32. Sea Protest, August 15, 1811, Notary John Lynd, Vol. 7, pp. 525–26, NONA.
33. Smith, Jones, p. 19.
34. Libel of Daniel Patterson, November 23, 1811, libel of R. A. Moorhouse, n.d., deposition of William Boyce, January 22, 1812, deposition of John Smith, January 22, 1812, Daniel F. Patterson v. Polacre La Divina Pas tora, Case #0452, NAFW; P. L. B. Duplessis statement, August 29, 1812, Legajo 1836, AGI-Newberry.
35. Luis Onís to Monroe, November 26, 1811, RG 59, M-50, NA.
36. Patterson vs. La Divina Pastora, November 23, 1811, Minutes, III, p. 5, January 28, 1812, p. 28, February 28, 1812, p. 35, M-1082, RG 21, NA.
37. Grand Jury to the Court, January 31, 1812, Minutes, III, pp. 29–32, M-1082, RG 21, NA.
38. New Orleans, Louisiana Gazette, December 20, 1811. Unfortunately, the author of this wonderful letter cannot be identified. He signs it from Toulouse Street, but the 1811 New Orleans city directory fails to suggest any obvious candidates. It might be F. L. E. Amelung, who was in trouble in the district court in 1810–11 for dealing in contraband, but this is only speculation.
39. Faye, Aury, pp. 45, 47, CAHUT.
40. Marixa Lasso, "Haiti as an Image of Popular Republicanism in Caribbean Colombia," Geggus, The Impact of the Haitian Revolution, pp. 178—79.
41. Vincent Nolte, The Memoirs of Vincent Nolte. Reminiscences in the Period of Anthony Adverse or Fifty Years in Both Hemispheres (New York, 1934), p. 189; Bell, Revolution, p. 47.
42. Marixa Lasso, "Haiti as an Image of Popular Republicanism in Caribbean Colombia," David P. Geggus, ed., The Impact of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World (Columbia, SC, 2001), pp. 178–79.
43. Alfred Toledano Wellborn, "The Relations Between New Orleans and Latin America, 1810–1824," Louisiana Historical Quarterly, XXII (July 1939). pp. 755–56.
SIX
1. John Shaw to Paul Hamilton, February 17, 1812, Area File of the Naval Collection, 1775–1910, Area 8, M-625, NA.
2. Angus Fraser to Williams, February 19, 1812, Entry 1627, RG 36, NA.
3. Smith, Jones, p. 19.
4. John Shaw to Paul Hamilton, February 17, 1812, Area File of the Naval Collection, 1775–1910, Area 8, M-625, NA.
5. John Shaw to Secretary of the Navy, February 3, 1812, Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy from Captains 1807–1885, Naval Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library, M-125, RG 45, NA.
6. "The Baratarians vs. the United States: A Chronology, 1812–1815," Laffite Study Group Newsletter; VII (Spring 1987), p. 2.
7. Fraser to Williams, February 25, 1812, Entry 1627, RG 36, NA.
8. Fraser to Williams, March 23, 24, 1812, Ibid.
9. Louis Aury to J. Maignet, February 10, 1812, Louis Aury Papers, CAHUT.
10. Smith, Jones, p. 20.
11. "The Baratarians vs. the United States: A Chronology, 1812–1815," Laffite Study Group Newsletter, VII (Spring 1987), p. 2.
12. Receipts, June 20, 21, 1812, Dominic You Papers, HNOC. The spelling used here is that attached to the collection, even though Youx is apparently the spelling actually preferred by Dominique when using that name.
13. Certificate, August 26, 1812, You Papers, HNOC.
14. Anonymous to Major McRea, August 23, 1812, Anonymous to Anonymous, January 8, 1813, You Papers, HNOC.
15. Dominique to Frederick You, [September 1812], Declaration, August 23, 1812, You Papers, HNOC. The September letter is unclear, but appears to be addressed to Youx, and signed by Dominique, meaning he wrote it to himself, perhaps using his Frederick Youx alias as part of a sham story created to get his ship into port.
