List of colonial governors of Louisiana

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This is a list of the colonial governors of Louisiana, from the founding of the first settlement by the French in 1699 to the territory's acquisition by the United States in 1803.

Contents

The French and Spanish governors administered a territory which was much larger than the modern U.S. state of Louisiana, comprising Louisiana (New France) and Louisiana (New Spain), respectively. As part of the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso (1800), Spain retroceded Louisiana to the French Republic, but Spain continued to administer the territory until 1803 when French officials arrived shortly before the sale of Louisiana to the United States.

At the same time, there are parts of present-day Louisiana which were historically administered by other European powers, with the most prominent example being the area known as the Florida Parishes, north of Lake Pontchartrain and east of the Mississippi River. This territory was originally part of French Louisiana, but it was administered by the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1763 to 1783, following the British victory in the French and Indian War, and then by Spain from 1783 until the West Florida Revolt in 1810.

List

French Louisiana (1682–1762)

#PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
Took officeLeft office
1 No image.svg Sauvolle
(1671–1701)
16991701
(Died in office)
2 Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.jpg Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville
(1680–1767)
17011713
3 Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac.jpg Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac
(1658–1730)
17131716
4 Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.jpg Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville
(1680–1767)
17161717
5 No image.svg Jean-Michel de Lepinay
(c.1665–1721)
17171718
6 Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.jpg Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville
(1680–1767)
17181724
7 No image.svg Pierre Dugué de Boisbriand
(1675–1736)
17241726
8 Portrait posthume de Etienne de Perier.jpg Étienne Perier
(1686–1766)
17261733
9 Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.jpg Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville
(1680–1767)
17331743
10 Marquis de Vaudreuil.jpg Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial
(1698–1778)
17431753
11 Le chevalier Louis Billouart de Kerlerec (1704 - 1770).jpg Louis Billouart
(1704–1770)
17531763
12 Jean-JacquesBlaised'abbadie.jpg Jean-Jacques Blaise d'Abbadie
(1726–1765)
17631765
(Died in office)
13 Charles Philippe Aubry.jpg Charles Philippe Aubry
(c.1720–1770)
17651768

Spanish Louisiana (1762–1803)

#PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
Took officeLeft office
1 Almirante Antonio de Ulloa.jpg Antonio de Ulloa
(1716–1795)
17661768
2 Charles Philippe Aubry.jpg Charles Philippe Aubry
(c.1720–1770)
17681769
3 Alejandro O'Reilly by Francisco Jose de Goya.jpg Alejandro O'Reilly
(1722–1794)
17691769
4 Luis de Unzaga y Amezaga.jpg Luis de Unzaga
(1721–1790)
17701777
5 Bernardo de Galvez.png Bernardo de Gálvez
(1746–1786)
17771785
6 Esteban Rodriguez Miro.jpg Esteban Rodríguez Miró
(1744–1795)
17851791
7 Retrato del Baron de Carondelet - Anonimo (siglo XIX).jpg Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet
(1748–1807)
17911797
8 Manuel-gayoso-de-lemos-governor-of-natchez.jpg Manuel Gayoso de Lemos
(1747–1799)
17971799
9 Francisco Bouligny.jpg Francisco Bouligny
(1736–1800)
17991799
10 Marquess of Casa Calvo.png Sebastián Calvo de la Puerta y O'Farrill
(1751–1820)
17991801
No image.svg Nicolás María Vidal (Acting Civil Governor)
(1739–1806)
17991801
11 No image.svg Juan Manuel de Salcedo
(1743–c.1810)
18011803

French Republic Louisiana (1803–1803)

#PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
Took officeLeft office
1 Laussat.jpg Pierre Clément de Laussat [a]
(1756–1835)
18031803
  1. Laussat was named colonial prefect in August 1802 and arrived in New Orleans on March 26, 1803, to prepare the territory for the arrival of Governor General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. However, news of the Sale of Louisiana reached Bernadotte before he set sail from La Rochelle in May 1803 and he refused the position. Spain officially transferred control of Louisiana to Laussat on November 30, 1803, and he oversaw the transfer of the territory to the United States on December 20, 1803.

See also

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References