History doesn’t write itself, but it is interesting to look back and see what happened many years ago. For example, January 19, 1815, at Fort St. Philip on the Mississippi River, the final confrontation of the War of 1812 took place. Enduring ten days of bombardment from the British Royal Navy, the garrison held on and the British sailed away. The Treaty of Ghent officially ended the War of 1812.
Two hundred eighty-two years ago today, a French sailor named Jean Louis bequeathed 10,000 livres to New Orleans Charity Hospital. Jean’s source of income came from shipbuilding. Settled only eighteen years earlier, the Big Easy’s population in 1736 consisted of criminals, the poor, and vagabonds. The hospital had no end of patients. In 1834, the Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity took over the hospital. It gradually became a celebrated intuition of healing. When Hurricane Katrina struck, it had 2,680 beds. Sadly, Jean Louis’ dream closed after the storm and has not reopened.
Tomorrow, Louisianan’s celebrate the French taking back the colony in 1731. King Louis XV was persuaded by the Company of the Indies to restore Louisiana to a royal colony. Attacks by the Natchez Indians in the previous years and the loss of profits led the Company to want a more secure colony to do business. Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville returned to lead the colony once again.
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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I finished reading Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen and Bloom County: Brand Spanking New Day by Berkeley Breathed. My reviews of both books are on GoodReads.com. I’m currently reading Striptease by Carl Hiaasen. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.
Interesting and neat; the Indians would walk by the French loading and firing the cannon. They massacred the French. when the French returned in force with the Chickasaw (I think) the Chickasaw observed the Natchez were more accurate with their cannon fire than the French.