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Trailblazers: Virtual Tours
History's Hinge - 'Ain Jalut

[Solomon]

Name       Nationality             Active

Parker, William British - English
Newport, Christopher British - English
Middleton, David British - English
Elfrith, Daniel British - English
Ruyters, Dierick Dutch
Butler, Nathaniel British - English
Le Grand, Pierre French 1620
Schouten, Pirter Dutch
Jol, Cornelis Corneliszoon Dutch
Lucifer, Hendrick Jacobszoon Dutch 1627
Loncq, Hendrick Corneliszoon Dutch
Camock, Sussex British - English
Hoorn, Jan Janszoon van Dutch
Axe, Samuel British - English
Neckere, Jonathan de Dutch 1631
Rous, William British - English
Blauvelt (Blewfield), Abraham Dutch
Bull, Dixey British - English 1632
Jackson, William British - English
Le Vasseur, Jean French
Cromwell, Thomas British - English
L'Olonnais, Fran?ois (Jean David Nau) French
Brasiliano, Roche Dutch
Portugues, Bartholomew Portuguese 1655
De L'Isle, Captain French
Fran?ois, Pierre French 1660
Lucas, John Dutch 1663
Freeman, Captain British - English
Jackman, Captain British - English
Marteen, David Dutch
Mansfield (Mansvelt), Edward Dutch
Speirdyke, Bernard Claesen Dutch
Morris, John (1) British - English
Morgan, Sir Henry British - English
Morgan, Edward British - English
Williams, Maurice British - English
Bamfield, John British - English 1665
Davis, John British - English 1665
Hatsell, Captain British - English 1665
Bradley, Joseph British - English
Stedman, Captain British - English 1666
Le Basque, Michel French 1667
Wijn (Klijn), Moise van Dutch 1668
Doglar, Jean French 1668
La Veven (La Vivion), Captain French 1668
Le Picard, Pierre French 1668
Dobson, Richard British - English
Bran (Brand), Captain British - English
Brewster, Adam British - English
Dempster, Edward British - English
Pennant, Jeffery British - English
Morris, John (2) British - English
Collier, Edward British - English
Aylett, Captain British - English 1669
Salter, Thomas British - English 1669
Rivero Pardal, Manoel Portuguese
Prince, Lawrence Dutch 1670
Delander, Robert British - English
Norman, Richard British - English
Grillo, Diego ("El Mulato") African-Spanish
Harris, Peter British - English
Swan, Charles British - English
Lessone, Captain French
Deane, John British - English
Wright, Captain British - English
Coxon, John British - English
Dampier, William British - English
Barnes, Captain British - English 1677
Browne, James British - Scottish 1677
Lagarde, Captain French 1677
Bournano, Captain French
Grammont, Michel De French
Allison, Robert British - English
Essex, Cornelius British - English
Sawkins, Richard British - English
Cook (Cooke), Edmund British - English?
Ringrose, Basil British - English
Mackett (Maggot), Thomas British - English 1680
Kelly, James British - English
Wafer, Lionel British - English
Watling, John British - English
Pain, Thomas British - English
Rose, Jean French
Davis, Edward British - English
Sharp, Bartholomew British - English
Cook, John British - English
Archembeau (Archembo), Captain French 1681
Everson, Jacob Dutch 1681-?
Tristian, Captain French
van Horn, Nicholas Dutch
Yanky, Captain Dutch
Le Pain, Peter French 1682
Hamlin, Jean French
Graff, Laurens De Dutch
Duchesne, Captain French 1683
La Sage, Captain French
Desmarais, Captain French 1685
Lescuyer, Captain French 1685
Le Picard, Captain French
Kidd, William British - Scottish
Ansell, John British - English 1689
Clarke, Thomas British - English 1689
May (Mues, Mace, Maze, Mason), William British - English
Misson, Captain British - English
Burgess, Samuel British - English?
McCarthy, Dennis British - Irish
Culliford, Robert British - English
Every, Henry ('Long Ben') British - English
Tew, Thomas British - English
Blanc, Captain French 1697
Blout, Captain French 1697
Cottuy, Captain French 1697
Macary, Captain French 1697
Pays, Captain French 1697
Pierre, Captain French 1697
Sales, Captain French 1697
Lewis, Captain British - English?
Howard, Thomas British - English
Daniel, Captain French
Martel, John British - English
Quelch, John American 1703
Rogers, Woodes British - English
Rounsivil, George British - English
Jennings, Henry British - English
Hornigold, Benjamin British - English
Williams, Paul British - English
Winter, Christopher British - English
Cunningham, William British - English
Teach, Edward ('Blackbeard') British - English
Vane, Charles British - English
La Bouche, Olivier French
Bellamy, Samuel British - English 1717
England, Edward British - English
Bonnet, Stede British - English
Cocklyn, Thomas British - English
Bellamy, Charles British - English
Bunce, Phineas British - English 1718
Hands, Israel British - English 1718
Herriot, David British - English 1718
Lewis, William British - English 1718
Pell, Ignatius British - English 1718
Yeats, Captain British - English 1718
Auger, John British - English 1718
Kennedy, Walter British - English
Davis, Howell British - English
Bonney, Anne British - English
Condent (Congdon, Conden), Edmund British - English
Rackham, John ('Calico Jack') British - English
Reade, Mary British - English
Anstis, Thomas British - English
Archer, John Rose British - English
Roberts, Bartholomew British - English
Skyrme, James British - English
Walden, John British - English
Fenn, John British - English
Lowther, George British - English
Low, Edward British - English
Phillips, John British - English
Spriggs, Francis British - English
Evans, John British - English 1722
Harris, Charles British - English
Phillips, William British - English
Gow, John (John Smith) British - English
Fly, William British - English 1726
Cofresi, Roberto - Puerto Rican 1816 - 24

[Diving Doc]

Well I must say you got a fair gathering of scoundrels, mostly from the Golden Age of Piracy. This should prove interesting. Did you know that the first French Corsair raided the Spanish in the New World in 1537?
Cheers,
Doc

[Solomon]

The list is just to kick off the broader approach, where we can have threads on each of the major players. There are also their ships and crews, their haunts, their prizes, pirate havens, and of course, the archaeology and salvage operations. Even all those fake maps

Solomon

[Bobadilla]

Hello Solomon,

I congratulate you, Solomon! Excellent list of pirates.  May I add one name? I could not find famous Caribbean pirate Roberto Cofresi, with full name Roberto Cofresi y Ramirez de Arellano in your list.   He was born in 1791 and died (he was hanged by Puerto Rico Spanish soldiers)  in 1825.  He acted as a pirate practically only for two years,  between 1823 and 1824, but it is historically confirmed that he assaulted and robbed more than 70 ships during his short carrer. If anybody would be intersted in full story about this  "Robin Hood of Caribbean", just let me know, I will put it on this forum with great pleasure. I dedicated one whole chapter to this pirate in my book that I published in Santo Domingo in 2005 ( "Hidden and Sunken Treasures in Dominican Republic ").

