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Francisco Bouligny

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In thisSpanish name,the first or paternalsurnameisBoulignyand the second or maternal family name isParet.
The Most Excellent
Francisco Bouligny
Portrait of Francisco Bouligny, Unknown Painter (circa 1770s)
Portrait by unknown artist
Governor of Louisiana
In office
1799–1799
MonarchCharles IV
Preceded byManuel Gayoso de Lemos
Succeeded bySebastián Calvo de la Puerta
Personal details
Born
Francisco Domingo Joseph Bouligny y Paret

(1736-09-04)September 4, 1736
Alicante, Spain
DiedNovember 25, 1800(1800-11-25)(aged 64)
New Orleans,Louisiana,U.S.
Resting placeSt. Louis Cathedral
Spouse
Marie-Louise Le Sénéchal d'Auberville
​
​
(m.1770)​
Known forFounder ofNew Iberia, Louisiana
SignatureFran. co Bouligny
Military service
AllegianceViceroyalty of New Spain
Kingdom of Spain
Branch/serviceSpanish Army
Years of service1758–1800
RankBrigadier general
Battles/wars

Francisco Domingo Joseph Bouligny y Paret(4 September 1736 – 25 November 1800) was aSpanish Armyofficer and colonial administrator who served as the actinggovernor of Louisianain 1799. As a francophone in Spanish service, he was a bridge between Creole and French Louisiana and Spain following the transfer of the territory from France to Spain.[1][2]Bouligny served as lieutenant governor underBernardo de Gálvez,founded the city ofNew Iberiain 1779,[3][4]and served as acting military governor in 1799 for just one year.

Early life

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Bouligny, called "Frasquito" by his family,[2][5]was born in 1736 inAlicante,Spain, to Jean (Juan) Bouligny, a successful French merchant, and Marie Paret, who was from Alicante. At the age of 10, he was sent to a boys' school founded by theBishop of Orihuela,from which he graduated in 1750 and joined the family import-export business,[6]which traded textiles, spices, wines, and more from both around the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic.[7]

Early military career

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In 1758, Bouligny joined in theSpanish Army,serving the Regiment of Zamora.[8]A year later, he transferred to the Royal Regiment of Spanish Guards and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the infantry and sent toHavana,Cuba,in 1762. At that time, Spain had entered theSeven Years' Warand, while Bouligny was en route from Cádiz, the Britishcaptured Havana.New orders had Bouligny wait out the remainder of the war in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands.[9]In August 1763, Bouligny arrived in Havana where he was stationed until 1769 when he joinedAlejandro O'Reillyas an aide-de-camp for his expedition to put down theLouisiana Rebellion.[2]As Bouligny was fluent in French, he was charged with delivering the Spanish government's messages to the Francophone inhabitants of Louisiana[10][11][12][13]and he acted as an interpreter during the military trial of the rebellion's leaders.[14]

Bouligny was promoted to the rank of brevet captain in the newly formed Fixed Louisiana Infantry Battalion.[15]In 1772, he was appointed by Gov.Luis de Unzagaas a full captain.[16]However, a year later Bouligny was relieved from command by Unzaga and placed under house arrest for ordering a group of deserters six-year prison terms instead of the four-month sentence proscribed by the king's code. Ultimately, O'Reilly interceded on Bouligny's behalf and he was restored to his command with a warning.[10]

In 1775, Bouligny was granted leave to return to Europe to settle family affairs. While in Spain, Bouligny wrote a discourse on the population of New Orleans and Spanish Louisiana (Memoria histórica y política sobre la Luisiana).[17]Memoriabrought the Spanish court's attention to its Louisiana holdings and their potential for agricultural development and trade. It also highlighted the importance of good relations with the region's Native American peoples, and the need to improve the territory's defenses as a strategic buffer againstBritish North America.[11][18][19]To this end, Bouligny included inMemoriadetailed suggestions for new and strengthened fortifications along the territory's many waterways.[20]Memoriawas well received in Madrid and was influential in guiding the future development of Spanish Louisiana.[21]