16. List of Captures, n.d. [September 1812], Statement of liquidation, September 17, 1812, You Papers, HNOC.
17. Inventaire du Corsaire Francais Le Pandoure, September 17, 1812, You Papers, HNOC.
18. Statement of sale, October 15, 1812, You Papers, HNOC.
19. Certificate, September 17, 1812, You Papers, HNOC.
20. H. W. Palfrey to Editor, November 5, 1851, New Orleans, Daily Delta, November 9, 1851.
21. Suit, November 16, 1812, United States vs. José Antonio La Rionde, Case #0537, NAFW.
22. Castellanos, New Orleans as It Was, pp. 151–52; John Smith Kendall, "The Huntsmen of Black Ivory," Louisiana Historical Quarterly, XXIV (January 1941), p. 15. Kendall gives no source at all for this interesting assertion, but his source is surely Castellanos. It is probably a glimmer of local tradition current in the late 1800s. Clark did live by Bayou St. John, a smuggling route into the city.
23. Thomas Williams to Albert Gallatin, March 15, 1812, July 20, 1813, Collector of Customs Letters, NA.
24. Nolan and Dupont, Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Volume 11, 1812–1814 (New Orleans, 1996), p. 433. The baptismal record does not list Pierre as the father, but the child's surname is listed as Villar Lafita and the mother is named as Marie Luisa Villar. Moreover, the sponsors are "Martin and Caterina Lafita," identified as brother and sister of the child, so there is no question that this is a child of the Pierre-Marie liaison.
25. Protest, March 13, 1813, Notary John Lynd, Vol. 10, item, 643, NONA.
26. Laffite to Ursuline Convent, February 12, 1812, Notary Narcissus Broutin, Vol. 22, item 73; Laffite to Louis Demarans, January 3, 1812, Vol. 68, item 2; Laffite to Henri St. Geme, June 9, 1812, Notary Marc Lafitte, Vol. 2, item 130; Laffite to Joseph Foque, February 27, 1812, Notary Michel deArmas, Vol. 8, item 116, NONA.
27. Bollaert, "Lafitte," p. 436.
28. New Orleans, Courier de la Louisiane, May 4, 1812.
29. Suit filed September 19, 1812, Antoine Philippe Lanaux vs. Pierre Lafitte, Case #3395, City Court Suit Records, NOPL.
30. Laffite to Marie Rousse, October 28, 1812, Notary Narcissus Broutin, Vol. 27, item 200; Promissory note Pierre Laffite to Andre Robin, October 31, 1812, Protest, March 13, 1813, Notary John Lynd, Vol. 10, item 643; Obligation Pierre Laffite to Pierre Gaillard, November 30, 1812, Notary Narcissus Broutin, Vol. 68, item 381, NONA.
31. William St. Marc vs. Lafitte and Garidel, Case #3177, William St. Marc vs. Peter Lafitte, December 5, 1812, Case #3486, City Court Suit Records, NOPL.
32. Wilkinson, Memoirs, III, pp. 335–40.
33. Stanley Faye, "Types of Privateer Vessels, Their Armament and Flags, in the Gulf of Mexico," Louisiana Historical Quarterly, XXIII (January 1940), pp. 118–20.
34. Faye, "Privateer Vessels," pp. 121, 123–24.
35. Andrew Whiteman, who served aboard her, in testimony on April 25, 1814, stated that he had no knowledge of this schooner fitted out and armed at Barataria having a commission from any nationality. United States vs. Certain Goods, etc., Minutes, III, pp. 306–7, M-1082, NA. The fact of Pierre Laffite requesting privateering commissions from Cartagena months later in April 1813—see below—suggests that he had no commissions in the fall of 1812 when this unnamed schooner went cruising for the Laffites. If the brothers had acquired La Diligent by this time, then they might have rationalized the remaining time on Gariscan's French commission into covering this schooner, but this is mere speculation.
