|
a ACADIAN REBIRTH article
Cultures
of Acadiana |
Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, April 27, 1999
Creoles were unhappy with Ulloa's administration
Plots and popular uprising sent governor sailing back to Havana
by Jim Bradshaw
Despite their arguments with him over his decision to send them to Natchez, the Acadians may have been the Frenchmen who were least disturbed by Gov. Antonio de Ulloa's administration in Louisiana. Many of the Creoles of the New Orleans area refused to accept the fact that France had given Louisiana to Spain, and were looking for reasons to dislike the first Spanish governor.
Unfortunately, Ulloa gave them all of the reason they needed.
As LSU historian Edwin Adams Davis describes him, "He was a small, thin man with an unpleasant voice, an almost 'unbearable forced laugh,' suspicious eyes and a hypocritical air, and an excitable and nervous temperament. He was absent-minded and at times forgot his diplomatic and courtly manners with the proper-mannered French officials. His Catholic Majesty could not have chosen a man worse fitted to inaugurate Spanish government in Louisiana."
To make matters worse, he immediately offended New Orleans society. He was to be married shortly after his arrival to Francisca Ramierez de Laredo, who was traveling to Louisiana from Peru. Once he was installed in New Orleans, Ulloa went to the Balize, the outpost at the mouth of the Mississippi River, to await her ship's arrival. When she got to Louisiana, Ulloa married her immediately, with the ceremony performed at the crude outpost by his personal chaplain. New Orleans society regarded this as a deliberate snub. When Ulloa brought his new bride to New Orleans, the French Creoles snubbed her in return.
And there were more sinister plots afoot. A faction of the French Creole society, which historian James E. Winston describes as "blinded by passion, self-interest, and the hope of re-establishing their fortunes by a revolution," began a conspiracy to overthrow Spanish rule in Louisiana and to declare it an independent republic.
The conspirators used the question of wine imports to inflame the public mind. In March 1768, Ulloa put into effect an order from Madrid that Louisiana could no longer trade with the British, that any trade from France must pass first through Spanish ports, and that only Spanish wine could be imported into Louisiana. The French Creoles in New Orleans were struck in the pocketbook by the trade regulations, but they were equally distraught that they were forced to give up the good wine of Bordeaux and to drink le vin abominable de Catalogne.
Historian John Preston Moore, a student of the early days of Spanish rule, reports, "The ringleaders of the cabal (against Spanish rule) were two prominent colonial figures, the commissary, Denis-Nicolas Foucault, and the attorney general, Nicolas Chauvin de La Freniere. It would be difficult to assess the proportionate contribution of each to the uprising. As a former French official, Foucault had considerable prestige among the officers of the old regime and among those engaged in commercial activities. Knowing the interests of the merchants, he worked to preserved their prosperity by retaining the ties to France and the French islands. Like previous French colonial officials, he had selfish interests which would suffer. ...If Spanish accusations were correct, he had profited by (allowing) smuggling and by taking bribes in the purchase of supplies for French officials. ...Having luxurious tastes, he maintained a well-appointed establishment in the capital, but, since his income did not match his desires, his indebtedness was considerable. ...Shrewd, energetic, but unprincipled, he was an indispensable part of the leadership.
"Popular with the crowd because of his handsome appearance and his eloquence at public gatherings, La Freniere was likewise an essential element in the leadership. His personality, unlike that of Foucault, had a charismatic quality. Judging by his speeches and his actions, there was some idealism in his makeup. ...He had a sympathy for the rights of colonists, which, he believed, were threatened by the policies of the Crown. But like his fellow conspirator, he had personal reasons for disliking the new regime. Rumors of the forthcoming suppression of the Supreme Council by the Spanish, in which his position as attorney general would be abolished, had circulated widely throughout the colony. That he used his office to advance his own interests was probably true. According to Ulloa, the attorney general was especially embittered over the disapproval by the Crown of a contract that he had proposed to import Negro slaves on exceedingly profitable terms for those involved. His influence with the mass of the people and with the mercantile and landed groups made him a natural leader of the opposition."
Like the leaders of the American Revolution a decade later, French Creoles in Louisiana drew up a list of grievances against Ulloa and the Spanish government that he represented. By early fall, it had been signed by a number of merchants and shippers. They began to enlist the aid of German and Acadian settlers outside of the city.
