Rousseau

The Last Days of Spanish New Orleans

Raymond J. Martinez

• Publisher: Pelican Publishing
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN: 9781589800892
• eBook ISBN: 9781455611515
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

While George Washington fought the British in New England, a little-known hero joined the fight in Louisiana--Pierre George Rousseau. In 1779, Spain declared war on Britain, paving the way for Spanish involvement in the American Revolutionary War. Pierre George Rousseau, a Spanish naval officer, joined the fight. He led the Spanish campaign against the British in the Louisiana territory and captured the British strongholds of Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola. After the war, Rousseau served as a commanding general under the last six Spanish-colonial governors of Louisiana, until the Louisiana Purchase transferred control of the area to the United States in 1803.

Rousseau: The Last Days of Spanish New Orleans is the biography of this unsung American hero, outlining his voyages throughout the Louisiana territory and the anecdotes still told by his descendants today. It is not just the story of one man, but of life in Louisiana and New Orleans during the last years of Spanish colonial rule. Pelican is reprinting this historic biography in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Foreward
• Preface
• The Beginning of a Long Friendship
• A Newspaper's Account
• Charles III, Most Methodical Man in Europe
• Young Galvez Was An Able Administrator
• Family Background of Pierre George Rousseau
• The Capture of The West Florida
• A Story Handed Down
• Rousseau with Galvez in the Capture of Mobile, Baton Rouge, Natchez, Manchac and Pensacola
• An Authentic Account of The Siege of Pensacola
• A Glance at Social Life in New Orleans After the Revolution
• Don Estevan Miro Becomes Governor of Louisiana When Galvez is Made Viceroy of Mexico
• Trouble with The Pollocks
• Rousseau Appointed Commandant at Natchitoches
• The Appointment
• Miro Leaves Louisiana
• Carondelet Appointed Governor of Louisiana
• Carondelet Fears an "Invasion" of Louisiana, and Instructs Gayoso, Commandant at Natchez, To Order Rousseau to Make a Thorough Investigation
• Captain Pierre George Rousseau's
• Comments on Rousseau's Voyage
• Friendly Indians
• Spies and Pirates
• General William Augustus Bowles Captured by Rousseau
• Panton, Leslie and Company
• Carondelet Leaves Louisiana
• Manuel Gayoso de Lemos Appointed Governor of Louisiana
• Rousseau Active in The New Madrid Area During The Administration of Gayoso
• Abandons New Madrid
• Casa Calvo Appointed Governor
• Salcedo Appointed Governor
• The Mutiny of the Voltaire
• Pierre George Rousseau Retires from The Spanish Service and Makes His Home in New Orleans
• Petition for a Pension
• The Ancestry of Margaret Wiltz, Mother of Catherine Milhet Rousseau
• The Rousseau Plantation
• Notes from "A History of The City of Lafayette" by Kathryn C. Briede
• APPENDIX
• Nicholas Rousseau
• Excerpts from Letters
• Sons of Pierre George Rousseau and Catherine Wiltz Milhet
• Gustave Sebastian Rousseau
• Genealogy of Pierre Georges Rousseau
• Bibliography
• INDEX