Pierre Le Grand (french: Peter the Great) was a French

buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from Stuart Restoration, the Restoration in 16 ...

supposedly active during the 17th century. He is known to history from only one source,

Alexandre Exquemelin Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (also spelled ''Esquemeling'', ''Exquemeling'', or ''Oexmelin'') (c. 1645–1707) was a French, Dutch or Flemish writer best known as the author of one of the most important sourcebooks of 17th-century piracy, first p ...

's ''

Buccaneers of America Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 1688 ...

'', and thus his historical existence has been questioned.

Origins

Pierre was born 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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Nothing is known of his life before his arrival in Tortuga at some time in the mid-17th century.

Attack on Spanish galleon

Pierre le Grand is known only for his attack on a Spanish

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch War ...

near the coast of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

in the 17th century. The exact site of the attack is uncertain; Exquemelin at one point says the

Caicos The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...

Islands were the scene of the crime, and at another point places the attack at Cape Tiburón, off the southwest coast of Hispaniola. Pierre had recruited a crew of 28 men on a single small boat and sailed in search of Spanish ships to rob. After a long, fruitless cruise, his buccaneer band spotted a ship, a straggler from 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 ...

. They voted to pursue it, and shortly after sunset, they drew alongside their prey without being seen. The legend says that Pierre ordered the crew's

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

to cut a hole in the side of their own boat and sink it, to inspire the men to fight their hardest for lack of a means of retreat. Then the pirates climbed up the side of the galleon, armed with

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

s and

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

s. Surprise was complete. The pirates took the galleon's captain unawares while he played cards in his own cabin. Pierre's men also seized the gun room, slaughtering the Spanish guards and preventing the rest of the Spanish crew from obtaining weapons to defend themselves and their ship. The galleon's sailors had little choice but to surrender. Pierre Le Grand then forced some of the Spanish crew into his service, set the rest ashore (presumably on Hispaniola), and took his captured ship and his men to France. He then disappears from history. However, there is some indication that he may have emigrated to Canada, as his name appears in the immigration records as arriving in Montreal in 1653.

References

*Alexandre Exquemelin, ''The Buccaneers of America'', 1684. Chapter V. *Massicotte, Edouard Z. "Les Colons de Montreal de 1642 a 1667." p. 224 {{DEFAULTSORT:Grand, Pierre Le 17th-century births 17th-century pirates French emigrants to Canada French pirates History of Hispaniola People of Saint-Domingue People whose existence is disputed Year of death unknown