Vincenzo Gambi (died 1819) was a 19th-century Italian

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. He was one of the most violent and bloodthirsty men in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

during the early 19th century and raided shipping in the gulf for well over a decade before his death. Gambi was one of several pirates associated with

Jean Lafitte Jean Lafitte ( – ) was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time used "Lafitte". Th ...

and later assisted him during the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...

along with

Dominique You Dominique You or Youx (born Frederic You or Youx, c. 1775 – November 15, 1830) was a privateer, soldier, and politician. Biography According to information he provided to his masonic lodge in New Orleans, he was born in Cette (now spelled Sè ...

, Rene Beluche and another fellow Italian-born pirate Louis "Nez Coupé" Chighizola. He is briefly mentioned in the 2007 historical novel ''Strangely Wonderful: Tale of Count Balashazy'' by Karen Mercury.

Biography

One of Lafitte's most rebellious and unruly partners, Gambi had a long criminal history that preceded him prior to his arrival in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

during the early 19th century. Within several years, he had become of the major pirates active in the Gulf of Mexico and was claimed to have personally killed dozens of his victims with an axe. He was one of the first men to be approached by

when he first began to organize the warring factions of the pirates of Grand Terre and the Bay of Barataria. At one of his earliest conferences, Lafitte asked his fellow pirates to sail as

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 ...

s with a letter of marque and limit their attacks only to the Spanish. Gambi openly defied him however, refusing to this request outright and left the conference. Soon after, Lafitte received news that Gambi was encouraging his own men to revolt against him. Lafitte was soon confronted by one of Gambi's officers who, challenging him with a pistol, shouted "The men of Gambi take orders only from Gambi!" Lafitte, in true fashion, drew his own pistol and shot his challenger, killing him. This subsequently ended any talk of rebellion against Lafitte.Asbury, Herbert. ''The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld''. New York: Alfred K. Knopf, 1936. (pg. 159, 160, 166-167) Sailing with Lafitte's pirate fleet during the next years, he was later given command of the schooner ''Petit Milan'' in May 1813 and captured a Spanish schooner carrying a cargo of

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and forme ...

soon after. He took the prize to Cat Island, roughly west of the mouth of Lafourche, with the profits being split between the Lafitte brothers and the rest of the fleet. He and the others were well known in New Orleans and openly sold captured prizes and cargo, often English manufactured goods, to friends and acquaintances in the city. He and the others sided, with Lafitte, against the British, during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

and was present with Lafitte,

, Rene Beluche and Louis "Nez Coupé" Chighizola during the

. After the war, Gambi was granted American citizenship by President

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

as were Lafitte and the others who participated in the battle. After Lafitte left Grand Terre for Texas, Gambi settled on Cheniere Caminada, building a large house and raising his family there. The house became a popular hangout for Lafitte, Dominique You, Rene Beluche and others. In 1815, Gambi was enlisted by General Jean Robert Marie Humbert and

José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois (14 May 1779 in Havana – 16 April 1858 in Paris) was a politician and leader of a military force against Spanish Texas, Spanish rule in Texas. Álvarez de Toledo was the son of Luis Álvarez de Toledo y Lich ...

in their conspiracy to invade Texas. Despite the United States and Spain being at peace, they funded his piracy activities against the Spanish. In May, he captured two Spanish ships off the coast of

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

and brought them back to Grande Isle on June 1. While both ships were carrying

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter an ...

and dry goods, one ship was found with

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

ingot An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sha ...

s. The crew and passengers of the two ships were held captive in what was described by one of the captives as a "most cruel situation" for four weeks before Gambi send them back in one of the prizes. Spanish agents in New Orleans eventually become aware of the intentions of Humbert and Toledo however, especially after Humbert publicly stated his grand plans in a newspaper article, and both Toledo and Gambi were arrested by Commodore Daniel Patterson for piracy. Neither of the men were convicted, however. Gambi was one of the hundred or so Baratarians who followed Lafitte after receiving his pardon from President

. He was going to be given command of the ''Victoria'', however he left almost immediately after due to a falling out between him and the Lafittes when

Pierre Lafitte Pierre Lafitte (1770–1821) was a pirate in the Gulf of Mexico and smuggler in the early 19th century. He also ran a blacksmith shop in New Orleans, his legitimate business. Pierre was historically less well known than his younger brother, Jea ...

sued him in a

civil suit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

over a $250 loan on July 2, 1817. During the next four years, he engaged in outright piracy, continuing to loot and sink a number of ships before he himself was apparently killed by his own men who found him asleep on a pile of gold. Catching up to Gambi once more, his schooner was captured in December 1819 by Daniel Patterson in what is thought to have been the last pirate ship active in the western Gulf of Mexico. Patterson learned from the crew that they had killed Gambi after learning that he had kept several thousand dollars owed to them they had taken from their latest victim. As he slept on deck during the night, his head resting on a

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

, one of his men decapitated him using "the very bloody ax which he so often used", according to news reports published around 1819, including a colorful story by the ''Opelousas Courier''.Davis, William C. ''The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf''. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Inc., 2005. (pg. 420)

Biography

References

Further reading