SALVERT, Perier du, colonial governor, born in France about 1690. He was an officer in the French navy, and a knight of St. Louis. On the recall of the Sieur de Bienville in 1724, he was sent out as governor of Louisiana. His administration was lax and inefficient, and the Natchez Indians, exasperated by the deeds of evil-disposed persons, rose against the French, and on 29 November, 1729, slaughtered all the male inhabitants of the post in their country. Their example was followed by the Yazoos. Perier formed an alliance with the Choctaws, and, after the latter had met the enemy in the field several times, marched into the Natchez country, and laid siege to the fortified village of the Indians until they withdrew across the Mississippi. In order to restore the prestige of French arms, the governor sent an expedition of 1,000 men against the Natchez in the following winter, which succeeded in capturing their fort and taking several hundred prisoners, who were sent to Santo Domingo and sold as slaves. In 1733 Bienville was reinstated, and Perier returned to France, where he was made lieutenant-general. In 1755 he was sent in command of a fleet for the protection of Santo Domingo, and during the war of 1756-'63 he commanded a squadron.