Pierre Evariste Jean-Baptiste Bossier (pronounced Boh Zhay) (March 22, 1797 – April 24, 1844) was a planter, soldier and politician born in

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; french: link=no, Les Natchitoches) is a small city and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named ...

. He is the namesake of

Bossier Parish Bossier Parish ( ; french: Paroisse de Bossier) is a parish located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 116,979, and 128,746 in 2020. The parish seat is Benton. The principal city is ...

(pronounced ), located east of the Red River across from

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

in northwestern Louisiana.

Bossier City Bossier City ( ) is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a ...

and the Pierre Bossier Mall shopping center in Bossier City are among the other places named for him.

Early life and education

Born in Natchitoches in 1797, during the period of Spanish rule in Louisiana, Pierre Evariste Jean-Baptiste Bossier was the son of the planter François Paul Bossier and the former Catherine Pélagie Lambre. An ethnic French Catholic Creole, he was privately educated by a tutor in the classics.

Career and death

Bossier was a planter like his father and cultivated cotton and sugar as commodity crops on his plantation, Live Oaks, on the

Cane River Cane River (''Rivière aux Cannes'') is a riverU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 3, 2011 formed from a portion of the Red River that is located in Natchitoches Pa ...

, depending on the labor of large gangs of enslaved African Americans. This waterway was formerly a segment of the Red River, in

Natchitoches Parish Natchitoches Parish (french: Paroisse des Natchitoches or ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,566. The parish seat is Natchitoches. The parish was formed in 1805. The Natchito ...

. Like other native-born creoles of the planter elite, Bossier served in the state

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, gaining the rank of general. He entered politics as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. Bossier was elected as a member of the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...

in 1832, defeating Whig

Louis Gustave De Russy Louis Gustave De Russy (1795 – December 17, 1864) was an engineer and career United States Army officer who served as Major-General in the Louisiana Militia during the American Civil War. He was the oldest West Point graduate to serve in the ...

. Bossier served from 1833 to 1843. In the summer of 1839, a political argument between a prominent Whig, General F. Gaiennie, and State Senator General P. E. Bossier, a Democrat, escalated to recriminations published in the local newspaper. Gaiennie, also a general in the state militia, had denounced Bossier as a coward. Bossier demanded a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

and Gaiennie accepted, choosing rifles as the most deadly weapon available. The duel occurred the following autumn on the grounds of Cherokee Plantation, which was owned by Emile Sompayrac in

. Gaiennie fired first and missed, Bossier hit Gaiennie in the heart, killing him instantly.Steven M. Mayeux, ''Earthen Walls, Iron Men: Fort DeRussy, Louisiana, and the Defense of Red River''
University of Tennessee Press, 2007, Appendix A, pp. 275–276 Another eleven men died in the aftermath, as animosities related to the duel continued to play out.Louis Raphael Nardini, Jr., ''My Historic Natchitoches, Louisiana and Its Environment'', (Natchitoches, LA: Nardini Publishing, 1963), p. 167 Bossier was elected to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from the newly established

Louisiana's 4th congressional district Louisiana's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district is located in the northwestern part of the state and is based in Shreveport- Bossier City. It also includes the cities of Minden, De ...

, serving from March 4, 1843, until his death in office a year later on April 24, 1844, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

before his first term had ended. Driven by grief over the duel and its fallout, Bossier committed suicide. His coffin was placed in the well of

Old Hall of the House The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along th ...

and services were conducted by

James A. Ryder James A. Ryder (October 8, 1800 – January 12, 1860) was an American Catholic Church, Catholic priest and Society of Jesus, Jesuit who became the president of several Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Jesuit universities in th ...

S.J., then the president of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. Bossier's remains are interred at the Catholic Cemetery in Natchitoches.

Legacy and honors

Bossier City, Bossier Parish, and Pierre Bossier Mall in Bossier City, and Bossier Street in Natchitoches, are all named in his honor.

References

* "Pierre Bossier", ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'', Vol. 1 (1988), p. 92
''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''
* David Colvin, "Bossier's Forgotten Man," ''

Shreveport Times ''The Times'' is a Gannett daily newspaper based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Its distribution area includes 12 parishes in Northwest Louisiana and three counties in East Texas. Its coverage focuses on issues affecting the Shreveport-Bossier market, ...

'', October 24, 1965

External links

*
Bossier, Pierre Evariste Jean-Baptiste
in

Louisiana Historical Association The Louisiana Historical Association is an organization established in 1889 in Louisiana to collect and preserve the history of Louisiana and its archives. The organization was formed, in part, for the operation of New Orleans' Memorial Hall A m ...

's ''Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'' (Scroll down.) * – Louisiana gravesite * –

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

at the Congressional Cemetery, Washington, DC {{DEFAULTSORT:Bossier, Pierre 1797 births 1844 deaths Politicians from Natchitoches, Louisiana American duellists Democratic Party Louisiana state senators Bossier Parish, Louisiana American planters Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana 19th-century American politicians American slave owners Catholics from Louisiana

Early life and education

Career and death

Legacy and honors

See also

References

External links