According to Moore, "A sizable popular demonstration (in New Orleans) was essential. According to a pre-arranged plan, two captains of militia, Louis Judice and Andre Veret...turned to the Acadians for backing. They falsely told the settlers that the Spanish governor had a large amount of money in his treasury, some of which could be used to redeem the paper currency brought by the Acadians from Canada. Although their money had lost all value long before, they were told that it would be honored in Louisiana. Despite the Spanish assistance in their homesteading, they succumbed to the propaganda and believed that their presence in New Orleans would persuade Ulloa to act in their behalf. No doubt some of the recent immigrants still cherished a resentment against their forced settlement near Natchez.
Toward the end of October, Ulloa realized he was in trouble. He sought the aid of Charles-Philippe Aubry, who had been caretaker governor of Louisiana during the transition from French to Spanish rule. Aubry confronted Foucault and La Freniere on Oct. 27. They told him they intended to force Ulloa to leave the colony.
Moore describes what happened next.
"On the afternoon of the 28th, some 500 Acadians and Germans poured into New Orleans. Urged by the leaders of the conspiracy to make a show of force...they reinforced (five companies of German and Acadian militia already in the city under the command of Pierre Marquis.) Once in the city, all the insurgents congregated at the home of Francois Chauvin de Lery, another member of the cabal, who supplied them with wine and muskets. The 'good Bordeaux' removed their apprehensiveness and qualms over the consequences of revolutionary acts and stiffened their resolve to back their leaders. For many, the long, tiring march from the farms and the excitement of the occasion prompted overindulgence and intoxication."
Ulloa did not have enough loyal troops to deal with the mob. Upon Aubry's advice, the Spanish governor moved his headquarters to the Volante, a Spanish frigate anchored at the foot of Canal Street, taking his wife and small child aboard with him. He had enough cannons and men to keep the mob away from the ship, if it came to that.
On Oct. 29, the Superior Council, Louisiana's governing body, was persuaded by the ringleaders to adopt a resolution to be sent to the Spanish Crown, that claimed, among other things, that Ulloa "violated our laws, forms, and customs," and declared him a "usurper of illegal authority, by causing French subjects to be punished and oppressed, without having previously compiled with laws, forms, and customs."
The resolution asked, "That M. Ulloa, Commissioner of His Catholic Majesty, be enjoined to leave the colony in the frigate in which he came, without delay, to avoid accidents or new clamors, and to go and give an account of his conduct to His Catholic Majesty; and ... that he be declared responsible for all the events which he might have foreseen; and that...Aubry and Foucault be requested, and even summoned, in the name of our Sovereign Lord, the King, to continue to govern and administer the colony as heretofore."
The resolution was delivered to Ulloa that day, while units of the German and Acadian militia, in Moore's words, "either indulging their thirst anew or recovering from the effects of the heady wine of the night before" roamed the streets. They shouted "Vive le roi," and "Vive Louis le bien-aime," but also "Vive le bon vin de Bordeaux" and "A bas le poison de Catalogne."
According to a popular version of what happened next, a group of citizens returning from a wedding went to the wharf on the night of Oct. 31-Nov.1, and a man named Petit cut the mooring cables of Ulloa's ship, setting it adrift on the Mississippi.
Ulloa ultimately took the hint. He sailed for Cuba on Nov. 16 aboard a French frigate, the Cesar, which happened to be in New Orleans and was bound for Havana. The Spanish ship Volante needed repairs and would not have made it across the Gulf.
The Acadians went back to their farms. But the ringleaders in New Orleans ran into trouble. On Aug 17, 1769, Gov. Alejandro O'Reilly, the second Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrived in New Orleans. He brought 24 Spanish ships carrying 2,000 soldiers, cavalry, artillerymen. He was ready for trouble. He immediately required the people of New Orleans and the vicinity to take an oath of allegiance to the Spanish Crown. On Aug. 21, the leaders of the revolt were arrested. Their trial began in early October and lasted three days. The sentence of the court was carried out on Oct. 24, when five of the leaders were shot. A handful of others were sent to prison and their property taken from them.
Louisiana was now definitely Spanish.