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Lieutenant Colonel '''Jean Marcos Coulon de Villiers''' was an officer of [[Spanish Pensacola]] at the time of its transfer to the United States in [[1821]]. He was the father-in-law of [[John Innerarity]] (by his daughter Marie Victoria<ref>http://fulltext.fcla.edu/DLData/SN/SN00154113/0067_003/67no3.pdf</ref>) and [[Arnaldo Guillemard]] (by his daughter Marie Josepha). He was commandant of [[San Marcos de Apalache]], among other posts.
De Villiers came from a famous French military family. His grandfather was [[Wikipedia:François Coulon de Villiers|François Coulon de Villiers]], brother to [[Wikipedia:Louis Coulon de Villiers|Louis Coulon de Villiers]] and [[Wikipedia:Joseph Coulon de Jumonville|Joseph Coulon de Jumonville]]. François became a commandant of [[Wikipedia:New Spain|New Spain]] after the [[Wikipedia:Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]], and his son [[Marc de Villiers|Marc]], a Spanish loyalist, settled in Pensacola after the [[Wikipedia:Third Treaty of San Ildefonso|Treaty of San Ildefonso]] returned Louisiana to French rule.<ref>[http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Square/2320/devillier-page.html les Familles Coulon de Villiers Jumonville]</ref>
After the arrest transfer of Florida to the United States in [[1821]], former Spanish Governor [[Jose Callava]] was arrested by [[Andrew Jackson]]. A group of thirteen Spanish officers, which included de Villiers and his son-in-law [[Arnaldo Guillemard|Guillemard]], wrote a "Declaration of many respectable witnesses of what passed," which enumerated a number of what they perceived to be injustices perpetrated by Jackson on the Spanish population. No action was taken at the time, but when a newspaper published an anonymous advertisement critical of Jackson and his deputy [[Henry Brackenridge]], Jackson ordered the banishment of de Villiers, Guillemard and six other signatories of the previous declaration.<ref name="goza">http://smathersdlcl3.uflib.ufl.edu/docsb/news/Goza/336.sgm</ref></blockquote>
