The Natchez War

In 1682, as René-Robert de La Salle descended the Mississippi River to claim the valley for France, he encountered the Natchez, a collection of tribes living near bluffs on the east bank of the river. This began a complex, violent relationship between the Natchez and French societies, which would ultimately result in the destruction of one and the restriction of the other.

The Natchez were unlike most other tribes. They had a more hierarchical organization, with a leader called The Great Sun, and had more developed laws governing property and morality. Despite a tradition of human sacrifice, the French found them similar enough to consider them natural allies, but in the period following de La Salle’s visit, the Natchez became allies of the British and captured other natives to sell them as slaves to the British.

The two founders of Louisiana, Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, were masters at Indian diplomacy and soon re-forged an alliance with the Natchez. However, other Frenchmen were not so skilled. Antoine de Cadillac, a notably unenthusiastic governor of Louisiana, insulted the Natchez when he failed to personally meet with them to renew the alliance. The Natchez retaliated by killing several Frenchmen in 1716. Bienville went to discuss matters, only to capture and ransom the Natchez who came to meet him. Bienville demanded the heads of the offenders. The Natchez responded by sending him several heads, all of which had belonged to innocent people. Bienville was not fooled, and the guilty Natchez were eventually turned over.

The 1716 peace treaty allowed for French settlement and the erection of Fort Rosalie on Natchez land in the area of today’s Natchez, Mississippi. This, combined with tribal tension between pro-French and pro-British factions, made the Fort Rosalie an area of contention and violence. From 1722 to 1724, clashes between the French and Natchez fell just short of war. Bienville, by then governor, made an alliance with Tattooed Serpent, the main Natchez war leader that postponed further hostilities, but the death of Tattooed Serpent and the removal of Bienville ultimately brought about the Natchez War.

Étienne de Chépart, the commander at Fort Rosalie, was an arrogant alcoholic, and despite earlier signs of incompetence, he had won over Governor Étienne Périer, Bienville’s replacement. Conflicts over land and religion were handled without tact, and Chépart claimed ownership over a Natchez cemetery without negotiating. In retaliation, the Great Sun decided to launch a sneak attack. Several Pro-French Natchez warned Chépart, who ignored them and even put some in chains. On November 29, 1729, the Natchez came to trade; after they entered the fort, they attacked. The assault was well coordinated, and many French soldiers were killed before they reached their muskets. Chépart was among the first to die. Over two hundred French soldiers and civilians were murdered and their severed heads brought to the feet of the Great Sun. The Natchez also freed some slaves in hopes of fomenting a slave revolt.

Several tribes joined in the rebellion, with the Yazoo destroying Fort St. Pierre. The French panicked as survivors arrived, one declaring that “Everything was on fire and covered in blood at Natchez.” Périer was so paranoid he armed several slaves with pikes and had them wipe out the Chaouachas tribe that lived near New Orleans, in present-day Chalmette. The use of slaves was in part to create acrimony between the slaves and Indians, who it was feared could unite and conquer Louisiana. This was also the first time slaves were used by French as soldiers, a practice that was expanded in later years, with freedom granted to slaves who fought in the army.

The French army, supported by the powerful Choctaw and Tunica tribes, attacked the Natchez in 1730, burning their villages and chasing them into the swamps west of Baton Rouge. The fighting was bitter, with both sides liberally engaging in atrocities. Some Natchez were even burned to death in what is today Jackson Square. Other Natchez were made slaves and shipped to the Caribbean colonies. By 1731, the Natchez nation had been destroyed, and the survivors scattered.

A few Natchez refugees took shelter with the Chickasaw to the north. The French demanded the Natchez be turned over. The Chickasaw refused, and two wars were fought. Known as the Chickasaw Wars, they were noted for their brutality and ended in French defeat. Many Natchez, trying to get as far away from the French as possible, took shelter with the Cherokee and over time merged with the tribe. The Natchez became known mostly for their brutal demise, which became a fixture in local lore. François-René de Chateaubriand, a writer known partly for his semi-factual accounts of his adventures in America, wrote Les Natchez, a novel inspired by the massacre at Fort Rosalie. For the French, the Natchez War remained an infamous and graphic chapter in their failed attempt to forge a North American empire.