|
a ACADIAN REBIRTH article
Cultures
of Acadiana |
Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, April 27, 1999
Ulloa wanted Acadians in strategic military settlements
by Jim Bradshaw
Most of the Acadians who came to Louisiana thought that they were coming to French territory. But by the time they got here, France had given the colony to Spain and it took the Spanish authorities several years to actually send a governor to Louisiana. The colony was governed in the interim by Charles-Philippe Aubry.
The first Spanish governor was Antonio de Ulloa, who was appointed in June 1765. His full name was Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre Guiral and he was a naval officer and one of the leading Spanish scientists of his time. He spent ten years in South America organizing the naval defenses of Peru and Chile, then returned to Spain to do scientific research. Among other scientific achievements, he discovered a crater on the moon that is named for him, helped draw one of the first accurate maps of the Iberian Peninsula, and was instrumental in improvements in printing and clothmaking. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that he lacked the the administrative skills needed to run the Louisiana colony.
French colonial official Denis-Nicolas Foucault described Ulloa's first actions in Louisiana in a letter written on April 2, 1766:
"Mister Ulloa, accompanied by Mister Aubry and the engineers, is visiting the settlements established by the Acadians, as well as those of the Germans, Pointe Coupe, and Natchitoches,. He has tried everything to get me to accompany him, but, not wishing to leave for such an extended period because the royal interests and those of the public would suffer, I promised to accompany him only as far as Pointe Coupee. Meanwhile, as it is necessary that a commissary accompany him in order to prepare the necessary estimate of the buildings and other royal property in each of the posts, I have assigned Mister (Rene Isaac Chauvet) Dubreuil, a naval scribe to accompany him to Natchitoches.
"This trip will be very expensive, for Mister de Ulloa requested four boats for himself (and) his retinue...As this governor has not yet taken possession of the colony, I shall be obliged to meet the expenses with royal funds. ...Nevertheless, he has assured me that he will report not only this expense, but also the those preceding it by several months as well as those which I shall be forced to make until the act of possession. Moreover, he feels certain that, on the basis of what he has written, the Spanish minister will...reimburse France (for the debts). (otherwise) His majesty would have paid dearly for the delay in the colonial act of possession, for, in addition to the ordinary expenses and those which the empty warehouses make indispensable, it will be necessary to furnish subsistence to the Acadians until the next harvest (and) make habitable the Balise post, ( which is ) of vital importance to ships seeking to enter the river, but where we have deferred work, as much as possible, because of reports of this colony's cession, despite the facts that its buildings have rotted and that the land is continuously under water. Also requiring repairs are the royal warehouses, where we have decided to hold religious services, the parish church...being completely unserviceable. It will soon collapse due to decay."
Aubry also wrote about Ulloa's inspection trip in a letter to Etienne-Francois Choiseul.
"We have carefully inspected all the settlements at the Allemands, Pointe Coupe, Opelousas, Attakapas, Natchitoches, and have navigated the Red River, which is a gateway to Mexico. ...We visited the English who are constructing a fort at (Manchac). This fort will serve as a boundary between English and Spanish territories. We visited the Acadians newly arrived from New England, whom I settled along the River above the Des Allemand post. These people have sacrificed everything for their homeland and for their religion. They are deserving of the praise and the compassion the governor bestowed upon them. What is left of these poor wandering families have come to settle on the banks of the Mississippi. They have wandered for ten years and have endured the greatest hardships, yet have refused advantageous English offers to remain in New England They are worthy of special consideration and protection from the Spanish government. They will find Mister Ulloa a benevolent father who will assist them in their needs. The Acadians will never regret the homeland they were forced to abandon because of the misfortunes of war."
Aubry may have spoken a little hastily. He was right that the Acadians did not regret coming to Louisiana. But, over time, they would find Ulloa to be something less than a benevolent father.
One of the primary purposes of Ulloa's trip through the Louisiana colony was to find a way to defend the vast territory that Spain inherited. The treaty of Paris of 1763 transferred French settlements fo Mobile, in Illinois, and other places east of the Mississippi River to British control and Great Britain quickly began building forts adjacent to Spanish territory and, at the same time trying to woo Indian nations that had once been allies of the French.
As a result, Ulloa decided that he had to build forts facing new British settlements at Natchez and Manchac, and that he had to place settlements next to these to provide the manpower necessary to defend them.
He planned to get the settlers from among the Acadians coming to Louisiana, even when the Acadians had other plans.