Balidar

Antoine-Joseph Preira (born 1782, Portugal), also known under the nom de guerre of Balidar, was of Portuguese origin but operated in the English Channel as a privateer under the French flag during the Napoleonic Wars.

Career

At eight, Preira started a nautical career as an apprentice.''Histoires extraordinaires de l'île de Batz''
Guy Boucher

Preira enrolled on a privateer near Saint-Pol-de-Léon a region that harboured a number of Portuguese sailors. He served aboard the 14-gun privateer lugger ''Réciprocité'', under Captain Vincent Pouchain, before gaining his own command.

Captain of ''Point du Jour''

In June 1808, Balidar took command of ''Point du Jour'', a lugger-rigged barge with a 34-man crew, armed with a 2-pounder gun and two swivel guns. He notably captured the merchantman ''Goodrick'' (), which he brought to Saint-Malo. ''Lloyd's List'' reported on 22 July 1808 that ''Goodrich'', Nicolle, master, had been taken by a privateer while sailing from Guernsey to Gibraltar, but that some of her crew had been able to return Guernsey. A report a month later stated that ''Goodrich'' had been taken into Roscoff.

Captain of ''Embuscade''

In September 1808, Balidar took command of , a brand new ship with an 89 to 100-man crew. Balidar captained her in two cruises, funded by the shipowner Quenouille the Elder. On 30 December, ''Embuscade'' encountered a British 16-gun naval lugger, and battled her until Balidar made an aborted attempt at boarding; the two ships then disengaged, and ''Embuscade'' returned to port having lost 15 men killed and 22 seriously wounded. Her opponent was almost certainly the hired armed lugger ''Sandwich'' under the command of Lieutenant Atkins. ''Sandwich'' suffered one man killed and seven wounded (two dangerously).

On 17 March 1809 ''Lloyd's List'' reported that ''Embuscade'' had captured after an action lasting an hour and a half. ''Vanguard'' had been sailing from Trinidad to London, and ''Embuscade'' took her into Dieppe. Earlier, ''Vanguard'' had been able to capture a French privateer and to repel attacks by two others.

On 21 May, ''Embuscade'' departed La Hougue to patrol off England; two days later, she returned, bringing with her the brig ''Favourite'', Captain Pike, master, from Yarmouth, as his prize.

Captain of ''Pourvoyeur''

On 25 June 1809, Balidar had a daughter with his lover Aimable Rose Démarigny. At the time, he was listed as captain of ''Pourvoyeur'', a captured privateer lugger from Jersey, of 40 men and eight guns.

In September 1809 the French privateer ''Pourvoyeur'', of Dieppe, captured the cutter ''John Bull'' and carried her into that port. Apparently ''John Bull'' and ''Pourvoyeur'' exchanged fire, and then the French boarded ''John Bull'' and took her in hand-to-hand combat. The French reported having lost one man killed; British casualties were 14.''Journal de Paris'' (7 December 1809), p.1031.

Balidar sold his four prizes from his 20-day cruise, including ''John Bull'', in Dieppe. The other three prizes were: ''Little Arthur'', ''Exchange'' (of Wells), and ''Suckey''. He grossed 447,862 francs.

Captain of ''Indomptable''

On 18 July 1810, Balidar married Aimable Rose Démarigny. At the time, Balidar is listed as captain of ''Indomptable'', a ship with 120 to 120 men and 18 guns,Demerliac, n^o 1862, p. 252. formerly the Revenue Cutter ''Swan'', out of Cowes.

On 1 October 1810, ''Indomptable'' encountered a British convoy off The Lizard in thick fog, and captured the merchantman ''Roden''; Balidar released her master and crew, who proceeded to warn the escorting frigate . When the fog lifted, ''Indomptable'' found herself a short distance away from ''Owen-Glendower'' and ''Persian''; a short cannonade wounded several of the crew of ''Indomptable'', and she struck. ''Owen-Glendower'' also retook ''Roden''.

Brought to England, Balidar was kept on a prison pontoon until 1811, when he escaped and returned to France.

From 1812, he served with Surcouf. After Alexandrine Rose, born in 1809, Balidar and Démarigny had a son.

Balidar and was again captured by the British, and was released in 1814.

Later life

In 1815, Balidar fought with custom officers, beating them and stealing their weapons. Sentenced to 10 years of prison, Balidar fled, probably to Central America, where he might have taken part in the Mexican War of Independence.

Legacy

A small house on Ile de Batz, formerly a custom guardhouse, is now known as the Privateer's House (''Maison du Corsaire''), because it was used by Balidar to post sentries and warn him of incoming British shipping entering the Channel, that he could intercept.

Notes and references

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Balidar
People of the Quasi-War
French privateers
French Navy officers from Saint-Malo