This engagement was one of the earliest U.S. Revenue Cutter Service actions against Jean Lafitte's pirates in the Gulf of Mexico.
Key Facts
- Date
- 31 August 1819
- U.S. cutters involved
- USRC Alabama and USRC Louisiana
- Cost per cutter
- 4500 USD
- U.S. casualties (wounded)
- 4 (first officer and three crew)
- Pirate commander fate
- Jean La Farges hanged 25 May 1820
- Pirate affiliation
- Lieutenant of Jean Lafitte
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
In early 1819, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service deployed two newly built schooners, USRC Alabama and USRC Louisiana, to the Gulf of Mexico to suppress growing piracy in the region. The vessels were each armed with a pivot gun and assigned to counter-piracy patrols, reflecting U.S. concern over Lafitte-linked privateers operating without letters of marque.
On 31 August 1819, Alabama and Louisiana sighted the schooner Bravo off southern Florida. Captain Jairus Loomis gave chase and engaged Bravo in a brief gunnery duel, wounding four American sailors and killing several pirates. The Americans then boarded Bravo, capturing the crew including Jean La Farges, a lieutenant of Jean Lafitte, who had presented no letter of marque.
Jean La Farges was subsequently hanged in Louisiana on 25 May 1820. The engagement contributed to an escalating U.S. naval campaign against Gulf pirates, leading to further actions including the destruction of a pirate base at Breton Island, the capture of four pirate ships off Belize in July 1820, and a joint Anglo-American operation seizing five pirate vessels off Havana in November 1822.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Jairus Loomis.
Side B
1 belligerent
Jean La Farges.