CapitainDams
Pirate Spirit Crew's Captain
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This is the story of Olivier Le Vasseur:
<b>Olivier Le Vasseur (La Bouche `1690-1730`). Ship: Victory</b>.
La Bouche is said to have come from Calais. French by nationality, Oilvier La Bouche went by the nickname of La Buse, the Buzzard. The first reference to him is in company with Samuel Bellamy in 1716, cruising off the Virgin Islands. Bellamy seems to have been the leader. The partnership seems to have been fruitful as the pair captured several vessels through the fall and winter of `1716-17`. The two became separated by a storm in early 1717.
The next mention of La Bouche is in conjunction with the arrival of Woodes Rogers at New Providence in 1718. La Bouche is mentioned among the pirates that surrendered upon Rogers arrival and accepted the King's pardon. It seems that at some point after this he departed the island and took up his old profession again, as he is next mentioned in `1719-20` near Wydah Road or Ouidah on the Bight of Benin along the Slave Coast, where he had arrived prior to Edward England and plundered the area.
In 1719 La Bouche seeing a ship anchored off Gambia Castle, bore down upon it only to find that it was captained by Howell Davis, another pirate. The two formed a partnership and sailing down the coast to Sierra Leone came up with Cocklyn, another pirate. The three crews took the fort, and spent the next seven weeks refitting their ships. During this time they took an English slave ship the Bird Galley that came into the port. La Bouche was given the galley in place of the brigantine he had previously commanded. Having refitted the pirates went to sea, but an argument soon forced the three to part company.
On the 25th of July 1720 he is mentioned again as having bulged and lost his ship, the Indian Queen at Mayotte or the Anjouan Island. Captain Mackra (or McRae) aboard the Cassandra in company with the East Indiaman Greenwich (or Enterprise, there seems to be some confusion here) attempted to finish the French pirate and sailed into the bay firing his cannon. It was at this time that two brigs entered the harbor frightening off the Greenwich, proceeded to attack the Cassandra. After holding his own gallantly, Mackra sent his men ashore, only to be forced to surrender shortly thereafter to Edward England and La Bouche. Over the protests of La Bouche and England's cohort Taylor, Captain Mackra treated kindly and allowed to depart with some goods and the badly damaged Fancy.
The three pirates set sail, touching at Cochin to sell the goods from the Cassandra. From there they went to Mauritius (Ile de France) it was here that they heard that Mackra was on their trail; it was here that England's fair treatment of Mackra came to a head and he was marooned. After this, in April 1721, La Bouche and Taylor, in the Cassandra and Victory (there is some confusion as to who captained which) ran across the Nossa Senhora do Cabo (or Virgem de Cabo, again some confusion) a Portuguese East Indiaman repairing damage sustained during a storm en route from Goa India. The ship was loaded with the treasure all pirates dreamed of - silks, diamonds, gold, silver, art and religious trappings of the archbishop of Goa.
The pirate ships sandwiched the Cabo and poured a broadside into the ship. The ship surrendered after some small fight. The pirates upon division of the spoils shared out at about 5000 gold guineas plus 42 diamonds for each pirate. At this point some of the crew settled on the Ile Sainte Marie. Taylor and La Bouche sailed on, taking the Duchesse de Noaelles and in 1722 plundered the Dutch garrison at Fort Lagoa. After returning to Madagascar, the two pirate crews parted ways and Taylor later accepted a Spanish pardon and commission.
La Bouche continued his piracies, off and on until 1730 when he was captured by the French warship Meduse off fort Dauphin. He was hung later that year on July 17th. He was thrown to the public a cryptogram that reveal the place of his treasure.
But nobody can decode it.
<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bookish.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":mm" border="0" alt="bookish.gif" /> sources:
<a href="http://www.`pirates-corsaires`.com/lev.htm" target="_blank">http://www.`pirates-corsaires`.com/lev.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.kipar.org/society/author/`pirates-history`/`pirate-fame`.html" target="_blank">http://www.kipar.org/society/author/pirate...-fame`.html</a>
<a href="http://pirateshold.buccaneersoft.com/index.html" target="_blank">http://pirateshold.buccaneersoft.com/index.html</a>
This is the story of Olivier Le Vasseur:
<b>Olivier Le Vasseur (La Bouche `1690-1730`). Ship: Victory</b>.
