Étienne Perier (governor)
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Étienne Perier or Étienne de Perier (1686–1766), also known as Perier the Elder (), was a French naval officer and governor of
French Louisiana The term French Louisiana ( ; ) refers to two distinct regions: * First, to Louisiana (New France), historic French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by Early Modern France, France during the 17th and 18th ...
from 1726 to 1733. His time as governor included some notable achievements, including the construction of the first levee along the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
in 1727. In response to the Natchez Revolt, he attempted to completely destroy the
Natchez people ttps://archive.org/details/dcouverteett01marg The Internet Archive website The Natchez ( , ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area in the Lower Mississippi Valley, n ...
, which increased Native American hostility toward the French in the territory. Because he failed to secure the safety of the colony, Perier was recalled as governor in March 1733. He later distinguished himself as a naval officer and
privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
, including during the capture of HMS ''Northumberland'' in 1744.


Early life

Étienne Perier was born on February 27, 1686, in Brest in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. A member of the de Perier family, he was the son of and Marie de Launay. His father was a non-noble shipowner and merchant in Le Havre. By 1691 the family moved to
Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
, where Perier's father served as captain of the Port of Dunkirk. In 1695, when he was eight, Perier joined a
privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
crew alongside a son of
Jean Bart Jean Bart (; ; 21 October 1650 – 27 April 1702) was a Flemish naval commander and privateer. Early life Jean Bart was born in Dunkirk in 1650 to a seafaring family, the son of Jean-Cornil Bart (c. 1619–1668) who has been described various ...
, a friend of his father's. He saw his first action before he turned nine.


In the French navy (1702–1714)

When he was 15, Perier began a military career at sea. French naval power at the time was invested primarily in a fleet of coursairs, and Perier served on several ships escorting convoys in the
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and the
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until August 1704, when he joined a company of ''gardes-marine''. During the
War of Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish ...
, he participated in the capture of several British ships while serving under
René Duguay-Trouin René Trouin, Sieur du Gué, also known as René Duguay-Trouin (; 10 June 1673 – 27 September 1736), was a French Navy officer and privateer best known for his service in the War of the Spanish Succession. Successful in his military care ...
and Claude de Forbin, including sailing to Scotland as part of the failed French invasion of Britain. In 1711, Perier was captured and held as a prisoner of war, but he was later released on the condition he no longer serve at sea. To comply with the terms of his parole, he served on land in the Marine Artillery Corps in
Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...
, France. In June 1712, during the Holy Roman Empire's siege of Le Quesnoy, Perier took part in the city's defense. A falling parapet brick injured him during the siege, and he was captured again when the Austrians overran the city.


In service of the Compagnies (1714–1726)

After the Wars of the Spanish Succession wound down in 1714, Perier returned to sea to combat pirates off the coast of
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for the Compagnie du Sénégal, which held a monopoly on the trade of
enslaved people Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
from West Africa. After 1718, it merged with several other French trading monopolies into the Company of the Indies. In 1721, Perier served under his younger brother Antoine-Alexis during the capture of Arguin, an island off the coast of
Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
. The Dutch retook the island a year later but lost it again in 1724 to French troops, including Perier and his brother. After recovering Arguin, the Company troops captured a battery and a fort at Portendick further down the Mauritanian coast before returning to France. During his service with the Company of the Indies, Perier sailed in the South Pacific off the coasts of
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and
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, and spent six months in 1724 on the
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, guarding the recently established fort at Mahé, India, which was under threat from local rulers.


Governor of the French Louisiana (1726–1733)

