Jacques Cassard (30 September 1679 – 1740) was a French naval officer and privateer.

Biography

Born on 30 September 1679 to a family of merchants of Nantes, Cassard began a career as a sailor at age 14 on the merchantmen owned by his family. In January 1697, he joined the French Navy on bombship ''Éclatante''. In 1700, Cassard became a merchantman captain. The next year, 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 ...

broke out, and Cassard converted to a

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 ...

. In 1705, he captained the privateer ''Saint Guillaume'', capturing 12 merchantmen and raiding

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. Two years later, he captured 13 merchantmen with the ''Duchesse Anne'', earning a rank in the Navy. In 1709, Cassard, promoted to Commander, was tasked to escort a 25-ship food convoy on the 68-gun ''Éclatant''. On 29 April, supported by ''Sérieux'', he defeated five English ships, allowing the convoy to safely reach

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. The next year, Cassard lead a squadron comprising the 74-gun ''Parfait'', the 58-gun ''Sérieux'' and the 50-gun ''Phénix'' and the 60-gun ''Sirène'', with his flag on ''Parfait''. He was tasked to escort an 84-ship convoy inbound from Smyrna that had become blockaded at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas * Syracuse, Mi ...

by a British fleet. He captured HMS ''Pembroke'', while ''Sérieux'' secured the surrender of the 32-gun HMS ''Falcon'' in the 9 November Battle of Syracuse. The convoy reach

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. In 1711, Cassard again secured the way for a 43-ship convoy bound for

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal c ...

. In December 1711, Cassard obtained the command of a 6-ship squadron and embarked on an expedition in which he raided English, Dutch and Portuguese colonies in

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

and in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean S ...

. On 10 October 1712, Cassard captured the plantation of

Meerzorg Meerzorg (Sranan Tongo: Ansu) is a town and resort (municipality) in Suriname, located on the eastern bank of the Suriname River, directly opposite the capital Paramaribo. Its population at the 2012 census was 12,405. Since 2000 it has been connect ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the nort ...

for France, and threatened

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's po ...

across the

Suriname River The Suriname River (Dutch: ''Surinamerivier'') is 480 km long and flows through the country Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains (where it ...

. Negotiations started, and on 27 October Cassard left with ƒ747,350 (€8.1 million in 2018) worth of goods and slaves. After the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne of ...

and the end of the war in 1713, Cassard started numerous trials to obtain payments. Cassard retired in 1731. In 1736, he was declared insane after insulting the

Cardinal de Fleury Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, and detained in

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term " ...

, where he died four years later.

Honours

* Knight of the Order of Saint Louis (1719) * Numerous ships of the French Navy named ''Cassard'' after him * A Sea scout group (

Scouts et Guides de France Scouts et Guides de France (''Scouts and Guides of France'', SGdF) is the largest Scouting and Guiding association in France. It was formed on 1 September 2004 from the merger of two Roman Catholic Scouting organizations: the Guides de France ( ...

) is named after him in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabit ...

References

External links

* Edward Phillips Statham
Privateers and Privateering
- Cambridge University Press, 2011, , Chapter XV "Jacques Cassard", pages 229-240 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassard, Jacques French privateers French naval commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession 1679 births 1740 deaths Military personnel from Nantes Knights of the Order of Saint Louis

Biography

Honours

See also

References

External links