Jean Laffite

Laffite, Jean (c.1780–1825?), French pirate and smuggler who attacked Spanish ships south of New Orleans. He and his men received a pardon from President James Madison in return for aiding General Andrew Jackson against the British in 1815, but they later went back to piracy. When Laffite attacked U.S. ships (1820), the navy sailed against him, and he set out in his favorite ship, the Pride, never to be seen again.