Jean Lafitte

Jean Lafitte: American patriot and pirate. Lafitte was a pirate in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He established his own "kingdom" of Barataria in the swamps and bayous near New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. He claimed to command more than 1000 men and provided them as troops for the Battle of New Orleans (1815).

He is a great romantic figure, subject of numerous films and even of a poem by Byron:

He left a corsair's name to other times,

Linked one virtue to a thousand crimes.

External link

• Jean Lafitte: Gentleman Pirate of New Orleans (http://www.crimelibrary.com/americana/lafitte/main.htm)