Best regards to all,

Lobo 

[Bart]

Welcome Lobo, glad to have you join us here. Feel free to post the story on Cofresi. Weren't some of these pirates sanctioned, or their activites winked at by certain crowns? This ought to be a great thread!

- Bart

[Solomon]

Bobadilla:
May I add one name?
Yes, Lobo, the name is now added to the list. Thank you!

Solomon

[Bobadilla]

Hello Doc and Solomon (I do not know anybody else so far....),

As I promised you before my treasure hunting trip, I post here brief biography of the famous Caribbean pirate of the 19th century, Roberto Cofresi.  Once again, sorry for my English.....

He was second son of Italian immigrant Francisco Kupferstein who fled Trieste in fear from vendetta because he comitted a murder in Italy.  The best place to hide himself he considered in Puerto Rico.  The name Kupferstein was so difficult to pronounce for Spaniards that they slowly changed his name for  "Cofresi". The full name of this 7pirate was Roberto Cofresi y Ramirez de Arellano.  On the coast of Puerto Rico and especially of  Dominican Republic this historical person had become to be main hero in dozens of legends and stories. He has been considered some kind of Caribbean Robin Hood. He shared his booty with poor fishermen and village people and thanks to that he had also perfect intelligence service from them all the time. He was active as a pirate practically only two and half years, from 1823 till 1825 when he was hanged in San Juan with 11 of his fellows. But during this time it has been historically confirmed that Cofresi attacked and plundered more than 70 ships. He hated English and Americans because when he was kid one English sailor humilated him and his father and he swore revange and therefore his main targets were ships of these nations. But unfortunately also merchant ships of that period from other countries than Spain such as Denmark, had no luck if he spotted them on high seas.

He had a habit to hide small parts of his booty - chests, small crates - with robbed jewelry, silver or gold coins, in different parts of coast of Dominican Republic. There were 27 of them he was supposed to burry his treasures according to local legends, never too far from the coast. His filosophy was, that when he needed some cash, it should be always some on hand never mind where he was. When he was cougth and put to jail in Santo Domingo in 1824, Spanish captain in charge of the prison in Ozama Fortress was so impressed to have national hero of the Hispaniola Island and island of Puerto Rico there that he let him escape three months later. (I saw co7pies of interrogation papers from his two months ' stay in prison) After his escape Roberto Cofresi dug up one of his treasures close to Santo Domingo , purchased small boat from local fishermen with golden coins from his dugged booty, set sail with fresh new crew he hired from families of local fishermen, his friends, and shortly after that assaulted bigger boat to get it as his new pirate flagship. He was finally got by US frigate in 1825, he managed to escape swimming after fiercxe battle on high seas surviving sinkink of his boat but he was finally captured on the land. Even injured from the sea fight, he was fighting like lion but there were 27 Spanish soildiers against him. Couple of days after that he was hanged.

One could say - come on, man, there are just legends about his hidden treasures. No, I am sorry, I think that you are wrong this time.
One of his favourite spots and operational base was Bay of Samana on the northern coast of actual Dominican Republic. In the small village of Sanchez  he is supposed  to have even direct descendents. Two of his fellows were from there. One of him survived because he was injured and could not be present in his final voyage and fight. Local legends say about at least seven places around Samana Bay where Cofresi burried his treasures. Cofresi was always alone when he went to the shore to hide his booty. He knew very well what temptation of money means. His fellow he stayed to live in Samana started to buy land, cosntruct houses, make business within one year after Cofresi death. He was poor fisherman before. In the beginning of 20th century two of these  treasures were discovered just by chance by local people and exactly in the same s7pot as was said in local legends. On the top of each burried booty there was always small silver medallon carved only from one site with initials R.C. It is not a legend, one owner of watch repair shop in San Pedro de Macoris, the town 70 kilometers from Santo Domingo has one of this medallons. I saw it. I would pay a fortune for that but he does not want to sell it. Two other Cofresi treasures were discovered during construction of family house on the south of the island in 1947. But there are still more than 20 places where treasures of Roberto Cofresi are still waiting to be discovered. Go and look in such places like Isla Beata, beach close to Barahona, former Puerto Juanita on the north, coastal hills and caves around the beach Cofresi (named after the pirate and his treasure supposedly burried there), between Montecristi and Luperon and in Bahia Escocesa close to Rio San Juan.  GOOD LUCK!

Best regards to all,
Lobo

[Solomon]

This is a brilliant story of dash and adventure. Even better, it is true. Another case of 'truth is stranger than fiction'.

Thanks, Lobo!

Solomon

[Sovereign]

It is sometimes the most deserving who are sometimes least famous.

Laurens de Graff was arguably the most talented and feared corsair of all time. For nearly a quarter of a century, his name (whether pronounced ?Lorencillo? or simply ?Laurens) was whispered with awe and dread whenever a strange sail approached, and was included in the prayers and petitions of many a Spanish coastal town in Mexico and elsewhere.  Far more successful than Kidd or Blackbeard, Laurens is nonetheless far less famous than either.

His life story has been as neglected as the stories of the ?buffalo soldiers? or the black cowboys of the Old West?and for much the same reason; Laurens de Graff was of African ancestry. Ironically, those writers who do recount his story invariably repeat the old romance describing him as tall, blonde, and handsome?with a spiked Spanish-style mustache, no less. It was also said ?he always carries violins and trumpets aboard with which to entertain himself and amuse others who derive pleasure from this. He is further distinguished amongst filibusters by his courtesy and good taste. Overall he has won such fame that when it is known he has arrived at some place, many come from all around to see with their own eyes whether Lorenzo is made like other men?. Another commentator noted that ?he was distinguished for his fine manners, good taste, and matchless ability as a cannonier. He liked to play the violin on shipboard to entertain himself as well as his crew and the visitors who often came to see him play?

