Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
were in fact marsh. When the British attacked on January 8, 1815—two weeks after a treaty
had been signed and the War of 1812 officially ended—Pierre was at the front. A heavy fog
came off the river, making Pierre's deep knowledge of the terrain invaluable. In the end, this
fog, along with luck, led to the rout of the British. It was the Battle of New Orleans, more
than anything, that made Andrew Jackson president. And it was President Jackson, with his
love of native trash culture, that made America modern. In this hidden, backchannel way, the
pirates of Barataria played a role in the creation of modern America. Jean and Pierre Lafitte
are black-sheep relatives everyone relied on but few acknowledge.
The pirates were pardoned for their crimes in the afterglow of victory. For a moment, it
seemed the Lafittes might settle down to a normal life, open a shop, grow fat and old, and
entertain the neighborhood kids with exotic tales of yore. What drove them away? What re-
turned them to sea? Some attribute it to a single slight, a bit of indecorum suffered at the vic-
tory ball hosted by Andrew Jackson after the war. It was in a ballroom in the French Quarter
on January 23, 1815. For Jean Lafitte, it was a kind of debut, his first affair as a legitim-
ate citizen. The room was crowded with uniformed soldiers. Lafitte approached a group of
big shots that included Governor Claiborne, General Jackson, General Coffee, and General
de Flaugeac. As Lafitte reached out a hand, de Flaugeac, seeming to notice a friend, turned
his back. Claiborne came to the rescue, pulling Lafitte into the circle and introducing him to
GeneralCoffee,whoblanchedwhenhesawthenotoriousLafitte,heldoutahandtentatively,
then, as if not knowing what to call Lafitte, said something like,
You are uh, uh, uh, uh . .
.
Jean frowned, said, “Lafitte, the pirate!” and turned and went away, never to be seen in
society again.
In the spring of 1816, when the azaleas bloomed and the wind carried the taste of hibiscus
and palm, Jean Lafitte borrowed some money, purchased a ship, and went back to the life.
Through the summer, several of the pirate's old mates, men who'd been living increasingly
settledlivesasmerchantsandbartendersintheFrenchQuarter,slippedawayfromeverything
(wives, children) that nailed them to terra firma—you wake up and the pirate is gone and the
promises were lies. From there, Lafitte's life plays out like a sea shanty in which the hero
loveseverywomanandwhipseveryman.HesailedtoPort-au-Prince,wherehetriedtorees-
tablish his pirate navy but was chased off. He went on to Gálvez-town, a gulf island off the
coast of northern Mexico. He built a kingdom that rivaled Grand Terre. His house, which
commanded the northern approaches of the island, was tall and clean in the sun. He returned
to his hammock and his buccaneer ways, and soon the island filled with rum and pirates and
the evils of the barbaric trade—Africans smuggled in chains to New Orleans. When Gálvez-
town became famous for its depravity, an American navy ship sailed into view, its crew and
biggundrivingLafitteawaylikeaflydrivenoffbythebackofahand.Outofsafehavens,he
stayed on the water, guiding a small armada on a mad dash along the Mexican coast. He lost
one ship to mutiny, was separated from another in a storm. While Jean was off on an errand,
