Pierre Lafitte
| Pierre Lafitte | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1770 Possibly France or Saint-Domingue |
| Died | 1821 Dzilam de Bravo, Yucatán, Mexico |
| Piratical career | |
| Type | Privateer, blacksmith, spy |
| Rank | Captain |
| Base of operations | New Orleans |
| Battles/wars |
War of 1812 Battle of New Orleans |
Pierre Lafitte (1770–1821) was a privateer in the Gulf of Mexico and smuggler in the early 19th century. He also ran a blacksmith shop in New Orleans, his legitimate business. Pierre was the historically less-well-known older brother of Jean Lafitte. While not as much of a sailor as his brother, he was the public face of the Lafitte operation, and was known for his wit and charm, in addition to his handling of the sale of smuggled goods.
Pierre Lafitte also spied for Spain and commanded artillery units. He died in 1821 near Dzilam de Bravo in the Yucatán Peninsula.
Details of Pierre Lafitte's early life are scarce and often disputed. His brother Jean gave contradictory information about his birthplace, including the two French cities of St. Malo and Brest. However, as Jean 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." Further contemporary accounts claim that Jean Lafitte was born in Orduna, Spain, or even Westchester, New York. Ramsay speculates that Lafitte was actually born in the French Caribbean colony Saint-Domingue (now Haiti).
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. According to Ramsay, Lafitte, his younger brother Jean, and their widowed mother sailed from Saint-Domingue to New Orleans, Louisiana (New Spain) in the 1780s. 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.
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