119 “about 12 O’Clock . . . beyond description”: Hampton, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 269
119 of equal ferocity to the revolutionaries of Haiti: François-Xavier Martin described “carriages, wagons and carts, filled with women and children . . . bringing the most terrible accounts.” It was, he wrote, a “miniature representation of the horrors of St. Domingo. ” Baltimore American and Commercial Party Advertiser, February 20, 1811.
119 “weak detachment . . . by the Rioters”: John Shaw to Paul Hamilton, New Orleans, 18 January 1811.
120 “All were on the alert . . . and property”: John Shaw to Paul Hamilton, New Orleans, 18 January 1811.
120 “I pray God . . . murdering career”: Claiborne to Major St. Amand, New Orleans, January 9, 1811, in W. C. C. Claiborne, Official Letter Books, 93–94.
121 a party of volunteer cavalry: New Orleans City Court, Case No. 195, February 18, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 246–47.
122 Riding along the River Road . . . chaos of the German Coast: New Orleans City Court, Case No. 195, February 18, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 246.
10. A Second Wind
124 Augustin, a highly valued sugar worker: He was valued at $1,000. American Uprising Slave Database.
124 Horses were powerful military tools: For more on the military advantages of horses, see Law, “Horses, Firearms, and Political Power.”
124 At the plantation of Butler and McCutcheon . . . with his family: The rebel Simon had escaped from the plantation before. Simon was “lately from Baltimore, about 20 years of age, 5 feet 6 or 7 inches high, has a scar on his left cheek, and one on his forehead, handsome features.” Brought to New Orleans by the internal slave trade, Simon had tried to escape back to his birthplace and presumably his family. Louisiana Gazette (New Orleans), July 24, 1810, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 166.
124 Dawson . . . Joe Wilkes: American Uprising Slave Database.
125 Jasmin, Chelemagne, and Gros and Petit Lindor: American Uprising Slave Database.
125 Rubin and Coffy: American Uprising Slave Database.
125 “to keep an eye on the situation”: Conrad, The German Coast, 107.
126 threatening to kill any slaves that would not join: Denunciations.
126 The rebels knew . . . violence, too: Dagobert, a slave owned by Delhomme, testified that “except for the ones whom he denounced for having marched of their own free will, he believes that the others whom he accused were forced to march.” In the trial of a runaway a month after the uprising, Étienne Trépagnier’s slave Augustin “stated that he had nothing to do with the recent insurrection; that during the event he was taken by some blacks who threatened him and demanded to know the name of his master.” Denunciations; Conrad, The German Coast, 108.
126 set fire to the home of the local doctor: Denunciations; American Uprising Slave Database.
126 very different approaches to medicine and healing: “Slaves were commonly used as medical doctors and surgeons in eighteenth-century Louisiana,” wrote Gwendolyn Midlo Hall. “They were skilled in herbal medicine and were often better therapists than the French doctors, who were always described as surgeons.” Hall, Africans in Colonial Louisiana, 126.
126 But the slaves . . . white medicine: Alexandre Labranche wrote that “he lost a house which was occupied by the doctor, located near Pierre Reine’s line; burned by the brigands, valued at $1,000.” Conrad, The German Coast, 109–10.
126 wealthiest and largest plantation: “When Louis-Augustin Meuillion, probably the largest slaveholder on the Coast, died in 1811, his succession inventory listed fewer than one hundred slaves,” wrote Conrad. Conrad, The German Coast, viii.
126 pillaging and destroying: “The sale of household objects did not conform to the inventory because, during the slave uprising of January 9, the house was entered and pillaged.” Conrad, The German Coast, 102.
127 “did alone . . . of the late Meuillion”: Conrad, The German Coast, 104.
127 Half Native American: Bazile is described as a griffe, or a black-Indian mixture. American Uprising Slave Database; Hall, Africans in Colonial Louisiana, 113.
127 Cannes Brûlées: “With one Benjamin Morgan, [William Kenner] acquired land a few miles upriver from New Orleans in an area called ‘Cannes-Brulees’ (Land of the Burnt Canes) so-named from the Indians’ historic practice of torching marsh-grass canes to flush out their game.” Smith and Smith, Cane, Cotton & Crevasses, 25.
127 “most outstanding brigands”: Denunciations.
