Jean Lafitte National Park

Jean Lafitte, or Laffite, c.1780-c.1826, was a Louisiana privateer and smuggler who helped U.S. forces in the Battle of New Orleans at the end of the War of 1812. About 1810 he and his men settled in the area of Barataria Bay, near New Orleans, and preyed on Spanish ships in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1814 the British attempted to buy Lafitte's aid in attacking New Orleans. Instead of cooperating, he passed their plans onto the Americans and helped Andrew Jackson defend the city in January 1815. Lafitte later returned to privateering.