﻿HISTORICAL 
  OUTLINE. 
  63 
  

  

  vented 
  the 
  neutrality 
  that 
  otherwise 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  

   observed, 
  and 
  led 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  to 
  resent 
  wrongs 
  wan- 
  

   tonly 
  inflicted 
  upon 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  a 
  cause 
  towards 
  

   which 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  reason 
  to 
  doubt 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  

   well 
  afiected. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  city 
  of 
  New 
  Orleans, 
  some 
  merchants 
  from 
  

   Philadelphia, 
  New 
  York, 
  and 
  Boston, 
  had 
  established 
  

   themselves, 
  who 
  were 
  warmly 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  

   independence. 
  The 
  most 
  prominent 
  of 
  these 
  was 
  Oliver 
  

   Pollock, 
  who 
  possessed 
  much 
  influence, 
  and 
  enjoyed 
  the 
  

   favor 
  of 
  the 
  Spanish 
  governor 
  Galvez. 
  These 
  men 
  suc- 
  

   ceeded 
  in 
  accumulating 
  considerable 
  supplies 
  of 
  arms 
  

   and 
  ammunition 
  for 
  the 
  American 
  troops, 
  probably 
  with 
  

   the 
  aid, 
  and 
  certainly 
  with 
  the 
  knowledge, 
  of 
  Galvez. 
  

   To 
  procure 
  these 
  military 
  stores. 
  Colonels 
  Gibson 
  and 
  

   Linn 
  were 
  dispatched 
  from 
  Fort 
  Pitt 
  in 
  1766, 
  and 
  suc- 
  

   ceeded 
  in 
  transporting 
  them 
  safely 
  up 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  to 
  

   be 
  used 
  in 
  defence 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  forts 
  on 
  the 
  Ohio. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  following 
  year, 
  Captain 
  Willing, 
  of 
  Philadel- 
  

   phia, 
  and 
  lately 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  few 
  merchants 
  at 
  Natchez, 
  

   was 
  dispatched 
  by 
  the 
  Continental 
  Congress 
  to 
  New 
  Or- 
  

   leans, 
  on 
  a 
  similar 
  mission. 
  He 
  visited 
  the 
  English 
  set- 
  

   tlements 
  on 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  and 
  enjoyed 
  the 
  hospitality 
  

   of 
  his 
  former 
  neighbors 
  and 
  acquaintances 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  

   could 
  not 
  be 
  induced 
  to 
  take 
  a 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  war 
  ; 
  the 
  

   sparseness 
  of 
  the 
  population, 
  the 
  remoteness 
  from 
  the 
  

   other 
  colonies, 
  and 
  the 
  consequent 
  difiiculty 
  of 
  receiving 
  

   aid 
  or 
  assistance 
  from 
  them 
  in 
  their 
  need, 
  influenced 
  

   their 
  conduct, 
  and 
  inclined 
  them 
  to 
  neutrality. 
  

  

  In 
  January, 
  1778, 
  Willing 
  again 
  visited 
  New 
  Orleans 
  

   with 
  a 
  party 
  of 
  about 
  fifty 
  men. 
  Pollock 
  now 
  acted 
  

   openly 
  as 
  the 
  agent 
  of 
  the 
  Americans, 
  with 
  the 
  counte- 
  

   nance 
  of 
  Governor 
  Galvez, 
  who, 
  at 
  different 
  times, 
  con- 
  

   tributed 
  seventy 
  thousand 
  dollars 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  royal 
  

  

  