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pages 29-31
Soon after his last return from the colony, (1702) war was declared by England against France and Spain, and her cruisers swept the ocean. But he dispatched his brother Chateaugue, a skillful seaman, who succeeded in landing large supplies at Dauphine island. In 1704 he made preparations to sail from Rochelle, but was disabled by severe and protracted illness. In 1706, in command of a formidable squadron, he sailed for Mobile, intending first to attack Charleston. He touched at St. Domingo, to take a number of soldiers, and there died of yellow fever on the 9th July. About the same time it was announced that M. de Noyan, brother-in-law of Iberville and Bienville, commanding the frigate Eagle, had died at Vera Cruz, of the same fatal disease. In his dispatches to the minister this year, Bienville complains that his French soldiers are too young ; that they sink under exposure and often desert, and he insists that his Canadians "are the pillars of the colony" — a striking illustration, that should be noted, of the ability of white men, nurtured in northern latitudes, to endure exposure and hard service in this climate. They were, too, it must be remembered, a temperate race, of primitive habits, simple in their diet and rarely given to excess.
1708. An English privateer made a descent on Dauphine island, the chief depot, and carried off and destroyed valuable stores. This year the fort was inundated, and it was decided to move it eight leagues higher up. It was built according to a plan of Bienville, a bastioned square, containing the governor's house, the king's warehouse, the magazine, the barracks and the prison. Outside there was a hospital, a school, a cemetery, and a house for the priests. Near by were quarters for the principal officers, M. de Bienville, M. de Chateaugue, de Boisbriant, Marigny de Mandeville, de Blondel, de Valaguy, de Pailloux, de St. Denis, de Chilen ; M. Duclos, commisary charged with the sale of land and the administration of police ; M.Jean Mache, armorer. There were other residences for people in the service, and a house for the accomodation of strangers.
At this period inundations were frequent, and it was customary to seek temporary refuge on Massacre and Dauphine islands. These islands are mere sand banks on which grow a few dwarfish pine trees, creeping vines and stunted palms. Dauphine is about seven miles in length, averaging a mile in width. The harbor in those times was at the east end, formed by a sand bank known as Spanish island. The depth of water was four to five fathoms, and afforded excellent anchor age. On approaching this harbor it was necessary to pass a . bar, where M. de Iberville found, on his first visit, from twenty to twenty- one feet water. In 1706, owing to hurricanes and shifting sands, it had shallowed to fifteen feet. This anchorage could also be reached by a smaller class of vessels, by steering for Mobile bay, and crossing the bar, where the depth was about twelve feet. The port of Dauphine was defended by a fort, under whose protection the government warehouses, and a number of private dwellings, had been built. There were some two hundred small houses enclosed in an entrenched camp surrounded by palisades. These buildings were subsequently destroyed by fire about the same time that the old fort at Biloxi burned.
M. Pouissin, formerly French Minister at Washington, says : "When I visited this island in 1817, it was a perfect desert. It had become what nature intended it to be, the rendezvous of sea birds, and the resort of crocodiles, so abundant on that coast. A single individual had built his hut among the ruins of the old fort. He was an old pilot, brave and intelligent
whose heart was the seat of those noble sentiments of French honor, which one is always happy to speak of wherever they are exhibited. In the year 1814, during the last war with England, Damour, the Mobile pilot, had been sought after by the commanding officer of the English squadron then on the coast. His reputation was well known from New Orleans to Pensacola. He alone was able to pilot the ships of this squadron through the wretch ed islands and difficult channels that abound along the coast of Louisiana. The party in pursuit of him searched the whole of Dauphin Island. They found his hut, turned his humble furniture upside down, and, after having despaired of securing their object, set fire to his property. In the meantime, Damour, his hatred of the English unmitigated, remained concealed in the foul water of one of the ponds on the island, in the midst of rushes and crocodiles, his head alone above its surface. In this position, he witnessed the destruc tion of his dwelling, debarred the means of vengeance. But the brave French man was afterwards revenged, for, at the attack of Fort Boyer, on the very point of Mobile Bay, the English met with a shameful defeat before the feeble bastions of a sand redoubt, defended by a handful of brave Americans under their intrepid commander, Major Boyer."
