I represent Captain Bernardo Joseph Benigno Prieto. I was an officer in the Spanish military, born in New Orleans in 1779. My parents were Juan (a warehouse guard, native of Havana) and Theresa La Ronda Prieto of New Orleans. In an 1816 request for a land grant from the Spanish Crown, I was called in to consult as “His Lordship, the Engineer Commandant.”
I was among the officers asked to stay behind to assist Spanish governor Jose Callava in completing the transition of power. After I and other officers publicly protested Governor Callava’s rude treatment during the Vidal affair, General Andrew Jackson ordered us deported.