127 Harry garnered . . . hand, Harry: American Uprising Slave Database; Denunciations.
127 all the black males: Denunciations.
127 Lindor, a coachman and carter: American Uprising Slave Database.
128 124 individual slaves: The survey of planters conducted by the St. Charles Parish planters indicates that 124 slaves were involved in the 1811 insurrection. Eyewitnesses reported up to 500. American Uprising Slave Database.
128 rivaling the size of the American military force in the region: Young, “The United States Army in the South.”
128 been employed as unskilled or low-skilled workers: In terms of occupation, there was a fair mix. Field hands, cartmen, and sugar workers dominated the roster, with many other occupations appearing occasionally. Field hands, cartmen, sugar workers of various types, plowmen, and shovel, pickaxe, and axe workers seem to have been the most common occupations. American Uprising Slave Database.
128 “only one half . . . cane knives”: Louisiana Gazette (New Orleans), January 17, 1811.
129 “The Brigands . . . Sugar works”: Wade Hampton to the Secretary of War, New Orleans, January 16, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 269–70.
129 “a few young men . . . great silence”: Hampton to the Secretary of War, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 269–70.
130 “killing poultry . . . and rioting”: Richmond Enquirer, February 22, 1811. This article is a reproduction of a piece in the Louisiana Gazette, the original of which is practically unreadable.
130 Warfare . . . better-armed forces: Dubois, Avengers of the New World, 108.
130 pursue the fugitives: Richmond Enquirer, February 22, 1811.
11. The Battle
135 “My poor son . . . of that nature”: Misspellings are original to the document. Manuel Andry to Claiborne, New Orleans, January 11, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 268.
136 “halt the progress of the revolt”: Perret, in Engerman, Drescher, and Paquette, Slavery, 324–26.
137 “forced march”: “About 9 o’clock of the same Morning they were fallen in with by a spirited party of Young Men from the opposite side of the river, who fired upon & disperse them, Killing some 15, or 20, & wounding a great many more,” wrote Hampton. Wade Hampton to the Secretary of War, New Orleans, January 16, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 269–70.
137 “Let those who are willing . . . move out!”: Perret to Fontaine, in Engerman, Drescher, and Paquette, Slavery, 324–26.
139 “In action . . . three hundred feet distance”: Lewis, Small Arms and Ammunition, 305.
138 “We are now fighting . . . die first”: Redkey, A Grand Army of Black Men, 147–48.
138 “The blacks . . . in line”: Report of Spanish Consul, January 13, 1811.
138 Recover arms . . . aim, fire: Lewis, Small Arms and Ammunition, 301.
139. clouds of smoke: Hess, The Union Soldier in Battle, 8.
139 Guns roared . . .invisible: Hess, The Union Soldier in Battle, 130–31.
139. Their hair . . . their faces: Hess, The Union Soldier in Battle, 8.
140 “Fifteen or twenty . . . into the woods”: Report of Spanish Consul, January 13, 1811, Eusebio Bardari y Azara to Vicente Folch, February 6, 1811.
140 “left 40 to 45 men . . . several chiefs”: Perret to Fontaine, in Engerman, Drescher, and Paquette, Slavery, 324–26.
140 “considerable slaughter”: Andry to Claiborne, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 268.
140 “I was desolate . . . prospect before me”: Northup/Eakin and Logsdon, Twelve Years a Slave, 100.
141 party of Native Americans: Raleigh Star, February 24, 1811. This was a common strategy in Louisiana’s maroon wars. Hall, Africans in Colonial Louisiana, 365–66. The Indians often sided with the Europeans in wars against the slaves, because their own ideology portrayed slaves as outcasts deserving of little sympathy. “Natchez Indians had their own notions of slavery, as did the neighboring Choctaw. American Indian forms of slavery were different from those employed by Europeans in the Americas. The Natchez and Choctaw viewed slavery in terms of membership in (or exclusion from) society.” Libby, Slavery and Frontier Mississippi, xii.
141 “I left . . . who had fled”: Perret to Fontaine, in Engerman, Drescher, and Paquette, Slavery, 324–26.
141 “I never knew . . . by the dogs”: Northup/Eakin and Logsdon, Twelve Years a Slave, 101.
141 They discovered . . . cold and terror: Perret to Fontaine, in Engerman, Drescher, and Paquette, Slavery, 324–26.
142 “long, savage yells . . . sinking into my flesh”: Northup/Eakin and Logsdon, Twelve Years a Slave, 101–2.
