Pirates, Blockades and Commerce: an EXPEDITION

Thanks to funding from SEA’s 2019 Elsaesser Fellowship, my Expedition continues... Visit: www.CoastalWanderer.net  for the complete project collection. The Pirate Jean Lafitte Jean Laffite, (born 1780 France—died 1825), was a privateer and smuggler who fought heroically for the United States during the War of 1812 in defense of the city of New Orleans. Perhaps one of the most notorious pirates known to operate near Mississippi was Jean Lafitte. He personally considered himself a privateer, but he and his brother Pierre were successful smugglers targeting Spanish ships and other pirates operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Jean was of French descent, but he showed allegiance to no one nation and sailed under no one country’s flag. He provided assistance to Andrew Jackson in fending off the British during Battle of New Orleans and spied for Spain during the Mexican War of Independence.  Not known to be as violent as some of their pirate counterparts,...

Thanks to funding from SEA’s 2019 Elsaesser Fellowship, my Expedition continues... Battle of Bay St Louis and Lake Borgne,  and Moving East into Alabama and Florida Waters As I finish up the Louisiana and Mississippi portions of the project and begin to wander down east along the coast into Alabama and Florida waters I'll be taking a look at some of the highlights and events involved in this trip so far. One major location where I have staged most of my operations for Mississippi and Louisiana is Bay St Louis, Mississippi. the site of the Battle of Bay St Louis and starting point of the Battle of Lake Borgne. There are many more images to come from Fort Livingston and Sabine Pass and as they are edited and their research completed These will be posted.  While you wait for future updates please enjoy the following story. Running in close along the Mississippi Gulf Coast on my way east, I passed Cat Island.  Cat Island served as the staging point for the Briti...

Thanks to funding from SEA’s 2019 Elsaesser Fellowship, my Expedition continues... Fort Massachusetts Following the War of 1812, the United States War Department began planning for the construction of an extensive system of masonry fortifications for coastal defense. Because of Ship Island's natural deep-water harbor and its location along a shipping route, Ship Island was important to the defense of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. The island was declared a United States military reservation in 1847, and nine years later Congress authorized construction of a fort. After the annexation of Texas in 1845, a resolution was introduced by Senator Jesse Speight of Mississippi asking President Polk about the “practicability and utility of a fort or forts on Ship Island” to protect the coast (Bearss, 1984). The War Department’s Army Corp of Engineers Chief, Colonel Joseph G. Totten, was given the task to answer the Senates request. His report indicated that it was important to d...