Jean-Baptiste du Casse

Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste du Casse
Jean-Baptiste du Casse by Hyacinthe Rigaud (c. 1700)

Governor of Saint-Domingue
In office October 1, 1691 – July, 1700
Succeeded by	Joseph d'Honon de Gallifet
Personal details
Born	(1646-08-02)August 2, 1646 Saubusse or Pau (France)
Died	June 25, 1715(1715-06-25) (aged 68) Bourbon-l'Archambault (Auvergne, France)
Spouse(s)	Marthe (de) Baudry (1661-1743)
Relations	Marthe du Casse (daughter) Jean-Baptiste de La Rochefoucauld de Roye (grandson)
Awards	Order of the Golden Fleece Commander of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis
Military service
Allegiance	France
Service/branch	French Navy
Years of service	1686-1714
Rank	Lieutenant General (Vice Admiral)
Battles/wars	War of the League of Augsburg War of the Spanish Succession

Jean-Baptiste du Casse (August 2, 1646 – June 25, 1715) was a French buccaneer, admiral, and colonial administrator who served throughout the Atlantic World during the 17th and 18th centuries. Likely born August 2, 1646, in Saubusse, near Pau (Béarn), to a Huguenot family, du Casse joined the French merchant marine and served in the East India Company and the slave-trading Compagnie du Sénégal. Later, he joined the French Navy and took part in several victorious expeditions during the War of the League of Augsburg in the West Indies and Spanish South America. During the War of the Spanish Succession, 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 by King Philip V of Spain. In the midst of these wars, he was Governor of the colony of Saint-Domingue from 1691-1703. He ended his military career at the rank of Lieutenant General 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 June 25, 1715 in Bourbon-l'Archambault, Auvergne.

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.^[1]

Uncertainty exists around the birth of du Casse. Though he is usually said to have been born on August 2, 1646 in Saubusse, near Dax (Landes), the son of Bertrand Ducasse, a Bayonne ham merchant, and Marguerite de Lavigne,^[2] 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, which designated the family as Huguenots. 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.^[3]

Du Casse admitted his family's religious background in a letter to Naval Minister Pontchartrain in 1691,^[4] and local records from Pau also support the Huguenot origins of the du Casse family.^[5] He renounced his Calvinist faith in 1685, however, after Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes via the Edict of Fontainebleau.

He married Marthe (de) Baudry (1661-1743) on 16 Mar 1686 in Dieppe. 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.^[6]

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 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.

War of the League of Augsburg

In 1687 he tried to conquer Elmina, and in June 1689 he attacked Berbice and Fort Zeelandia in Surinam.^[7]

In 1691, he was appointed governor of Saint-Domingue, 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 which had just been struck by a devastating earthquake.^[8]

In 1697, under Baron de Pointis he successfully raided the South American city of Cartagena de Indias, 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 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.

War of the Spanish Succession

In later years he performed and committed a number of notable acts. In 1702, he defeated John Benbow near Santa Marta in what is known as the Action of August 1702. Two years later he fought in the vanguard on the Intrépide during the Battle of Vélez-Málaga. In 1708, while in Spanish service, he commanded the Spanish treasure fleet 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 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 1691-1703.

He died on June 25, 1715 in the town of Bourbon-l'Archambault.

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. 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(a job that he was uncomfortable with) 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 and Laureano Torres y Ayala.

Notes

↑ du Casse, Robert Emmanuel Léon (1876). L'Amiral du Casse, Chevalier de la Toison d'Or. Paris: Berger-Levrault et Cie. p. 10.
↑ du Casse, Robert Emmanuel Léon (1876). L'Amiral du Casse, Chevalier de la Toison d'Or. Paris: Berger-Levrault et Cie. p. 12.
↑ Taillemite, Étienne (2002). Dictionnaire des marins français. Paris: Tallandier. ISBN 2-84734-008-4.
↑ Lettre du 7 juillet 1691, envoyée de la Martinique. Archives Nationales 9A2
↑ Le Blant, R. "?". Revue historique et archéologique du Béarn et du Pays basque.
↑ du Casse. L'Amiral du Casse. p. 419.
↑ http://www.guyana.org/features/guyanastory/chapter12.html
↑ The transatlantic slave trade, p. 92; by James A. Rawley, Stephen D. Behrendt

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 2635710 LCCN: n00037382 ISNI: 0000 0000 2791 6490 GND: 12342450X SUDOC: 050820400 BNF: cb13549058r (data)

Piracy

Periods	Ancient Mediterranean Golden Age Republic of Pirates Libertatia 21st century

Types of pirate	Privateers Buccaneers Corsairs Sindhi corsairs Timber pirate River pirate Brethren of the Coast Barbary pirates Moro pirates Wōkòu Vikings Ushkuiniks Narentines Cilician pirates Confederate privateer Baltic Slavic pirates Uskoks Cossack pirates Sea Beggars Sea Dogs Fillibusters

