Jean-Baptiste du Casse (2 August 1646 – 25 June 1715) was a French
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
,
admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
, and
colonial administrator
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
who served throughout the
Atlantic World
The Atlantic World comprises the interactions among the peoples and empires bordering the Atlantic Ocean rim from the beginning of the Age of Discovery to the early 19th century. Atlantic history is split between three different contexts: trans-A ...
during the 17th and 18th centuries. Likely born 2 August 1646 in
Saubusse
Saubusse (; oc, Saubuça) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Its population has increased from 616 in 1975 to 1,113 inhabitants in 2018.
The church of Saubusse was built in the 13th Century under ...
, near
Pau (
Béarn
The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...
), to a
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
family, du Casse joined the French
merchant marine and served in the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
and the
slave-trading Compagnie du Sénégal
The Compagnie du Sénégal ( French for the "Senegal Company" or, more literally, the "Company of the Senegal") was a 17th-century French chartered company that administered the territories of Saint-Louis and Gorée island as part of French ...
. Later, he joined the French Navy and took part in several victorious expeditions during the
War of the League of Augsburg
The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between Kingdom of France, France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by t ...
in the West Indies and Spanish South America. During the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
, he participated in several key naval battles, including the
Battle of Málaga and the
siege of Barcelona. For his service, he was made a knight of the
Order of the Golden Fleece
The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...
by King
Philip V Philip V may refer to:
* Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC)
* Philip V of France (1293–1322)
* Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598)
* Philip V of Spain
Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...
of Spain. In the midst of these wars, he was Governor of the colony of
Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
from 1691 to 1703. He ended his military career at the rank of
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
of the naval forces (the highest naval military rank at the time in France, equivalent of a modern
vice-admiral) and Commander of the
Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis. He died on 25 June 1715 in
Bourbon-l'Archambault
Bourbon-l'Archambault is a spa town and a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central France. It is the place of origin of the House of Bourbon.
Population
Personalities
In 1681, Louise Marie Anne de Bour ...
,
Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...
.
Origins and Family
As fixed spellings of surnames was not yet common practice in his time, du Casse's surname has a variety of different spellings. The spelling of ''du Casse'' is from his birth record, but other records show ''Ducasse'', ''Ducas'', and ''Du Casse''. His grand-nephew, Robert, who wrote a biography of Jean-Baptiste in 1876, spells both his great-uncle's and his own as ''du Casse''.
Uncertainty exists around the birth of du Casse. Though he is usually said to have been born on 2 August 1646 in
Saubusse
Saubusse (; oc, Saubuça) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Its population has increased from 616 in 1975 to 1,113 inhabitants in 2018.
The church of Saubusse was built in the 13th Century under ...
, near
Dax
Dax or DAX may refer to:
Business and organizations
* DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies
** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX
** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms
* Dax ...
(
Landes
''Landes'', or ''Lanas'' in Gascon, means moorland or heath.
''Landes'' and ''Lanas'' come from the Latin ''plānus'' meaning “‘flat, even, level, plain’”. They are therefore cognate with the English plain (and plane), the Spanish word '' ...
), the son of Bertrand Ducasse, a Bayonne ham merchant, and Marguerite de Lavigne, he was actually born in
Pau to Jacques Ducasse and Judith Remy. His father Jacques was the son of Gaillard Ducasse, a minister in the
Reformed Church of France
The Reformed Church of France (french: Église réformée de France, ERF) was the main Protestant denomination in France with a Calvinist orientation that could be traced back directly to John Calvin. In 2013, the Church merged with the Evangel ...
, which designated the family as
Huguenots
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss politica ...
. Because Huguenots were persecuted at this time in France, and their career prospects were limited, it is thought that du Casse forged his baptismal record to hide his Huguenot and ignoble background. Early biographers, including his grand-nephew and
Saint-Simon, perpetuated this error in their works.
Du Casse admitted his family's religious background in a letter to
Naval Minister Pontchartrain in 1691, and local records from Pau also support the Huguenot origins of the du Casse family. He renounced his
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
faith in 1685, however, after
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
revoked the
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...
via the
Edict of Fontainebleau
The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...
.
He married Marthe (de) Baudry (1661-1743) on 16 Mar 1686 in
Dieppe
Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France.
Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newha ...
. She came from a family closely tied to banking and colonial trade. They had one daughter, Marthe du Casse, who married Louis de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Roye (1672-1751). Her father offered a dowry of 1,200,000 livres, an incredible sum at the time. Marthe and Louis had a son,
Jean-Baptiste de La Rochefoucauld de Roye, who became a naval officer and led the ill-fated
Duc d'Anville Expedition.
Career
Africa and the Slave Trade
He went into the slave trade with the ''Compagnie de Sénégal'', sailing between Africa and the Caribbean. With the money he earned from the slave trade he bought a ship in
Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
and began a career as a privateer. He eventually sailed to France and offered half of his loot to the Crown; for this he was appointed Lieutenant in the French Navy by
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
.
War of the League of Augsburg
In 1687 he tried to conquer
Elmina
Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante people, Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem Municipal District, Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, Ghana, Centra ...
