize
Natchez and to carry out the plan of
Genet and his successors in corrupting the
Western people and dismembering the
Union.
Before the letter of
Livingston had been received, the
Spanish intendant at New Orleans, as if anticipating the wishes of
Bonaparte, had issued a proclamation interdicting the privilege secured to the
Americans by the treaty of 1795 of depositing merchandise at New Orleans.
This interruption of their commerce on the great river produced a great commotion in the
West.
It was in this excited state of the public mind that the Seventh Congress assembled (Dec. 7, 1802) for its second session, and the state of affairs in the
Southwest occupied their earnest attention.
President Jefferson, alive to the interests, independence, and power of his country, wrote an able letter to
Livingston, suggesting that
France might be willing to cede a portion of
Louisiana, especially the island of New
Orleans, to the
United States, and thus remove all cause for irritation between the two governments.
Negotiations with this end in view were speedily made by
Mr. Livingston, assisted by
Mr. Monroe.
Their instructions asked for the cession of the island of New Orleans and the
Floridas, and that the
Mississippi should be divided by a line that should put the city of
New Orleans within the territory of the
United States, thus securing the free navigation of that river.
To the surprise of the
American minister, it was announced by
Marbois,
Bonaparte's representative, that he would treat for the sale of the
whole of
Louisiana.
Bonaparte had already experienced serious difficulties in the way of securing French colonial dominion, especially in the
West Indies.
He also needed troops at home and money to carry on the war with
England, rather than far-off territory held by a doubtful tenure.
“Irresolution and deliberation,” said the First Consul to
Marbois, “are no longer in season.
I renounce
Louisiana.
It is not only New Orleans that I will cede; it is the whole colony, without any reservation.
I know the price of what I abandon, and I have sufficiently proved the importance that I attach to this province, since my first diplomatic act with
Spain had for its object the recovery of it. I renounce it with the greatest regret.
To attempt to retain it would be folly.
I direct you to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the
United States.”
In less than a fortnight after the beginning of negotiations in
France, a treaty was signed (April 30, 1803) by
Robert R. Livingston and
James Monroe on the part of the
United States, and Barbs
Marbois on the part of
France, by which the
United States came into possession of a vast, and to some extent undefined, domain, containing a mixed free population of 85,000 white people and 40,000 negro slaves, for the sum of $15,000,000.
Livingston and
Marbois had been personal acquaintances for about a quarter of a century.
“We have lived long,” said
Livingston to
Marbois, as he arose after signing the treaty, “but this is the noblest work of our whole lives.
The treaty which we have just signed has not been obtained by art or force; equally advantageous to the two contracting
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parties, it will change vast solitudes into flourishing districts.
From this day the
United States take their place among the powers of the first rank; the
English lose all exclusive influence in the affairs of
America.”
With equally prophetic vision,
Bonaparte said to
Marbois, a few days after the negotiation was signed, “I would that
France should enjoy this unexpected capital [75,000,000 francs], that it may be employed in works beneficial to her marine.”
The invasion of
England, and the prostration of her maritime superiority, was then
Bonaparte's pet project.
“This accession of territory,” he continued, exultingly, “strengthens forever the power of the
United States, and I have just given to
England a maritime rival that will
sooner or later humble her pride.”
The centennial of the
Louisiana Purchase is to be commemorated by a fair to be held in
St. Louis (q. v.), in 1903.
The
Americans claimed that the boundary between
Louisiana and
Mexico was the
Rio Grande, while the Spaniards limited the territory acquired from
France to a narrow strip along the western bank of the
Mississippi.
Both sides had hitherto regarded the
Sabine as a sort of provisional boundary; but the
Spanish commander in
Texas crossed that river with a body of irregular cavalry, in 1805, and occupied the settlement at
Bayou Pierre, on the
Red River, a few miles above
Natchitoches, the westernmost American military station.
It was deemed necessary to repel this aggression, and orders were sent to
General Wilkinson, at
St. Louis, then commander-in-chief of the
American army and governor of the District of Louisiana, to reinforce, from posts in his territory, the 500 regulars in the
Orleans Territory, and himself to take the command, to drive back the Spaniards.
Wilkinson went to the
Sabine, and made a peaceful arrangement that stopped the invasion.
It was at this crisis that
Burr's mysterious enterprise was undertaken.
See
Burr, Aaron.
When
Jackson returned to
Mobile, Nov. 11, 1814, after driving the
British from
Pensacola, he received messages from New Orleans urging him to hasten to the defence of that city.
The government officials did not give credit to
Lafitte's revelations (see
Lafitte, Jean), but the people did; and they held a large meeting in New Orleans (Sept. 16), where they were eloquently addressed by
Edward Livingston (q. v.), who urged the inhabitants to make speedy preparations for repelling invasion.
They appointed a committee of safety, composed of distinguished citizens of New Orleans, of which
Livingston was chairman.
Governor Claiborne, who also believed
Lafitte's story, sent copies of the
British papers to
Jackson, then at
Mobile.
Then the latter issued a vigorous counterproclamation, and proceeded to break up the nest of motley enemies at
Pensacola.
