Gunpowder In Spanish Louisiana

Military Configuration In New Orleans (Post Revolutionary War)

In April, 1776, [Oliver] Pollock's efforts [in Louisiana] with Governor Unzaga to secure Spanish protection for some American vessels against their seizure by a British sloop of war on the plea that they were in a neutral port proved unavailing. To what extent the governor was influenced by the contents of General Lee's letter can only be conjectured but he finally permitted the sale of ten thousand pounds of powder* to Pollock.  Pollock himself believed this changed attitude to be, in part, a result of the declaration of independence. [Source]

*Eighteen hundred dollars were paid for the powder.

Note: One means of gaining the friendship of the Indians was through the distribution of powder. They had been told by the British that the colonists had none. [Ibid]