The Pirates Laffite
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2. Daniel Patterson to William Jones, July 8, 1814, Area 8, M-625, RG 45, NA.
3. John Reid and John Henry Eaton, The Life of Andrew Jackson (Philadelphia, 1817), pp. 201–202; Gonzalez Manrique to Jackson, July 26, 1814, John Spencer Bassett, ed., Correspondence of Andrew Jackson (Washington, DC, 1927), II, p. 21.
4. Jackson to Manrique, August 24, 1814, Bassett, Correspondence, II, p. 29, Manrique to Jackson, August 30, 1814, pp. 38–39.
5. Sedella to Onís, September 18, 1815, Papeles de Estado, America en General, Legajo 5558, AGI-Newberry.
6. Claiborne to Jackson, August 21, 1814, Bassett, Correspondence, VI, pp. 437.
7. Daniel Patterson to William Jones, July 8, 1814, Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy from Commanders, "Masters Commandants Letters," 1804–1886, M-147, RG 45, NA.
8. Patterson to Secretary of the Navy, August 20, 1814, M-147, RG 45, NA.
9. Patterson to Jackson, September 2, 1814, Ibid.
10. Patterson to Jones, September 4, 1814, Ibid.
11. Bollaert, "Lafitte," p. 437, speculated that Jean Laffite went to New Orleans to meet with Claiborne, and that while he was away his men seized Lockyer, but this is impossible in the time frame.
12. Deposition of William C. C. Claiborne, n.d., Deposition of John Blanque, April 22, 1815, United States vs. Certain Goods taken at Barataria, Case #0746, Parsons Collection, CAHUT.
13. Deposition of William C. C. Claiborne, n.d., Patterson and Ross vs. Certain Vessels, etc., Case #0734, Parsons Collection, CAHUT.
14. Claiborne to Jackson, September 8, 1814, Bassett, Correspondence, VI, pp. 439-40.
15. The authenticity of these documents has received little study, an issue discussed in Robert C. Vogel, "Pierre and Jean Laffite: Going to the Primary Sources," Laffite Society Chronicles, VII (October 2001), [p. 9]. However, there seems little cause to doubt them. Certainly Percy's letters and Nicholls's letter and proclamation are genuine. Where question exists, it would have to be with Laffite's September 4 note to Lockyer, which survives only in the copy Jean sent to Blanque, and could thus be his invention. However, since it is the document that most incriminates Jean by its implication that he will cooperate with the British, it would be a foolish document for him to fake.
16. Testimony of P. L. B. Duplessis, December 7, 1814, Minutes, III, pp. 407–8, RG 21, NA.
17. George Ross to Jackson, October 3, 1814, Bassett, Correspondence, II, pp. 66–67.
18. Claiborne to Jackson, September 8, 1814, Bassett, Correspondence, VI, pp. 439–40, Ross to Jackson, October 3, 1814, VII, pp. 66–67.
19. Latour, Memoirs, pp. 22–23. Latour is the only authority for this promise, and it may be an embellishment that Jean Laffite added in telling the story to Latour.
20. Pierre Laffite to Blanque, Grand Terre, September 10, 1814, Parsons Collection, CAHUT.
21. Deposition of John Blanque, April 22, 1815, United States vs. Certain Goods taken at Barataria, Case #0746, Parsons Collection, CAHUT.
22. Morphy to Apodaca, September 12, 1814, Legajo 1836, AGI-Newberry.
23. Libel, October 14, 1814, Patterson and Ross vs. Certain Vessels, Goods and Merchandise, Case #0734, NAFW; George T. Ross to James Monroe, October 3, 1814, RG 107, NA.
24. Patterson to Jones, October 10, 1814, M-147, RG 45, NA.
25. Charles Wollstonecraft to Jackson, September 13, 1814, Harold Moser, David R. Hoth, Sharon Macpherson, and John H. Reinbold, eds., The Papers of Andrew Jackson. Volume III, 1814–1813 (Knoxville, TN, 1991), p. 136.
