LLoouuiissiiaannaa SSttaattee UUnniivveerrssiittyy LLSSUU DDiiggiittaall CCoommmmoonnss LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1968 TThhee AAddmmiinniissttrraattiioonn ooff AAlleejjaannddrroo OO''RREEIILLLLYY aass GGoovveerrnnoorr ooff LLoouuiissiiaannaa,, 11776699--11777700.. David Ker Texada Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn Texada, David Ker, "The Administration of Alejandro O'REILLY as Governor of Louisiana, 1769-1770." (1968). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1521. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1521 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been 69-4504 microfilmed exactly as received TEXADA, David Ker, 1928- THE ADMINISTRATION OF ALEJANDRO O'REILLY AS GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA, 1769-1770. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1968 History, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan _ David Ker Texada 1969 © _________________________ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE ADMINISTRATION OF ALEJANDRO O'REILLY AS GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA 1769-1770 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by David Ker Texada M.A., Louisiana State University, 1958 August, 1968 ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation to Dr. John Preston Moore for his guidance and encourage­ ment while supervising the preparation of this dissertation. Thanks is also due to Dr. Jo Ann Carrigan for her many sug­ gestions concerning the manuscript. Finally, very special gratitude is extended to my family and friends, too numerous to mention by name, who have encouraged and assisted me in many ways over these past years. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENT ................................... ii ABSTRACT......................................... iv INTRODUCTION ..................................... 1 Chapter I. THE CESSION OF LOUISIANA TO SPAIN BY FRANCE, AND THE FIRST ATTEMPT BY THE SPANISH TO EFFECT OCCUPATION .......... 14 II. THE COMING OF GENERAL O'REILLY TO LOUISIANA.......................... 52 III. THE TRIAL OF THE REBELS............... 79 IV. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SPANISH GOVERNMEN­ TAL INSTITUTIONS, PROVINCIAL AND LOCAL . 128 V. PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES IN SPANISH LAW . 145 VI. THE SPANISH LEGAL SYSTEM BEGINS TO FUNCTION UNDER GOVERNOR O'REILLY ................ 172 VII. MILITARY AND INDIAN AFFAIRS........... 184 VIII. FINANCIAL, COMMERCIAL, RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL POLICIES OF GOVERNOR O'REILLY . . 222 EPILOGUE . . . . . ................................ 250 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................... 271 VITA............. 278 iii ABSTRACT This work is an assessment of the administration of Count Alejandro O'Reilly as governor of Louisiana from Au­ gust, 1769, to March, 1770. O'Reilly was a soldier of for­ tune who rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the Span­ ish army and was made Inspector General of Infantry in 1764. He was chosen by Charles III to bring Spanish rule to Loui­ siana after the 1768 insurrection of the French settlers in New Orleans. This uprising had resulted in the expulsion of the first Spanish .governor, Antonio de Ulloa, who had come to take possession of the colony after its' transfer from France to Spain by the Treaty of Fontainebleau in No­ vember, 1762. Because of O'Reilly's execution of the main leaders of the rebellion in New Orleans, much abuse was heaped upon him by unsympathetic historians until well into the twentieth century. This study is introduced by a brief analysis of the his­ toriography covering these events. Next, there is an intro­ ductory chapter dealing with the transfer of the colony from France to Spain and Governor Ulloa's administration, which ended in his expulsion in October, 1768. The main body of the work covers Governor O'Reilly's arrival in Louisiana, in August, 1769, the trial of the rebel leaders, and the governor's administration of the colony. Considerable space has been devoted to an analysis of the iv V trial proceedings, which are found in the Archives of the In­ dies in Seville and in the National Historical Archives in Madrid. The reader can determine from these proceedings whether or not the trial was conducted fairly by eighteenth century Spanish standards. The Indian policy adopted by O’Reilly and continued by his successors also comes under study. In connection with this, O'Reilly's plans for Louisiana's military posture within the Spanish American Empire has been outlined. The weaknesses and strengths of these policies are shown in re­ lation to the use made of them by the subsequent Spanish governors of Louisiana. This study also treats the social and commercial prob­ lems under O'Reilly, and analyzes his fiscal and commercial policies in the light of the subsequent history of Spanish Louisiana. The inadequacies of some of these policies are noted. O'Reilly's most important contribution to Louisiana was the Code 0'Reilly. This code was a synthesis of Spain's Laws of the Indies. and was compiled under O'Reilly's direction by two of his lawyers, Felix del Rey and Jose Manuel de Urru- tia. Although intended to be temporary, it served the colony until Spain returned Louisiana to France in 1803. The brief epilogue covers the highlights of O'Reilly's career from his return to Spain in June, 1770, until his vi death in March, 1794. He was Inspector General of Infantry until 1783 and served as governor of Madrid, Andalusia, and Cadiz, retiring from the last post in 1786. The crown sum­ moned him in 1794 to take command of the Army of the Pyrenees, but he died en route at Murcia (Chincilla). INTRODUCTION On August 18, 1769, the French flag was lowered in the Place d'Armes (today Jackson Square) in the city of New Or­ leans. In its place was raised the banner of the Spanish monarch Charles III. Thus began the brief but important administration of Lieutenant General Don Alejandro O'Reilly as the second Spanish governor of Louisiana. O'Reilly had been sent by Charles III to restore Span­ ish authority in the newly acquired colony of Louisiana. Developments in that colony after the arrival of Don Anto­ nio de Ulloa, Spain's first governor of Louisiana, had led to an insurrection in October, 176 8, and to Ulloa's subse­ quent expulsion. When O'Reilly came to Louisiana in 1769 to establish Spanish rule, he had the leaders of the rebel­ lion tried and six of them were condemned to death. In spite of the attempt of a number of historians in recent times to exonerate O'Reilly for his treatment of the insurrectionists, one still hears him popularly re­ ferred to as "Bloody O'Reilly." In order to put the Span­ ish governor's actions in proper perspective, it would be appropriate to examine critically the attitudes of leading historians of Louisiana from the beginning of the nine­ teenth century to the present. These illustrate a variety of views and interpretations: some indicate judgments based on obvious prejudice or lack of knowledge of sources; others adopt more ienient or vindicating positions. As early as 1830 a bitter attack was made upon O'Reilly and upon Spanish justice by the French historian, Francois Barb£-Marbois. Referring to the governor, he wrote: ...The Spanish general, O'Reilly, replaced Don An­ tonio de Ulloa. ... O'Reilly was an enemy of recon- ciliatory measures, a warrior of reputation in his profession, and thought a colony might be governed even more despotically than a conquered country. The barbarian indulged in acts of violence and fe­ rocity which he mistook for prudence and firmness, ... Scaffolds were erected in New Orleans. Six colonists paid by their heads for the courage with which they had manifested their attachment to France. The Court of Madrid secretly disapproved of these acts of outrage; but fearing to endanger the author­ ity of its governors it abstained frcm condemning O'Reilly and even from disavowing him by an authen­ tic act.-*- Barbe-Marbois either ignored or was unaware of certain vi­ tal documents covering the events that had occurred at New Orleans and at Madrid. That the French historian might have been misinformed concerning the most critical facts in the case is evident, as at least two readily discernible er­ rors illustrate. First, his comments concerning a secret disapproval of O'Reilly's actions by Charles III and his court are without foundation. Neither Barbe-Marbois nor ■'•Francois Barbe-Marbois, A History of Louisiana (Phila­ delphia, 1830), pp. 137-138.