Return to Louisiana

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In 1777, Bouligny returned to Louisiana, where he was named lieutenant governor by Gov.Bernardo de Gálvez.Among his responsibilities was managing trade and relations with Native American tribes and founding new settlements. InMemoria,Bouligny advocated settling Spanish and other Catholic immigrants throughout Louisiana to bolster Spain's hold on the territory, including Anglo-Americans who were willing to switch their loyalties to Spain.[22]Following on this settlement plan, in April 1779, Bouligny brought a group of 500 colonists, primarilyMalagueñosalong with someIsleños,upBayou Techeto establish the city ofNew Iberia.[4][23][24]

However, the relationship between Bouligny and Gálvez was a tense one. The two clashed over issues around trade and settlement, in particular the location of the New Iberia settlement and Gálvez's approach towards British settlement near the Mississippi River.[9][25]Bouligny also mixed personal and official business, including at least one occasion paying himself for the use of his enslaved workers.[26]Gálvez steadily worked to isolate Bouligny, calling into question his actions, auditing heavily the expenses of the New Iberia settlement and Bouligny's personal finances, and not recommending him for advancement.[9][26][27]

In late 1779, during theAmerican Revolutionary War,Spain attacked British holdings inWest Florida,and Bouligny participated in thecapture of Fort Buteand theBattle of Baton Rouge.In 1780, Bouligny led an expedition against the British atMobile,[23][28]and he later participated in theSiege of Pensacola.[2][9]

In 1783, Bouligny was ordered to eliminate a colony of fugitives from slavery (cimarrones) downriver from New Orleans. By June 1784, the expedition captured 60 people, including the colony's leader,Jean Saint Malo;[29]in the following investigation, officials identified a dozen slaves as helping to plan escapes from plantations.[30][31]

In 1784, while Gov.Esteban Rodríguez Mirótravelled toWest Floridato treat with theMuscogee,Chickasaw,andChoctawnations, Bouligny served as acting governor of Louisiana.[32]The next year, Miró sent Bouligny toNatchezto enforce Spanish rule in the area and to resist American encroachment related to theWest Florida Controversy.[33]In March 1791, Bouligny was appointed colonel and placed in command of the Fixed Louisiana Infantry Regiment, a post he held until his death in 1800.[9][34]

Following the death of Gov.Manuel Gayoso de Lemoson 18 July 1799, Francisco Bouligny was appointed as military governor of Louisiana, withNicolás María Vidalas civil governor, until the new governor general,Sebastián Calvo de la Puerta y O'Farrill,Marquess de Casa Calvo, reached the colony on 18 December 1799.[2]

Monument honoring Bouligny and the first Malagueño settlers in New Iberia, Louisiana.

Death and honors

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Bouligny died in New Orleans on 25 November 1800 following a long illness. He was honored by being buried inSt. Louis Cathedral.In September 1800, the Spanish Crown appointed Bouligny brigadier general, but the written copy of the commission did not reach Louisiana until after his death.[2]

Bouligny left behind what was considered an extensive library of 48 works in 147 volumes, a wine cellar holding some 500 bottles of wine, and 31 enslaved people.[35][36]His library included histories of Ancient Rome, France, America, the Russian Empire, and Germany, as well as the conquest of Mexico and Captain Cook's third voyage. Most of the works were in Fench; only five were in Spanish.[37]

In 1977, descendants of Bouligny founded the Bouligny Foundation to promote the study of Spanish Louisiana by supporting research and an annual lecture series. After the foundation dissolved in the early 2000s, the annual Bouligny Lecture program was continued byThe Historic New Orleans Collection.[38]

Personal life

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Bouligny was described as being "rather tall and slight, with a noble military bearing, easy and dignified in his manners, and warm in his friendship."[39]Throughout his life, Bouligny kept up active correspondence in both French and Spanish with his family and officials around the world.[5]Depending upon the language used, his first name is given as "Francisco" or "François."