La Bouche is said to have come from Calais. French by nationality, Oilvier La Bouche went by the nickname of La Buse, the Buzzard. The first reference to him is in company with Samuel Bellamy in 1716, cruising off the Virgin Islands. Bellamy seems to have been the leader. The partnership seems to have been fruitful as the pair captured several vessels through the fall and winter of `1716-17`. The two became separated by a storm in early 1717.
The next mention of La Bouche is in conjunction with the arrival of Woodes Rogers at New Providence in 1718. La Bouche is mentioned among the pirates that surrendered upon Rogers arrival and accepted the King's pardon. It seems that at some point after this he departed the island and took up his old profession again, as he is next mentioned in `1719-20` near Wydah Road or Ouidah on the Bight of Benin along the Slave Coast, where he had arrived prior to Edward England and plundered the area.
In 1719 La Bouche seeing a ship anchored off Gambia Castle, bore down upon it only to find that it was captained by Howell Davis, another pirate. The two formed a partnership and sailing down the coast to Sierra Leone came up with Cocklyn, another pirate. The three crews took the fort, and spent the next seven weeks refitting their ships. During this time they took an English slave ship the Bird Galley that came into the port. La Bouche was given the galley in place of the brigantine he had previously commanded. Having refitted the pirates went to sea, but an argument soon forced the three to part company.
On the 25th of July 1720 he is mentioned again as having bulged and lost his ship, the Indian Queen at Mayotte or the Anjouan Island. Captain Mackra (or McRae) aboard the Cassandra in company with the East Indiaman Greenwich (or Enterprise, there seems to be some confusion here) attempted to finish the French pirate and sailed into the bay firing his cannon. It was at this time that two brigs entered the harbor frightening off the Greenwich, proceeded to attack the Cassandra. After holding his own gallantly, Mackra sent his men ashore, only to be forced to surrender shortly thereafter to Edward England and La Bouche. Over the protests of La Bouche and England's cohort Taylor, Captain Mackra treated kindly and allowed to depart with some goods and the badly damaged Fancy.
The three pirates set sail, touching at Cochin to sell the goods from the Cassandra. From there they went to Mauritius (Ile de France) it was here that they heard that Mackra was on their trail; it was here that England's fair treatment of Mackra came to a head and he was marooned. After this, in April 1721, La Bouche and Taylor, in the Cassandra and Victory (there is some confusion as to who captained which) ran across the Nossa Senhora do Cabo (or Virgem de Cabo, again some confusion) a Portuguese East Indiaman repairing damage sustained during a storm en route from Goa India. The ship was loaded with the treasure all pirates dreamed of - silks, diamonds, gold, silver, art and religious trappings of the archbishop of Goa.
The pirate ships sandwiched the Cabo and poured a broadside into the ship. The ship surrendered after some small fight. The pirates upon division of the spoils shared out at about 5000 gold guineas plus 42 diamonds for each pirate. At this point some of the crew settled on the Ile Sainte Marie. Taylor and La Bouche sailed on, taking the Duchesse de Noaelles and in 1722 plundered the Dutch garrison at Fort Lagoa. After returning to Madagascar, the two pirate crews parted ways and Taylor later accepted a Spanish pardon and commission.
La Bouche continued his piracies, off and on until 1730 when he was captured by the French warship Meduse off fort Dauphin. He was hung later that year on July 17th. He was thrown to the public a cryptogram that reveal the place of his treasure.
But nobody can decode it.
<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bookish.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":mm" border="0" alt="bookish.gif" /> sources:
<a href="http://www.`pirates-corsaires`.com/lev.htm" target="_blank">http://www.`pirates-corsaires`.com/lev.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.kipar.org/society/author/`pirates-history`/`pirate-fame`.html" target="_blank">http://www.kipar.org/society/author/pirate...-fame`.html</a>
<a href="http://pirateshold.buccaneersoft.com/index.html" target="_blank">http://pirateshold.buccaneersoft.com/index.html</a>