﻿HISTORICAL 
  OUTLINE. 
  115 
  

  

  tempt 
  to 
  take 
  upon 
  himself 
  the 
  authority 
  of 
  his 
  appoint- 
  

   ment, 
  but 
  .remained 
  quietly 
  in 
  New 
  Orleans. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  of 
  December, 
  Captain 
  Guion, 
  with 
  a 
  

   considerable 
  detachment 
  of 
  United 
  States 
  troops, 
  arrived 
  

   at 
  Natchez, 
  and 
  superseded 
  Lieutenant 
  Pope 
  in 
  the 
  

   command. 
  

  

  The 
  new 
  commandant 
  was 
  much 
  indisposed 
  at 
  the 
  

   period 
  of 
  his 
  arrival, 
  and, 
  although 
  a 
  man 
  of 
  superior 
  

   capacity, 
  and 
  ardent 
  patriotism, 
  it 
  is 
  alleged 
  that 
  his 
  

   judgment, 
  for 
  a 
  time, 
  seemed 
  to 
  be 
  impaired. 
  He 
  was 
  

   surrounded, 
  at 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  his 
  arrival, 
  by 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  

   turbulent, 
  aspiring, 
  and 
  disaffected, 
  who 
  took 
  advantage 
  

   of 
  his 
  situation 
  to 
  prejudice 
  his 
  mind 
  against 
  some 
  of 
  

   the 
  best 
  friends 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  Jealous 
  of 
  his 
  

   authority, 
  and 
  determined 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  " 
  made 
  a 
  ciplier 
  of" 
  

   he 
  viewed 
  with 
  suspicion 
  the 
  anomalous 
  Permanent 
  Com- 
  

   mittee, 
  and 
  treated 
  it 
  with 
  little 
  respect. 
  

  

  Taking 
  advantage 
  of 
  the 
  adverse 
  relations 
  between 
  

   the 
  constituted 
  authorities, 
  and 
  the 
  little 
  cordiality 
  sub- 
  

   sisting 
  between 
  the 
  commandant 
  and 
  the 
  commissioner, 
  

   some 
  designing 
  and 
  ambitious 
  persons 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  

   labored 
  assiduously 
  but 
  ineffectually, 
  to 
  supersede 
  the 
  

   authority 
  of 
  the 
  committee 
  by 
  establishing 
  a 
  military 
  

   government. 
  But 
  the 
  people 
  had 
  experienced 
  too 
  much 
  

   of 
  despotism 
  to 
  yield 
  any 
  of 
  their 
  newly-acquired 
  privi- 
  

   leges. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  10th 
  of 
  January, 
  Governor 
  Gayoso 
  informed 
  

   Ellicott 
  by 
  letter, 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  ordered 
  to 
  evacuate 
  the 
  

   forts 
  at 
  Natchez 
  and 
  the 
  Walnut 
  Hills. 
  The 
  event, 
  

   however, 
  did 
  not 
  take 
  place 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  two 
  months. 
  

   Ellicott 
  gives 
  the 
  following 
  account 
  of 
  it. 
  

  

  "Late 
  in 
  the 
  evening 
  of 
  the 
  29th 
  of 
  March, 
  1798, 
  I 
  

   was 
  informed 
  through 
  a 
  confidential 
  channel, 
  that 
  the 
  

   evacuation 
  would 
  take 
  place 
  the 
  next 
  morning 
  before 
  

  

  