142 “the principal leader of the bandits”: Denunciations.
142 According to one witness . . . pile of straw”: Samuel Hambleton to David Porter, January 15, 1811. Papers of David Porter, Library of Congress, in Engerman, Drescher, and Paquette, Slavery, 326.
142 “Pierre Griffe” . . . to the Andry estate: Perret to Fontaine, in Engerman, Drescher, and Paquette, Slavery, 324–26.
143. In the days . . . Spanish in West Florida: Kastor, The Nation’s Crucible, 102
143 Milton had heard . . . to the militia: Wade Hampton to William Claiborne, January 12, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 269.
143 “I have Judged . . . higher Up”: Hampton to Claiborne, January 11, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 269.
143 “The [slaves’] plan . . . more formidable”: Hampton to Claiborne, New Orleans, January 12, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 269.
144 “proprietors . . . maintain order”: Perret to Fontaine, in Engerman, Drescher, and Paquette, Slavery, 324–26.
12. Heads on Poles
147 “There it was . . .on their sticks”: Conrad, Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer, 132–33.
148 “They were brung . . . long poles”: Hambleton to Porter, in Engerman, Drescher, and Paquette, Slavery, 326.
148 Those passersby . . . state in the making: In the words of Katherine Verdery, bodies have an “ineluctable self-referentiality as symbols: because all people have bodies, any manipulation of a corpse directly enables one’s identification with it through one’s own body, thereby tapping into one’s reservoirs of feeling.” Verdery, The Political Lives of Dead Bodies, 32–33.
148 “Had not the most prompt . . . waste by the Rioters”: John Shaw to Paul Hamilton, New Orleans, 18 January 1811.
149 “make a GREAT EXAMPLE”: Andry to Claiborne, January 11, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 268.
149 This was not just a French . . . and to Africa: In New England, colonists and Indians communicated with each other through corpses. “When English soldiers came upon English heads on poles, they often simply took them down and put Indian heads in their place,” wrote historian Jill Lepore. Lepore, The Name of War, 180. In Jamaica and the other British sugar islands of the Caribbean, power was physically manifested through beheadings. “The frequency of mutilations and aggravated death sentences, which in eighteenth-century England were reserved for traitors, signaled the expansion of the very concept of treason to include almost any crime committed by slaves,” wrote Vincent Brown. V. Brown, The Reaper’s Garden, 140. In the African kingdom of Dahomey, where many slaves came from, kings accumulated the skulls of defeated enemies and used them as architectural decorations. Law, “ ‘My Head Belongs to the King’.”
150 From 1760 . . . Danish territories: Linebaugh and Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra, 193.
150 The Coromantee slave . . . on a pole: Linebaugh and Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra, 222.
150 When slaves rebelled . . . heads on stakes: Dubois, Avengers of the New World, 116.
150 In 1795 . . . Pointe Coupée: Hall, Africans in Colonial Louisiana, 344.
151 “Condemnation . . . again established”: John Shaw to Paul Hamilton, New Orleans, 18 January 1811.
151 Witnesses to these spectacles . . . public decay: “The spectacular violence of slavery was both a political and aesthetic discourse which was grounded in eighteenth-century notions of a triangular violent gaze: most bloody vignettes utilized a visual and moral interplay between victim, perpetrator and spectator,” wrote literary historian Ian Haywood. “Spectacular violence existed uneasily but powerfully on the borders between reality and fantasy, reportage and representation, aesthetic gratification and political mobilization.” Haywood, Bloody Romanticism, 58.
152 “awaiting the stroke of law . . . promptly destroyed”: Denunciations.
152 a tribunal of slaveholders: John Destrehan, Alexandre Labranche, Pierre-Marie Cabaret de Trepy, Adelard Fortier, and Edmond Fortier joined St. Martin in conducting the tribunal, which they did in the French language. Several of these men owned slaves involved in the revolt.
152 They intended . . . planters’ visions: In examining the court’s motives, it is interesting to examine this court action through the lens of scholarship about later revolts. The court involved in suppressing the Denmark Vesey conspiracy in Charleston in 1822 had as its first priority to stop the insurrection, with justice being a lesser aim. “It acted on the premise that it must suppress an impending slave insurrection, and it interrogated witnesses, passed judgment, and pronounced sentences accordingly,” wrote historian Michael Johnson. M. P. Johnson, “Denmark Vesey and His Co-Conspirators,” 942.