Details of his early life are sketchy. ?The Brethren of the Coast? described him as a Fleming, but one writer said he came from Hamburg in Germany. The Moskito Indians in the Bay of Honduras called him ?Filimingo??a term denoting a Dutchman of mixed racial background. Most likely born in Holland as ?Laurens Baldran?, it is believed that he was captured and enslaved by the Spanish sometime during the 1660?s. Under the name of ?Lorenzo Jacome? he was brought to the Canary Islands where he married a woman named Petronila de Guzman. Later he was taken from her and forced aboard one of the galleys of a special Spanish naval squadron, the Armada de Barlovento, which was bound for the Caribbean to put down piracy. According to one chronicler, Laurens turned pirate himself around 1676-1677 after escaping from the inhumane conditions of the galleys ?From a small bark, he took a small ship. From this, a bigger one, and so on until at last there came into his power one of 24-28 guns which was the Tigre??a warship of the very same flotilla he had escaped from!

It was probably at about this time that he adopted the nom de guerre of ?de Graff? (or ?de Griffe? as it is sometimes spelled); ?griffe? being a French term for an individual who is of three-quarters African heritage.

It is believed that he was one of the buccaneers who joined the ill-fated fleet of Jean

By the spring of 1682, Laurens had made himself so notorious that even Sir Henry Morgan of Jamaica (as qualified a judge as ever was!) described him as ?a great and mischievous pirate?. In July of the same year, Laurens attacked a large Spanish ship off Porto Rico. Outnumbered and out-gunned, he nonetheless took the vessel after a rough fight that cost the Spanish about fifty casualties. Her captain was among the wounded, and Laurens chivalrously put him ashore with a surgeon and a servant. He could afford to be magnanimous?the prize was carrying the payrolls for the garrisons of Porto Rico and Santo Domingo, and the pirates reportedly divided 140 shares of treasure worth seven hundred pieces-of-eight each!

This exploit marked Laurens as a leader of the ?Brethren of the Coast?--a position he was to occupy for many years despite his ancestry. From a base at Roatan Island in the Bay of Honduras, this black man led over a thousand filibustiers?mostly white?in a wild raid on the large Spanish town of Vera Cruz in the spring of 1683. Although the town was unusually well-garrisoned, it succumbed after just half an hour to a pre-dawn surprise attack which was an intricate masterpiece of guile, stealth and speed?only four buccaneers were killed.

Despite four days of looting, some of the pirates were still dissatisfied with their haul. Numerous prisoners were tortured and some hotheads even threatened to blow up the cathedral where an estimated six thousand prisoners--including the governor himself who had been caught hiding in a manger--were being held. While this massacre was only narrowly averted, numerous prisoners were tortured. The Spanish nonetheless regarded ?Lorencillo? as the most humane of these buccaneers?a reputation confirmed by his famous ?duel on the sandspit?.

The filibusters and their prisoners had gone to ?Los Sacrificios??an island named for a nearby Aztec temple?to await delivery of the final consignment of the ransom money. Nicholas Van Horn, a former slave trader, was one of the most brutal and murderous of the corsairs. Growing impatient with the trickle of cash coming in, he decided that beheading a few hostages might expedite matters. Hearing of the impending massacre, Laurens hurried ashore to intercede. When Van Horn turned on him with drawn sword, Laurens won the duel with a quick slash across the brute?s wrist, and sent him back aboard his own ship in chains. Although the wound was superficial, it eventually turned gangrenous and Van Horn died.

Shortly afterward the ransoms were received, some fifteen hundred blacks and mulattos were freed from the Spanish, and the pirates weighed anchor?richer by more than a million pieces of eight from one of the most successful raids of the century! Just as they were leaving the coast, however, fourteen inward-bound Spanish warships of the annual treasure fleet confronted the pirates. Despite his advantage, the Spanish admiral lost his nerve, and Laurens? fleet calmly sailed by to make a clean getaway in what must have been one of the tensest stand-offs of all time.

After disposing of their stolen plunder on the south coast of Cuba, Laurens and some of his cronies made for the Spanish Main in the fall. When the governor of Cartagena learned of the nearby pirate flotilla, he sent out a 40-gun ship, a 34-gun ship, and a 28-gun galley?manned with over 800 soldiers and sailors?on December 23, 1683. Though greatly outnumbered, the buccaneers hurled themselves onto the Spanish warships and handily took all three at the cost of ninety Spanish lives. The survivors were then put ashore with an impudent letter from Laurens thanking the Governor for his Christmas gifts!

In mid-January 1684, still hovering near Cartagena, he received a letter from his wife, Petronila in the Canaries. Almost certainly written under compulsion, she relayed the promise of a pardon if he?d give up piracy and rejoin the service of the King of Spain. Suspecting a trap, De Graff reluctantly refused her plea and set sail northwestward to the Bay of Honduras and his old base at Roatan. While enroute, they took two more Spanish ships--one of which carried no less than forty-seven pounds of gold. His base at Roatan--including 19-gun Fort Augusta and Fort Key--was supplied by a trader operating from Port Royal named Diego Maquet?or Maqqi?possibly a member of one of the great Jamaican Sephardic trading families.

Like football scouts watching the career of a promising young quarterback, the English had been carefully watching De Graff?s exploits, and they wanted him on their team. To recruit him, they pulled out all the stops. If he would take an oath of allegiance, purchase a plantation in Jamaica (as a stake to stay honest), he would be pardoned for all offenses, naturalized as an Englishman, and his wife would even be given a safe-conduct?provided that Laurens pay all travel expenses and necessary fees. He was even promised that the English ambassador to Spain would attempt to secure a pardon for him from the king of Spain.

After his hardships as a slave, however, Laurens couldn?t give up his quest for revenge. He had learned, moreover, that war had recently broken out between Spain and France. He therefore sailed to Petit Goave on the coast of what is now Haiti to join French service?being received with ?all the honour due to a military hero?.

