Late in July of 1717, a group of French Marines arrived in America to begin construction of a fort in the area just north of what is now Montgomery, Alabama. It was named Fort Toulouse. Situated at the head of the Alabama River system at the juncture of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, Fort Toulouse was planned to keep the local Indians neutral, if not loyal to the French, and contain the British in their southernmost Atlantic colonies.
Unlike the usual frontier settlements, Fort Toulouse was both a military post and a diplomatic post, since it's officers acted as resident ministers. Because it was located in a friendly territory adjoining an area under a rival influence (British), the post participated in psychological warfare rather than in any bloodletting activities. It used trade and aid and was familiar with spies and double agents, welcoming and debriefing British defectors. No cannon was ever discharged in anger at Fort Toulouse.
Among the men was an 18 year old named SIMON JACQUES BRIGNAC. He was destined to be the progenitor of the BRIGNAC family in Louisiana.
Since Fort Toulouse was involved in so much of the history of the formation of the United States, as well as that of the BRIGNAC family, the following is a short history of the events leading up to the construction and operation of the fort up to it's closing (temporarily) at the end of the French and Indian War in 1763.
All of the following information is copied directly from "Fort Toulouse, The French Outpost At The Alabamas On The Coosa", by Daniel H. Thomas, published by the Alabama State Department of Archives and History. It first appeared in the fall 1960 issue of "The Alabama Historical Quarterly."
By establishing Fort Toulouse, the French "secured the most valuable strategic position in the whole southwestern country" of the colonial period. (Alfred W. Reynolds, "The Alabama-Tombigbee Basin in International Relations. 1701-1763").
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| Fort Toulouse |
This post appears to be absolutely necessary in order to bring the savages into the interests of the French. (Minutes of the Council of Marine, Paris, Sept. 8, 1716.)
The wealthy Antoine Croat and his Company of Louisiana had been made proprietor of Louisiana with the right to control and promote trade and establish posts; in turn, the company was required to recruit colonists and furnish supplies. The new plans were to be executed by an experienced colonial official who had been appointed governor.
He was Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac, who had served well in Canada. But his antagonistic nature did not endear him to the natives of the American forest any more than to most of his colleagues. One of the many differences of opinion was the advisability of establishing a post well above Mobile. Several new posts, including Ft. Toulouse were authorized in 1714 but men and supplies were not sufficient for all of them. As a consequence, Cadillac preferred to send the few available troops to new posts on the Mississippi. Bienville acknowledged that a fort on a distant frontier could exist only as long as the Indians in the region were friendly, but he urged the establishment of one above Mobile in an effort to attach the Creeks to the French cause. While the governor was on a long voyage to the Illinois country in the spring of 1715, Bienville noticed that the Alabamas had stepped up their trade with the French. Thereupon, he decided to send agents to their villages.
There must not have been time for the arrival of the agents before there began in April, 1715 a general rebellion against the grasping English traders and the expanding frontier settlements of Carolina. This is known as the Yamasee War of 1715-16.
The Yamasee War was a rare opportunity for the French. Fortunately for them, Cadillac was still on the lengthy mission up the Mississippi and Bienville was in command. Bienville realized that the Creeks held the balance of power. He recognized also that, among the Creeks, it was the Alabamas who "must be won over to the French cause."
It was reported to the Council of Marine on May 30, 1717 that there were men and supplies for a detachment of only twenty, but "we are going to send it off". Boats were to be used, and "we are sending an interpreter with the detachment which is going to the Alabamas". The officer chosen to command the expedition and build the fort was Lieutenant de La Vitral.
(Note): These 20 men included SIMON JACQUES BRIGNAC and Laurent Laurent. In addition to their duties as soldiers, they planted an area of ground in rice, wheat, corn and tobacco. They farmed the land in partnership. This information gleaned from "History of Livingston Parish", Complied and edited by History Book Committee of Edward Livingston Historical Association, P.O. Box 478, Livingston, Louisiana 70754.
"If I had arrived one month later…the English would have won the Creek country." (Lieutenant LaTour to Ordonnateur Hubert.)
The new post was named Fort Toulouse in honor of Admiral Louis Alexandre deBourbon, the Count of Toulouse who was the dominant member of the Council of Marine. This small group performed the function of secretary or minister of the navy and of colonies from 1715 to 1718. He was the legitimized son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, which explains the Bourbon in his name, and the county of Toulouse was one of the best known provinces in southern France.
It was customary for the French to use the name of the location of a fort more often than the official name. They referred to the post usually as "Post aux Alibamons" or "Fort des Alibamons". On a few occasions, it was called "Fort Toulouse des Alibamons" and not infrequently the French referred to it simply as "aux Alibamons". The English usually called it the Alabama Fort or Post. In these two languages, it is probable that two dozen variations for it's spelling by contemporaries can be found in the records.
Typical names of men in the garrison: Mathieu "Jolly" Brignac, Louis"Debonair" Fonteneau, Pierre "Richelieu" Fourre, St. Simeon "St. Peter" Brignac, Simeon"Carefree" Dousset, Joseph "Hurricane" Cevraise, Antoine "From Dauphine" Bonin. (From the Review of the Garrison, Jan. 1, 1756).
(Note): MATHIEU "JOLLY BRIGNAC was actually MATHIEU "JOLIE" BRIGNAC. He and ST. SIMEON "ST. PETER" BRIGNAC (actually SIMON PIERRE BRIGNAC) were both sons of SIMON JACQUES BRIGNAC and MARIE TURPIN.
It was accepted practice to let sons of the post soldiers become members of the post. Remember that SIMON JACQUES was the originial member of the goup who came from France. By 1756, SIMON JACQUES BRIGNAC would have been 57 years old, SIMON PIERRE was 29 and MATHIEU 19.
Louis "Debonair" Fonteneau was the son of Jean Louis Fonteneau, another of the original group that build the fort. Two of Jean Louis' sons married BRIGNAC girls: Philippe to MARIE NICOLE and Joseph to MARIE JEANNE. Also, a daughter, Marie Louise was married to SIMON PIERRE BRIGNAC.
On occasion, Fort Toulouse was a refuge for disaffected Britishers. The French authorities were naturally suspicious of the émigrés, and there appears to have been little effort to encourage them. John Canadet, an Englishman, and John Kennedy of Ireland were two men who fled to the fort in 1729, and were shipped first to New Orleans and then to France.
One of the two most bizarre cases that of Christian Priber, whom the British thought was on his way to the fort when he was finally seized and taken to Georgia. His danger was not in weapons, but in the manuscripts he was carrying: his plan for establishing a Utopia in the borderland between the French and British empires and his dictionary of the Choctaw language. Like the later St. Simonists, he wanted to set up among the Indians a model community based on the creed: "To each according to his needs, from each according to his capacity".
(Note): The references to "the later St. Simonists" is a point of interest. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that their name was the same as our SIMON PIERRE 'St. Simon' BRIGNAC.
Some research on this subject is warranted.