In August 1726, after then-governor of
French Louisiana The term French Louisiana ( ; ) refers to two distinct regions: * First, to Louisiana (New France), historic French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by Early Modern France, France during the 17th and 18th ...
Pierre Dugué de Boisbriant was recalled to France, Perier was appointed commandant general of the territory, overseeing military matters and relations with the Native Americans. He arrived in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
in October 1726 and established his home at 613 Royal Street. Also in October,
Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...
Perier, his father, and his brother Antoine-Alexis by
letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...
in recognition of the family's decades of service to the king. Despite Perier's lack of experience in colonial administration, the Company of the Indies felt they had a long-time employee who would be a pliant administrator focused on the Company's goals. To ensure this, the Company granted him an annual salary of 10,000
French livres The livre (abbreviation: £ or ₶., French for (pound)) was the currency of Kingdom of France and its predecessor states of Francia and West Francia from 781 to 1794. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the n ...
, of riverfront land, and eight enslaved people a year so long as he remained in office. He sold the land, which is in the modern McDonoghville neighborhood, in 1737. The Company directed Perier to increase the colony's profitability, enforce discipline and loyalty, and keep the English from entering the territory. He was tasked specifically with completing improvements to secure the health and safety of New Orleans, as well as to visit the Company settlement in Natchez. Perier also sought to diffuse some of the partisan, religious, and familial cliques that had made running the colony difficult for his predecessors. In this, he had some initial successes, particularly in managing the dispute between
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
and Capuchin missionaries. Perier launched a large public works effort, overseeing the construction of the first levees on the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
, clearing forests and brush from the land between the city and Lake Pontchartrain, and digging a canal from the Mississippi to connect the river to a rice mill on the king's plantation and Bayou St. John. Perier also sought to strengthen the colony's moral character with support for stronger civil punishment of vices, such as gambling, and support for the construction of more churches and rectories. He also welcomed the Ursuline nuns to the city; his wife, Catherine, laid the cornerstone for the nuns' first convent in the city.


Slavery policies

Achieving these public works required the labor of enslaved Africans. The Company of the Indies had a monopoly on the slave trade. During the time it controlled the colony, more captured Africans were imported to Louisiana than at any other point in the 18th century. With this steady supply of new captives, Perier tended to put enslaved people to work on public projects until they were auctioned off to local slaveholders. To increase the workforce, he began conscripting enslaved people for 30 days at a time. In most cases, they were conscripted when the Company first brought them to Louisiana before delivering them to their purchasers, raising the ire of Louisiana slaveholders. Perier instituted an apprenticeship program where enslaved people were loaned to craftsmen for three years to train them as brickmakers,
joiner Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...
s, masons, carpenters, and other skilled trades necessary to the growth and development of the colony. He also put enslaved Africans to work on Company ships, navigating the coast and rivers. French settlers enslaved both Africans and Native Americans. Perier had growing concerns over alliances among enslaved people, and he encouraged slaveholders to keep enslaved Africans apart from enslaved Native Americans for fear of the two groups forming alliances. He was concerned in particular that Native Americans who escaped from slavery would induce enslaved Africans to escape and seek the protection of Native tribes. To foster mistrust between the two groups, Perier used armed enslaved African troops to attack neighboring Native Americans (although he was hesitant to rely on such troops for fear of inclining them to revolt), and he continued the policy of rewarding Native Americans for capturing escapees and disrupting
maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...
communities.


Native American relations

Perier's taking office marked the end of the indigenous policy established by former governor Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. Despite having been encouraged by the Company to learn from what Bienville had written about relations with the Native Americans, and recognizing the need to improve relations to forestall British advancement into the territory, Perier instead broke with Bienville's policy of diplomatic engagement with neighboring tribes. Louisiana's colonial administrators at the time tried balancing the need to maintain good relations with Native Americans with demands from settlers for more and better land; however, Perier did not recognize Native American ownership of their traditional lands. This was in line with French desires to colonize
New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
, as opposed to earlier efforts to maintain the territory as a resource for trade. While Perier worked to maintain positive relations with France's
Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...
and
Quapaw The Quapaw ( , Quapaw language, Quapaw: ) or Arkansas, officially the Quapaw Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, U.S. federally recognized tribe comprising about 6,000 citizens. Also known as the Ogáxpa or †...
allies, in other instances he sought to dominate tribes unwilling to align with France's colonial ambitions. In
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, at the border between France's Canada and Louisiana territories, the
Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...
(Fox) in 1728 again declared war on France. Perier alongside his counterpart in Canada, the Marquis de Beauharnois, and the local commanders pursued a policy of complete destruction against the Meskwaki, despite the ill will it generated with other Native American tribes in the region. This approach would be seen in Perier's response to the Natchez revolt.


