On this day in 1713 a French squadron composed largely of corsairs under the command of Captain Jacques Cassard entered the harbor of Willemstad on Dutch Curacao and seized Fort Amsterdam. Cassard then demanded the immediate surrender of Curacao and a ransom of 400,000 Ducats to spare the city of Willemstad from bombardment and looting.
Willemstad was one of the largest, richest and most cosmopolitan cities in the Americas. It was fortified by an impressive city wall and had over a dozen well placed forts guarding all the entrances to the large Caribbean island. It had a reputation of being impregnable and had never been taken. Others had tried before. The last attempt was made by the French in May of 1678 when Admiral D'Estrees led a large scale invasion force to its doom - lured by the craftiness of a smaller fleeing Dutch naval force onto the shoals at Las Aves in a moderate fog. The French lost twelve ships of the line on the reefs that day and thousands of men perished on the shoals with no rescue. It is still considered one of the greatest disasters of naval history.
The sudden appearance of a French naval force in 1713, was a shock to the Dutch and it was most unexpected. The Dutch having completely underestimated regional French sea power had left Curacao very lightly defended. They were not incorrect in that assumption.
The French had lost terribly during the War of the Spanish Succession with most existing (hundreds of) French merchant ships already being taken by English and Dutch privateers. The French West India Company was ruined and most French colonies were now in the hands of the (Anglo-Dutch) allies. Only Martinique and Quebec were still in French hands. The only reason Quebec (which was very lightly defended at this time) was spared was because of the storms that had crippled Admiral Hovenden Walker's invasion fleet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovenden_Walker
The Dutch had no choice but to acquiesce to the French demands and surrendered. The ransom was raised and the 400,000 Ducats were presented to Cassard. Captain Cassard, good to his word spared the city and withdrew his troops (the majority being pirates and privateers). He knew he could not hold Curacao for long and that the probability of a superior Dutch or English naval force arriving within a week or less to be very likely.
Cassard's treasure pile was now unequaled. At the end of his 27 month armed foray into the West Indies, he returned to France with an amassed fortune equivalent to over eleven million English Pounds - which after paying his crews, he dutifully cataloged and turned over to the French crown.
Jacques Cassard's career reads like a novel. Born 30 September 1672, to a family of moderately successful merchants in Nantes, he first went to sea on one of the families own ships at the age of seven. With the loss of his father a few years later the family becomes destitute and Cassard with his mother and siblings go to work aboard fishing vessels. At 14 years he becomes a mate on his uncle's ship in the French Merchant Navy.
A few years later in 1697, he accepted a full commission in the French Navy at the age of 25. He was assigned as a Lieutenant on the bomb-ketch Éclatante. Later that year with of a flotilla of bomb-ketches (part of the squadron commanded by Admirals Ducasse and Pointis), he took part in the bombardment and Siege of Cartegena. (Nine Years War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Years'_War )
During the action he was given his first command - the gunboat Dazzling. By the end of the siege he was given command of the whole bomb vessel flotilla. Later that same year he led a band of corsairs in the seizure of the city of Santo Domingo. In the official after-action report presented to the King and Court by Pointis, he is mentioned prominently as the man responsible for silencing the Spanish cannon batteries and as having conducted himself under fire with the greatest bravery - being the first man into the gap in the walls.
With peace established the following year, Cassard went back to the French “Merchande Marine” the captain of his own trading ship. However, a few years on with the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701, Cassard again was commissioned, this time with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He was given command of the six gun privateer Laurier. and accompanied by his brother Lieutenant Drourad Cassard. He was ordered to raid and harass English and Dutch shipping in the Caribbean.
His first prize was taken in a hard won fight against the English brig William Duncan. A quick succession of prizes followed with two Dutch Indiamen and three English merchantmen. He transferred as much armament possible to the brig making it his flagship and sent the other ships loaded with sugar, rum and tobacco to Martinique.
With his exploits now making their way back to the French court, Cassard is given a bonus of 26,000 livres (2000 English pounds) and command of the privateer corvette Le Saint-Guillaume in 1705. Cassard now raided shipping off the southern coast of Ireland. In 1706, flying the English ensign in deception - he was mistaken by the English for a coastal patrol vessel - boldy sailing into Kinsale harbor - seizing six English merchantmen, looting them and extorting 650 English Pounds from their captains before setting them free. He repeats this act with a French privateer squadron a few months later, sailing into Cork, Ireland, capturing twelve ships and pillaging the town.
By 1708 he had taken thirteen more prizes worth a total of 450,000 Livres (37,000 English Pounds). At Dunkirk he is promoted to commander and given command of a captured 40 gun English frigate, the Jersey (HMS Jersey built 1691). Now hunting on one of the main English trade routes off the southern coast of England near the Scilly Isles, Cassard captures six additional merchant vessels as prizes, and loots and releases thirty-three more.