, and in June 1689 he attacked
Berbice
Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 to 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...
and
Fort Zeelandia in Surinam. He attacked
St. Christopher
Saint Christopher ( el, Ἅγιος Χριστόφορος, ''Ágios Christóphoros'') is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius (reigned 249–251) or alternatively u ...
shortly afterward alongside
Jean Fantin
Jean Fantin (fl. 1681–1689) was a French pirate active in the Caribbean and off the coast of Africa. He is best known for having his ship stolen by William Kidd and Robert Culliford.
History
The ship ''Le Trompeuse'' (The Trickster) passed thro ...
, during which Fantin's handful of English crew (led by
William Kidd
William Kidd, also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd ( – 23 May 1701), was a Scottish sea captain who was commissioned as a privateer and had experience as a pirate. He was tried and executed in London in 1701 for murder a ...
and
Robert Culliford
Robert Culliford (c. 1666 - ?, last name occasionally Collover) was a pirate from Cornwall who is best remembered for repeatedly ''checking the designs'' of Captain William Kidd.
Early career and capture
Culliford and Kidd first met as shipmates ...
) mutinied and stole Fantin's ship.
In 1691, he was appointed governor of
St Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
, and gained the respect of the buccaneers of the island. In the following months he plundered the English colonies in the vicinity, including
Port Royal
Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and co ...
which had just been struck by a devastating earthquake. In 1694, his forces were defeated at Carlisle Bay, and he withdrew to St Domingue.
[C.V. Black, ''History of Jamaica'' (London: Collins, 1975), pp. 74-5.]
In 1697, under
Baron de Pointis he successfully raided the South American city of
Cartagena de Indias
Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...
, but did not receive the promised 1/5 share of the loot. He then sailed to France, to claim his share from King
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
in person. In fact he and his men received a compensation of 1.4 Million Francs. Furthermore, he was promoted to admiral and made a knight in the
order of Saint Louis
The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis (french: Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis) is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a rewar ...
.
War of the Spanish Succession
In later years he performed and committed a number of notable acts. In 1702, he defeated
John Benbow
Vice-Admiral John Benbow (10 March 16534 November 1702) was an English officer in the Royal Navy. He joined the navy aged 25 years, seeing action against Algerian pirates before leaving and joining the merchant navy where he traded until the ...
near
Santa Marta
Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...
in what is known as the
action of August 1702
The action of August 1702 was an inconclusive naval battle that took place from 19–25 August 1702 O.S. between an English squadron under Vice-Admiral John Benbow and a French under Admiral Jean du Casse, off Cape Santa Marta on the coast of p ...
. Two years later he fought in the vanguard on the ''Intrépide'' during the
Battle of Vélez-Málaga
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
. In 1708, while in Spanish service, he commanded the
Spanish treasure fleet
The Spanish treasure fleet, or West Indies Fleet ( es, Flota de Indias, also called silver fleet or plate fleet; from the es, label=Spanish, plata meaning "silver"), was a convoy system of sea routes organized by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to ...
during its annual voyage, suffering very few losses (a rarity at the time). For this he was awarded the
Order of the Golden Fleece
The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...
, the highest Spanish award possible.
In 1714 he commanded the French fleet during the
Siege of Barcelona.
Governorship of Saint-Domingue
He was governor of Saint-Domingue from 1691 to 1703.
He died on 25 June 1715 in the town of
Bourbon-l'Archambault
Bourbon-l'Archambault is a spa town and a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central France. It is the place of origin of the House of Bourbon.
Population
Personalities
In 1681, Louise Marie Anne de Bour ...
.
In popular culture
In the video game ''
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'', Du Casse's nephew serves as one of the antagonists and the first boss. In the game, his name is Julien, and is 33 at his time of death in 1715, coincidentally the same year his uncle died as well.
This character took to sea at a young age and fought alongside his real life uncle in the War for Spanish Succession, before deserting in favor of a brief tenure as a slave trader and subsequently as a mercenary prior to the game's start. He was one of the Templars in the game, while he was accompanied by
Woodes Rogers
Woodes Rogers ( 1679 – 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain, privateer, Atlantic slave trade, slave trader and, from 1718, the first List of colonial heads of the Bahamas, Royal Governor of the Bahamas. He is known as the captain of ...
and
Laureano de Torres y Ayala
Laureano de Torres y Ayala (1645–1722), Marquis of Casa Torres and Knight of Santiago, was a Spanish military officer and royal governor of '' La Florida'' (1693–1699) and of Cuba (1708–1711 and 1713–1716). During his administration in Flor ...
.
See also
* Du Casse, Robert Emmanuel Léon, Baron
L'Amiral Du Casse, chevalier de la toison d'or (1646-1715) Paris: 1876.
* Marley, David.
Historic Cities of the Americas: An Illustrated Encyclopedia'. Vols. 1–2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005.
* Pritchard, James.
In Search of Empire: The French in the Americas, 1670-1730'. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
*
Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, Duke of. ''Mémoires complets et authentiques du duc de Saint-Simon''. Vols
4an
7 Paris: Hachette, 1856–58.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casse, Jean Baptiste Du
1646 births
1715 deaths
People from Bayonne
French Navy admirals
French privateers
French naval commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession
Knights of the Order of Saint Louis
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain
Governors of Saint-Domingue
People of Saint-Domingue
18th-century pirates
French slave traders