36. John R. Grymes petition, April 7, 1813, United States vs. Jean Laffite, Case #0573, NAFW. It is interesting that the documents in cases #0573 and 0574 turned up in a woman's hands in New Orleans in 1925 when she tried to sell them to antique dealer James B. Pelletier. It is not known if he bought them or not, but they are now back in the proper case folders at NAFW. New Orleans, Times-Picayune, August 23, 1925.
37. Statement of Andrew Hunter Holmes, November 19, 1813 [1812], United States vs. Jean Laffite, Case #0573, NAFW.
38. Cross-examination of Andrew Hunter Holmes, November 20, 1812, United States vs. Pierre Laffite, Case #0574, NAFW.
39. Deposition of James Tyler, November 20, 1812, United States vs. Pierre Laffite, Case #0574, NAFW.
40. Statement of Andrew Hunter Holmes, November 19, 1813 [1812], United States vs. Jean Laffite, Case #0574, Deposition of An
drew Hunter Holmes, November 19, 1813, United States vs. Pierre Laffite, Case #0573, NAFW.
41. John Ballinger report to Gen. James Wilkinson, November 3, 1812, Rosamunde E. and Emile Kuntz Collection, Tulane University.
42. Cross-examination of Andrew Hunter Holmes, November 20, 1812, United States vs. Pierre Laffite, Case #0574, NAFW.
43. Deposition of Andrew Hunter Holmes, November 29, 1812, United States vs. Pierre Laffite, Case #0574, NAFW.
44. Morphy to Apodaca, March 11, 1813, Legajo 1828, AGI-Newberry; United States vs. A Certain Pirogue, 26 Bales of Cinnamon, etc., Verdict, January 25, 1813, Minutes, III, p. 143, M-1082, RG 21, NA.
45. Morphy to Apodaca, November 27, 1812, Legajo 1836, AGI-Newberry.
46. Deposition of Francisco Ajuria, December 5, 1814, Diego Unzaga et al. vs. the Schooner Dorada alias la Rosalia, Case #0763, NAFW. In testimony given by Andrew Whiteman April 25, 1814, he said that the Dorada was taken a year earlier, making this capture circa April 1813, but that is too late to dovetail with other accounts. United States vs Certain Goods, etc., Minutes, III, pp. 306–7, M-1082, NA.
47. Faye, "Privateer Vessels," p. 120.
48. Presentment, October 29, 1814, United States vs. Antoine Lavergne, alias Cadet Patte Grasse, Case #0784, NAFW; Deposition of Andrew Whiteman, November 24, 1813, Entry 949, RG 59, NA; Faye, "Privateer Vessels," p. 120. Whiteman says in this and other statements that the brig was taken off Trinidad, but given the time frame involved and the distance to Trinidad, this is virtually impossible, and thus he must have been speaking of Trinidad, a coastal town on Cuba's south coast.
49. Deposition of Andrew Whiteman, July 11, 1814, Sabourin Papers, Tulane; Certificate of Registration of the Surprise, June 7, 1820, Certificates of Registration, 1818–1819, Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation, Entry 156, RG 41, NA. The Surprise is the name given the captured Dorada after she was sold by the navy in 1820.
50. Suit April 3, 1813, Paul Lanusse vs. Jean Jeanetty, Vincent Gambi, et al., Case #10, First Judicial Court Records, NOPL.
51. In 1804 a slave ship named the Diligent brought Africans into Louisiana from Havana under a Captain Legue, though it does not seem to be this same La Diligent, whose 1813 commission shows her to have been built in 1808. Unnumbered documents of date May 27, 1805, Assumption Parish Courthouse, Napoleonville, LA, in Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy, 1718–1820 (Slave), Web site http://www.ibiblio.org/laslave/
52. Angus Fraser to Williams, April 3, 6, 1812; African Negroes belonging to the French Privateer Diligent Capt. John Antony Gariseon, Entry 1627, RG 36, NA; Sylvie Feuillie, "La Guerre de Course Française aux Antilles Durant la Revolution et l'Empire, III Partie," La Revue Maritime, No. 429 (fourth quarter), p. 93. Gariscan's name appears in several alternate forms, including Alexis Grassan, Garison, Grisson, and so forth. A document dated March 24, 1808, in the French National Archives, Paris, location cited only as 5 mi 1433, supposedly mentions a corsair named Pierre Lafitte and also what appears to be a "Mr. Gariscan," but it has not been possible to check this.
