Juan Corso (died 1685) was a Corsican pirate and ''guarda costa''

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

who sailed in Spanish service, operating out of Cuba.

History

Corso sailed alongside Spanish privateer Pedro de Castro under commander Felipe de la Barreda y Villegas in April 1680, rounding up Englishmen illegally harvesting

logwood ''Haematoxylum campechianum'' (blackwood, bloodwood tree, bluewood, campeachy tree, campeachy wood, campeche logwood, campeche wood, Jamaica wood, logwood or logwood tree) is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is ...

in the Laguna de Términos off Campeche, partially in retaliation for English buccaneers

Edward Neville Sir Edward Neville (died 8 December 1538) was an English courtier. He was born at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. He was the son of George Neville, 4th Baron Bergavenny and his wife Margaret, daughter of Hugh Fenn. He married Eleanor Windsor, daugh ...

and George Spurre's 1678 sack of Campeche. They sailed the Yucatan coast and took a number of ships, one of which had earlier been captured from the Spanish by English buccaneer John Coxon. Corso was known for his savagery: “The Spaniards killed two men and cruelly treated the deponent, hanging him up at the fore braces several times, beating him with their

cutlasses A cutlass is a short, broad sabre or slashing sword, with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. It was a common naval weapon during the early Age of S ...

, and striking him in the face after an inhuman cruel manner.” And later: “This Juan a month since took a boat of ours bound to

New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 246 ...

; he has killed divers of our people in cold blood. In one case he cut off a man's head because he was sick and could not row so strongly as he expected. Barbarities like these and worse he commits daily.” He returned alone and was arrested when de Castro was suspected of piracy. Released in early 1681, he rejoined de Castro and patrolled off the Cuban coastline for the next two years. Though Spanish settlements were threatened primarily by French buccaneers at the time, Corso repeatedly attacked English ships as well. English officials complained throughout 1683 and 1684 to Spanish Governors in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

and elsewhere about Corso's piracy and his increasing brutality, as well as his attack on New Providence in the Bahamas, but were rebuffed. His actions also incensed French buccaneers, who threatened to sack Cuban towns in return. In May 1685 Corso sailed again with de Castro to eliminate La Salle's new French colony on the Texas coastline. They were caught in storms and nearly driven ashore. After sending some men to look for the Frenchmen they sailed out again only to be caught in rough weather once more. Their ship was lost at sea with all hands, Corso included. The remainder of their expedition - just nine men - resorted to

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

to survive. A year later at least one of the ships he'd captured was retaken by English buccaneers and sailed into New York, where its Captain begged the government to seize it and return the vessel to its owners.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corso, Juan 17th-century pirates Year of birth missing Privateers Pirates Spanish pirates 1685 deaths Piracy in the Caribbean Spanish mass murderers

History

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Further reading

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