When was jean lafitte born

During the War of , in September , the British, attempting to gain a foothold in the lower Mississippi valley by seizing New Orleans, asked Laffite for help. Laffite, however, hoping to gain a pardon for his illegal activities and the restoration of his confiscated goods, opted instead to fight on the side of the United States. He supplied men, weapons, and his knowledge of the region, and during the battle of New Orleans on January 8, , his followers helped the forces led by Andrew Jackson to secure an overwhelming victory.

After the battle, Laffite and his brother attempted to regain the property they had lost at Barataria. Jean Laffite went to Washington and Philadelphia in the winter of —16 to lay their case before President James Madison, but in March he returned to New Orleans without success.

His brother in the meantime had pledged their services to the Spanish government. He returned from this trip in November During his absence the New Orleans plotters had broadened their plan to open a port on the Texas coast that would serve as a haven for privateers and as a base for an attack against Texas.

Louis Michel Aury , who was to play a leading role in this revised scheme, had escaped from Venezuela to Haiti, where the New Orleans plotters communicated with him early in Pierre Laffite, Antonio de Sedella, and Juan Mariano Picornell worked out a plan for the capture of Aury's establishment, in the midst of which Francisco Xavier Mina 's expedition arrived at Galveston.

Lafitte may have had as many as people working for him, including free men of color and runaway slaves. Throughout Barataria, Lafitte built warehouses to store goods and pens to hold slaves. Merchants and planters came to Barataria for auctions, which Lafitte held outside New Orleans to avoid the law. His knowledge of the swamps helped him to make quick getaways. Several times customs officials and soldiers tried to capture Lafi tte in the swamps, but they were usually captured, wounded, or killed by the Baratarians.

In , several Baratarians including both Pierre and Jean Lafitte were captured but jumped bail. In the summer of , Pierre was arrested and jailed in New Orleans, but he escaped from jail under mysterious circumstances in September. Britain and the United States declared war in June , but until , most of the fighting took place on the east coast or northern border of the United States.

Lafitte decided to warn American authorities and offered to help defend New Orleans in exchange for a pardon for his men.

His warnings were not believed at fi rst and the U. Thankful for their help with the American victory, in February President James Madison offered pardons to the Baratarians for any crimes committed against the United States. Many of the Baratarians settled in New Orleans or in the Barataria area and some of their descendants still live there today. Lafitte eventually returned to smuggling at Galveston Island in Spanish Texas until he was forced out by the U.

Navy in His exact whereabouts after that are unknown. After receiving his pardon in February, , Jean acted as a spy for the Spanish against the Mexicans as they tried to gain their independence.

He moved to Galveston Island, which he used as base of operations for spying and priacy, until his death in While Lafitte was arguably a criminal and a pirate, his business enabled many New Orleans to live comfortably and profit. That raised his status from cult hero to legend, causing a number of myths and tales to develop after his departure from Louisiana. From post-war Napoleonic intrigue to spy stories to ghost stories later in the Nineteenth Century, Jean Lafitte continues to be a colorful character.

For more information and updates about how New Orleans is addressing the Covid outbreak — including restaurants that are currently open for takeout and delivery — please visit NewOrleans. Jean Lafitte left , and his younger brother, Alexandre, ca HNOC He was born somewhere between and , but where is still a subject of debate. By Lauren Saizan. By Staff. As a valuable informant, Lafitte and his band of hundreds of subordinates received a pardon for any illegal pirating and smuggling crimes of the past and helped the Americans defeat the British at the Battle of New Orleans in His actions during the battle were praised by General and future president Andrew Jackson.

The Lafittes, however, would prove only loyal to themselves, as they were also hired as Spanish spies to collect information on American military forces. In , the Lafittes were run out of New Orleans. They next set up shop near Galveston, Texas, where they took over a huge mansion, which they heavily fortified with armor and cannons.

After one of their privateer ships attacked an American vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, they were forced to leave Galveston and burn their mansion.