Canadian politician
Jean-Jacques Blaise d'Abbadie
(February 4, 1726 – February 4, 1765, New Orleans) was the
French
Director-general of the
Colony of Louisiana
. He served from February 1763 until he died in office two years later, in
New Orleans
.
[1]
Naval career
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Born at Chateau d'Audaux near
Navarrenx
, France, in 1726, d'Abbadie was educated at
College d'Harcourt
in
Paris
, from which he graduated in 1742 (age sixteen). He entered the
royal service
as a clerk in the
lumber
-receiving department of the
Rochefort naval yard
. During the next two years he worked as a scribe in the comptroller's office and clerk in the naval repair shop. In 1745-46 Jean-Jacques served aboard a French
man-of-war
in the
Antilles
and in Canadian waters. Captured by
English
forces in 1746, he was held as a
prisoner of war
until the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
set him free, whereupon he returned to working in the French naval bureaucracy. He was promoted to chief clerk of the
artillery
department in 1751 and to commissary-general in 1757 (at approximately 31 years of age).
Commissioned
ordonnateur
(administrative chief and first judge of the colonial tribunal) of
Louisiana
on December 29, 1761, d'Abbadie was ordered by the
French crown
to improve relations between the colony's feuding religious orders, the
Capuchins
and
Jesuits
, and to efficiently administer the colony's financial, police and judicial affairs. Shortly after departing
Bordeaux
, his ship was captured by
English
warships
. He was again held as a prisoner of war, this time for three months. Following his release in
Barbados
, d'Abbadie returned to France.
In Louisiana
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In February 1763, Jean-Jacques d'Abbadie was commissioned director-general of
Louisiana (New France)
, a position formed by consolidating the former governor and ordonnateur roles. He was charged with the responsibility of dismantling the French
garrison
and preparing the colony for occupation by
English
and
Spanish
forces, pursuant to the terms of the
Treaty of Paris (1763)
.
Departing
Rochefort
in March 1763, d'Abbadie arrived at the
Mississippi River
's
mouth
on 21 June. In July, he prepared for the transfer of the
Angoumois
Regiment to
Saint-Domingue
. He traveled to
Mobile
to assist
British forces
in assuming control in
West Florida
and to supervise the transfer of the region's
French
soldiers to
French-held territory
.
His remaining tenure in office was devoted to reconciling English colonists and hostile
Indians
, preventing
France
from being drawn into
Pontiac
's uprising, and in maintaining a skeleton force in Louisiana long after
Spanish
forces were expected to arrive, despite a lack of support from France. D'Abbadie was criticized by New Orleans
merchants
for favoring the
Laclede
-
Chouteau
interests with exclusive Indian trading privileges in
Upper Louisiana
.
Jean-Jacques d'Abbadie died in
New Orleans
on February 4, 1765.
[2]
His remains lie in the
St. Louis Cathedral
, in New Orleans'
French Quarter
. He was the only
French
colonial governor to die in the colony. There is a street in the city named for him, although it's a slight misspelling: D'Abadie Street.
In popular culture
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]
In the video game
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
, Jean-Jacques appears as an associate of the
Templar Order
and the first assassination target.
References
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External links
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