Luis de Unzaga

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Luis de Unzaga y Amezaga (1721 – 1790) also known (Luis Unzaga Y Amezaga) was the first Spanish Louisiana Governor (from 1769 to 1777) as well as a captain general of Venezuela and Cuba.

Unzaga (pronounced oon-thah'-gah), was born in Malaga, Spain. He served in the Italian of 1735 and came to Havana in 1740 where he was lieutenant governor of Puerto Principe, Cuba and later of Santiago de Cuba.

During the Seven Years War he defend Havana against an English siege in 1762.

He accompanied Alejandro O'Reilly to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1769 to put down the Rebellion of 1768 of French settlers objecting to the turnover of Louisiana to Spain in the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762).

Following the formal establishment of the Cabildo (council), Unzaga became governor on December 1, 1769^[1].

In 1770 he married Marie Elizabeth de St. Maxent, second daughter of Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent, the wealthiest man in Louisiana.

Unzaga was noted for allowing open trade.

During the summer of 1776 he secretly helped the Americans by privately delivereing five tons of gunpowder, out of the King's stores, to Captain George Gibson and Lieutenant Linn of the Virginia Council of Defense. The gunpowder moved up the Mississippi under the protection of the flag of Spain and was used to thwart British plans to capture Fort Pitt.

He became Captaincy General of Venezuela from June 17, 1777 to December 10, 1782. In 1783 he became governor for Cuba where one of his first orders was ordering the a halt to the unrestrained cutting of cedars