26. Morphy to Apodaca, September 12, 1814, Legajo 1836, AGI-Newbury.
27. Deposition of Manuel Ribon, September 27, 1814, United States vs. Joachim Santos, Case #0772, NAFW.
28. Sea protest of Lorenzo Oliver, September 28, 1814, Notary John Lynd, Vol. n, item 399, NONA.
29. Deposition of Don Miguel Antonio Puentes, December 8, 1814, Miguel Puentes to John B. Laporta, October 29, 1814, Don Miguel Puentes vs. Schooner Experiment Alias Harlequin, Case #0766, NAFW.
30. Deposition of Edward Williams, December 3, 1814, Parsons Collection, CAHUT.
31. Testimony of John Oliver missing from #0734, but appearing in New Orleans, Daily Picayune, April 15, 1880. Faye, "Privateersmen," p. 1032 suggests that the Laffites left Dominique in command at Barataria before Patterson struck, but there is nothing other than Oliver's statement, which could be hearsay, to suggest that Dominique worked for them or was a Baratarían leader.
32. Sea protest, September 29, 1814, Notary John Lynd, Vol. n, item 401, NONA.
33. Deposition of John Oliver, December 3, 1814, Parsons Collection, CAHUT.
34. Latour, Memoir, p. 23, states that the Laffites knew Patterson was coming, again information that Latour only would have gotten from Jean Laffite.
35. Deposition of Joseph Siranc, October 7, 1814, United States vs. Dominique alias Frederique Youx, Case #0779, NAFW.
36. Cross-examination of John Oliver, December 8, 1814, Patterson and Ross vs. Certain Goods Seized at Barataria, Case #0734, NAFW.
37. Cross-examination of John Oliver, n.d., United States vs. Jean Laffite, Case #0573, Parsons Collection, CAHUT; Deposition of Joseph Siranc, n.d., United States vs. Dominique alias Frederique Youx, Case #0779, NAFW.
38. J. O. Dyer, whose Laffite researches and articles are almost uniformly unreliable, concluded that Laffite asked Patterson to take Barataria since it had become an unmanageable liability thanks to the number of mulattoes who came with the Haitian refugees. Galveston, Daily News, September 19, 1926.
39. Cross-examination of John Oliver, December 8, 1814, Patterson and Ross vs. Certain Good Vessels Seized at Barataria, Case #0734, NAFW.
40. Jean Laffite to Madison, December 27, 1815, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
41. Cross-examination of John Oliver, n.d., United States vs. Jean Laffite, Case #0573, Parsons Collection, CAHUT.
42. Alex St. Helme vs. Captain Jones of United States Navy, April 14, 1815, Case #0801, NAFW.
43. New Orleans, Times-Picayune, August 22, 1937.
44. Cross-examination of John Oliver, n.d., United States vs. Jean Laffite, Case #0573, Parsons Collection, CAHUT; Cross-examination of John Oliver, December 8, 1814, Patterson and Ross vs. Certain Goods Seized at Barataria, Case #0734, NAFW.
45. Sea protest of Lorenzo Oliver, September 28, 1814, Notary John Lynd, Vol. 11, item 399, NONA.
46. Cross-examination of John Oliver, December 8, 1814, Patterson and Ross vs. Certain Goods Seized at Barataria, Case #0734, NAFW.
47. Latour, Memoir, p. 23; Manuscript of Historical Memoir, Latour Papers, HNOC.
48. Patterson to Jones, October 10, 1814, M-147, RG 45, NA.
49. Sea protest of Joseph Martinot, September 29, 1814, Notary John Lynd, Vol. 11, item 401, NONA; Statement of Joseph Martinot, Patterson, Ross et al. vs. Certain Bank Notes, Case #0754, NAFW.