Finally, there were such omens of a speedy invasion of
Louisiana that appeals to
Jackson were repeated, and he left
Mobile for New Orleans on Nov. 21.
The patriotic governor had called the legislature together as early as Oct. 5, but there was neither union, harmony, nor confidence.
The people, alarmed, complained of the legislature; that body complained of the governor; and
Claiborne complained of both the legislature and the people.
Money and credit were equally wanting, and ammunition was very scarce.
There was no effective naval force in the adjacent waters; and only two small militia regiments and a weak battalion of uniformed volunteers, commanded by
Major Plauche, a gallant
Creole, composed the military force for repelling invasion or defending the city.
In every aspect the situation was most gloomy when
Jackson arrived.
His advent was hailed with joy. “
Jackson's come!
Jackson's come!”
went from lip to lip. He did not rest for a moment.
He at once organized the feeble military force in the city; took measures for obstructing the large bayous, whose waters formed convenient communication between the city and the
Gulf of Mexico; and proceeded to inspect and strengthen the fortifications in the vicinity, and to erect new ones.
Fort St. Philip, below the city, was his main reliance for preventing a passage of the British ships.
The expected invaders soon appeared.
In fifty vessels of all sizes 7,000 land troops were borne over the
Gulf of Mexico from the island of
Jamaica in the direction of New Orleans, and sighted the northern coast of the
Gulf, a little east of
Lake Borgne, on Dec. 9.
Music,
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dancing, theatrical performances, and hilarity of every kind had been indulged in during the voyage, every man feeling that the conquest of
Louisiana would be an easy task.
The wives of many officers were with them, anticipating great pleasure in the western world.
Believing the
Americans to be profoundly ignorant of the expedition, they anchored at the entrance to
Lake Borgne, and prepared small vessels for the transportation of troops over the shallow waters, to take New Orleans by surprise.
They did not dream of the fatal revelations of
Lafitte.
Two gunboats, sent out towards
Mobile Bay to catch intelligence of the coming armament, discovered the great fleet Dec. 10, and hastened to report the fact to
Lieut. Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, in command of a small flotilla at the entrance of
Lake Borgne, to prevent the
British from landing troops.
Jones's flotilla was encountered by the
British (much to their astonishment) on the 13th.
The British fleet was under the command of
Admiral Cochrane, and many of the troops were those which had been engaged in the invasion of
Maryland.
It would not do to attempt to land troops while the waters of the lake were patrolled by American gunboats, and so
Cochrane sent sixty barges, nearly all carrying a carronade in the bow, and with six oars on each side, and all well filled with armed volunteers from the fleet, to capture or destroy
Jones's flotilla.
The latter was composed of an armed sloop (the flag-ship), a tender, and five gunboats, with an aggregate of twenty-three guns and 182 men. The British barges contained 1,200 men. On the morning of Dec. 14 an encounter took place, which the little flotilla sustained against overwhelming numbers for about an hour, when it was compelled to surrender.
The
British had now complete control of
Lake Borgne.
The transports, filled with troops, entered, and the latter were conveyed in barges to
Pea Island, where
General Keane organized his forces for future operations.
Learning from some Spanish residents of New Orleans that there was a bayou navigable for large barges to within a short distance of the
Mississippi River, just below New Orleans,
Cochrane sent a party to explore it. They followed this bayou (the Bienvenu) and a canal across Villereas plantation, and when they reported favorably about onethird of the troops were taken through these watercourses.
At the head of the bayou the active
Lieutenant-Colonel Thorntoll, with a detachment, surrounded the house of
General Villere, the commandant of a division of
Louisiana militia, and made him prisoner; but he soon escaped, and, hastening to New Orleans, gave warning of the invasion to
General Jackson.
General Keane, a gallant Irish officer, the
commander-in-chief of the
British landforces, was with this advance party, with several of his officers, and felt confident that the invasion was unknown at New Orleans.
The
British formed a camp at Villereas (Dec. 23), within sight of the
Mississippi, and prepared to move forward.
The invaders were now within 9 miles of New Orleans.
A proclamation, printed in the
Spanish and
French languages, and signed by
General Keane and
Admiral Cochrane, was sent forward by a negro to be distributed among the inhabitants.
It read as follows: “
Louisianians! remain quietly in your houses; your slaves shall be preserved to you, and your property shall be respected.
We make war only against
Americans.”
While all this work of invasion was going on,
Jackson had been busy at New Orleans preparing to roll it back.
He had heard of the capture of the gunboats on the 15th, and he called upon
Generals Coffee,
Carroll, and
Thomas to hasten to New Orleans with the
Tennessee and
Kentucky troops.
They came as speedily as possible.
Coffee came first, and
Carroll arrived on Dec. 22.
A troop of horse under
Major Hinds, raised in
Louisiana, came at the same time.
General Villere, soon after his capture, escaped, crossed the
Mississippi, rode up its right bank on a fleet horse to a point opposite New Orleans, crossed over, and gave
Jackson such full information of the position of the invaders that he marched with quite a large body of troops on the afternoon of the 23d to meet the intruders.
