ARKANSAS POST - 1686 AND LATER
Continued

The efforts of Spain in the Revolution had been concentrated in what is now southern Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. England made little effort in the area, as they had a potent ally here, the Chickasaw Indians. But the Chickasaw Indians needed no prodding as the Quapaw were old enemies, and they also hated the French and their successors, the Spanish, as they were allied with the Quapaw.

Living amongst the Chickasaw was a former British Army officer, Captain James Colbert. He had been with the Chickasaw some 40 years and had sired at least a dozen children by three different Indian wives. He assembled a group of irregulars - American renegades, escaped Negro slaves, some British soldiers, plus a number of Chickasaw Indians, including all of his half-breed sons. Colbert had been angered by the assistance Spain had given the Colonists and the Quapaw. His band began am bushing Spanish shipping up and down the Mississippi between St. Louis and New Orleans. On the morning of April 18, 1783, he unsuccessfully attacked Fort Carlos III with some 100 men. This was the only action of the Revolutionary War in Arkansas, one of the two engagements west of the Mississippi. Two oddities about this battle: it occurred after the preliminary peace treaty had been signed and no Americans were involved - the Spanish and Quapaw against Colbert and the Chickasaw. It had absolutely no influence on the outcome of the war.

All was not well at Fort Carlos III after the Colbert Raid. Every year the river bluff was eroded away further. The artillery was removed in 1787. By the end of 1788, little was left of Fort Carlos III. Lack of funds delayed rebuilding the fort.

On July 20, 1790, Captain Ignace Delino de Chalmette assumed command. The habitants offered to supply stakes for the new fort. Permission to build a new fort was granted on January 20, 1791.

Commandant Delino selected a location near the village. On March 1, 1792, Delino took possession of the fort, named it Fort San Estevan after the Governor’s given name. The fort was surrounded by white oak stakes, with bastions to the east and west each of which mounted three cannon: a six-pounder and two swivel guns. Inside the fort were three buildings: a house, a barracks and a warehouse. In the village were some thirty houses on two streets. Below the fort along the river were some twelve plots planted in wheat in 1793.

In 1800, by the secret Treaty of San Idelfonso, France under Napoleon forced Spain to cede Louisiana back to France. At the time, Napoleon planned to set up an empire in Louisiana, take Canada in reverse and oust the English from North America. He completely ignored the presence east of the Mississippi of the United States. An army was sent to New Orleans, and along the way it was to suppress a slave uprising on the island of Hispañola, which today is Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The army landed and after a short period was almost wiped out by yellow fever and malaria, plus the insurgents. Thus, in 1802, Napoleon was in trouble. He had Louisiana, ungarrisoned, a slave uprising in Hispañola and a new war brewing with England. He decided to cut his losses by abandoning Louisiana and Hispañola. By a stroke of good fortune, the United States wanted New Orleans and a delegation was in Paris. They were startled to receive word that Napoleon was willing to sell all of Louisiana for 15 million dollars. After scurrying about, the United States accepted and Napoleon sold the vast Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1803. After the dust settled, much later after the fall of Napoleon in 1815, it was found that a clause in the Treaty of San Idelfonso forbade Napoleon getting rid of Louisiana to anyone but the Spanish. Thus, American title to Louisiana was cloudy. Nobody ever challenged it except the English and that was settled in 1815 with the defeat of England in the Battle of New Orleans.