pages 29-31
Soon after his last return from the colony, (1702) war was declared by England against France and Spain, and her cruisers swept the ocean. But he dispatched his brother Chateaugue, a skillful seaman, who succeeded in landing large supplies at Dauphine island. In 1704 he made preparations to sail from Rochelle, but was disabled by severe and protracted illness. In 1706, in command of a formidable squadron, he sailed for Mobile, intending first to attack Charleston. He touched at St. Domingo, to take a number of soldiers, and there died of yellow fever on the 9th July. About the same time it was announced that M. de Noyan, brother-in-law of Iberville and Bienville, commanding the frigate Eagle, had died at Vera Cruz, of the same fatal disease. In his dispatches to the minister this year, Bienville complains that his French soldiers are too young ; that they sink under exposure and often desert, and he insists that his Canadians "are the pillars of the colony" — a striking illustration, that should be noted, of the ability of white men, nurtured in northern latitudes, to endure exposure and hard service in this climate. They were, too, it must be remembered, a temperate race, of primitive habits, simple in their diet and rarely given to excess.
1708. An English privateer made a descent on Dauphine island, the chief depot, and carried off and destroyed valuable stores. This year the fort was inundated, and it was decided to move it eight leagues higher up. It was built according to a plan of Bienville, a bastioned square, containing the governor's house, the king's warehouse, the magazine, the barracks and the prison. Outside there was a hospital, a school, a cemetery, and a house for the priests. Near by were quarters for the principal officers, M. de Bienville, M. de Chateaugue, de Boisbriant, Marigny de Mandeville, de Blondel, de Valaguy, de Pailloux, de St. Denis, de Chilen ; M. Duclos, commisary charged with the sale of land and the administration of police ; M.Jean Mache, armorer. There were other residences for people in the service, and a house for the accomodation of strangers.
At this period inundations were frequent, and it was customary to seek temporary refuge on Massacre and Dauphine islands. These islands are mere sand banks on which grow a few dwarfish pine trees, creeping vines and stunted palms. Dauphine is about seven miles in length, averaging a mile in width. The harbor in those times was at the east end, formed by a sand bank known as Spanish island. The depth of water was four to five fathoms, and afforded excellent anchor age. On approaching this harbor it was necessary to pass a . bar, where M. de Iberville found, on his first visit, from twenty to twenty- one feet water. In 1706, owing to hurricanes and shifting sands, it had shallowed to fifteen feet. This anchorage could also be reached by a smaller class of vessels, by steering for Mobile bay, and crossing the bar, where the depth was about twelve feet. The port of Dauphine was defended by a fort, under whose protection the government warehouses, and a number of private dwellings, had been built. There were some two hundred small houses enclosed in an entrenched camp surrounded by palisades. These buildings were subsequently destroyed by fire about the same time that the old fort at Biloxi burned.
M. Pouissin, formerly French Minister at Washington, says : "When I visited this island in 1817, it was a perfect desert. It had become what nature intended it to be, the rendezvous of sea birds, and the resort of crocodiles, so abundant on that coast. A single individual had built his hut among the ruins of the old fort. He was an old pilot, brave and intelligent
whose heart was the seat of those noble sentiments of French honor, which one is always happy to speak of wherever they are exhibited. In the year 1814, during the last war with England, Damour, the Mobile pilot, had been sought after by the commanding officer of the English squadron then on the coast. His reputation was well known from New Orleans to Pensacola. He alone was able to pilot the ships of this squadron through the wretch ed islands and difficult channels that abound along the coast of Louisiana. The party in pursuit of him searched the whole of Dauphin Island. They found his hut, turned his humble furniture upside down, and, after having despaired of securing their object, set fire to his property. In the meantime, Damour, his hatred of the English unmitigated, remained concealed in the foul water of one of the ponds on the island, in the midst of rushes and crocodiles, his head alone above its surface. In this position, he witnessed the destruc tion of his dwelling, debarred the means of vengeance. But the brave French man was afterwards revenged, for, at the attack of Fort Boyer, on the very point of Mobile Bay, the English met with a shameful defeat before the feeble bastions of a sand redoubt, defended by a handful of brave Americans under their intrepid commander, Major Boyer."
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