A little over a year later Cassard is ordered to the Mediterranean to escort wheat convoys from North Africa. This was considered a very important mission as the French Army needed to be fed and the region of Provence was experiencing a famine. Cassard was given the command of the 68 gun “ordere seconde” (third rate) Vivid and the smaller 58 gun Serious.
Leading the large wheat convoy of 25 vessels, Cassard is able to avoid entanglements with the Barbary corsairs, but isn't as lucky avoiding the English Navy. The convoy is attacked by an English naval privateer fleet of fifteen ships. Cassard takes the initiative using the wind to his advantage and drives into the right wing of the English line with Vivid and Serious. The French gunnery disables five of the English vessels and forces the others to retreat to Malta for repairs.
The Vivid, sustaining heavy damage is entangled with one of the captured English ships. She is also holed in eight different places. Cassard has no choice but to make repairs and cut his ship free - but refuses to allow the convoy to sit idly by and vulnerable to more possible attacks. He ordered the grain convoy to continue on to Marseille alone while he cut his ship free and continued repairs along the way. All 25 ships of the grain convoy successfully reached Marseilles and Cassard followed them into port a day and a half later.
A continuing trend in Cassard's life begins with the Alderman of the City of Marseilles refusing to pay the usual fees for the escort – contending that the ships arrived alone without Cassard. However, the King hearing of the battle sends his Minister to congratulate Cassard and offers him a knighthood (the Cross of Saint Louis). Cassard refuses stating that he is not worthy of the honor. He files a lawsuit with the crown against the City of Marseilles for the pay he should have received.
He accepts a another escort mission the next year, but at the last minute is given new orders from the Chancellor of France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Ph%C3%A9lypeaux,_comte_de_Pontchartrain to command a large squadron consisting of, the Perfect (74 guns), Toulouse (68 guns), Serious (58 guns), Siren (60 guns) and the frigate Phoenix (50 guns) to relieve a blockaded merchant fleet of 84 vessels bottled up in Smyrna by an English naval force. In the resulting Battle of Syracuse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Syracuse_(1710) Cassard was able to free the heavily laden merchantmen and captured the HMS Pembroke (64 guns) and the HMS Falcon (36 guns).
The large convoy makes it safely to Marseilles, but when Cassard went to the Alderman to obtain his pay he was refused again on the grounds of the pending court suit. He was angry and bitter knowing that he had saved a convoy worth 8 million Livres and received nothing in return for the great risks he took.
Adding insult to injury, Cassard again answered the call to duty - this time it was a distress call from the Duke of Vendome who was desperate to have the English blockade of Catalonia broken. Cassard was promised half a million Livres for the task. Cassard broke the blockade and releived Catalonia, but he never saw one Denier for his trouble. He petitioned the crown with yet another law suit for compensation.
He took one more escort mission in 1711 – safely accompanying a convoy of 43 ships to the Spanish city of Peniscola. He at least was paid for this mission.
Cassard longed to do something different and with the seizure of Rio de Janeiro by the famous French corsair Rene Duguay-Troin http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Duguay-Trouin&prev=/search?q=Ren%C3%A9+Duguay-Trouin&hl=en&biw=1776&bih=826&sa=X&ei=ft8iUbXqJqOKiALSu4CwAg&ved=0CEAQ7gEwAQ he petitioned the court for a new command. In December of 1711 the King gave Cassard command of a squadron consisting of three ships of the line and five large frigates. His orders were to raid, harass, and seize Dutch, English, and Portuguese shipping from the coasts of west Africa all the way to the Caribbean. It was with this squadron that his famous twenty-seven month reign of terror began.
He started with the Portuguese and the Cape Verde islands. His seizure of Santiago and its warehouses overburdened his ships and he had to leave over a million Francs worth of loot on the beach. He stopped in Martinique for repairs, and to transfer the spoils from Santiago ashore.
The pirates that had been with him at Cartegena and Santo Domingo had not forgotten his actions and came to join him. Now at the head of a moderately sized fleet, he seized the British islands of Montserrat and Antigua before heading to the Dutch possessions in Suriname . To the shock of the Dutch, he besieged and captured Surinam. The governor asked him for terms, and Cassard agreed to return Surinam to Holland for the amazing sum of 2,400,000 pounds. The Dutch paid the ransom.
After a string of prizes and other harassments on Berbice and Askebe (or Essequibo ), two other towns in Dutch Guiana , Cassard returned again to Martinique, to the cheers of the French citizens, amazed at the wealth Cassard heaped upon their port from the enemies of the homeland. Moving out to sea again, Cassard first seized and ransomed Dutch St. Eustatius .
He then moved on to the northeastern continental coastline of South America, raiding Dutch settlements with attacks on Paramaribo and finally the large island of Curacao. Curaçao was the crowning achievement of the privateering campaign. It was a larger and richer target than all the previous ones, but also much better defended. Cassard expected much more resistance. What an amazing record of success!
