swANTONl INDIAN THIBKS ( ) I' Till': l.OWKH MISSISSII'IM NALI.KV 243 



llic Nalflu'/.. :iii(l (lu'rc is no itm^om to Mippox- lliiit it \\;i^ r\v\i in imrt 

 with till' "i azoo iiiul Koroa. 



That tlio Natclu'/, were not ^()in»j; to l)i' idle on tiieir sidi' was sot)U 

 t'vidcnt. Kii>t a party of 10 soldiers and -JO ncj^roes, who were cut- 

 tino- wood in a express swamp for the barracks of the new Natchez 

 fort, wei'e attacked, and all killed except li iiejjjroes and 1 soldier who 

 hid in a hollow tree. He w'as the same Avho had escaped the Natchez 

 massacre l)V hiding in a furnace. Amon<^ the slain was " the little 

 Parisian," wjio had distinguished himself in I)e Loubois's campaign." 

 A few days after this event G Natchez presented themselves before the 

 fort in the guise of Choctaw, obtained an entrance, and made a sud- 

 den attack on the garrison, killing 5 and wounding many others 

 before they were themselves destroj^ed. One was captured and burnetl 

 in the frame.'' 



The remainder of this year l*errier spent in meeting representatives 

 of various Indian tribes, and securing the allegiance of the Choctaw, 

 the eastern division of which was much influenced by the English." 

 He urged the smaller tribes to make continual raids on his enemy, and 

 succeeded in having 50 of them killed or captured. All of the captives 

 but 4 men and 2 women, who were burned at the stake, he sent to Santo 

 Domingo. Two hundred and fifty warriors of the friendly tribes 

 were sent to blockade the Natchez until aid came from France.*^ In 

 August the reenforcements he had asked from France arrived but 

 proved so much below his expectations that he was obliged to depend 

 very largely on the settlers and the smaller Indian tribes.^ In De- 

 cember his army was ready to march. The description of this cam- 

 paign given by Charlevoix is so much fuller and more satisfactory 

 than any other account that it is appended in his words: 



His [Pel Tier's] first step was to send the Sieur de Coulonge, a Canadian, to 

 the Akansas, who were to assemble at the French fort at Natchez. Tlie Sienr 

 de Ileaulieu embarked with him. with orders to reconnoiter the enemy's con- 

 dition. On tlie i)th of December [1730] Mr. de Salvert embarked with 200 men, 

 including three companies of marines: the rest volunteers or sailors from the 

 Somme. On Monday, the 11th. Mr. Perrier set out with n company of grena- 

 diers, two of fusileers, and some volunteers. This detachment was also 200 

 strong. Captain de Benac. commanding the militia, followed on the 13th with 

 SO men. He was to have 1.50. but the rest joined him on the way. 



On the 20th. the whole force having united at the P.ayagoulas. a Colapissa 

 chief arrived there with 40 warriors of his tribe. The militia companies were 

 orgainzed at this place, and a company of cadets selected from them but soon 

 suppressed. Mr. le Sueur had orders the next day to load the demigalley 

 which he commanded and to push on to Red river, which he was to ascend; 



" Charlevoix, Uist. Louisiana, vi. 103 ; Du Pratz, Hist, de La Louisiane, in, 298-299 ; 

 Dumont, M(5m. Hist, sur La Louisiane, ii, 193-194, 

 * Du I'ratz, Flist. de La Louisiane, iii, 299-300. 

 •■ Charlevoix. Hist. Louisiana, vi, 102-107. 

 "Oayarre. Hist. Louisiana, i, 437^38. 

 ^ Ibid., 100-107. 