On 29 December 1770, Bouligny married Marie-Louise Le Sénéchal d'Auberville (1750–1834) who belonged to a prominent French Louisiana family.[40][41][42]It was an advantageous marriage for both families, with Bouligny's political connections helping to settle an outstanding debt owed to Le Sénéchal d'Auberville's mother and enabling him to begin amassing property holdings in the city.[26]The couple had four children, includingCharles Dominique Joseph Boulignywho was elected by the state legislature to the U.S. Senate in the 1820s,[2]and Louis Bouligny, after whom theFaubourg Boulignyneighborhood of New Orleans was named.[43]His grandsonJohn Edward Boulignywas elected to Congress in 1859.

Bouligny's older brother,Juan de Bouligny,served as the first Spanish ambassador to theOttoman Empirefrom 1779 to 1793.[44]

References

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  • Din, Gilbert C. (1993).Francisco Bouligny: A Bourbon Soldier in Spanish Louisiana.Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.ISBN978-0-8071-1795-8.
  • Martin, Fontaine (1990).A History of the Bouligny Family and Allied Families.Lafayette: The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana.ISBN978-0-940984-51-6.
  • Palencia Pérez, Remedios (2007).Francisco Bouligny: Un Alicantino en la Colonización de Luisiana(in Spanish). Alicante, Spain: Instituto Alicantino de Cultura Juan Gil-Albert.ISBN978-84-7784-516-4.Retrieved2018-10-19.
  • Ribes Iborra, Vicent (2002)."II. Luisiana: Bouligny, la vigillia de la razón".Presencia valenciana en los Estados Unidos: ss. XVI–XIX(in Spanish). Valencia, Spain: Biblioteca Valenciana. pp. 33–55.ISBN978-84-482-3023-4.Retrieved2013-03-25.