53. Angus Fraser to Williams, April 23, 1812, Entry 1627, RG 36, NA.
54. Angus Fraser to Williams, April 23, 1812, Ibid.
55. No record of the purchase exists, but it is clear from subsequent documents cited that Pierre Laffite claimed and was acknowledged as the owner.
56. Presentment, October 29, 1814, United States vs. Antoine Lavergne, alias Cadet Patte Grasse, Case #0784, NAFW.
57. Abstract of Commissions of Letters of Marque and reprisal issued at the Port of New Orleans, June 7, 1813, Entry 388, RG 45, NA.
58. Pierre Laffite in 1815 stated that he got his privateering commission in New Orleans and had to give a security deposit to Cartagena to get it, a deposit that was never refunded. It seems most likely that he got the commission by taking over Gariscan's and paying the deposit, if any, to Gariscan for delivery in Cartagena. Of course, there may have been no deposit and no legitimate commission, either. Statement of Pierre Laffite, n.d., United States vs. Schooner Presidente, Case #0811, NAFW.
59. If the Laffites ever actually held a legitimate Cartagena letter of marque, it was most likely one of the blank commissions carried to the East Coast by the Colombian junta's envoy late in 1812 or early 1813, but no record of them survives.
60. This estimate is based on the fact that a common seaman got $10, and there were sixty men getting that lowest rate. Fifteen others got up to twice the pay, not to mention the officers. Certificate of Inspection, March 2, 1813, Pierre and Jean Laffite Collection, HNOC; Deposition of Andrew Whiteman, November 24, 1813, Records Relating to Privateers and Piracy, Entry 949, General Records of the Department of State, RG 59, NA (copy in the Sabourin Papers, Tulane).
61. Expense inventory, July 1812, William Allan vs. Polacre San Francisco de Paula, Case #0509, NAFW.
62. Petition of Davis and Ducatel, April 9, 1816, Executors of André Robin vs. Pierre Laffite, Case #956, Parish Court Civil Suit Records, NOPL.
63. Jean Laffite to Janne Capucin, February 5, 1813, Notary Narcissus Broutin, Vol. 28, item 54, NONA, places Jean in New Orleans on this date.
