GRAND-PRE TO MIRO May 16, 13
Translation No. 6 AT THE FORT OF NATCHEZ, May 16, 1782.
Rumors have spread among the inhabitants of this district about the Americans
recently arrived here who appear to have had bad intentions, or at least to have
fled to this post on account of some crime committed in their own country.
They are without passports, recommendations, or any document in their favor such
as are usually obtained by those journeying to foreign countries. I received
secret advice on the suspicion aroused by the conduct of these people from the
zealous and faithful subjects of His Majesty,
Daniel Perry and
St. Germain.
They have kindly questioned one of these people, who with his family, has come
with the others, and who wishes to show his conduct and person to be truly sincere,
because he knows in effect some particulars relative to the arbitrary ideas that
have been formed about them. Consequently we have had the said
Thomas Etridge
appear and we have asked him by means of the interpreter, Doctor Don Francisco Farrel,
who are the people who came down with him; what their conduct was; whether they
are Americans or English; if they had been in the service of the United States;
what motives impelled them to abandon their own country and countrymen to come
and settle in this province; if their intentions are good; if the property that
they brought with them, consisting of slaves, is their own; if they had owned
them in America ; if they had brought with them arms, such as carbines, guns,
artillery, and munitions, and if they had cached anything of this kind anywhere
near the post; if they had encountered, seen or spoken to a certain Philip Mulkey,
instigator of the rebellion in the district of Natchez, on the Cumberland River
or on the Cherokee; if it is true that this Mulkey proposed to return next autumn
with many people, that is, with families, or armed men without servants or slaves;
if they would come down in large numbers and from different places; if they had
encountered English encampments on the bank of the river; if it is true that they
saw a lanchon loaded with corn and flour a little below the Barrancas de Margot
which seemed to have been captured ; if in the neighborhood they saw signs of men;
and finally what were the intentions and remarks of these Americans during their
journey.
The said Thomas Etridge replied that those who came down with him are Americans
by birth but not sentiment. Their conduct in America was always that of people
who place themselves on the stronger side, now one, now the other, according to
the success of the belligerent powers. They had profited by everything they could
pillage from their countrymen. After having moved from place to place, as their
interests demanded, or because of crimes they committed in different places,
they conceived the plan of setting out to establish a settlement in the Illinois.
They showed by their remarks the aversion they had to living under the Spanish
government, on which point the declarant has heard them say a thousand times that
they would rather the Devil should carry them off than to come to the Spanish
possessions, unless the post of Natchez should pass into the power of the Americans.
But at the mouth of the Ohio they assembled and consulted on the route they should
follow, and finally by a plurality of votes they decided on going down to Natchez.
During the course of their journey on the Cherokee River they were continually
attacked by the Indians, but as regards the papers, furniture, and provisions that
these Americans have declared they threw into the water, this is false, as they
threw away some, but only a few. Of the Negroes that they own or which have been
brought here by the one named David Smith,
six were stolen, and these same Negroes will say and declare the name of their
masters in case they are so required. William Smith,
brother of the former, also has a stolen Negress and a child. It is suspected that
a large part of the slaves brought by Thomas Green were similarly obtained. As
regards the others, they have acquired their slaves by the proceeds of the sale
of their property. It is probable that part of these Americans, that is, those
who have perpetrated these thefts, have abandoned their country in order to enjoy,
far from any anxiety, the fruits of their pillage. They had brought many firearms,
guns, and carbines, and one cannon that has been transported to the Fort of Natchez.
They have not deposited any arms anywhere near the post.
Thomas Green may have some thirty pounds
of powder and much ball. This Thomas Green
was a maker of powder, and it is his trade or profession.
They saw the said Philip Mulkey in Carolina and he had told them that he would
return this autumn with many people. At the Barrancas de Margot they encountered
a deserted lanchon, loaded with flour and corn, which certainly had been captured
but they had not had time to unload it. These Americans had consulted as to whether
they would go down to Natchez or not and it was decided that they would not touch
at this post. They saw from afar, before reaching this lanchon a canoe in which
there must have been eight men, but when they arrived, these had disappeared.
On the bank there was a breastwork of logs, placed one on the other, with interwoven
branches, which is all that they know. Regarding the remarks of these Americans,
they have always been like those of suspicious persons, and a few days before
their arrival at Natchez, David Smith
threatened to take the declarant's life if he said anything. The said declarant
signed this, together with us, the commandant and undersigned witnesses with the
exception of Daniel Perry, who declared he cannot write.
THOMAS ETRIDGE FRANCIS FARRELL ST. GERMAIN* DON JUAN DELAVILLE BETJVRE FRANCISCO
MANUEL DE LAS CAGIGAS
Before me, CARLOS DE GRAND-PRE (Eubric)