He spent most of 1684 attacking Spanish shipping in and around Cuba. During an interlude at the small buccaneer settlement of Cape Francois, he met the great love of his life: a Breton woman known as ?Marie-Anne Dieu le Veut? (?Marianne God-Wills-It?). The widow of another adventurer, Marie-Anne was hardly a blushing maiden. In fact, she was at least as bold and headstrong as Laurens himself, and was herself of partial African heritage.  According to an old legend, she heard he had made some remarks about her that she regarded as ?inappropriate?. With pistol in hand, she went straight to the tavern to find Laurens and demand public amends. ?The filibustier, filled with admiration for so bold a gesture, proposed he should marry her by way of apology?. He must have been persuasive for she promptly accepted. As the story goes, she wore a brace of pistols with her wedding dress.

After a suitable honeymoon, Laurens began another long and leisurely cruise along the Spanish Main and through the Gulf of Honduras. By April 1685 he was at the Isle of Pines on the south coast of Cuba where he rendezvoused with a vast assemblage of some 22 other buccaneering crews. Rum and talk flowed freely, as the freebooters swapped tales of their recent voyages, and planned their next big raid.

Most favored another strike at Vera Cruz. Laurens argued that the town would be on its guard, but his arguments were ignored and he sailed off to the ?Mosquito Coast? of Nicaragua. After the predictable failure of the expedition, the filibuster fleet rejoined De Graff, and Campeche was picked as the new target.

Security for the mission was lax, and Campeche had plenty of warning to send off most of its treasure and prepare its defenses.  On July 6 the pirate fleet of six large and four small ships, six sloops and seventeen peraguas, under joint command of Laurens and de Grammont, appeared off the coast some distance from the town. As boats with 750 buccaneers approached the beach, they were confronted by some 800 soldiers. Apparently surprised, the pirates turned back toward their ships; ostensibly unwilling to wade ashore into the muzzles of Spanish infantry. But this proved only a feint. The freebooters suddenly shifted their attack to the town itself, sidestepped the troops, and took the place by coup de main in a classic pincers move before the defenders could react.

Over the next few days, the invaders mopped up isolated resistance until only the citadel itself remained. Bombardment of this last remaining fortress began at dawn on July 12, 1685, but a relief force of Spanish troops from Merida appeared at around 10 AM. The mere arrival of such soldiers was normally enough to send most raiders scurrying off to sea, but Laurens and de Grammont were not men who were easily intimidated. By end of day, the Spanish found themselves beaten in one of the very few set-piece battles ever conducted by buccaneers.

They ravaged Campeche and the surrounding countryside for the next two months. Much of the treasure had been sent to the safety of the hinterland, however, and little plunder was found. Once again, some of the corsairs lost patience, and, by late August, began executing prisoners. Though never shy of violence, Laurens took no delight in mindless bloodshed. After receiving a heart-rending petition from leading Spanish prisoners, Laurens had a ?little talk? with de Grammont. The executions abruptly ceased and the pirates evacuated the city.

Perhaps disgusted with de Grammont?s ruthlessness, Laurens and four other captains set their own course. On September 11, a squadron of Laurens? old nemesis, the Armada de Barlovento, caught up to them near Alacran reef off the north coast of the Yucatan. One pirate vessel was quickly captured, and another pirate sloop burst into flames during the running fight. Laurens temporarily shook off pursuit, but the two largest warships caught him to leeward two days later.

Heavily out-manned and out-gunned, Laurens frantically tried to escape, but to no avail. That night he and his men grimly prepared for a battle that couldn?t possibly be won. At dawn, all three vessels began exchanging gunfire in a deadly ballet of smoke and flame. The Spanish flagship fired fourteen full broadsides and many other individual shot while the vice-admiral loosed no less than 1600 rounds. Described as one of the finest sea officers of his time, Laurens simultaneously fought both sides of his ship--a feat seldom attempted in those days--and riddled his opponents with little damage to his own vessel.

As the day wore down, so did the elderly Spanish admiral?s resolve. By dusk, his nerves were so shattered that he was given the last rites. Under cover of darkness, Laurens lightened ship by jettisoning every non-essential--even his cannon--in order to gain the wind. It worked. The Spanish found themselves to leeward at dawn. As they gamely tried to get in range of the rover, the wind came up, the flagship?s weakened superstructure slowly toppled overboard from the strain, and Laurens made good his escape as the vice-admiral remained behind to tend his crippled consort!

Using his plantation on Haiti as a base, Laurens soon resumed raids off Cuba. In December 1685 a Spanish privateer sailed into Havana with exciting news. Her captain had not only discovered Laurens? secret lair, but also the news that his ?mistress and their bastard child? were there awaiting his return from a raid. Hoping to take them as hostages, the Spanish put together an expedition and raided the place in February 1686. Although more than a hundred blacks and mulattos were captured, his wife and child somehow escaped. When Laurens returned, he was so enraged by this perfidy that he immediately launched a series of raids in the Yucatan on the towns of Tihosuco and Valladolid from his advance base at Roatan.

This was Laurens? last major invasion of Spanish territory. With the advent of peace, France brought her corsairs to heel. It was, however, by no means the last of Laurens? adventures. Switching to the relatively peaceful occupation of smuggling, he embarked on a cruise in the summer of 1686. His ship ran aground near Cartagena, however, and was wrecked beyond repair. Old habits die hard, and Laurens bore a charmed life. Capturing a Spanish vessel with his ship?s boat, he managed to save himself and his men from almost certain capture and execution.

The Spanish hated turncoats with a special passion, and a Basque mercenary squadron was specially recruited to bring Laurens down. One of its frigates encountered Laurens--and a hailstorm of cannon shot--off the south coast of Cuba in May 1687. Almost before her commander realized what was happening, he found himself outmaneuvered, hard aground, and in imminent danger of capture. When a covey of small coast guard vessels hurried to his aid, Laurens turned on them like a hawk on a flock of pigeons--sinking several of them outright with heavy loss of life.

