c.1780-1826?
Jean Lafitte, Louisiana's most famous pirate and smuggler, was born in France around 1780. While it is not certain who his parents were, it is believed that he was the son of aristocrats who were guillotined during the French Revolution. In any case, Lafitte was well-educated and could speak several languages. And ladies found him particularly charming.
In 1806 after dominating smuggling in the Caribbean, Lafitte and his men began operating off the Baratarian coast of Louisiana which is directly south of New Orleans. Lafitte preferred to be called a privateer rather than a pirate. Privateers were seafaring men legally hired by a government to attack the ships of enemy governments. Lafitte was hired by some Caribbean nations to raid Spanish ships during a rebelion against Spain, but it is doubtful that all Lafitte's raids were legal in this fashion. Whatever the case, he was a popular provider of goods scarce in the developing economy of New Orleans and its environs. His goods also included black slaves after the United States government banned the importation of more slaves in 1808.
Lafitte dominated all trade south of New Orleans and into New Orleans by sea. During latter days of the War of 1812, the British offered Lafitte money and a commission in the royal navy as an inducement to aid them in their actions to take New Orleans. Lafitte, who had always found the U.S. ideas about liberty and freedom attractive, instead turned this information over to the Americans and offered his services to them in return for the pardon of his men. Gen. Andrew Jackson accepted their help. Lafitte, his band of men and their supplies were instrumental in helping the U.S. win the Battle of New Orleans at Chalmette and they received pardons from President Madison.
Some of the men established permanent residency in the Baratarian area, but Lafitte returned to his life on the sea. From 1817 to 1821 he operated from what is now Galveston, Texas. In 1821 after a raid on U.S. property, Lafitte and his followers left the area quietly before the U.S. Navy could capture them as ordered.
The date and place of his death is unknown but it is generally believed that he died about 1826 on the coast of Mexico. At the height of his power it is said the Lafitte commanded 1000 men and 50 ships.
Links
- Jean Lafitte, Gentleman Pirate of New Orleans, sympathetic bio page with sketch
