Louis-Michel Aury
Encyclopedia
Louis-Michel Aury was a French Corsair
operating in the Gulf of Mexico
and Caribbean
during the early 19th century.
Aury was born in Paris
, France
, in about 1788. He served in the French Navy
, but from 1802 served in privateer
ships. By 1810 he had accumulated enough prize money
to become the master of his own vessel.
He decided to support the Spanish colonies of South America
in their fight for independence from Spain. In April 1813 he sailed from North Carolina
on his own privateer ship with Venezuelan letters-of-marque
to attack Spanish ships. He was then commissioned as a commodore in the navy of New Granada (Colombia)
, and at great personal expense, ran the Spanish blockade and evacuated hundreds of people from the besieged city of Cartagena
, Colombia to Haiti
. In spite of his success in this dangerous exploit he argued with Simón Bolívar
, leader of the Latin American revolutionaries, over payment for his services.
Aury subsequently accepted an appointment as resident commissioner of Galveston Island
, Texas
, made by José Manuel de Herrera, an envoy from the fledgling Republic of Mexico
, who had declared Galveston a port of the Republic. Aury established a privateering base there in September 1816.
However, while Aury was away transporting Francisco Javier Mina
and his men to the Santander River
in Mexico, Jean Lafitte
took control of the base at Galveston. On his return to Texas, Aury made an ill-fated attempt to establish another base at Matagorda Bay
. He finally left Texas in 1817 to assist the Scottish adventurer Gregor MacGregor
, self-styled "Brigadier-General of the United Provinces of the New Granada and Venezuela and General-in-Chief of the armies of the two Floridas", in attacking Spanish Florida
from Amelia Island
. MacGregor left in November but Aury remained, proclaiming the island an independent republic. However, the US Army drove Aury out in December 1817.
On 4 July 1818 he captured Old Providence Island
(Isla de Providencia) in the western Caribbean, and founded a settlement with a thriving economy based on captured Spanish cargo, while unsuccessfully trying to rebuild good relations with Bolivar. He was thrown from a horse and killed in August 30 1821, though some sources claim he was living in Havana
in 1845.
was still the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala
, so Central America
was seen as yet under the sway of Spain
, and thus was open to attack from its enemies. In an attempt to secure their independence, the Colombian insurgents fitted a combined sea and land expedition to operate against the ports of Omoa
and Trujillo
, in Honduras.
On the 21st of April, 1820, the watch-tower at Capiro in Trujillo Port announced the approach of a Colombian flotilla. The port's garrison, commanded by Jose M. Palomar, at once made emergency preparations for the impending attack. At two o'clock in the afternoon the approaching flotilla hoisted a flag with two blue bars and a white one between them showing an escutcheon in the center. Commodore Louis-Michel Aury dispatched a boat to shore to demand the port’s surrender within one hour. The town did not comply. The following day Commodore Aury moved the flotilla to the mouth of the Guaimoreto River and began bombardment. The attack started at 9 AM and lasted until 2 PM. The firing ceased when the flotilla was ordered out to sea and out of the reach of the port’s cannons. A portion of the land force then attempted to enter the town by the rear, but was detected and driven out.
During the night of the 24th, the Colombian vessels dropped out of sight. On the 25th the flotilla appeared off the port of Omoa and for several days attempted to land. Commodore Aury was unsuccessful and left the area on the 6th of May. It is believed that Louis-Michel Aury died the following year, but he is not recognized by any of the countries he served. Aury was perceived as a member of the Colombian liberation fighters because of his affiliation with Simon Bolivar
.
Corsair
Corsairs were privateers, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with France, on behalf of the French Crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds...
operating in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
and 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...
during the early 19th century.
Aury was born in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, in about 1788. He served in the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
, but from 1802 served in privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
ships. By 1810 he had accumulated enough prize money
Prize money
Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing an enemy vessel...
to become the master of his own vessel.
He decided to support the Spanish colonies of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
in their fight for independence from Spain. In April 1813 he sailed from North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
on his own privateer ship with Venezuelan letters-of-marque
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
to attack Spanish ships. He was then commissioned as a commodore in the navy of New Granada (Colombia)
United Provinces of New Granada
The United Provinces of New Granada was a country in South America from 1811 to 1816, a period known in Colombian history as the Patria Boba. It was formed from areas of the New Kingdom of Granada. The government was a federation with a parliamentary system, consisting of a weak executive and...
, and at great personal expense, ran the Spanish blockade and evacuated hundreds of people from the besieged city of Cartagena
Cartagena, Colombia
Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...
, Colombia to Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. In spite of his success in this dangerous exploit he argued with Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
, leader of the Latin American revolutionaries, over payment for his services.
Aury subsequently accepted an appointment as resident commissioner of Galveston Island
Galveston Island
Galveston Island is a barrier island on the Texas Gulf coast in the United States, about 50 miles southeast of Houston. The entire island, with the exception of Jamaica Beach, is within the city limits of the City of Galveston....