152 “to judge the rebel slaves . . . promptly destroyed”: “Summary of Trial Proceedings of Those Accused of Participating in the Slave Uprising of January 9, 1811,” trans. and ed. Dormon, “Notes and Documents.”
153 “perfectly knew”: Andry to Claiborne, January 11, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 268.
153 “The confessions . . . an infuriated crowd”: North Carolina, Supreme Court, Raleigh: State v. George (a slave), June 1858 Manuscript Case File No. 7559, in Jones, Reports of Cases at Law 50:233–36.
154 “principal chief of the brigands . . . that of Mr. Reine, the older”: Denunciations.
155 “he admitted . . . denounce anyone”: Denunciations.
155 Some slaves . . . a different opinion: Denunciations; American Uprising Slave Database.
156 “confessed his guilt . . . ability to speak”: Denunciations.
156 “These rebels . . . etc., etc., etc.”: Conrad, The German Coast, 102.
156 eleven separate leaders: Amar of the Charbonnet plantation; Baptiste of the Bernoudy plantation; Jean of the Arnauld plantation; Harry of the Kenner and Henderson plantation; Zenon, Pierre, and Dagobert of the Delhomme plantation; Eugene of the Labranche plantation; Kook and Quamana of the James Brown plantation; and Charles Deslondes of the Deslondes plantation were all leaders of the uprising. Denunciations.
156 These leaders . . . from white fathers: Harry and Charles were mulattos. Eugene was a Louisiana Creole. Pierre was Kongolese. Kook and Quamana had only recently arrived in Louisiana from Africa. Hall, Louisiana Slave Database.
156 Their names . . . Anglo-American: Harry had an Anglo-American name and came from a plantation owned by Americans. Charles, Jean, Pierre, and Baptiste had French names, and belonged to French planters. Quamana and Kook are anglicizations of West African names. Zenon was a Spanish name, while Dagobert was German. Hall, Louisiana Slave Database.
157 “GREAT EXAMPLE . . . public tranquility” . . . “in accordance with the authority . . . tranquility in the future”: Conrad, The German Coast, 102.
158 The first floor . . . brought for trial: Bernhard, Travels Through North America, 2:60.
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58. “It is presumed . . . be acquitted”: John Shaw to Paul Hamilton, New Orleans, 18 January 1811.
158 Though Jean was found guilty . . . public official: New Orleans City Court, Case No. 187, January 17, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 235.
158 The court treated . . . mercy from the court: New Orleans City Court, Case No. 192, January 21 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 242.
158 The court commuted . . . recent insurrection: New Orleans City Court, Case No. 192, January 18, 1811, in Albert Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 241.
158 swayed on the levees in front of their masters’ plantations: New Orleans City Court, Case No. 184, January 16, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 231.
158 “hung at the usual place in the City of New Orleans”: New Orleans City Court, Case No. 185, January 16, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 233.
158 lower gates of the city: New Orleans City Court, Case No. 188, January 17, 1811, in Thrasher, On to New Orleans!, 237.
159 “It is just . . . of the guilty”: Claiborne to John N. Destrehan, New Orleans, January 16, 1811, in W. C. C. Claiborne, Official Letter Books, 100–101.
160 “mischief” . . . “only”: Claiborne to Doctor Steele, New Orleans, January 20, 1811, in W. C. C. Claiborne, Official Letter Books, 112–13.
160 “There can be . . . within it”: Sprague, The North Eastern Boundary Controversy, 89–90.
160 The court system . . . body politic: The courts were the most immediate manifestation of that power, the most tangible embodiment of American government. “As agents of Americanization, county judges and justices of the peace presided over the day-to-day application of American judicial practices on the most basic levels of the legal system, the local courts,” wrote legal historian Mark Fernandez. “These inferior courts represented in the territory, as elsewhere in the republic, the one agency of the government that most likely touched ordinary citizens in the routine course of their daily lives.” Mark Fernandez, “Local Justice in the Territory of Orleans, W.C.C. Claiborne’s Courts: Judges and Justices of the Peace,” in Fernandez and Billings, A Law Unto Itself?, 97.
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