Blas Miguel, brother of one of the slain, swore revenge. Despite the truce with the French, his ship silently glided into the harbor of Petit Goave at dawn on August 10, 1687. Blas Miguel had carefully chosen the date--St. Lawrence?s Day--in hopes of catching the old sea-wolf celebrating his patron saint?s day. But when Blas Miguel and his men stormed ashore, the French led by Laurens with sword in hand, met them at water?s edge. Those of the Spanish who survived the savage battle in the surf were captured, Blas Miguel was broken alive on the wheel as punishment for his treacherous attack, and a grateful French govenor rewarded Laurens with command of the strategic harbor of Ile-a-Vache. He, an ex-slave, was also knighted as ?Major Laurens-Cornille Baldran, Sieur de Graffe, lieutenant du roi en l?isle de Saint Domingue, captaine de fregate legere, chevalier de Saint-Louis?!

Little more than a year later, De Graff was put in command of another expedition to recover treasure from a shipwrecked Spanish galleon on the Serranilla Banks, but the project was interrupted by the outbreak of war with England and Spain in May 1689. De Cussy, French governor of Hispaniola, led an expedition of 1000 men, including many filibusters, such as de Graff, against St. Jago de los Cavalleros in the interior of the island, and burnt the place.
 
By January 1691, Laurens had been made commander of the northern shore of the French colony in Haiti. Here, his luck slowly began to desert him. He was at the disastrous battle of Sabane La Limonade where, outnumbered three-to-one by 3300 Spanish troops, the overconfident French nonetheless attacked. As many as five hundred of them, including the French governor, de Cussy, were killed, and Laurens was one of the few who managed to escape.

Together with the vigorous and talented new governor, Jean-Baptiste Ducasse, De Graff skillfully defended the island from 1691 through 1693. The English must have wished they had made Laurens a better offer back in the days when they were trying to recruit him. He soon imposed a partial blockade of Jamaica; attacking shipping, raiding isolated plantations and even capturing the island?s guard-sloop. In October 1691, he and 200 men landed on the north coast of Jamaica at Montego Bay and threatened to return and plunder that whole stretch coast--frightening the settlers so much that they sent their wives and children all the way to Port Royal for sanctuary. ?Turn-about is fair play?; the Jamaicans were thereby given a good taste of the terror that had been suffered by the Spanish as a result of buccaneer raids launched from that island.

True to his threat, Laurens returned to Jamaica in December 1691 with a small flotilla, seized eight or ten English sloops, and raided a plantation on the north shore of the island. The following summer a terrible earthquake struck Jamaica, destroying Port Royal and crippling the island?s defenses. The French took full advantage of this disaster and nearly every week hostile bands landed and plundered various points along the coast. In December 1693, the entire parish of St. David?s was looted in the course of a night-time raid by 170 of the filibusters.

But these were small affrays, intended to keep the English off balance until the French had regained enough strength to go back on the offensive. And attack they did! Assisted by Jacobite and Irish refugees from the oppressive government of William III in the British Isles, Laurens and Ducasse led a major amphibious raid of 22 vessels and 1500 men against Jamaica in June 1694. They made landings at Cow Bay and Point Morant and ravaged the whole southeastern part of the island for a month leaving behind nothing but scorched earth. They then reembarked and cruised along the southern coast. After a feint at Port Royal, they landed at Carlislie Bay and recommenced their work of plunder and destruction. Although they defeated all English mobile columns sent against them, plundered over 200 houses, destroyed fifty sugar works, and liberated over thirteen hundred blacks, Lieutenant Governor Beeston managed to concentrate his defenses behind strong entrenchments at what was left of Port Royal. The lack of heavy artillery thereby kept the French from adding a new jewel to the Sun King?s Crown.

Despite this temporary success, the French in the West Indies were seriously out-matched by their opponents; they had been decisively weakened by the disaster at Avis, and the defeat at Sabane La Limonade only served to ensure their permanent inferiority of strength in these waters.

In May 1695, a huge Anglo-Hispanic force of some 3,200 men invaded the north coast of Haiti. Prospects for a successful defense were hopeless--even with Laurens in command. Heavily out-numbered, he was forced to continually fall back in a fighting retreat. As the whole northern portion of the colony was over-run, even his wife and daughters were captured. The enemy finally withdrew of their own accord; leaving the French to exchange blame for the defeat in the ashes of their burnt-out farms and homes.

Laurens made a convenient scapegoat for the debacle, and some, remembering the old English offers, even accused him of outright treason. Relieved of command, he was shipped back to France for trial. While the subsequent court-martial completely exonerated him of blame, the war had ended by the time he returned to Santo Domingo, and so Laurens had no chance to recoup either his reputation or his fortune.

As wife of the infamous ?Lorencillo?, her Spanish captors treated Anne ?Dieu-Le-Veut? with ?the utmost severity?. It was not until the final prisoner exchange in October 1698--and then only by special insistence by French Minister of the Navy Ponchartrain himself--that she and the children were released so that they might be re-united with Laurens.

This long separation--nearly four years--may have spoiled Laurens? taste for war and piracy for he never engaged in battle again. Instead, he devoted his attention to the more peaceful pursuits of exploration and colonization. He acted as pilot and interpreter for Pierre La Moyne d?Iberville?s 1698 expedition to establish a French colony at what is now Biloxi, Mississippi, and he and his family were listed as residents there in 1700. The life of this remarkable black man ended in May 1704.
The author of this article is unknown.

[Diving Doc]

That is an absolutely superb article Sovereign!
Cheers,
Doc

[Bart]

Excellent, loved them both. It seems that much treasure may well be waiting to be found.

- Bart

[Bart]

   While expanding upon the list of Pirate and Privateers, some discrepencies have appeared. These will be explained as best as possible in the bio's of each of those who appear on the list. The list below contains names who do not already appear there, though some names may be duplicated. My goal is to provide a bio of sorts for each person labeled as Pirate or Privateer. The original list does not contain the names of the two now famous female pirates, Ann Bonney and Mary Read. I will get to their bio's in due course.

