The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf
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Jean and Pierre Laffite's lives were intertwined with the most colorful period in New Orleans' history, the era from just after the Louisiana Purchase through the War of 1812. Labeled as corsairs and buccaneers for methods that bordered on piracy, the brothers ran a privateering cooperative that provided contraband goods to a hungry market and made life hell for Spanish merchants on the Gulf. Later they became important members of a syndicate in New Orleans that included lawyers, bankers, merchants, and corrupt U.S. officials. But this allegiance didn't stop them from becoming paid Spanish spies, handing over information about the syndicate's plans and selling out their own associates. In 1820 the Laffites disappeared into the fog of history from which they had emerged, but not before becoming folk heroes in French Louisiana and making their names synonymous with piracy and intrigue on the Gulf. The Washington Post - Matthew Price Davis strips away the distorting layers of romance that have enveloped the Laffite name, but he is a sympathetic biographer. "Solicitous of life, loyal to friends, and operating according to ethical values that often seemed out of place amid a thicket of thieves," the brothers are portrayed as decent, loving family men, not bloodthirsty buccaneers. Rather, argues Davis, they were daring entrepreneurs who supplied a market hungry for goods not available through conventional channels.
Preface: A Corsair's Namexi1Vintage Bordeaux 1770-180312New Men in a New World 1803-180683Brothers United 1806-1809254Brothers in Business 1809-1811445Dawn of the Corsairs 1810-1811656Origins of the Laffite Fleet 1811-1813837Lords of Barataria 1813-18141078The Rise of the Filibusters 18141339Patriots for a Price 181415410The End of Barataria 181418111The Fight for New Orleans 1814-181521112Spies for Spain 1815-181623213A Career of Betrayals 1815-181625914Distant Horizons 181628115The Birth of Galveston 1816-181730716A Season of Treachery 181732617Deadly Friends 1817-181834918Winds of Change 181836719The Dying Dream 181939320Farewell to Galveston 182041921The Last Voyage 1820-182344522The Legend of the Laffites466Acknowledgments487Notes491Bibliography649Index679