Personal ambition on Natchez land

The territory of the Natchez, on bluffs above the Mississippi River, had been noted by the Company of the Indies for its agricultural potential as early as 1717, and Fort Rosalie and several
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
plantations were established there after the First Natchez War in 1716. The Company specifically told Perier to attend to the development of the Natchez settlement, and Perier saw an opportunity to establish his own plantation in the area, too. To oversee Fort Rosalie and the Natchez settlement, Perier appointed the Sieur de Chépart. Chépart was described as "rapacious, haughty, and tyrannical," abusing soldiers, settlers, and the Natchez alike, including throwing
Dumont de Montigny Jean-François-Benjamin Dumont de Montigny (31 July 1696 – 1760), or Dumont de Montigny, was a French colonial officer and farmer in Louisiana (New France), French Louisiana in the 18th century. He was born in Paris, France, on July 31 ...
, who had overseen the fort under the previous commandant, into chains. With the help of some
Illiniwek The Illinois Confederation, also referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, were made up of a loosely organized group of 12 or 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley. Eventually, member tribes occupied an area reaching from Lake Mich ...
traders, Dumont escaped to New Orleans and reported on Chépart's actions, and the commandant was called before the Superior Council, which found him guilty of "acts of injustice". Perier, who according to some sources was already in a partnership with Chépart to establish a large plantation at Natchez, overruled the Superior Council, pardoned Chépart, and sent him back to the Natchez territory. Upon his return, Chépart was working to secure land for himself and Perier's plantation. In spring 1729, Chépart ordered the Natchez to abandon the village of White Apple, an important cultural and religious site for the tribe, planting a missionary cross on the land to indicate he was acting on Perier's orders. To delay action against them, the Natchez asked Chépart to wait until after the fall harvest so they would be able to remove their ancestors' remains from White Apple. He granted their request, and the Natchez used the delay to plan the attack that marked the beginning of the Natchez revolt.


Natchez revolt and retaliation

On November 28, 1729, the Natchez Chief, the Great Sun, led his warriors into Fort Rosalie and captured the settlement, killing Sieur de Chépart and between 229 and 285 colonists and enslaved people, and taking about 450 captives, mostly French women and enslaved people. A about a month later, the Natchez's allies, the Yazoo, made a similar attack on Fort St. Pierre. Ahead of the attack, the Natchez also recruited several enslaved Africans, arguing that driving off the colonists would mean freedom for them as well. According to historian Lyle Saxon, in response to the Natchez revolt, Perier "made the grave mistake of trying to inspire the Indians with fear," seeking the complete destruction of the Natchez and their allies to ensure the safety of the colony. Supposing a general conspiracy among the indigenous tribes in the area, he launched an indiscriminate campaign of attacks. He began by authorizing an attack in December 1729 by enslaved Africans on the unaligned Chaouacha tribe south of New Orleans, rewarding the men by freeing them from slavery. He also proposed attacks against other tribes along the Mississippi, regardless of their involvement in the revolt, earning a rebuke from
Controller-General of Finances The Controller-General or Comptroller-General of Finances () was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. It replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances (''Surintendant des finances''), which was ab ...
Philibert Orry, who described the plan as "acting against all the rules of good government and against those of humanity". In January 1730, French and allied Choctaw soldiers caught the Natchez by surprise and recovered 54 women and children and 100 enslaved people. Throughout 1730, Perier sought to make examples of captured Natchez men and women, including torturing them and burning them alive in public executions. Lacking enough troops to handle the revolt and unwilling to rely too heavily on France's Choctaw allies, Perier sought reinforcements from France. The Natchez continued to resist the French until January 1731, when Perier and colonial soldiers, along with two battalions of marines commanded by his brother, Antoine-Alexis, successfully captured the Natchez's Grand Village. The Great Sun and nearly 500 more Natchez men, women, and children were captured and shipped to
Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...
, where they were sold into slavery. However, an undetermined number of other Natchez escaped to seek refuge with (and eventual assimilation) into other tribes, including the English-allied
Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...
and
Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
, further straining the French's already poor relationship with the Chickasaw.