50. Testimony of Edward Williams, December 3, 1814, Patterson and Ross vs. Certain Goods Seized at Barataria, Case #0734, NAFW.
51. Ross to Monroe, October 3, 1814, RG 107, NA.
52. Patterson to Jones, October 10, 1814, M-146, RG 45, NA.
53. Sea Protest, September 29, 1814, Notary John Lynd, Vol. 11, item 401, NONA.
54. Statement of Joseph Martinot, November 9, 1814, Patterson, Ross et al. vs. Certain Bank Notes, Case #0754; Alex St. Helme vs. Captain Thomas Jones, April 14, 1815, Case #0801, NAFW.
55. Patterson to Jones, October 10, 1814, M-147, 45, NA.
56. Ross to Monroe, October 3, 1814, RG 107, NA.
57. Cross-examination of Edward Williams, December 3, 1814, Libel, October 14, 1814, Patterson and Ross vs. Certain Vessels, Goods and Merchandise, Case #0734, NAFW; United States vs. Certain Goods on Board the Bolivar, Case #0746, Parsons Collection, CAHUT; List of Vessels reported at the custom house as having been captured at Barataria, Entry 1627, RG 36, NA.
58. Libel, October 22, 1814, United States vs. Certain Goods Taken at Barataria, Case #0746; Deposition, Novemb
er 25, 1814, William Lawrence, Daniel Patterson et al. vs. Seventy Four Pipes of Wine, etc., Case #0762, NAFW.
59. Petition of Jean Laffite, July 28, 1815, Daniel Patterson vs. 163 Barrels of Flour and Other Articles, Case #0753, Parsons Collection, CAHUT.
60. Goods found onshore at Barataria, Statement of duties in the Above, 1816, Entry 1627, RG 36, NA.
61. Deposition of Daniel Patterson, November 5, 1814, Daniel T. Patterson and George Ross et al. vs. Certain Gold Coin, Case #0750, NAFW.
62. Seizure order, November 10, 1814, Patterson and Ross et al. vs. 16 Plates of bullion &c, Case #0753, NAFW.
63. François-Xavier Martin, The History of Louisiana from the Earliest Period (New Orleans, 1827), II, p. 339.
64. Statement, June 23, 1815, Patterson and Ross vs. Certain Goods Seized at Barataria, Case #0746, NAFW.
65. Bollaert, "Lafitte," p. 438; Faye, "Great Stroke," p. 752.
66. Deposition of Patterson, n.d., letter of marque, December 20, 1813, Daniel Patterson vs. the General Bolivar, Case #0760, NAFW; Patterson to Jones, October 10, 1814, M-147, RG 45, NA.
67. Protest of Joseph Carpentier, October 1, 1814, Notary John Lynd, Vol. 11, item 404, NONA.
68. United States vs. Certain Goods on Board the Bolivar, Case #0746, Parsons Collection, CAHUT; Statement of sale, July 12, 1815, United States vs. the Proceeds of the Sale of the Schooner General Bolivar, Case #0837, NAFW.
69. Patterson to Jones, October 10, 1814, M-147, RG 45, NA; New Orleans, Times-Picayune, August 22, 1937.
70. Deposition of Patterson, November 5, 1814, Daniel Patterson, George Ross et al. vs. Certain Gold Coin, Case #0750, NAFW.
71. Kingston, Jamaica, Gazette, September 24, 1814.
72. New Orleans, Louisiana Courier; September 26, 1814.
73. New Orleans, Louisiana Gazette and New-Orleans Advertiser, September 20, 1814.
74. An assessment with which Robert Vogel, "Jean Laffite, the Baratarians, and the Battle of New Orleans: A Reappraisal," Louisiana History, XLI (Summer 2000), p. 265, agrees.
75. Charles Havens Hunt, Life of Edward Livingston (New York, 1864), p. 203, argues that it was learning of the Laffite correspondence that led Livingston to call the meeting, but offers no evidence.
