﻿HISTORICAL 
  OUTLINE. 
  65 
  

  

  assembled 
  at 
  the 
  White 
  Cliffs, 
  or 
  Ellis 
  Landing, 
  where 
  

   the 
  boats 
  of 
  the 
  approaching 
  party 
  were 
  decoyed 
  into 
  

   ►shore. 
  A 
  skirmish 
  ensued, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  lieutenant 
  and 
  

   five 
  or 
  six 
  of 
  his 
  men 
  were 
  killed. 
  

  

  Shortly 
  after 
  the 
  foregoing 
  occurrences, 
  Governor 
  

   Chester 
  sent 
  Colonel 
  Magellan 
  to 
  raise 
  four 
  companies 
  

   of 
  militia, 
  and 
  with 
  orders 
  to 
  fit 
  up 
  Fort 
  Panmure. 
  The 
  

   command 
  of 
  these 
  troops 
  was 
  given 
  to 
  Lyman, 
  Blomart 
  

   and 
  Mcintosh, 
  who 
  were 
  soon 
  ordered 
  to 
  Baton 
  Rouge 
  

   in 
  consequence 
  of 
  the 
  prospect 
  of 
  a 
  war 
  with 
  Spain, 
  and 
  

   a 
  Captain 
  Foster, 
  with 
  a 
  hundred 
  men, 
  was 
  left 
  in 
  com- 
  

   mand 
  of 
  Natchez. 
  

  

  The 
  British 
  rule 
  in 
  the 
  province 
  was, 
  however, 
  now 
  

   on 
  the 
  eve 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  sudden 
  and 
  unlooked-for 
  termina- 
  

   tion. 
  In 
  May, 
  1779, 
  war 
  was 
  declared 
  by 
  Spain 
  against 
  

   Great 
  Britain. 
  Don 
  Bernardo 
  de 
  Galvez, 
  who 
  had 
  hith- 
  

   erto 
  been 
  acting 
  temporarily, 
  received 
  with 
  the 
  intelli- 
  

   gence 
  of 
  this 
  rupture 
  the 
  king's 
  commission 
  as 
  governor; 
  

   and 
  a 
  royal 
  order 
  of 
  the 
  8th 
  of 
  July 
  having 
  authorized 
  

   the 
  subjects 
  of 
  the 
  king 
  in 
  the 
  Indies 
  to 
  take 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  

   war, 
  Galvez 
  proposed 
  an 
  immediate 
  attack 
  upon 
  the 
  

   English 
  possessions 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood. 
  A 
  council 
  of 
  

   war, 
  however, 
  rejected 
  the 
  proposition, 
  being 
  inclined 
  

   to 
  postpone 
  the 
  enterprise 
  until 
  a 
  reinforcement 
  of 
  troops 
  

   could 
  be 
  obtained 
  from 
  Havana. 
  Galvez, 
  impatient 
  of 
  

   inactivity, 
  set 
  about 
  collecting 
  a 
  body 
  of 
  men 
  of 
  suffi- 
  

   cient 
  force 
  to 
  justify 
  him 
  in 
  taking 
  the 
  responsibility 
  of 
  

   acting 
  in 
  opposition 
  to 
  the 
  will 
  of 
  his 
  advisers. 
  There 
  

   were, 
  at 
  this 
  time, 
  many 
  persons 
  in 
  New 
  Orleans 
  from 
  

   the 
  United 
  States, 
  who 
  offered 
  their 
  services; 
  these, 
  with 
  

   the 
  volunteer 
  militia, 
  and 
  the 
  regular 
  troops 
  at 
  the 
  disposal 
  

   of 
  the 
  governor, 
  amounted 
  to 
  a 
  force 
  of 
  fourteen 
  hundred 
  

   men. 
  After 
  a 
  forced 
  march, 
  which 
  considerably 
  reduced 
  

   his 
  force 
  by 
  disease, 
  he 
  reached 
  Fort 
  Bute 
  on 
  Bayou 
  

   5 
  

  

  