Jacques Cassard's expedition to the Caribbean was one of the greatest in history, and after another stop in Martinique, he finally returned to France with the total captured loot estimated equivalent to over eleven million English Pounds.
Cassard returned to France a hero, but scarred, tired, and worn from years of service. With the Treaty of Utrecht finally bringing the bloody eleven year long war to an end, Cassard retired from privateering. He was finally given full promotion to Captain in 1713 even though he had fulfilled the role of Admiral multiple times during his career. Often titled nobles were the only ones given these high honors and this is understood better when one sees the costly outlay of funds required going along with the titles. For his trouble and service Cassard was given a knighthood and presented the Cross of Saint Louis in 1718.
However he was not granted a pension.
In the worst of all ironies, Cassard was almost broke. How could this be? As with so many other nations, Captains were often forced to provision and fit out their ships, pay crews, and finance expeditions themselves. The idea is that the Crown or City or noble calling for the service would recompensate the responsible commander after the service was complete. With privateers it was also often understood that the full amount of booty would never make it back to the Crown because the commander would skim what he wished off the top to compensate himself.
With Cassard this was an impossibility. He was a man of total honor and refused to embezzle or take anything for himself that was not honestly granted to him. One of Cassard's uncles had been a Jansenist priest and had taught him honesty, honor and Christian virtue as a very young boy. As a result, Cassard would hold this code of honor as sacred his whole life. Cassard would provision his ships with good stores and pay his crews before he paid himself. As a result, the numbers on the balance sheets and ledgers were correct. Cassard had given the state everything he had captured and believed in the Crown and the government. He believed in the system and believed the system would eventually give him what was owed.
Sadly this led to years of Cassard fighting in the courts and appealing to the offices of Cardinals, Ministers and even the King's Court itself seeking to be recompensated for his service. Year after year he patiently waited, getting older, his clothes more tattered and out of style until he was a known object of ridicule among the sneering youthful aristocratic courtiers that flocked and gravitated to centers of power.
In a brief moment of justification and validation, the famous Corsair Rene Duguay-Troin heard about what was happening and wanted to meet Cassard. He came to the King's court and saw the ridicule for himself. It angered him. To the court's surprise, the well dressed and well known Duguay-Troin embraced Cussard as a brother. He heaped adoration upon him and then turned to the crowded and surprised audience buzzing in the great hall. He chastised them saying: (paraphrased from French)
“You do not know this man, gentlemen? Too bad for you! Do you know who the greatest man living in France is at this very moment: it is Cassard! I would give all the actions of my whole life for his. You do not know the great feats he has done and they are not known here, but let me tell you that he is still talked about, feared and dreaded among the Portuguese, the English, and the Dutch. And he ravaged their possessions from Africa and all throughout America. He could do with a single ship what no other could do with a whole squadron.”
In another slap in the face one of the Ministers finally agreed to grant Cassard a meager pension. The small amount enraged Cassard considering everything he had done for France. He is said to have responded to the Minister Maurepas: (paraphrased from French)
- "Keep your alms, he replied proudly, I do not want it. I do not want that, 'as a favor or as compensation, I have the spoils of the people. I am ruined for the king's service, I ask only that the king pay me the three million I advanced to him. "
The Minister dismissed Cassard as an ingrate and a maniac.
Cassard continued to appeal to and seek justice from Cardinal Fleury , the tutor, adviser, and chief minister to King Louis XV, for the fair amounts owed to him. Cassard's proud, commanding, and somewhat abrasive character did little to better his situation with men that were used to being flattered with false courtly manners and shallow compliments.
Facing the haughty attitude of the King's minister Cassard finally snapped. In front of the court he finally lost his temper, shaking his fists and loudly hurling insults at the man. The shocked Cardinal ordered Cassard to be seized and taken into custody. He then declared him mentally insane and had him committed to fortress of Ham in the Somme. Obviously, there was no valid assessment of, or rehabilitation for those that were pronounced mentally insane by those that held power in those times. It was a cruel and insulting sentence for one of France's greatest heroes.
The Greatest Privateer in French history, Captain Jacques Cassard died at the age of 68 years, in a dank dirty prison cell on January 21st 1740 - after four years of detention. He was buried the next day in a common grave in the parish of St. Martin of Ham.
Aaron R. Shields, A.K.A. MK
Epilogue:
I was shocked at how little exists on this man. People prefer to worship the fictional Hornblower when there were real heroes like this man. Very little in English exists on this great hero. I pulled apart my vast library to find whatever I could. French websites provided a lot of material as well, but even then much of it was erroneous or disagreed from one account to the next.
In a positive note to such a sadly ending story, at least the French recognize the greatness of one of their most loyal sons in modern times. Nine naval ships have been named for him in the last hundred years.