Notes

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  1. ^Eakin, Sue; Culbertson, Manie (1998).Louisiana: The Land and Its People(4 ed.). Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Co. p. 532.ISBN978-1-56554-289-1.
  2. ^abcdefgMartin, Fontaine (1990).A History of the Bouligny Family and Allied Families.Lafayette, Louisiana: The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana.ISBN978-0-940984-51-6.
  3. ^Bergerie, Maurine (2000).They Tasted Bayou Water.Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Co.ISBN978-1-4556-1299-4.
  4. ^abDin, Gilbert C. (Spring 1976). "Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Bouligny and the Malagueño Settlement at New Iberia, 1779".Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association.17(2): 187–202.JSTOR4231587.
  5. ^abThomas, Jenelle Katherine (2017).'Vous êtes hombre de bien': A study of bilingual family letters to and from colonial Louisiana, 1748–1867(PhD). Berkeley, California: University of California, Berkeley.Retrieved2019-04-12.
  6. ^Ribes Iborra, Vicent (2002)."II. Luisiana: Bouligny, la vigillia de la razón".Presencia valenciana en los Estados Unidos: ss. XVI–XIX.Valencia, Spain: Biblioteca Valenciana. pp. 33–55.ISBN978-84-482-3023-4.Retrieved2013-03-25.
  7. ^Hernández Sau, Pablo (2017). "Merchants between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean: The Bouligny family case (1700–1762)". In Herrero Sánchez, Manuel; Kaps, Klemens (eds.).Merchants and Trade Networks in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, 1550–1800: Connectors of commercial maritime systems.New York, New York: Routledge. pp. 196–217.ISBN978-1-138-18873-0.RetrievedMay 9,2021.
  8. ^"Certificate of service of Colonel Francisco Bouligny, after 1800 November 25".Rosemonde E. and Emile Kuntz collection, Manuscripts Collection 600, Louisiana Research Collection,Series: Spanish colonial period, 1769–1803, Box: 6, File: 10. New Orleans, Louisiana: Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University. 1954. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  9. ^abcdeDin, Gilbert C. (1993).Francisco Bouligny: A Bourbon Soldier in Spanish Louisiana.Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.ISBN978-0-8071-1795-8.
  10. ^abTexada, David Ker (1968).The Administration of Alejandro O'Reilly as Governor of Louisiana, 1769-1770(PhD). Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University.RetrievedMay 9,2021.
  11. ^abWeddle, Robert S. (1995).Changing Tides: Twilight and Dawn in the Spanish Sea, 1763–1803.College Station: Texas A&M University Press.ISBN978-0-89096-661-7.
  12. ^Cormier, Steven A."Book Eight: A New Acadia".The Acadians of Louisiana: A Synthesis.Jennings, Louisiana: self published.Retrieved2018-08-29.
  13. ^Coutts, Brian E. (1981).Martín Navarro: Treasurer, Contador, Intendent, 1766–1788: Politics and Trade in Spanish Louisiana, Volume 1(PhD). Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University.Retrieved2019-04-27.
  14. ^de Pedro, Marqués de Casa Mena, José Montero (2000) [1979].The Spanish in New Orleans and Louisiana[Españoles en Nueva Orleans y Luisiana]. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing.ISBN978-1-4556-1227-7.Retrieved2013-11-18.
  15. ^Din, Gilbert C.; Harkins, John E. (1996).New Orleans Cabildo: Colonial Louisiana's First City Government, 1769–1803.Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp.13–14.ISBN978-0-8071-2042-2.Retrieved2019-04-13.
  16. ^Cazorla Granados, Francisco José; García Baena, Rosa María; Polo Rubio, José David (2020). Cazorla, Frank (ed.).El gobernador Luis de Unzaga (1717–1793): precursor en el nacimiento de los EE.UU. y en el liberalismo[Gov. Luis de Unzaga (1717–1793): Pioneer at the Birth of the United States and Liberalism] (in Spanish). Málaga, Spain: Fundación Málaga. pp. 50–89.ISBN978-84-09-12410-7.
  17. ^Bouligny, Francisco (16 August 1776).Memoria histórica y política sobre la Luisiana.Retrieved2013-03-25.
  18. ^Din, Gilbert C. (1978). "Protecting the 'Barrera': Spain's Defenses in Louisiana, 1763–1779".Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association.19(2): 183–211.JSTOR4231775.
  19. ^Hoffman, Louise C. (2000)."'Luisiana': The Spanish "(PDF).The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly.18(4): 2–5.Retrieved2018-10-05.
  20. ^Cruz Freire, Pedro (2018)."La llave de Nueva España. Proyectos defensivos para los territorios de Luisiana (1770–1795)"[The Key to New Spain: Defensive Projects for the Territory of Louisiana (1770–1795)].Ars Longa. Cuadernos de Arte(in Spanish) (27): 113–124.doi:10.7203/arslonga.27.11198.hdl:10550/69367.
