The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: ESP
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
Birth: abt 1740 Acadia / Nova Scotia / Canada Death: bef 29 Oct 1798 / AscensionParish / LA
Qualifying Service Description:
Acadian Coast militia 1779. Spanish Sodier in militia under command of General Galvez
Additional References:
DAR cites DEVILLE, THE ACADIAN COAST IN 1779, pg 34, 35, 36
“Bernardo de Gálvez: Services to the American Revolution,” by Charles Robert Churchill, Louisiana Society, Sons of the American Revolution, 1925 - Louisiana,
“The Acadian Coast in 1779,” by Winston De Ville. Preface by Barbara Dumesnil de la Houssaye, State Regent, Louisiana Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. Introduction by Kathleen M. Stagg
François Dugas was born about 1740 at River St. Jean, Acadia, Nova Scotia. The second son of Jean Dugas who was impacted by the British Grand Derangement, he followed his family into exile on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore and ended up with them as a British prisoner of war in Nova Scotia during the early 1760s. His family arrived in Louisiana from Halifax via Cap-Français, St.-Domingue,** in February 1765. He married Marguerite Babin at Cabanocé, (now St. James Parish), Louisiana, in June 1768.
François served as a volunteer in the Acadian Coast Militia. He is listed in the 2nd Company of Acadian Militia of La Fourche des Tchetimachas in Louisiana, as a Fusillier, under direct command of Lt. Nicolas Verret, overall command of General Gálvez, 27 August 1779, age 38. This information was documented by Commandant Louis Judice, Captain of the Militia, and recorded in the General Archives of the Indies, Seville, Spain.
It is uncertain as to what Gálvez military engagements that François actually fought in, but the Acadian Coast Militia fought with Gálvez against the British at Manchak in Louisiana, Baton Rouge, Fort Charlotte at Mobile, and Pensacola.
François died in October 1798 and was buried in Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. The priest who recorded his burial said that François was 66 years old when he died, but he was closer to 58.
** Cap-Français, St.-Domingue at the time was an important commercial and cultural center in French colonial Saint Dominque, now Haiti.
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