The United States naval forces undertook a series of military campaigns and engagements to combat piracy in and around the Antilles from 1814 to 1825. During that time, the U.S. West Indies Squadron pursued pirates on both sea and land, focusing primarily on key regions such as The Bahamas, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. A range of privateers, hailing from the United States to Denmark, also participated in the conflict.
Operations
United States Navy and U.S. Revenue Marine cutter ships had operated against piracy and the slave trade in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico for several years prior to 1822 when a permanent squadron was formed. After a September 1821 attack by pirates, in which three American merchant ships were captured, Congress authorized Commodore James Biddle to deploy a fleet to the Caribbean. This force consisted of two frigates, USS Macedonian and USS Congress, two corvettes, USS Cyane and USS John Adams, two sloops-of-war, USS Hornet and USS Peacock, two brigs, USS Spark and USS Enterprise, the schooners USS Grampus, USS Alligator, USS Shark and USS Porpoise. Gun schooners from the revenue marine USRC Alabama and USRC Louisiana, as well as two other revenue marine gunboats, No. 158 and No. 168, also participated with a total of over 1,500 personnel. Before the fleet was sent, only single ship operations had been undertaken. Over the course of a few decades the American West Indies Squadron continually engaged Spanish, Venezuelan, Cuban and Puerto Rican pirates. Many of the actions ended with the sinking or capturing of pirate vessels though often the outlaws escaped to shore. After the capture of Roberto Cofresi and his sloop Anne in 1825, acts of piracy became rare, and the operation was considered a success, although limited occurrences went on until slightly after the start of the 20th century.
1817–1821
During and after the Spanish American wars of independence, Spanish naval power in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico weakened, allowing for a resurgence of piracy along the Gulf Coast. Many of the pirates in the period were Latin Americans and doubled as privateers. Revolution against Spain was widespread and both the rebel governments and the Spanish issued letters of marque. Often the privateers captured American merchantmen and attacked their crews which resulted in them being branded as pirates.
Revenue Marine Service
Revenue cutters were dispatched to fight the pirates early on. The first anti-piracy action from the Revenue Marine Service occurred back in 1793 when the cutter Diligence ran a pirate vessel ashore in the Chesapeake Bay. After the success, revenue cutters were charged with suppressing piracy and protecting the shores of America. In 1819, the cutter ships USRC Alabama and USRC Louisiana as well as two gunboats joined the first established anti-piracy U.S. Naval fleet. The ships fought major engagements with pirates, on the open sea, and a notable Battle of Breton Island. On 1818 June 22, boarding parties from the Revenue cutter Dallas seized the privateer Young Spartan, her crew, and the privateer's prize, the Pastora, off Savannah, Georgia. The crew of the Pastora had been set adrift, and their fate remained unknown. The New York Evening Post noted that the crew of the privateer had committed offenses "that can only be expiated by making their exits on the gallows."
The Revenue cutter Active captured the pirate vessel India Libre in the Chesapeake Bay on July 18, 1818. On August 31, 1819, the Bravo led by pirate captain Jean Le Farges' vessel engaged cutters Louisiana and Alabama off the coast of Florida. The cutters' crews boarded the enemy and took the ship in a hand-to-hand struggle. Le Farges, a lieutenant of Jean Lafitte, was later hanged from Louisiana's yardarm.
On 19 July 1820, Alabama and Louisiana captured four pirate ships off La Balize. USRC Louisiana and USS Peacock manned with several cutter men would engage HMS Speedwell, Alabama engaged pirates again, which resulted in the taking of five more pirate ships. This campaign was the beginning of the anti-piracy, coastal defense, and maritime law enforcement mission which is still practiced in the modern U.S. Coast Guard today.
Navy engagements
The first American Navy vessels to serve against West Indies piracy were the schooners USS Enterprise, USS Nonsuch and USS Lynx were among the vessels deployed between 1817 and 1822. All of these ships operated independently and there was no commander of the squadron until its official establishment. In 1819 President James Monroe sent Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry to Venezuela with the frigate USS Constellation, the corvette USS John Adams and USS Nonsuch. The commodore's orders were to demand restitution for the capture of American merchant ships by Venezuelan privateers and to receive an assurance that the privateers would be restrained from attacking again. Perry was successful in completing his mission initially and a treaty was signed on August 11, though on his cruise back to the United States, he died of yellow fever at Trinidad which caused the agreement to fail. On December 22, 1817, USS John Adams forced the filibuster Louis-Michel Aury to evacuate his base at Amelia Island, Florida. Later, John Adams was flagship of Commodore Biddle's squadron.
