Jean Lafitte, Gulf terror and Christmas pirate

Louisiana historians know Jean Lafitte as the pirate who, shortly before Christmas in 1814, surrendered his plunder to fight alongside Colonel Andrew Jackson to save the City of New Orleans. However, few know that Lafitte and his crew had more in common with Santa Claus and Robin Hood than with Blackbeard or Calico Jack Sparrow.

In their heyday, brothers Jean and Pierre Lafitte distributed much of their spoils among the poor French families in New Orleans, always in secret and in the dead of night.

Another little known fact: following the Battle of New Orleans, after receiving a full pardon from Louisiana’s governor and amnesty from the President of the United States, Jean Lafitte returned to a life of crime.

The New Orleans Republican newspaper recounted his life in 1874:

Jean Lafitte, the Terror of the Gulf, was a Frenchmen by birth. Early enlisted in the French navy, he soon fell into the hands of the English, who oppressed him, imprisoning him and torturing him to the very borders of the grave. He thus acquired a hatred for the English, which he took occasion to gratify during the events of the unforgettable attack on New Orleans.

Of his early life, historians know little more than the above. That he was wild, restless, daring, cold, unscrupulous, and cruel may well be imagined. The first positive glimpse of his adult life is on the Island of Grand Terre, or Barataria, an undulating piece of land five or six miles long, some sixty miles west of the delta of the Mississippi. Here, in a good harbor, in a solid natural position made stronger by fort and batteries well armed and operated, Jean Lafitte, with 600 or 800 men and eight or ten vessels, established headquarters about 1807.

From this stronghold, his cruisers went forth, sometimes under one flag and sometimes under another, plundering the rich merchantmen traversing the Gulf on their way to profitable markets. However, Lafitte repelled the appellation of a pirate. He claimed instead to be a privateer. Spain had become involved in a war with her South American colonies. The latter sent privateers to prey upon Spanish commerce. From the government of Cartagena, Lafitte obtained a commission and began a career of plunder, caring little of what flag his victims bore if they carried rich cargo.

Spanish, French, English, and American were all the same to him, and he soon became a terror to all honest navigators. The ravages of The Alabama and other Civil War cruisers were small compared to the havoc raised by Lafitte’s piratical fleet.

Finally, in 1813, the authorities of Louisiana, weary of the lawlessness carried on so near their borders, issued a proclamation dated March 15. Reciting the numerous acts of piracy and smuggling charged against the occupants of Barataria, Governor William C. Claiborne ordered them to disperse. However, the pirates disregarded the proclamation, and soon after, the governor ordered a reward of $5000 for Lafitte’s head.

Lafitte followed with a counter-proclamation, promising a prize of $50,000 to anyone who would deliver Governor Claiborne into his hands.

Matters were in this condition when late in 1814. The English resolved to attack New Orleans, but the difficulties in ascending the Mississippi were numerous. So they decided to seek a passage through Barataria and its bayous, and considering the relationship between the authorities of New Orleans and the Pirate crew at that point, they were confident of attaching Lafitte to their interest. Thus, on August 13, 1814, Captain Nicholas Lockyer of the British ship Sophie sailed on that mission. The Barataria chief then had 1100 men under his command and 13 armed vessels.

Captain Lockyer was permitted to land and meet privately with Lafitte.

At that time, Lockyer offered Lafitte, as a reward for his cooperation, $50,000 in coin, a Commission in His Majesty’s Navy, and a pardon for himself and his followers. Lafitte requested ten days for consideration, pretending to consult some of his associates who were then absent.

As before intimated, Lafitte hated the English because of their cruelty to him in early life. His interests, too, were with the Americans. New Orleans was the best market for his stolen goods.

Lafitte sailed to New Orleans, presented himself before Governor Claiborne in disguise, and laid before him the dispatches from Captain Lockyer promising to aid the American cause if pardoned.

 At the time, the government was preparing to drive the pirates from their stronghold, and Lafitte asked the governor to delay the attack.

Claiborne laid the letters before his counsel, but they did not believe them genuine and ordered the expedition to sail. Sorely disappointed, Lafitte returned home to find his Fort under attack, his fleet sunk, and his men scattered. The spoils captured by the Americans totaled over $500,000.

Too late to accept the overtures from the English, Lafitte wrote General Andrew Jackson, saying that he and his command were still willing to enroll themselves against the enemy. Jackson favored the scheme and convinced Governor Claiborne to issue a proclamation offering a full pardon should the pirates join the battle to save New Orleans.

Lafitte and 100 or so of his followers embraced these conditions, more than half that number came out of prison to enroll themselves in Jackson’s army, and ultimately, the pirates’ services and conduct received the highest praise.

Early on the morning of January 8, 1815, a rocket sent up by the British forces announced that the action was about to begin. Behind a breastwork of cotton balls that extended from the levy to the woods, back to Rodriguez Plantation, the Americans ultimately defeated the British forces.

Thirty days after the battle, the President of the United States issued his proclamation of amnesty for Jean Lafitte and his crew.

Soon after, the Pirate Chief, visiting Washington, was received by the President and other officials with much distinction. For a time, Lafitte seemed to enjoy the flatteries of government officials, but he eventually became bored. One morning, he rode horseback to Baltimore, purchased a vessel, and set sail with an all-new pirate troop.

Lafitte died in the Yucatan on Christmas Day 1825.