64. Unsigned letter to Monsieur le Consul, February 1813, Pierre and Jean Laffite Collection, HNOC.
65. Certificate of Inspection, March 2, 1813, Pierre and Jean Laffite Collection, HNOC.
66. Ibid.; Deposition of James Connel, July 1813, United States vs. Juan Juanilleo alias Sapia, Case #0774, NAFW.
67. Certificate of Inspection, March 2, 1813, Pierre and Jean Laffite Collection, HNOC.
68. Deposition of Andrew Whiteman, November 24, 1813, Sabourin Papers, Tulane.
69. Fraser to Williams, April 21, 1813, Entry 1627, RG 36, NA.
70. It is commonly understood that the Laffite brothers had financial interests in privateers sailing under the flags of Cartagena and Mexico. However, while the district court case files in New Orleans establish clear chains of ownership for individual vessels as well as documented connections with the Laffites, there do not appear to be any records of the commissions themselves. Neither is there evidence that any republican junta or revolutionary caudillo ever acknowledged a relation with the Laffites. There is no extant evidence that the Laffites ever got legitimate letters of marque from Cartagena, or at least a search of records during 1812–15 in the files on privateers and mercenaries who came to Gran Colombia fails to reveal any such record. Research by several people in the archives of Colombia and other South American nations finds plenty of references to Barataria and Galveston, but no mention of the Laffite brothers as owners, masters, armorers, or officers of privateers; nor did they or their agents pay any recorded taxes or duties on prizes disposed of in the "patriot" admiralty courts as did Beluche and other legitimately commissioned corsairs. The Colombian junta's envoy brought several blank commissions to the United States late in 1812, but Pierre Laffite's request for such blanks in April 1813 makes it evident that the Laffites did not receive any of those, and the testimony of men serving on their vessels in federal district court cases casts considerable suspicion on the probability that they obtained commissions thereafter before December 1815 when Cartagenan commissions became inoperative in the wake of the sacking of the city. They also do not appear in the archives of Bogotá or Caracas and they do not seem to have been involved either with privateers in Haiti. Beluche was sailing under a Cartagenan commission, but was not connected with the Laffites at this time. Neither do they appear to have been involved with the Charleston privateers, nor with those of Martinique or San Domingue. Robert Vogel speculates that in 1812–13 the Laffites may have had one or two French national privateer commissions, but those were worthless after March 1814, after which the Laffites might have exchanged them for blank commissions issued by the agents of the republican junta in Cartagena, which would remain valid until December 1815.
71. Pierre Laffite to John Anthony Gariscan, April 22, 1813, Edward A. Parsons Collection, CAHUT; Jean L. Epperson, "Flags Flown at Galveston by the Corsairs and Filib
usters," Laffite Society Chronicles, V (February 1999), p. [6–7]; Faye, "Privateer Vessels," pp. 126–28.
72. Shaw to Hamilton, January 18, 1813, M-125, NA.
73. Indictments, February 15, 1813, Minutes, III, pp. 161–62, M-1082, NA.
74. Petition, April 7, 1813, United States vs. Jean Laffite, Case #0573; Petition April 7, 1813, United States vs. Pierre Laffite, Case #0574, NAFW.
75. Arrest order for Jean Laffite, April 8, 1813, United States vs. Jean Laffite, Case #0573; Arrest order for Pierre Laffite, April 8, 1813, United States vs. Pierre Laffite, Case #0574, NAFW.
76. Arrest order of Jean Laffite, April 20, 1813, United States vs. Jean Laffite, Case #0573; Arrest order of Pierre Laffite, April 20, 1813, United States vs. Pierre Laffite, Case #0574, NAFW.
77. Suit, April 3, 1813, Paul Lanusse vs. Jean Jeanetty, Vincent Gambi, et al., Case #10, First Judicial Court, NOPL.
78. Petition of Davis and Ducatel, April 9, 1816, Executors of André Robin vs. Pierre Laffite, Case #0956, Parish Court Civil Suit Records, NOPL.
79. Statement of Pierre Laffite, n.d., United States vs. Schooner Presidente, Case #0811, NAFW.
80. Sea protest, May 11, 1813, Notary John Lynd, Vol. 10, item 182, NONA.
81. John Foley to Pierre Dubourg, May 1, 1813, Entry 1627, RG 36, NA.
82. Deposition of Antonio Ruiz, n.d., United States vs. Juan Juanilleo alias Sapia, Case #0774, NAFW; Andrew Whiteman statement, April 25, 1814, United States vs. Certain Goods, etc., Minutes, III, pp. 306–7, M-1082, NA.
83. Deposition of Bertrande Priella, October 7, 1814, United States vs. Dominique Youx, Case #0779, NAFW.
84. Deposition of Andrew Whiteman, November 24, 1813, Entry 949, RG 59, NA; Deposition of Andrew Whiteman, July 11, 1814, Sabourin Papers, Tulane.
85. Faye, "Privateersmen," p. 1026. Faye refers to this man as "Captain Marcos," but he almost certainly misreads Maire, or Mairo as it was spelled in Spanish, for Maire is hereafter closely associated with the Laffites as one of their captains until 1817.
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