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Noted pirates	Bartholomew Roberts Hendrick Lucifer Hayreddin Barbarossa Blackbeard Stede Bonnet Anne Bonny Abshir Boyah Laurens de Graaf Michel de Grammont Calico Jack Alexandre Exquemelin William Kidd Edward Low Redbeard William Dampier Black Caesar Henri Caesar Roberto Cofresí Jean Lafitte Henry Morgan Lawrence Prince François l'Olonnais Henry Strangways Charles Gibbs Benito de Soto Diabolito Pedro Gilbert Mansel Alcantra Hippolyte Bouchard Samuel Hall Lord Nathaniel Gordon Albert W. Hicks Eli Boggs Bully Hayes Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah Louis-Michel Aury Shirahama Kenki John Newland Maffitt Joseph Baker Joseph Barss Jørgen Jørgensen Vincenzo Gambi Dominique You Pierre Lafitte John Hawkins Peter Easton Nicholas van Hoorn Moses Cohen Henriques Piet Pieterszoon Hein Charlotte de Berry Samuel Bellamy Benjamin Hornigold Samuel Mason Henry Every Roche Braziliano Gan Ning Liang Daoming Wang Zhi Limahong Zheng Zhilong Zheng Jing Cai Qian Cheung Po Tsai Ching Shih Shap Ng-tsai Chui A-poo Lai Choi San Fūma Kotarō Olivier Levasseur

Categories	Piracy Pirates By nationality Barbary pirates Female pirates Years in piracy Fictional pirates

Pirate ships	Adventure Galley Fancy Ganj-i-Sawai Queen Anne's Revenge Quedagh Merchant Saladin Whydah Gally Marquis of Havana Ambrose Light York

Pirate hunters	Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Angelo Emo Richard Avery Hornsby Robert Maynard Chaloner Ogle Pompey Woodes Rogers David Porter James Brooke Miguel Enríquez (privateer)

Pirate battles and incidents	Jiajing wokou raids Turkish Abductions Chepo Expedition Battle of Mandab Strait Blockade of Charleston Battle of Cape Fear River Battle of Ocracoke Inlet Capture of the William Sack of Campeche Attack on Veracruz Raid on Cartagena Battle of Cape Lopez Capture of the Fancy Persian Gulf Campaign Battle of New Orleans Anti-Piracy in the Aegean Anti-piracy in the West Indies Capture of the Bravo Action of 9 November 1822 Capture of the El Mosquito Battle of Doro Passage Falklands Expedition Great Lakes Patrol Pirate attacks in Borneo Balanguingui Expedition Battle of Tysami Battle of Tonkin River Battle of Nam Quan Battle of Ty-ho Bay Battle of the Leotung Antelope incident North Star affair Battle off Mukah Salvador Pirates Battle of Boca Teacapan Capture of the Ambrose Light Irene incident 1985 Lahad Datu ambush Operation Enduring Freedom – HOA Action of 18 March 2006 Action of 3 June 2007 Action of 28 October 2007 Dai Hong Dan incident Operation Atalanta Carré d'As IV incident Action of 11 November 2008 Action of 9 April 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking Operation Ocean Shield Action of 23 March 2010 Action of 1 April 2010 Action of 30 March 2010 Action of 5 April 2010 MV Moscow University hijacking Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden Operation Dawn 8: Gulf of Aden Beluga Nomination incident Battle off Minicoy Island Quest incident MT Zafirah hijacking MT Orkim Harmony hijacking

Slave trade	African slave trade Atlantic slave trade Arab slave trade Barbary slave trade Blockade of Africa African Slave Trade Patrol Capture of the Providentia Capture of the Presidente Capture of the El Almirante Capture of the Marinerito Capture of the Veloz Passagera Capture of the Brillante Amistad Incident Capture of the Emanuela

Fictional pirates	Tom Ayrton Barbe Rouge Hector Barbossa Captain Blood Captain Crook Captain Flint José Gaspar Captain Hook Don Karnage Monkey D. Luffy Roronoa Zoro One Piece Captain Nemo Captain Pugwash Red Rackham Captain Sabertooth Captain Stingaree Sandokan Long John Silver Jack Sparrow

Miscellaneous	Truce of Ratisbon Piracy Act 1698 Piracy Act 1717 Piracy Act 1837 Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law Child pirate Golden Age of Piracy Jolly Roger Walking the plank Treasure map Buried treasure Pirate booty No purchase, no pay Marooning Pirate code Pirate utopia Victual Brothers Pirate Round Libertatia Sack of Baltimore A General History of the Pyrates Mutiny Pegleg Eyepatch Letter of marque Davy Jones' Locker Air pirate Space pirate

Lists	Pirates Privateers Timeline of piracy Pirate films Women in piracy Fictional pirates Pirates in popular culture List of ships attacked by Somali pirates

Literature	Treasure Island Facing the Flag On Stranger Tides Castaways of the Flying Dutchman The Angel's Command Voyage of Slaves Pirate Latitudes

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