- Bart

 
Name                                                         Nationality

Anstis, Thomas                                          English pirate
Archer, John Rose                                          English pirate      
Bonnet, Stede                                                American "Gentleman" pirate         
Bonney, Anne  (Anne Cormac)                 Irish Female pirate
Barbarossa Brothers (Aruj and Khayrad'din)   Greek/Turkish pirates      
Bartolomeo (el Portugu?s)                             Portuguese pirate      
Benito de Soto                                          Portuguese pirate      
Black Caesar                                          African pirate      
Roche Brasiliano                                          Dutch pirate            
Brower, Enrique                                          Dutch pirate      
Booth George                                           English pirate
Bridge, Tobias                                          English pirate
Bowen,  Captain John                           English pirate      
Calles (Callis), Captain John                   English pirate              
Cofres?, Roberto  ( Roberto Cofres? y Ram?rez de Arellano)   Puerto Rican pirate          
Condent (Congdon, Conden), Edmund                English pirate      
Cottuy, Captain                                          French pirate      
Count Maurycy Beniowski (Baron Maurice de Benyowski)   Polish pirate      
Cunningham, William                             English pirate      
de Bouff,  Captain Jan                              Dutch pirate      
Diabolitio [Little Devil]                             Cuban pirate      
Duchesne, Captain                                          French pirate
Easton , Peter                                          English pirate   
England,    Captain Edward                               English pirate      
Essex, Cornelius                                          English pirate      
Evans, John                                          English pirate
Every (Avery), Henry                              English pirate      
Fenn, John                                          English pirate      
Fly, William                                          English pirate      
Fran?ois le Clerc - Jambe de Bois (Peg Leg or Wooden Leg)  French pirate      
Gow, John (John Smith)                             English pirate      
Greaves,     "Red Legs"                                     Scottish-Irish pirate      
Harris, Charles                                          English pirate      
Henriques the Englishman (Henry Johnson)   Irish pirate
Hornigold,  Captain Benjamin                           English pirate      
Howell Davis                                         Welsh pirate
Kelley, Captain James                             English pirate
Jackman,  Captain                              English pirate      
Lewis, Captain                                         English pirate      
Low, Edward                                         English pirate      
Lowther, George                                         English pirate
Marteen, David                                          Dutch pirate
Mings, Captain Christopher                            English pirate
Morris, Captain John                             English pirate
Nutt, John                                           English pirate
O'Malley, Grace                                         Irish pirate      
Oliver le Bouch? - La Bous or La Buse (The Buzzard) French pirate
Paine, Thomas                                         English pirate      
Phillips, John                                         English pirate      
Phillips, William                                         English pirate
Prince, Lawrence                                          Dutch pirate      
Rackham, John (Calico Jack)                            English pirate      
Reade, Mary (Read)                            English pirate      
Redbeard (Barbarossa)                           Greek/Turkish pirate      
Rivero Pardal, Manoel                            Portuguese pirate      
Roberts, Bartholomew (Black Bart)                 Welsh pirate    
Simonson, Simon - der Tantzer (the Dancer)   Dutch pirate      
Tew, Thomas                                          English pirate   
Vane, Captain Charles                                 English pirate 
Ward, John (Yussuf Rais)                           English pirate
Worley, Richard                                         English pirate

[Diving Doc]

Hey Bart,
Try this site for Famous Pirates.There are individual histories on a lot of them.
It is one of the better of several resources for pirates.
Cheers,
Doc

