Part two of a two-part series on the myths, legends, and truths of a Gulf Coast icon: Jean Lafitte.

As the Lafitte brothers Barataria operation grew more lucrative, it garnered a lot of attention from U.S. government officials in New Orleans. Subsequently, in November 1812, U.S. soldiers captured the Lafittes and several of their smugglers as part of an effort to quell privateering in the Gulf of Mexico and to put a stop to the contraband that made its way into New Orleans. 

The privateers quickly posted bond and disappeared back into the swamps and bayous of southern Louisiana. Within two years of the incident, however, Pierre Lafitte was arrested for supporting piracy, which left Jean to run the entire operation on his own.

In September 1814, officers of the British Army and Navy approached Jean Lafitte and gave him an offer to fight against the United States. 

Lafitte and his men were offered British citizenship and guaranteed land opportunities in the British colonies if they chose to join the British effort. Lafitte refused the British request. Nevertheless, his Barataria operation was attacked by an American force headed by Commodore Daniel Patterson, citing the fear that the privateers might join the British in a seaborne attack on American interests in the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite repeated efforts by Lafitte to forestall any thoughts by American officials that he and his men would entertain the British offer, they came under attack on Sept. 13, 1814. Several ships and men were captured, but Lafitte somehow managed to get away. 

As the war with the British raged on, the defense of New Orleans became the focus of American General Andrew Jackson. It was in this environment that the loyalty, if it could be called loyalty, of the Baratarian smugglers became a subject of discussion.

Louisiana Governor C.C. Claiborne, believing that the privateers could prove useful, wrote to Jackson complaining that Commodore Patterson could very well have destroyed the best chance for defense of New Orleans when he took out the Baratarian fleet and arrested the smugglers.

By mid-December 1814, Jackson met with Lafitte after examining the New Orleans defenses and finding that they were sorely lacking. Lafitte agreed to assist Jackson if his men would be pardoned by the U.S. Government. With that encouragement, many of Lafitte’s men joined the New Orleans defenders in various capacities. The most notable among those were men commanded by Renato Beluche and Dominique Youx, who manned artillery companies. Jackson formerly requested pardons for Lafitte’s men who served at New Orleans and they were granted these on Feb. 6, 1815.

Soon after the New Orleans affair, the Lafittes were back in business, operating this time out of Galveston Island, Texas. Jean and Pierre spent several years as privateers working out of Galveston, even acquiring a letter of marquee (document authorizing a private ship to work as an effective naval combatant for a nation) from Columbia giving him opportunity to legally plunder Spanish ships. He is believed to have died on his Columbian ship General Santander when it came under attack in February 1823 off the coast of Honduras. 

In the 189 years since the death of Jean Lafitte, treasure hunters have left no stone unturned in their quest for pirate treasure. To date, none of Lafitte’s supposed hidden treasure has been unearthed.

Rumors have abounded and people have believed that somewhere, possibly Baldwin County, the treasure remains to be found. Treasure or no, it is a tantalizing story made even more so by the possibility that a man like Jean Lafitte could have left some of his ill-gotten gain behind, hidden for posterity. This added bit of spice helps make the legacy of Baldwin County’s past even more enticing.