The Krewe of Dominique Youx and the real “Cosair”

By William E. Males

With all the festivities recently abounding all along the Gulf Coast, including St Andrew’s and Panama City Beach’s celebrations of The Krewe of St. Andrews, the St. Andrews Mardi Gras and The Krewe of Dominique Youx, this may be a good time to look back into history at someone partially related to all these festivities. Although there is quite a bit of festive fun and games during this time with so much having to do with pirates and such, there is more than a mere grain of truth to it all. That’s why I thought it would be interesting to look back at an important contributor to our American history and the catalyst of many of the events that helped shape the culture and some things as they are along the Emerald Coast. Even though this contributor wasn’t an American, he’s still connected to The Krewe of Dominique Youx. Sadly though, in the end, he was considered by many as a man without a country.

This individual became a legend of his own time and has been called "The Buccaneer," "The King of Barataria," "The Terror of the Gulf" as well as "The Corsair." The last title refers to his preferred titled of privateer over the renegade term of pirate. Corsaire in French actually means privateer, which refers to one having received a letter of commission from the king, or a  “Lettre de Course .” This was a legal decree from the king granting a "racing commission” thereby authorizing the bearer thereof to actually chase down foreign merchant ships and confiscate their “booty.”

This Lettre de Course is also known in other countries as a Letter of Marque and Reprisal, or just Lettre de Marque in French. These were official warrants, or commissions, authorizing the holder thereof to search and seize, or destroy specified assets or personnel belongings of a foreign party deemed guilty of an offense against the assets or citizens of the issuing nation. The intention was to siege the capital and assets of an enemy nation and to utilize them for the purpose of securing the welfare of the issuing kingdom.   

These privateers, or Cosairs, were authorized to pass beyond the borders of the nation "marquee," or its own boundaries, to search, seize, or even destroy an enemy's vessel or fleet. At the time when diplomacy wasn’t as fine and polished as it often seems nowadays, this was considered a retaliatory measure short of declaration of war. These Cosairs and buccaneers gained quite a swashbuckling reputation and on occasion, due to their rough and aggressive reputation, may have exceeded the intent of the issuing authority, thus earning them the title of pirates.

But, our privateer became a bigger than life individual who won the respect and admiration of his followers, as well as many who heard the tales of his adventures and battles in the Gulf of Mexico. Here was a man who, on three separate occasions, was condemned, then exonerated and then condemned again by U.S. Presidents. His reputation earned him titles from “The Terror of the Gulf” to “The Hero of New Orleans,” as he was well known for his piracy throughout the Gulf of Mexico and was acknowledged for his heroism in the Battle of New Orleans.

This man, without his own country, was a true entrepreneur and shrewd diplomat that boasted a crew of over a thousand men. Under his command, he turned a bunch of wayward and bloodied seafarers, rovers and fishermen, and organized them into a combination of skilled buccaneers, smugglers and shrewd wholesalers. Due to the vast fortune of booty from the ships they plundered off the Caribbean Coast, and in the Atlantic, there was a constant supply of necessary provisions and black market cargo being marketed and distributed up through the Mississippi Delta. This helped to feed and clothe a part of the nation that was overlooked by its own government.  As a result, he won the both the loyalty and praise of the local rich and poor alike. From the Gulf of Mexico through the vast uncharted maze of backwaters, bayous and waterways all the way to New Orleans, his name became a legend even in his time that still echoes across the backwater marshes today.

We have all heard of the The Krewe of Dominique Youx, and for those still not aware of what or who is this Dominique Youx, it is the nickname of Fredric Alexander Lafitte.  Fredric was the eldest member of the famous Lafitte family and the first of the brothers to become a buccaneer, though they all sailed the southern seas, Caribbean Coast and in the Atlantic waters in the early 1800’s plundering vessels of those deemed to be their enemies.  He accepted a commission from Napoleon Bonaparte and served as a privateer for France during the war with Spain. Later the three Lafitte brothers moved to New Orleans, the oldest being Frederick, then Pierre and the younger, Jean Laffite.

It is the charismatic Jean Lafitte who has been the brief focus of our story and who successfully organized hundreds of rogues into a band of pirates who became the scourge of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.  Though he never became an American citizen, he invested a lot of his life’s energy into the people of the country and displayed a sense of loyalty as he never attacked an American ship. His actions showed a reverent respect the constitution of American ideals which sadly isn’t held so by many of its own citizenry today . . . or even many of its leaders unfortunately.

Maybe it’s about time for some more Corsairs and buccaneers . . .