- "The Order... is... the... future. The... the Templars will keep our colony... French."
- ―D'Abbadie defending his collaboration with de Ferrer, 1765.[src]
Jean-Jacques Blaise d'Abbadie (1726 – 1765), born in France, was the Governor of Louisiana prior to the Louisiana Rebellion. Living in a luxurious estate in New Orleans, he served in this position from 1763 until his death in 1765.
Biography
- "I will do all I can to smooth the hand-over of the colony. And your mission will have all the workers it needs—provided you make good on your promise."
- ―D'Abbadie to de Ferrer, 1765.[src]
During the War of the Austrian Succession, d'Abbadie served in the French Navy. Captured by the British forces in 1746 and held as a prisoner of war, he was freed in 1748, following the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, with the help of the Templar Charles Gabriel Sivert. Sivert arranged for d'Abbadie to attain a position in the naval bureaucracy, as he needed eyes and ears there. D'Abbadie was not informed about the cause he was serving, as Sivert believed him to be "deeply stupid", but obeyed, with his position and prominence increasing as a result.[1]
D'Abbadie was made Governor of Louisiana in 1763, following the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau, in which France ceded the territory of Louisiana to Spain, and the Treaty of Paris. He was then sent to New Orleans to systematically dismantle the French garrison and prepare the territory for handover to Templar plants within the Spanish government.[2]
In actuality, d'Abbadie desired to keep the colony under French control, leading him to make a deal with Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer. They agreed that d'Abbadie would remain in power as governor of New Orleans, provided he supervised the hand-over of the colony to the Templars and supplied de Ferrer with slaves and vagrants for an operation in Mexico. The two men worked out the details of their arrangement at a social soirée, held at d'Abbadie's mansion in 1765.[2]
However, this meeting was eavesdropped upon by the Assassin, Aveline de Grandpré, who had found out about de Ferrer's activities in New Orleans. With the conversation finished and de Ferrer having gone to enjoy the party, d'Abbadie was left alone in his office, where he was attacked by Aveline. Despite calling on his guards, the governor proved to be no match for the Assassin, succumbing to wounds inflicted by a musket.[2]
Trivia
- Historically, governor d'Abbadie's death was brought on by a nervous disorder.
Gallery
References
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