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, made by José Manuel de Herrera, an envoy from the fledgling Republic of Mexico
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
, who had declared Galveston a port of the Republic. Aury established a privateering base there in September 1816.
However, while Aury was away transporting Francisco Javier Mina
Francisco Javier Mina
Francisco Javier Mina was a Spanish lawyer and army officer and a Mexican revolutionary.-Biography:...
and his men to the Santander River
Soto La Marina River
-References:*Atlas of Mexico, 1975 .*The Prentice Hall American World Atlas, 1984.*Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993....
in Mexico, Jean Lafitte
Jean Lafitte
Jean Lafitte was a pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his elder brother, Pierre, spelled their last name Laffite, but English-language documents of the time used "Lafitte", and this is the commonly seen spelling in the United States, including for places...
took control of the base at Galveston. On his return to Texas, Aury made an ill-fated attempt to establish another base at Matagorda Bay
Matagorda Bay
Matagorda Bay is a large estuary bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, southeast of San Antonio, southwest of Houston, and southeast of Austin. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Peninsula and...
. He finally left Texas in 1817 to assist the Scottish adventurer Gregor MacGregor
Gregor MacGregor
Gregor MacGregor was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, land speculator, and colonizer who fought in the South American struggle for independence. Upon his return to England in 1820, he claimed to be cacique of Poyais...
, self-styled "Brigadier-General of the United Provinces of the New Granada and Venezuela and General-in-Chief of the armies of the two Floridas", in attacking Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
from Amelia Island
Amelia Island Affair
The Amelia Island Affair was an episode in the history of colonial Florida.The Embargo Act and the abolition of the American slave trade made Amelia Island, on the coast of Spanish Florida, a resort for smugglers with sometimes as many as 300 square-rigged vessels in its harbor...
. MacGregor left in November but Aury remained, proclaiming the island an independent republic. However, the US Army drove Aury out in December 1817.
On 4 July 1818 he captured Old Providence Island
San Andrés and Providencia Department
Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina ; or colloquially San Andrés y Providencia is one of the departments of Colombia. It consists of two island groups about northwest of Colombia and from the coast of Nicaragua, and eight outlying banks and reefs...
(Isla de Providencia) in the western Caribbean, and founded a settlement with a thriving economy based on captured Spanish cargo, while unsuccessfully trying to rebuild good relations with Bolivar. He was thrown from a horse and killed in August 30 1821, though some sources claim he was living in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
in 1845.
Aury attempts to liberate Central America
In 1820 Guatemala CityGuatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
was still the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala
Captaincy General of Guatemala
The Captaincy General of Guatemala , also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala , was an administrative division in Spanish America which covered much of Central America, including what are now the nations of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, and the Mexican state of Chiapas...
, so Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
was seen as yet under the sway of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and thus was open to attack from its enemies. In an attempt to secure their independence, the Colombian insurgents fitted a combined sea and land expedition to operate against the ports of Omoa
Omoa
Omoa is a town and a municipality in the Department of Cortés of the Central American country of Honduras. Omoa is located on a small bay of the same name 18 km. west of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea coast.- Geography :...
and Trujillo
Trujillo, Colón
Trujillo is a city and a municipality on the northern Caribbean coast of the Honduran department of Colón, of which the city is the capital. The municipality has a population of about 30,000 . The city is located on a bluff overlooking the Bay of Trujillo. Behind the city rise two prominent...
, in Honduras.
On the 21st of April, 1820, the watch-tower at Capiro in Trujillo Port announced the approach of a Colombian flotilla. The port's garrison, commanded by Jose M. Palomar, at once made emergency preparations for the impending attack. At two o'clock in the afternoon the approaching flotilla hoisted a flag with two blue bars and a white one between them showing an escutcheon in the center. Commodore Louis-Michel Aury dispatched a boat to shore to demand the port’s surrender within one hour. The town did not comply. The following day Commodore Aury moved the flotilla to the mouth of the Guaimoreto River and began bombardment. The attack started at 9 AM and lasted until 2 PM. The firing ceased when the flotilla was ordered out to sea and out of the reach of the port’s cannons. A portion of the land force then attempted to enter the town by the rear, but was detected and driven out.
During the night of the 24th, the Colombian vessels dropped out of sight. On the 25th the flotilla appeared off the port of Omoa and for several days attempted to land. Commodore Aury was unsuccessful and left the area on the 6th of May. It is believed that Louis-Michel Aury died the following year, but he is not recognized by any of the countries he served. Aury was perceived as a member of the Colombian liberation fighters because of his affiliation with Simon Bolivar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
.
External links
- Aury Website
- Aury Biography
- Louis Michel Aury international, very good multilanguage page
- Louis Michel Aury (Spanish), very complete Spanish page
- Louis Michel Aury (French), very complete French page