Jean du Casse
Encyclopedia
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
, 1646 – Bourbon-l'Archambault
Bourbon-l'Archambault
Bourbon-l'Archambault is a spa town and a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne in central France.-Population:-Personalities:In 1681, Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Tours, the third daughter of Louis XIV and his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan died there at...
, June 25, 1715) was a French Buccaneer
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...
and Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
.
In his youth, he was not allowed into the French Navy because his parents were Huguenots. He then went into the slave trade with the Compagnie de Sénégal, sailing between Africa and the Caribbean.
With the money of the slave trade he bought a ship in Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
and privateered a packed Dutch ship. He sailed to France and offered half of the loot to the Crown. For this he was appointed Lieutenant in the French Navy by Louis XIV.
In 1687 he tried to conquer Elmina
Elmina
Elmina, is a town in the Central Region, situated on a south-facing bay on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Ghana, about 12 km west of Cape Coast...
; in June 1689 he attacked Berbice
Berbice
Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1815 a colony of the Netherlands. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom in the latter year, it was merged with Essequibo and Demerara to form the colony of British Guiana in 1831...
and Fort Zeelandia
Fort Zeelandia (Paramaribo)
Fort Zeelandia is a fortress in Paramaribo, Suriname, that was built by British colonists in 1651 around a small trading post, created by the Dutch...
in Surinam.
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
Port Royal
Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century...
which had just been struck by a devastating earthquake.
In 1697, under Baron de Pointis
Bernard Desjean, Baron de Pointis
Bernard Desjean, Baron de Pointis was a French admiral and privateer.He took part in naval operations in the 1680s under Duquesne, like the bombardment of Algiers and the punitive action against Genoa...
he successfully raided the South American city of Cartagena
Raid on Cartagena (1697)
The Raid on Cartagena was a successful attack by the French on the fortified city of Cartagena, Colombia, on May 6, 1697, as part of the War of the Grand Alliance....
, 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
Order of Saint Louis
The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis was a military Order of Chivalry founded on 5 April 1693 by Louis XIV and named after Saint Louis . It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, and is notable as the first decoration that could be granted to non-nobles...
.
In 1702, he defeated John Benbow
John Benbow
John Benbow was an English officer in the Royal Navy. He joined the navy aged 25 years, seeing action against Algerian pirates before leaving and joining the merchant navy where he traded until the Glorious Revolution of 1688, whereupon he returned to the Royal Navy and was commissioned.Benbow...
near Santa Marta
Santa Marta
Santa Marta is the capital city of the Colombian department of Magdalena in the Caribbean Region. It was founded in July 29, 1525 by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas, which makes it the oldest remaining city in Colombia...
in what is known as the Action of August 1702
Action of August 1702
The Action of August 1702 took place from 19–25 August 1702 O.S. between an English squadron under Vice-Admiral John Benbow and a French under Admiral Jean du Casse, during the War of the Spanish Succession. Benbow vigorously attacked the French squadron, but the refusal of most of his captains to...
.
In 1704 he fought in the vanguard on the Intrépide in the Battle of Vélez-Málaga.
In 1708, while in Spanish service, he commanded the Spanish treasure fleet
Spanish treasure fleet
The Spanish treasure fleets was a convoy system adopted by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to 1790...
during its annual voyage and suffered very few losses. For this he was awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece
Order of the Golden Fleece
The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...
, the highest Spanish award possible.
In 1714, he commanded the French fleet during the Siege of Barcelona
Siege of Barcelona
The Siege of Barcelona was a battle at the end of the War of Spanish Succession , which pitted Archduke Charles of Austria The Siege of Barcelona was a battle at the end of the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714), which pitted Archduke Charles of Austria The Siege of Barcelona was a battle at...
.
He was one of the last Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
buccaneer
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...
s.
On 16 March 1686, he married Marthe Baudry from Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
, after forsaking together their Calvinist faith in 1685.