Aftermath and recall

In his reports on the Natchez revolt and his response, Perier suggested a conspiracy among the tribes, perhaps with British encouragement, was responsible for the revolt, to divert attention from the role Chépart and his orders played in igniting the conflict. However, this story did not gain credence back in France, nor in Louisiana. Instead, the Company criticized Perier for letting his personal plans for a Natchez plantation distract him from his public responsibilities. This fit the analysis of historian Michael James Forêt, who found that the roots of the Natchez revolt "lay in a larger pattern of Franco–Natchez conflict and the greed of Perier and the commandant of Fort Rosalie". In the aftermath of the revolt, Perier attempted to punish the Chickasaw for taking in Natchez refugees and continued his harsh approach toward even allied Native Americans, which raised the concern of other military and civil officials in the colony. At the same time, he sought to reward some Native allies, such as the Quapaw, by expanding trading posts, including commissioning the Sieur de Vincennes to establish Fort Vincennes on the lower
Wabash River The Wabash River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana, and a significant part of Illinois, in the United ...
. In June 1731, Perier faced an attempted slave uprising, the Samba rebellion, involving enslaved
Bambara people The Bambara ( or ''Banmana'') are a Mandé peoples, Mandé ethnic group native to much of West Africa, primarily southern Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Senegal. They have been associated with the historic Bambara Empire. Today, th ...
s inspired by the Natchez revolt. As he had done with Natchez prisoners, Perier ordered torture and public executions using a
breaking wheel The breaking wheel, also known as the execution wheel, the Wheel of Catherine or the (Saint) Catherine('s) Wheel, was a torture method used for public execution primarily in Europe from antiquity through the Middle Ages up to the 19th century ...
for the men and women who planned the attempted uprising. In the end, Perier was criticized for his support of Chépart and his policies towards Native Americans, which failed to provide security and stability for the colony. Ultimately, the result of the revolt was a further weakening of the Company, which was still suffering from the bursting of the Mississippi Bubble in 1720. Because of its ongoing financial losses in the territory in 1731, the Company abandoned its charter and returned Louisiana to the king. Despite questions about his management of the Natchez revolt, Perier remained in place as governor of the colony, although the king's advisors, particularly the Count of Maupaus, sought to replace him. Working with the newly arrived '' commissaire-ordonnateur'', Edmé Gatien Salmon, Perier reorganized the governing council to remove the Company's representatives. However, the new council suffered from competing military and civilian concerns, and Perier's efforts to remove two critical councilors later contributed to the decision to remove him as governor. In 1733, Perier was recalled to France to answer for his handling of the Natchez revolt, and former Louisiana governor Bienville was appointed to replace him.


Return to the navy (1733–1766)

After his recall, Perier and his family returned to France, and by 1734 he returned to sea as second officer on the ''Neptune'', cruising off the coast of Senegal. By 1737 he had settled in Brest, and made a career in the
French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
. During the
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, he commanded the ''Mars'' during the capture of HMS ''Northumberland'' in 1744 and participated in the failed Duc d'Anville expedition of 1746. He later commanded a squadron of four warships and two frigates in the Caribbean during the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
. In 1757, he was promoted to Lieutenant général des Armées navales. At the end of his career, on August 23, 1765, Perier was awarded the Grand-Croix of the
Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis () is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, notable as the fi ...
. At the time, only two Grand-Croix were allocated to the Ministry of the Navy. He was first inducted into the Order as a ''chevalier'' in 1727 after being named governor of Louisiana and elevated to ''commandeur'' in 1755. Perier died due to anasarca on April 1, 1766, at his daughter's home, in Saint-Martin-des-Champs, France.


Personal life

Étienne Perier married Catherine le Chibelier (1691–1956), daughter of an ''échevin'' (municipal official) from Le Havre and the widow of naval officer Jacques Graton de Chambellan, on September 21, 1719. They had three sons and a daughter. Two of the sons, Étienne Louis (1720–1756) and Antoine Louis (1728–1759), lived to adulthood and followed their father's footsteps into military service.


Legacy

In 1890, the city of New Orleans named a street after Perier, although with the spelling "Perrier." Perrier Street runs mostly through the Uptown section of the city, between Saint Charles Avenue and the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
.


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perier, Etienne Governors of Louisiana (New France) 1686 births 1766 deaths French privateers French slave owners French Navy officers Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Louis People from Dunkirk