JEAN LAFFITE
(Jean Lafitte)
He was an admitted smuggler and although called a “pirate” by some, he had always operated at a Privateer operating under official letters of Marquee. However his smuggling operation was run out of an area in Louisiana where he had about 3000 men which he called the “Kingdom of Barataria”. In the war of 1812, this letter proposed that he bring his men to fight along side of Andrew Jackson’s troops against the British who seemed overwhelmingly superior militarily. His offer was accepted and he and his men were a critical part of the American rout of the British.
Jean Lafitte (c. 1780 – c. 1875) was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time used "Lafitte". This has become the common spelling in the United States, including places named after him.
