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Jean Lafitte (ca. 1776 – ca. 1823) was a pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his elder brother, Pierre, spelled their last name Laffite, but English-language documents of the time used "Lafitte", and this is the commonly seen spelling in the United States, including for places named for him.

Lafitte is believed to have been born either in France or the French colony of Saint-Domingue. By 1805, he operated a warehouse in New Orleans to help disperse the goods smuggled by his brother Pierre Lafitte. After the United States government passed the Embargo Act of 1807, the Lafittes moved their operations to an island in Barataria Bay. By 1810, their new port was very successful; the Lafittes pursued a successful smuggling operation and also started to engage in piracy.

Though Lafitte tried to warn of a British attack, the American authorities invaded Barataria in 1814 and captured most of Lafitte's fleet. In return for a pardon, Lafitte helped General Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against the British in 1815. The Lafittes then became spies for the Spanish and moved to Galveston Island where they developed the colony there.

Lafitte continued pirating around Central American ports until he died trying to capture Spanish vessels in 1823. Speculation around his death and life continue amongst historians.

Origins

A number of details about Jean Lafitte's early life are obscure and often contradictory. In one document, Lafitte claimed to have been born in Bordeaux, France, in 1780. He and his brother Pierre alternately claimed to have been born in Bayonne, while other documents of the time place his birthplace as St. Malo or Brest. However, as Lafitte's biographer Jack C. Ramsay states, "this was a convenient time to be a native of France, a claim that provided protection from the enforcement of American law."[1] Further contemporary accounts claim that Lafitte was born in Orduna, Spain or even Westchester, New York.[1]
[edit] Saint-Domingue

Ramsay speculates that Lafitte was actually born in the French territory Saint-Domingue (now Haiti).[1] It was not uncommon in the late 18th century for the adult children of the French landowners in Saint-Domingue to resettle in the Mississippi River delta, also owned by France. Families with the surname Lafitte are mentioned in Louisiana documents dating as early as 1765.[2] According to Ramsay, Lafitte, his elder brother Pierre, and his widowed mother journeyed from Saint-Domingue to New Orleans, Louisiana, in the 1780s. In approximately 1784, his mother married Pedro Aubry, a New Orleans merchant; Jean stayed with his mother, while Pierre was raised by extended family elsewhere in Louisiana.[3]

According to Ramsay's theory, as a young man, Lafitte likely spent a great deal of time exploring the wetland and bayou country south of New Orleans. In later years, he was described as having "a more accurate knowledge of every inlet from the Gulf than any other man".[3] His elder brother became a privateer, probably operating from Saint-Domingue, which frequently issued letters of marque.[3] Lafitte likely helped his brother to disperse the merchandise. By 1805, he was thought to be running a warehouse in New Orleans and possibly a store on Royal Street.[4]
[edit] France

Biographer William C. Davis reports a different childhood for Lafitte. According to his book, Lafitte was born in or near Pauillac, France, the son of Pierre Lafitte and his second wife, Marguerite Desteil. The couple had six children, with at least three being daughters. Jean Lafitte was likely born in 1782, although he was not baptized until 1786. Pierre Lafitte also had one child, also named Pierre, from his first marriage to Marie LaGrange, who likely died in childbirth. The boys were likely given a basic education.[5]

Although acknowledging that details of Lafitte's first twenty years are sparse, Davis speculates that Lafitte spent much time at sea as a child, probably aboard ships owned by his father, a known trader.[6] Davis places Lafitte's brother Pierre in Saint-Domingue in the late 1790s and early 19th century. Due to escalating violence from the Haitian Revolution, in early 1803, Pierre boarded a refugee ship for New Orleans.[7] By 1806, several "Captain Lafitte"s operated in New Orleans; Jean Lafitte was likely one of them.[6]

Barataria

Louisiana had become a United States territory in 1804. In January 1808 the government began to enforce the Embargo Act of 1807, which barred American ships from docking at any foreign port. This was problematic for New Orleans merchants.[8] In response, the Lafitte brothers began to look for another port from which they could smuggle goods to local merchants. They established themselves on the small and sparsely populated island of Barataria, in Barataria Bay. The bay was located beyond a narrow passage between the barrier islands of Grande Terre and Grande Isle.[9] Barataria was far from the U.S. naval base and ships could easily smuggle in goods without being noticed by customs officials. After being unloaded, the merchandise would be reloaded onto pirogues or barges for transport through the bayous to New Orleans.[10]

Pierre established himself in New Orleans and served as a silent partner, looking after their interests in the city. Jean Lafitte spent the majority of his time in Barataria managing the daily hands-on business of outfitting privateers and arranging the smuggling of stolen goods. By 1810, the island had become a booming port.[11] Seamen flocked to the island, working on the docks or at the warehouses until they were chosen as crew for one of the privateers.[12]

Lafitte was unhappy with the length of time it took to get goods from the port to the merchants; navigating the swamps could take a full week. In 1812, Lafitte and his men began holding auctions at the Temple, a memorial mound halfway between Grande Terre and New Orleans.[13]

Dissatisfied with their role as primarily a broker, in October 1812 the Lafitte brothers purchased a schooner and hired a captain to sail it as a privateer.[14] The schooner did not have an official commission.[15] In January 1813 they received their first prize, a Spanish hermaphrodite brig loaded with 77 slaves. Sale of the slaves and additional cargo generated $18,000 in profits and the brothers turned the captured ship into another privateer, named Dorada. Within weeks, Dorada captured a schooner loaded with over $9,000 in goods. The captured schooner was not considered a good fit for privateering, so after unloading its cargo the Lafittes gave the ship back to its former captain and crew.[16] The Lafittes gained a reputation for treating captive crew members well, and often gave the ships back to their original crew.[17]

The brothers soon acquired a third ship, La Diligent.[18] The ship was outfitted with 12 fourteen-pounder cannons.[19] Dorada captured their fourth ship, a schooner they renamed Petit Milan. The brothers stripped down their original schooner, using its guns to outfit the new ship. They now sailed three ships, which Davis described as likely "one of the largest privately owned corsair fleets operating on the coast, and the most versatile".[20] For several months, the Lafittes would send the ships directly to New Orleans with a legal cargo and would take on outgoing provisions in the city. The crew would then create a manifest that listed not the provisions that had actually been purchased, but instead smuggled items that awaited at Barataria. Customs agents were uninterested in which goods were leaving New Orleans and rarely checked the accuracy of the manifest. The ship would then sail to the mouth of Bayou Lafourche and load the contraband goods, which they could then legally sail back to New Orleans, as those goods were listed on their manifest.[21]