Sep 17, 2015 - Sale 2391

Sale 2391 - Lot 206

Price Realized: $ 8,125
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 10,000 - $ 15,000
INCLUDES A PROPOSAL TO FLOOD NEW ORLEANS (LOUISIANA.) A Description of the Coast of All that Part of the Bay of Mexico which Lies Within the British Dominions. 5 manuscript pages, 14 1/2 x 9 1/4 inches, on 3 loose sheets; moderate wear, some separations at folds, moderate soiling to first page; accompanied by a complete modern transcript. Np, circa August 1769
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By the 1763 Treaty of Paris which concluded the French and Indian War, the British took control over the territories of West and East Florida from France and Spain. This territory included all of what is now Florida, as well as the southern portion of Alabama and Mississippi, and part of Louisiana east of the Mississippi River. Spain took possession of New Orleans and Louisiana Territory. August 1769 found West Florida in a state of chaos. Over the past two years, one governor had been removed, his replacement committed suicide shortly after arriving, the lieutenant governor was removed in disgrace, and the third governor had not yet arrived from England. The Crown was undoubtedly anxious for reliable information about West Floridian affairs, and this report attempted to provide it.
The first half of this report is what the title might suggest: a description of the ports and harbors along the coast, with a particular emphasis on their commercial and military potential. It begins with a paragraph on Spirito Santo (Tampa Bay), continues quickly up the Florida panhandle, and dismisses Pensacola as "large & incommodious." Toward the second half of the report, the author delves more deeply into strategic concerns, advocating that the Mobile Customs House be maintained "to check illicit trade carried on with New Orleans," and then discussing trade routes in New Orleans and the Mississippi at length. He criticizes the Treaty of Paris for the liberties it allowed to French trade in New Orleans.
The report can be dated by its mention of the imminent arrival of Spanish general Alejandro O'Reilly to take control of New Orleans. The author notes that his British superiors have, in the face of O'Reilly's large army, withdrawn almost all troops from West Florida to East Florida, described here as "a shock of policy which far exceeds my comprehension."
The report concludes by advocating a rather sinister plan. To bypass Spanish control over New Orleans, the British could divert the Mississippi River through the Iberville River into Lake Pontchartrain, allowing free trade access to the Mississippi. This would have a desirable side effect: it "would lay New Orleans under water, the foundation of the city being at least twenty feet lower than the surface of river when at its height." This Iberville Canal project would soon be further explored by British engineers such as Elias Durnford and Thomas Hutchins, but was never implemented; it may have been used more as a negotiating bludgeon against the Spanish.
This report is an important resource on British efforts to establish control over West Florida in the years before the American Revolution. Although the author is unidentified, he was clearly a figure of some significance. Fortunately, his plan to destroy New Orleans was not followed.