By 1820, hostilities with the pirates and privateers started to increase, United States warships engaged in several naval actions that year and a total of twenty-seven American merchant ships were captured. In Between 1818 and 1821, USS Enterprise captured thirteen pirate and slave ships while serving with the New Orleans station (US Navy) and later in the West Indies. On October 24, 1819, while under command of Lieutenant J. R. Madison, USS Lynx captured two pirate schooners and two boats in the Gulf of Mexico and on November 9, she captured another pirate boat in Galveston Bay. Lynx disappeared in January 1820 while sailing to Jamaica, she likely sank due to a storm, none of her crew were ever seen or heard from again. In October 1821, while sailing off Cape Antonio, Cuba, USS Enterprise came to the assistance of three merchantmen which had been seized by four pirate craft. Boats were launched and attacked the brigands, in the end, over forty pirates were killed or captured and two of their vessels taken. A month later, Enterprise attacked a pirate base near Cape Antonio and cleared the area criminals. In September 1821, three American merchant ships were massacred off Matanzas, Cuba. The crew of one ship was tortured and the vessel was set on fire, survivors were able to escape to shore in a boat. Three men were killed on the second American ship and everyone on the third vessel which was also burned. This incident was one of the main reasons why the anti-piracy operation was continued. USS Hornet captured a privateer schooner named Moscow on October 29, 1821, and on December 21, she captured a pirate ship apparently without a fight and the crew escaped to shore.
On December 16, 1821, Lieutenant James Ramage in USS Porpoise was sailing off Cape Antonio and found five enemy vessels, including the merchant brig Bolina. Forty sailors were lowered into five boats and Ramage led the advance. Though some of the pirates fled to shore, many resisted and the five American boats destroyed the five pirate ships by burning them. They also freed the Bolina. Three pirates were captured and several killed according to reports. In autumn of 1821, USS Spark, under Lieutenant John Elton, departed Boston and joined the list of vessels assigned to counter piracy. In January 1822, Elton captured a Dutch flagged pirate sloop. Seven prisoners were taken to Charleston for trial, Spark then returned to the Caribbean and remained on station for the next three years by which time the official West Indies Squadron was formed.
1822–1823
Three significant engagements occurred between the pirates and British ships in 1822 and 1823. In March, boat crews from USS Enterprise captured two launches and four boats in a creek near Cape Antonio and on March 6, they seized eight more craft and over 150 pirates. A British merchantman under Captain William Smith was captured by Spanish pirates from the schooner Emanuel in July 1822. The pirates made Smith walk the plank and when he attempted to swim away they shot him in the back. Also on the ship was Smith's fourteen-year-old son, whose head was crushed by the pirate captain when he could no longer stand to hear him crying. USS Grampus encountered the brig Palyrma flying Spanish colors on August 15, 1822. Commanding Lieutenant Gregory suspected the ship to be a pirate so he approached to board but as Grampus drew near, Palyrma opened fire and a brief three and a half minute battle was fought. After boarding the wrecked vessel, the pirates were found to be from Puerto Rico and had a letter of marque that was intended to get the outlaws out of a situation like this. The letter was found to be fake so the pirates were detained and handed over to the Spanish in Cuba. At this time the usual procedure for dealing with captured pirates was turning them over to Spain because the United States didn't have the authority to imprison them.
The United States Navy could not pursue the pirates on Spanish soil either so in April 1822, Commodore David Porter, in USS Macedonian, assumed command of the station and one of his first missions was to consult with Governor Captain General Don Nicholas Mahy of Cuba and the governor of Puerto Rico. Both governors denied Porter's request to allow American shore parties to land but at the same time the United States government permitted the West Indies Squadron to do so but only in remote areas. Commodore Porter then attacked and destroyed a pirate force at Funda Bay, Cuba between September 28 and 30, 1822. Also on September 28, Peacock captured a boat filled with pirates about sixty miles (97 km) from Havana, and later that afternoon, USS Peacock encountered the merchant vessel Speedwell which had been attacked by pirates two hours before. In response, Captain Stephen Cassin launched a boat expedition which captured four schooners but again most of the pirates escaped. On September 30, 1822, the twenty-six gun HMS Tyne was escorting a one-gun merchant sloop Eliza when attacked by a five-gun pirate felucca named Firme Union. During the ensuing engagement, the British boarded and captured the pirate ship. Ten pirates were killed and the rest abandoned ship and escaped. On November 2, 1822, USRC Louisiana along with USS Peacock and the Royal Navy schooner HMS Speedwell captured five pirate vessels off Havana. On November 8, 1822, Lieutenant William Howard Allen of USS Alligator was killed in battle while leading an attack against three enemy schooners which were holding five merchantmen hostage. In the action, two of the schooners were captured and at least fourteen pirates were killed. Due to Lieutenant Allen's death, Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson authorized Commodore Porter to procure new vessels for the squadron.