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A Guide to the Papers of Pierre Clement Laussat
A Guide to the Papers of Pierre Clement Laussat Author:Jon Kukla The papers of Pierre Clement Laussat chronicle the Louisiana Purchase. The guide describes each of the more than 600 letters and documents assembled by Napoleon's colonial prefect for Louisiana. It provides the researcher with a specific citation and a thorough description of each document together with an index allowing quick reference. "All Lo... more »uisianians are Frenchmen at heart!" wrote Pierre Clement Laussat on his first evening in New Orleans in 1803. Napoleon's colonial prefect in Louisiana had been sent to the colony to reclaim the area from Spain. At the same time, however, negotiations between France and the United States that would result in the Louisiana Purchase were taking place. Laussat presided over formalities of a retrocession ceremony in November, accepting Louisiana from Spain; twenty days later, he represented France in the formal transfer of Louisiana to the United States. A Guide to the Papers of Pierre Clement Laussat contains materials dating from the time of Laussat's post in New Orleans and later posts in Martinique and French Guiana. Included with the Laussat materials are the thirty-eight items making up the papers of General Claude Perrin Victor, Napoleon's designated captain general for Louisiana. Victor was to have led an expeditionary force to the New World, but his troops never left Europe.« less