William C. Davis

From just after the Louisiana Purchase through the War of 1812, privateers Jean and Pierre Laffite made life hell for Spanish merchants on the Gulf. Pirates to the U.S. Navy officers who chased them, heroes to the New Orleanians who shopped for contraban

The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf

The Pirates Laffite

Traces the lives of cooperative privateers Jean and Pierre Laffite, describing their trade in contraband goods, their rivalry with Spanish merchants, their key membership in a corrupt New Orleans syndicate, and their work as paid spies.

Wynn Netherland

This isn't the book I thought I was getting. I expected to learn more about the famous pirates I had heard about in eighth grade Louisiana History class, especially their involvement in the Battle of New Orleans. Instead, it's a detailed history of America's southern and westward expansion along the Gulf coast and the new nation's dance with Spain and her former colonies. 

Jean and Pierre aren't the subjects of the story as much as they are lenses though which we observe the political climate of New Orleans, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Mexico, South America in the early 19th century. Though minutiae and endless shipping manifests obscure much of the storytelling, by the end I came away with a better idea of how New Orleans came to be the unique Southern city that it is.

The Pirates Laffite The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf

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