76. While there are several secondary assertions that the Laffite correspondence was discussed at the meeting, and even that it was the principal reason for the gathering, no contemporary source gives a full account of the topics discussed or decisions taken.
77. William B. Hatcher, Edward Livingston, Jefferson Republican and Jacksonian Democrat (Baton Rouge, LA, 1940), pp. 203–4.
78. Committee of Public Safety to Jackson, September 18, 1814, Bassett, Correspondence, II, p. 52.
79. Claiborne to Jackson, September 19, 1814, Ibid., pp. 54–55.
80. Claiborne to Jackson, September 20, 1814, Ibid., p. 56.
81. Patterson to Jones, November 18, 1814, M147, RG 45, NA.
82. Morphy to Apodaca, September 19, 1814, Legajo 1836, AGI-Newberry.
83. New Orleans, Louisiana Gazette and New-Orleans Advertiser, September 24, 1814.
84. While no contemporary source specifically attests that Livingston championed the idea of enlisting the Baratarians in the committee meetings, Jean Laffite's October 4, 1814, letter to Livingston, cited below, indicates as much.
85. An article in the New Orleans, Times-Picayune, January 14, 1918, asserted without authority that Livingston became the Laffites' lawyer in 1811, which is insupportable. There is no evidence of him handling legal business for them prior to 1815.
86. Hunt, Livingston, pp. 124–25.
87. Jean Laffite to Madison, December 27, 1815, Madison Papers, Library of Congress. There were two LaBranche plantations on the German Coast at this time, both on the left or east bank, according to the 1810 census for St. Charles Parish, pp. 6–7. Their relative place on the list of inhabitants suggests that they were located between modern-day Destrehan and St. Rose.
88. Jean Laffite to Livingston, October 4, 1814, Edward Livingston Papers, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
89. Deposition of John Randolph, October xi, 1814, United States vs. Manuel Joachim, Case #0773; Presentment, October 19, 1814, United States vs. Henri St. Géme, Case #0786; Presentment, October 27, 1814, United States vs. Alexander St. Helme, Case #0781; Presentment, October 27, 1814, United States vs. Jacques Cannon, Case #0777; Presentment, October 27, 1814, United States vs. René Roland, Case #0778; Presentment, October 29, 1814, United States vs. William Fleming, Case #0780, NAFW.
90. Presentment October 24, 1814, United States vs. Benjamin Lafond [sic], United States vs. Benjamin Lafond, Case #0775; Presentment, October 24, 1814, United States vs. Alexander Bonnival, Case #0785, NAFW.
91. Presentment of Dominique Youx, October 24, 1814, Deposition of Bertrande Priella, October 7, 1814, Deposition of William Godfrey, n.d., Deposition of Antonio Paras, October 7, 1814, Deposition of Andrew Whiteman, October 7, 1814, Deposition of Joseph Siranc, October 7, 1814, United States vs. Dominique alias Frederique Youx, Case #0779, NAFW.
92. Martin, History of Louisiana, p. 367; Claim of José Garcia y Posséda, October 22, 1814, United States vs. Certain Goods Taken at Barataria, Case #0746, NAFW.
93. United States vs. José Toledo, Case #0787, NAFW.
94. In 1830 François Barbé-Marbois, without stating his authority, claimed that Jean Laffite wrote directly to Claiborne from hiding and "sent him the originals of the correspondence with the British officers." That is a clear confusion with the Blanque episode, but then Barbé-Marbois went on to say that Laffite "proposed, at the same time, to surrender himself." It is a possibility, of course, but nothing else supports this statement. François Barbé-Marbois, The History of Louisiana, Particularly of the Cession of That Colony to the United States of America; With an Introductory Essay on the Constitution and Government of the United States (Philadelphia, 1830), p. 384.