The armed schooner
Carolina,
Captain Henley, moved down the
Mississippi in the evening to within musket-shot distance of the centre of the
British camp at Villereas.
At halfpast seven o'clock she opened a tremendous fire upon them, killing and wounding at least 100 men. The
British extinguished their camp-fires, and hurled rockets and
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bullets upon the
Carolina, with little effect.
The schooner soon drove the
British from their camp in great confusion.
Meanwhile
Jackson had pressed forward with his troops in the darkness in two columns, and, falling upon the bewildered invaders, soon achieved a victory which he dared not follow up in the gloom, and fell back.
The astonished
Britons were soon cheered by the arrival of reinforcements, and the advent of
Gen. Edward Pakenham, one of
Wellington's veterans, who took the chief command.
After careful preparation, and getting his soldiers well in hand, he led them towards New Orleans.
He was met by
Jackson with a force behind intrenchments about half-way between the city and Villereas, and a severe battle ensued, in which the
Americans were victorious.
Immediately afterwards the
British withdrew to their ships and departed.
See
Jackson, Andrew; New Orleans.
In the legislature of
Louisiana, assembled at
Baton Rouge in special session, Dec. 10, 1860, the
Union sentiment was powerful, yet not sufficiently so to arrest mischief to the commonwealth.
An effort was made to submit the question of “Convention or no convention” to the people, but it failed, and an election of delegates to a convention was ordered to be held on Jan. 8, the anniversary of
Jackson's victory at New Orleans.
On that occasion the popular vote was small, but it was of such a complexion that the
Confederates were hopeful.
The convention met at
Baton Rouge, Jan. 23.
The legislature had convened there on the 21st.
The number of delegates in the convention was 130.
Ex-Gov. Alexander Mouton was chosen president, and
J. Thomas Wheat, secretary.
Commissioners from
South Carolina and
Alabama were there, and were invited to seats in the convention; and they made vehement speeches in favor of secession.
A committee of fifteen was appointed to draft an ordinance of secession.
It reported on the 24th by their chairman,
John Perkins, Jr., and the ordinance then submitted was adopted on the 26th by a vote of 113 against 17.
Its phraseology bore the same general features as the ordinances passed by other States.
Though a State purchased from
France by the national government, the convention declared that
Louisiana “resumed the rights and powers heretofore delegated to the government of the
United States of America,” its creator.
At the conclusion of the balloting the president said: “In virtue of the vote just announced, I now declare the connection between the
State of Louisiana and the federal Union dissolved, and she is a free, sovereign, and independent power.”
The convention, alarmed at the planting of cannon at
Vicksburg by the Mississippians, resolved unanimously that they recognized the right of a “free navigation of the
Mississippi River and its tributaries by all friendly States bordering thereon” ; also “the right of egress and ingress of the mouths of the
Mississippi by all friendly states and powers.”
A motion to submit the ordinance to the people for consideration was lost.
Prompted by advice from
John Slidell and
Judah P. Benjamin, then sitting as members of the United States Senate, the governor of
Louisiana (
Moore) sent expeditions from New Orleans to seize
Forts Jackson and
St. Philip on the
Mississippi, below the city, then in charge of
Major Beauregard; also
Fort Pike, on
Lake Pontchartrain, and the arsenal at
Baton Rouge.
A part of
General Palfrey's division went down the river in a steam-vessel, and on the evening of Jan. 10, 1861, the commander of
Fort St. Philip (Dart) surrendered it; but the commander of
Fort Jackson (
Sergeant Smith), which surrendered, gave up the keys under protest.
State troops seized
Fort Livingston, on Grand Terre Island,
Barataria Bay, at the same time, and on the 20th the unfinished fort on
Ship Island was seized and held by the
Confederates.
Troops left New Orleans, 300 in number, under
Colonel Walton, on the evening of Dec. 9, in a steamvessel, and on the following evening arrived at
Baton Rouge to seize the arsenal, then in command of
Major Haskin.
He was compelled to surrender it on the 11th.
By this act the
Confederates were put in possession of 50,000 small-arms, four howitzers, twenty pieces of heavy ordnance, two field-batteries, 300 barrels of gunpowder, and a large quantity of other munitions of war. A part of this property
Governor Moore turned over to
Governor Pettus, of
Mississippi.
The barracks below New Orleans were seized on the 11th.
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They were used for a marine hospital.
The
United States collector at New Orleans was required to remove the 216 patients from the barracks immediately, as the
State wanted the building for the gathering Confederates.
The collector (
Hatch) remonstrated, and they were allowed to remain.
The authorities of
Louisiana also seized the national mint and the custom-house there, with all the precious metals they contained in coin and bullion, and by order of the State convention this treasure, amounting to $536,000, was placed in the
State coffers.
Soon after this, a draft for $300,000 was received by the sub-treasurer at New Orleans, which that fiscal officer refused to pay, saying, “The money in my custody is no longer the property of the
United States, but of the republic of
Louisiana.”
See
United States, Louisiana, vol.
IX.