Note: The following Militia Lists are available for family research and DAR/SAR documentation. If you don't know if your ancestor served in the Colonial Militias, send an email for a Free Search to cajun @ thecajuns.com and provide the surname. The search is free. A fee will be charged for the roster as shown.

Galvez Rosters of 1779 - See also the 1777 Census Ordered by Galvez Galvez had provided "unofficial support" to the American Cause as early as 1776, but Spain didn't officially declare war on England until May 8, 1779. In a letter dated June 25, 1779 to Commandants Bellile, Robin, Judice and Cantrelle and one dated July 28, 1779 to Declouet [Attakapas/Opelousas], Galvez sent secret communications to identify bachelors not encumbered by family duties whether militiamen or not and Free Blacks, Mulattos and Slaves who could be trusted. The Pointe Coupee Post wasn't included because of its critical location and the militia there would be needed to guard against a descent via the Mississippi River. The Arkansas, Natchitoches and Rapides Posts were also not inlcuded in the request. When Winston Deville published Louisiana Soldiers in the American Revolution in 1991, responses to Galvez' letter and militia lists for 1779 and 1780 hadn't been found in the archives, but subsequent research found several rosters and other documents. In 1993, Mr. Deville published The Acadian Coast in 1779 Settlers of Cabanocey and La Fourche in the Spanish Province of Louisiana During the American Revolution. The Contents of the publication included the following extremely valuable lists for family research and documentation for DAR/SAR membership: Owners of Available Rice and Corn in the Parish of Saint Jacques at Cabahannocée signed by Michel Cantrelle on March 15, 1779 - the list shows the number of persons in the HH and the number of slaves [Folios 334-336]; A list signed by Louis Judice at La Fourche des Chetimachas on July 3, 1779 of 24 men who met the criteria established in the June 25, 1779 Letter from Galvez [Folios 522-523]; [Note: The 24 names are the same as the names of the men from La Fourche on the Galvez Rosters of 1779 published in 1996. A list of 37 names signed on August 27, 1779 by Louis Judice of a "Roster of the Volunteer Habitants of the Company of Militia of La Fourche des Chitimachas who were prepared to March..." [Folios 551-552]; A list prepared by Nicolas Verret and Michel Judice of a "Roster of the Volunteers from the Company of La Fourche des Chetchimachas..." The last page of the document is missing which would have had the actual date signed. Also missing are numbers 11-46 of the 65 men on the list. [Folios 553-554v]; A List of Habitants of La Fourche des Chetimachas, Who Have Furnished Cross Saws, Axes, Compass-Saws, and Mill-Stones for the Needs of the Service..." signed by Louis Judice on Sept. 27, 1779 [Folio 567] In 1996, Mr. Deville published two very important lists in the publication Mississippi Valley Mélange, Volume Two: 1. The Galvez Rosters of 1779: Soldier Selection at the German and Acadian Coasts During the American Revolution [pages 49-52] [Note: The citation for the original document is Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, General Archives of the Indies, Seville, Legajo 192, folios 345-348]. The Galvez Rosters of 1779 identify 119 men from St. Charles Parish [30]; St. John the Baptist Parish [30]; La Fourche [24][this would have been Lafourche Interior which included areas from current-day Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes - Note: The names are the same as those on the List signed by Louis Judice on July 3, 1779]; Cabahanocce [St. James][29]; and Iberville [1]. No Free Men of Color or Slaves are listed. 2. Southwest Louisiana Militiamen During the American Revolution: The Rosters of Attakapas and Opelousas in 1780 [pages 53-56] [Note: The citation for the original document is Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, General Archives of the Indies, Seville, Legajo 192, folios 258-261] . The 1780 list was actually a list of the men who had gone with DeClouet - who was the Commandant of Attakapas and Opelousas - prior to September 3, 1779. The date of Sept. 3, 1779 is documented in a letter of that date from Francisco Bouligny to Galvez written at Plaquemine in which he lists the men that he had brought from New Iberia to "supplement" those brought by DeClouet. In the letter, he states that "... I have come here with Mr. Delcouet [sic] and our trip was most united and friendly, like him I await the orders of Your Lordship and will execute it with the greatest fervor..." Bouligny's Letter to Galvez [spelled Galbez] lists the 40 men [16 Whites & 24 Negroes] from New Iberia whom he had brought to supplement the Attakapas/Opelousas group.[Source: They Tasted Bayou Water by Maurine Bergerie, pgs. 146-149] [Note: The Sept. 9, 1779 Roll Call at Manchac shows that Declouet was at Attakapas, but as Bouligny's letter documents he was actually at Plaquemine awaiting further orders from Galvez] In a letter dated January 19, 1780 from Galvez to Declouet, 133 men from the Attakapas [66: 45 whites, 10 Free Men of Color & 11 Slaves] and Opelousas Posts [67: 56 Whites, 5 Free Men of Color & 6 Slaves] were identified. One of the major resources for research of Spain in the Mississippi Valley between 1765-1794 is the Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the year 1945, edited by Lawrence Kinnaird. The Annual Report is in four volumes. Volume I was the participants, agenda & meeting notes Voume II, Part I was The Revolutionary Period, 1765-1781 Volume III, Part II was the Post War Decade, 1782-1791, and Volume IV, Part III was Problems of Frontier Defense, 1792-1794 Volume II, Part I, pages 342-343 conatins a letter dated June 27, 1779 from Collell to Galvez that gives the names of the First miliita company of the town of Galvez that was formed in response to the order of Galvez on June 16, 1779. The list is primarily of men from The Canary Islands. These lists provide documentation for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution [DAR] and the Sons of the American Revolution [SAR] . Note: The lists don't identify all the men on the militia at the various posts - only the bachelors not encumbered by family duties. Descendants of the militiamen who weren't identified for the list requested by Galvez are still eligible for membership in the DAR/SAR. For a Free Check to determine if your ancestor is on the lists, send an email to cajun @ thecajuns.com [note - no space before and after the@ symbol] and show Galvez Rosters in the subject line. To order the Lists, see below