  21. ^"Francisco Bouligny".Diccionario Biográfico Español(in Spanish).Retrieved13 June2021.
  22. ^Fehrenbach, T.R. (2000).Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans(Updated ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. pp. 110–112.ISBN978-1-4976-0970-9.
  23. ^abQuintero Saravia, Gonzalo M. (23 March 2018).Bernardo de Gálvez: Spanish Hero of the American Revolution.Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.ISBN978-1-4696-4080-8.Retrieved2018-10-11.
  24. ^Villeré, Sidney Louis (1972).The Canary Islands Migration to Louisiana, 1778–1783: The History and Passenger Lists of the Isleños Volunteer Recruits and Their Families.New Orleans, Louisiana: Genealogical Publishing Company. p. vii.ISBN978-0-8063-0522-6.Retrieved2019-01-11.
  25. ^Seguí Romá, Vicente (2012).Comerciantes extranjeros en Alicante (1700–1750): Hombres de negocios franceses y genoveses en una ciudad mediterraneá[Foreign traders in Alicante (1700–1750): French and Genoese businessmen in a Mediterranean city] (PhD) (in Spanish). Sant Vicent del Raspeig, Spain: Universitat d'Alacant.hdl:10045/27146.
  26. ^abcPowell, Lawrence N. (2012).The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 178–189.ISBN978-0-674-06544-4.Retrieved2018-12-05.
  27. ^Nunemaker, J. Horace (August 1945). "The Bouligny Affair in Louisiana".The Hispanic American Historical Review.25(3): 339–363.doi:10.2307/2507969.JSTOR2507969.
  28. ^Beerman, Eric (October 1979)."'Yo Solo' not 'Solo': Juan Antonio de Riaño "(PDF).The Florida Historical Quarterly.LVIII(2): 174–184.Retrieved2016-06-22.
  29. ^Voisin, Erin Elizabeth (2008).Saint Maló remembered(MA). Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University.
  30. ^Din, Gilbert C. (1999).Spaniards, Planters, and Slaves: The Spanish Regulation of Slavery in Louisiana, 1763–1803.College Station: Texas A&M University Press.ISBN978-0-89096-904-5.
  31. ^Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo(1995).Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century.Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.ISBN978-0-8071-1999-0.
  32. ^Cowan, Walter Greaves; McGuire, Jack B. (2010).Louisiana Governors: Rulers, Rascals, and Reformers.Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 50–51.ISBN978-1-60473-320-4.Retrieved2018-10-17.
  33. ^Din, Gilbert C. (July 1981)."War Clouds on the Mississippi: Spain's 1785 Crisis in West Florida"(PDF).The Florida Historical Quarterly.LX(1): 51–76.Retrieved2016-06-22.
  34. ^Din, Gilbert C. (Winter 2002). "'For Defense of Country and the Glory of Arms': Army Officers in Spanish Louisiana, 1766–1803 ".Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association.43(1): 5–40.JSTOR4233810.
  35. ^Hanger, Kimberly S. (2006).A Medley of Cultures: Louisiana History at the Cabildo.New Orleans, Louisiana: Louisiana Museum Foundation.Retrieved2013-04-04.
  36. ^Din, Gilbert C. (1981). "The Death and Succession of Francisco Bouligny".Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association.22(3): 307–315.JSTOR4232101.
  37. ^Rodriguez, John Eugene (2021).Spanish New Orleans: An Imperial City on the American Periphery, 1766–1803.Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. p. 116.ISBN978-0-8071-7501-9.
  38. ^"Francisco Bouligny Lecture".The Historic New Orleans Collection.Retrieved2021-10-21.
  39. ^French, Benjamin Franklin (1853).Historical Collections of Louisiana: Embracing Many Rare and Valuable Documents Relating to the Natural, Civil and Political History of that State.Vol. 5. New York City, New York: Lamport, Blakeman & Law. pp. 182–183.Retrieved2018-10-15.
  40. ^Arthur, Stanley Clisby; de Kernion, George Campbell Huchet (2009).Old Families of Louisiana.Baltimore, MD: Clearfield. p. 235.ISBN978-0-8063-4688-5.Retrieved2019-04-11.
  41. ^King, Grace Elizabeth (1921).Creole Families of New Orleans.New York City, New York: The Macmillan Co. pp.295–296.Retrieved2019-04-16.
  42. ^The Historic New Orleans Collection."The Francisco Bouligny Lecture".Retrieved2013-03-25.
  43. ^Branley, Edward (12 October 2011)."NOLA History: The Neighborhoods of Uptown New Orleans".Go NOLA.Retrieved2020-06-30.
  44. ^Çiçek Ünal, Ayşe (2015).The First Spanish Ambassador to the Sublime Porte: Juan de Bouligny and His Early Activities in İstanbul Based on His Diary(PDF)(MA). İstanbul, Turkey: İstanbul Şehir University. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2018-10-18.Retrieved2018-10-17.
[edit]
Preceded by Spanish Governor of Louisiana
July—December 1799
With:Nicolás María Vidal 		Succeeded by
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