II. ARKANSAS POST AND THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

C. Captain Colbert Intervenes

3. Captain Colbert Strikes

e) The Captors Divide the Loot

On May 4, 1782, all the prisoners embarked on Labadie’s bateau, and the oarsmen took their stations. The vessel proceeded up Wolf River another 4 leagues. As the boat was breasting a powerful current, the run took the better part of a day and a half. At the foot of a steep hill, the vessel was moored, and the prisoners sent ashore. Here a new camp was established and rude huts erected. On the 7th a log jail, similar to the one in which the men had spent the night of the 2d, was erected. While the crew was locked in the jail, Madame Cruzat, her children, and Labadie were confined in one of the cabins.

The British now began unloading their prize. They placed the cargo on the ground in the open, except for the powder which was covered with oilskins. Four days were required to unload the big bateau, during which time the men gave “themselves over to continuous drunkenness” and all gave “repeated proofs of insubordination.” A distribution of the booty, “except the powder, bullets, and brandy took place.”

First to be divided were the 6,000 pesos, “belonging to the king and private individuals.” Tableware silver and slaves were auctioned to the highest bidder. Clothing, firearms, and other merchandise were divided equally. The powder and brandy were retained and shared with 200 Chickasaw allies, who arrived on May 10 or 11. The Indians accepted their share of the plunder and took charge of some of the prisoners, but although Colbert’s son, William, was their principal war chief, it seemed to Madame Cruzat that the redmen were tolerating the raiders’ actions against the prisoners rather than participating in them.

As Labadie lamented, their captors did not leave “a single thing to the prisoners except what they had on them, and of that only the poorest. “[51]