Name     Nationality     Active
Hawkins, Sir Richard    British - English    1582-1622
Parker, William    British - English    1587-1617
Newport, Christopher    British - English    1588-1617
Dudley, Sir Robert    British - English    1595-1603
Middleton, David    British - English    1601-15
Elfrith, Daniel    British - English    1614-37
Ruyters, Dierick    Dutch    1618-1630
Butler, Nathaniel    British - English    1619-39
Le Grand, Pierre    French    1620
Schouten, Pirter    Dutch    1624-25
Jol, Cornelis Corneliszoon    Dutch    1626-41
Lucifer, Hendrick Jacobszoon    Dutch    1627
Loncq, Hendrick Corneliszoon    Dutch    1628-30
Camock, Sussex    British - English    1628-35
Hoorn, Jan Janszoon van    Dutch    1629-33
Axe, Samuel    British - English    1629-45
Neckere, Jonathan de    Dutch    1631
Rous, William    British - English    1631-43
Blauvelt (Blewfield), Abraham    Dutch    1631-63
Bull, Dixey    British - English    1632
Jackson, William    British - English    1637-45
Le Vasseur, Jean    French    1642-52
Cromwell, Thomas    British - English    1643-45
L'Olonnais, Fran?ois (Jean David Nau)    French    1650-1668
Brasiliano, Roche    Dutch    1654-69
Portugues, Bartholomew    Portuguese    1655
De L'Isle, Captain    French    1659-61
Fran?ois, Pierre    French    1660
Whetstone, Sir Thomas    British - English    1661-67
Lucas, John    Dutch    1663
Freeman, Captain    British - English    1663-65
Jackman, Captain    British - English    1663-65
Marteen, David    Dutch    1663-65
Mansfield (Mansvelt), Edward    Dutch    1663-66
Speirdyke, Bernard Claesen    Dutch    1663-70
Morris, John (1)    British - English    1663-72
Morgan, Sir Henry    British - English    1663-88
Morgan, Edward    British - English    1664-65
Williams, Maurice    British - English    1664-66
Bamfield, John    British - English    1665
Davis, John    British - English    1665
Hatsell, Captain    British - English    1665
Bradley, Joseph    British - English    1665-71
Stedman, Captain    British - English    1666
Le Basque, Michel    French    1667
Wijn (Klijn), Moise van    Dutch    1668
Doglar, Jean    French    1668
La Veven (La Vivion), Captain    French    1668
Le Picard, Pierre    French    1668
Dobson, Richard    British - English    1668-1671
Bran (Brand), Captain    British - English    1668-69
Brewster, Adam    British - English    1668-69
Dempster, Edward    British - English    1668-69
Pennant, Jeffery    British - English    1668-69
Morris, John (2)    British - English    1668-70
Collier, Edward    British - English    1668-72
Aylett, Captain    British - English    1669
Salter, Thomas    British - English    1669
Rivero Pardal, Manoel    Portuguese    1669-70
Prince, Lawrence    Dutch    1670
Delander, Robert    British - English    1670-71
Norman, Richard    British - English    1670-71
Grillo, Diego ("El Mulato")    African-Spanish    1671-73
Harris, Peter    British - English    1671-81
Swan, Charles    British - English    1671-87
Lessone, Captain    French    1675-1680
Deane, John    British - English    1675-76
Wright, Captain    British - English    1675-82
Coxon, John    British - English    1676-1684
Dampier, William    British - English    1676-1715
Barnes, Captain    British - English    1677
Browne, James    British - Scottish    1677
Lagarde, Captain    French    1677
Bournano, Captain    French    1678-80
Grammont, Michel De    French    1678-86
Allison, Robert    British - English    1679-80
Essex, Cornelius    British - English    1679-80
Sawkins, Richard    British - English    1679-80
Cook (Cooke), Edmund    British - English    1679-81?
Ringrose, Basil    British - English    1679-86
Mackett (Maggot), Thomas    British - English    1680
Kelly, James    British - English    1680-1696
Wafer, Lionel    British - English    1680-1705
Watling, John    British - English    1680-81
Pain, Thomas    British - English    1680-83
Rose, Jean    French    1680-85
Davis, Edward    British - English    1680-88
Sharp, Bartholomew    British - English    1680-88
Cook, John    British - English    1680-94
Archembeau (Archembo), Captain    French    1681
Everson, Jacob    Dutch    1681-?
Tristian, Captain    French    1681-82
van Horn, Nicholas    Dutch    1681-83
Yanky, Captain    Dutch    1681-87
Le Pain, Peter    French    1682
Hamlin, Jean    French    1682-84
Graff, Laurens De    Dutch    1682-95
Duchesne, Captain    French    1683
La Sage, Captain    French    1684-87
Desmarais, Captain    French    1685
Lescuyer, Captain    French    1685
Le Picard, Captain    French    1685-88
Kidd, William    British - Scottish    1688-1701
Ansell, John    British - English    1689
Clarke, Thomas    British - English    1689
May (Mues, Mace, Maze, Mason), William    British - English    1689-99
Misson, Captain    British - English    1690-1700
Burgess, Samuel    British - English    1690-1716?
McCarthy, Dennis    British - Irish    1690-1718
Culliford, Robert    British - English    1690-98
Every, Henry ('Long Ben')    British - English    1692-95
Tew, Thomas    British - English    1692-95
Blanc, Captain    French    1697
Blout, Captain    French    1697
Cottuy, Captain    French    1697
Macary, Captain    French    1697
Pays, Captain    French    1697
Pierre, Captain    French    1697
Sales, Captain    French    1697
Lewis, Captain    British - English    1697-170?
Howard, Thomas    British - English    1698-1703
Daniel, Captain    French    1700-05
Martel, John    British - English    1702-1716
Quelch, John    American    1703
Rogers, Woodes    British - English    1705-32
Rounsivil, George    British - English    1708-18
Jennings, Henry    British - English    1715-17
Hornigold, Benjamin    British - English    1716-17
Williams, Paul    British - English    1716-17
Winter, Christopher    British - English    1716-17
Cunningham, William    British - English    1716-18
Teach, Edward ('Blackbeard')    British - English    1716-18
Vane, Charles    British - English    1716-19
La Bouche, Olivier    French    1716-21
Bellamy, Samuel    British - English    1717
England, Edward    British - English    1717-1720
Bonnet, Stede    British - English    1717-18
Cocklyn, Thomas    British - English    1717-19
Bellamy, Charles    British - English    1717-20
Bunce, Phineas    British - English    1718
Hands, Israel    British - English    1718
Herriot, David    British - English    1718
Lewis, William    British - English    1718
Pell, Ignatius    British - English    1718
Yeats, Captain    British - English    1718
Auger, John    British - English    1718
Kennedy, Walter    British - English    1718-1721
Davis, Howell    British - English    1718-19
Bonney, Anne    British - English    1718-20
Condent (Congdon, Conden), Edmund    British - English    1718-20
Rackham, John ('Calico Jack')    British - English    1718-20
Reade, Mary    British - English    1718-20
Anstis, Thomas    British - English    1718-23
Archer, John Rose    British - English    1718-24
Roberts, Bartholomew    British - English    1719-22
Skyrme, James    British - English    1720-22
Walden, John    British - English    1720-23
Fenn, John    British - English    1721-23
Lowther, George    British - English    1721-23
Low, Edward    British - English    1721-24
Phillips, John    British - English    1721-24
Spriggs, Francis    British - English    1721-25
Evans, John    British - English    1722
Harris, Charles    British - English    1722-23
Phillips, William    British - English    1723-24
Gow, John (John Smith)    British - English    1724-25
Fly, William    British - English    1726

[Bart]

Mucho gracias El Doctor, I will check that out. This isn't quite the piece of cake it appeared to be at first. 

- Bart

[Diving Doc]

Maybe not Bart,
but you will have an impressive resource when you are finished. Nearly, if not all the information is in the public domain. It might take a while but it will be a very useful tool for those interested in the real history of Pirates and Privateers. Everything I have seen is missing some element that is present on another site.
Cheers,
Doc

[Solomon]

Hey Bart,
Try this site for Famous Pirates.There are individual histories on a lot of them.
It is one of the better of several resources for pirates.
Cheers,
Doc

Doc:
If you check your list with mine at the start of this thread, you will see it is the same, with the exception of those English naval officers I took of the list earlier today. I really would like to stop the repetition of Spanish propaganda in this matter.

Solomon

[Diving Doc]

Solomon,
I didn't see a link to your attribute. Sorry if we 'crossed swords' so to speak.
The link I posted had individual portraits of many of the pirates.
Was it the exact same source or had one copied the other?
I do have more sources for pirates. Here is another link,
http://www.privateerdragons.com/pirates_famous.html
Cheers,
Doc

[roytheodd]

The list is just to kick off the broader approach, where we can have threads on each of the major players. There are also their ships and crews, their haunts, their prizes, pirate havens, and of course, the archaeology and salvage operations. Even all those fake maps

Solomon

I have a list of havens here. It's a Google Map showing their real world locations. By all means, if you know of a place I don't have listed please share with me and I'll add it.

And no list of pirates is complete without Hippolyte de Bouchard!

