Louisiana and the Natchez (Part 4)

The reception they met from our men taught them, however, to keep themselves shut up in their fort; and though the trench was almost finished, our generals were impatient to have the mortars put in a condition to play on the place. At last they are set in battery; when the third bomb happened to fall in the middle of the fort, the usual place of residence of the women and children, they set up a horrible screaming; and the men, seized with grief at the cries of their wives and children, made the signal to capitulate.

The Natchez, after demanding to capitulate, started difficulties, which occasioned messages to and fro till night, which they wanted to avail themselves of, demanding till next day to settle the articles of capitulation. The night was granted them, but, being narrowly watched on the side next the gate, they could not execute the same project of escape as in the war with M. de Loubois. However, they attempted it, by taking advantage of the obscurity of the night, and of the apparent stillness of the French; but they were discovered in time, the greatest part being constrained to retire into the fort. Some of them only happened to escape, who joined those that were out a-hunting, and all together retired to the Chickasaws. The rest surrendered at discretion, among whom were the Grand Sun, and the female Suns, with several warriors, many women, young people, and children.

The French army re-embarked, and carried the Natchez as slaves to New Orleans, where they were put in prison; but afterwards, to avoid an infection, the women and children were disposed of in the king's plantation, and elsewhere; among these women was the female Sun called the Stung Arm, who then told me all she had done in order to save the French.

Some time after, these slaves were embarked for St. Domingo, in order to root out that nation in the colony; which was the only method of effecting it, as the few that escaped had not a tenth of the women necessary to recruit the nation. And thus that nation, the most conspicuous in the colony, and most useful to the French, was destroyed.