95. Claiborne to James Monroe, October 24, 1814, Rowland, Letter Books, VI, p. 291.
96. Latour, Memoir, pp. 16–17.
97. Thomas ap Catesby Jones to Patterson, November 11, 1814, M147, RG 45, NA.
98. Patterson to Jones, October 14, November 18, 1814, Ibid.
99. Thomas ap Catesby Jones to Patterson, November 11, 1814, Ibid.
100. "Memoirs of Mrs. Martha Martin," typescript in Melrose Collection, Bound Vol. 41, NSUL. This is admittedly an interpretation of this source. In the memoir, written some years later, Martin appears to be writing about Jean Laffite, yet it is clear that in dealing with 1814 she is talking about Pierre, for she mentions his capture and escape and the reward offered for him. She also says that she met "Lafitte" at Brashear City when she passed through it, and then again below Donaldsonville, but she would not meet the same man at two places when she was herself traveling. Given that Jean was apparently communicating with Livingston in New Orleans, it would make more sense that it was he whom she met on the Lafourche, and Pierre whom she met at the inn at Brashear City. Her husband was Thomas Martin of Nashville, who made frequent slave deals in the Point Coupée vicinity. Sale May 2, 1817, February 13, 1819, Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy, 1718–1820 (Slave) site.
101. Brown to Monroe, Oct. 1, 1814, James Monroe Papers, Library of Congress.
102. Patterson to Jones, October 10, 1814, M147, RG 45, NA.
103. New Orleans, Louisiana Gazette and New-Orleans Advertiser, October 11, 1814.
104. Proclamation, September 21, 1814, Bassett, Correspondence, II, pp. 57–59.
105. Jackson to Claiborne, September 30, 1814, Ibid., p. 63.
106. Claiborne to Andrew Jackson, October 28, 1814, Rowland, Letter Books, VI, pp. 296–97.
107. Jackson to Livingston, October 23, 1814, Bassett, Correspondence, II, p. 81.
108. Livingston to Madison, October 24, 1814, Madison Papers, Library of Congress.
109. Claiborne to Richard Rush, October 30, 1814, Gayarré, Pirate-Patriots, pp. 66–69.
110. New Orleans, L
ouisiana Gazette and New-Orleans Advertiser, October 20, 1814.
111. Baltimore, Nile's Weekly Register, VII, November 5, 1814, pp. 134–35.
112. Marigny, Reflections, pp. 65–66. Marigny is virtually the only knowledgeable eyewitness source for the actions of himself, Villeré, and Hall in this episode. Unfortunately, he wrote his recollections in 1848, thirty-three years after the fact, and somewhat confuses chronology and clouds his meaning. For instance, Marigny has Judge Hall telling him to "present at once a resolution in the Legislature demanding that the procedures against these men be suspended for four months and I will immediately give my orders to the District Attorney of the United States." This has commonly been interpreted to mean that Hall wanted the legislature to pass a resolution halting the piracy proceedings. However, the legislature had no authority over the federal court, and its December 18 action in fact dealt only with civil suits. It was Hall's recess of the federal court that stopped federal proceedings, along with Grymes's consent no doubt, though no documentation survives of any order at the time from Grymes or any specific statement from the court about quashing prosecutions.
113. Resolution of the Louisiana Legislature Concerning the Baratarians, December 14, 1814, Bassett, Correspondence, II, p. 114.
114. Recess order, December 15, 1814, Minutes, III, p. 413, RG 21, NA.
115. Note by Jackson on Monroe to Jackson, December xo, 1814, Bassett, Correspondence, II, p. 110, Jackson to James Monroe, February 18, 1815, p. 174.
116. Jackson to Samuel L. Southard, March 6, 1827, Ibid., Ill, p. 347. There are several versions of the Laffite offer to Jackson, the most bizarre being the assertion that Laffite asked Jackson to surround his establishment at Barataria—which no longer existed—with forces so overwhelming that the smugglers would not dare resist. Then they would surrender and be in place to serve in Jackson's army. New Orleans, Times-Picayune, August 20, 1871.