Once I finish this text I'll be posting it to my website in the pirate section:

Hippolyte de Bouchard, also known as Hip?lito Bouchard and California?s Pirate
August 13, 1783 ? January 4, 1843

Bouchard was born in Saint-Tropez, France on either January 15, 1780 or August 13, 1783. He took to the sea early in life by going to work for a French merchant fleet.

In the early 1800s, Argentina was in turmoil with the people revolting against Napoleonic Spain and trying to rebuff British attempts at invasion. Juan Bautista Azopardo was a French revolutionary in the region who commanded the first Argentinean Naval Squadron, fighting Spanish loyalists on the Parana and Uruguay rivers. Bouchard found himself in Argentina in 1809 and he joined Azopardo?s squadron. He later took part in the Battle of San Lornezo as part of the Mounted Grenadiers Regiment.

In recognition for his revolutionary loyalty, Bouchard was made a citizen of the United Provinces of the River Plate (the direct ancestor of the present-day Argentine Republic) in 1813. In 1815 he rejoined the Navy under the command of Admiral Guillermo Brown and in 1817 he set out to circumnavigate the globe in the name of the UPRP, naming his ship La Argentina. For his voyage he was granted a ?corsair license? which allowed him to raid and harass any ships and territories of the Spanish Empire all over the world.

In 1818 Bouchard spent time attacking the Spanish in the Philippines. With his crew much depleted from scurvy, he sailed for the Sandwich Islands (modern day Hawaii) and arrived in October. There he found the Santa Rosa, an Argentine vessel whose crew had mutinied. He purchased the ship from King Kamehameha, hired Sir Peter Corney to captain her, threw together an unwilling crew, and set sail for the Spanish territory of California.

On November 20, 1818, Bouchard?s vessels arrived in Monterey, California. They arrived near dark and Bouchard kept La Argentina in the middle of the bay, while the Santa Rosa was sent to anchor in the harbor. Corney was in shouting distance of the land, but rather than identify himself he instead shouted that he?d identify himself the next morning. Governor Pablo Vincente de Sola sent the women, children and livestock into the protection of the missions San Antonio and Soledad.

Bouchard had arrived with two warships (his own having forty guns) and approximately 400 men. The Spanish defense was spread thin as half its soldiers were away protecting other missions, and its gun batteries were poorly placed. Nevertheless, they had forty soldiers for their immediate defense along with El Castillo. El Castillo was a gun emplacement located on a hill west of the harbor. It was armed with ten cannons and adequate shot, but its location made it ?a miserable battery? and the cannons there could scarcely hit the top of the Santa Rosa?s masts. The Spanish had one more defensive asset: having had warning of the pirates? arrival a temporary gun battery was built along the beach where it commanded the anchorage.

As the sun rose the next morning, Corney opened fire on the principal homes of Monterey, most likely to support a landing party. However, before he could wreak any real havoc the gun battery hidden on the beach started to return fire and effectively trapped the Santa Rosa in the harbor. If the vessel moved further from the harbor then El Castillo could target it, but if it stayed where it was it was under the guns of the hidden battery. The Santa Rosa had sustained considerable damage near the waterline. Knowing checkmate when faced with it, Corney surrendered. Monterey quit firing. The crew moved all of the artillery to the undamaged side to raise the frigate?s damaged side out of the water. Then they manned the lifeboats. However, instead of rowing to shore under their white flag, they rowed out to La Argentina which was still out of range.

The pirates sailed about two and a half miles west and landed their men and two cannons on Point Pinos. The force marched on the town, but as they went they passed behind El Castillo and captured it. With the main defense in the hands of the pirates the governor told all remaining people to retreat to San Clemente.

Bouchard and his men plundered the capital of California, then burned it. They destroyed the cannons at El Castillo by burying their barrels and firing them into the ground. The governor ordered up reinforcements from the San Francisco and Santa Barbara presidios, but before they arrived the pirates had repaired the Santa Rosa and set sail.

Secret PvN Fact: A peculiar incident occurred after the sack of Monterey. Mission Santa Cruz heard of the pirate raid and they knew that the pirates were headed south, passed Santa Cruz. Full of panic, the priests started moving everyone to neighboring Mission Santa Clara and asked the residents there to go back and clear Mission Santa Cruz of its valuables. The residents arrived at that vacated mission and rather than saving the valuables by returning them to Santa Clara, they plundered the mission themselves. The burned some of the buildings, ruined the food and wine supply, and stole the valuables they were supposed to be saving. The pirates never landed at Mission Santa Cruz, yet the town was ransacked all the same.

In late October or early December of 1818, Bouchard and his pirates appeared off the coast of Mission Santa Barbara. From their boats the brigands could see that Ortega Ranch in Refugio Canyon was deserted. Relishing the power of their reputation, the pirates landed their men, plundered the ranch and set it on fire. As they carried the valuables back to their boats they were ambushed by Sergeant Carlos Antonio Carrillo and his men from Santa Barbara. The Spanish had tried to bottle the pirates in the canyon, but failed to hold the motley mob. Both sides took prisoners and retreated to their strongholds. The pirates set sail for their next target.

Only a day or so after their fight in Refugio Canyon, the pirate laid their eyes on Mission Santa Barbara. They sailed into the harbor in a bellicose mood. The Spanish gave a show of force by having horsemen gallop around the beach, intimidating the pirates. Seeing the strength of the garrison they?d have to fight, Bouchard raised the white flag and exchanged prisoners instead. They sailed out of Santa Barbara without attacking. The force

Secret PvN Fact: According to legend, the force at Mission Santa Barbara was a bluff. Commandant Jose de la Guerra knew the pirates were coming, so he rounded up about 150 volunteers. The men rode their horses around a very large clump of willows and as they passed out of view of the pirates they changed clothes, giving the impression that they were a much larger force. Voluntario Street in modern day Santa Barbara is named after this volunteer force.

On December 14, 1818, Bouchard brought his pirate vessels into sight of Mission San Juan Capistrano. He sent an envoy ashore to demand provisions. However, word of the pirates had traveled down the coast and the envoy was rejected and returned to his ship carrying a threat from the town. Bouchard sent 140 men and three cannons ashore to take what they needed. The Mission guards fought the pirates but lost. The pirates took what they wanted and destroyed a number of buildings including the Governor?s house, the King?s stores, and the barracks.