Jacques Cassard (30 September 1679 – 1740) was a French naval officer and privateer.
Biography
Born on 30 September 1679 to a family of merchants of Nantes, Cassard began a career as a sailor at age 14 on the merchantmen owned by his family. In January 1697, he joined the French Navy on bombship ''Éclatante''. In 1700, Cassard became a merchantman captain. The next year, the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
broke out, and Cassard converted to a
privateer. In 1705, he captained the privateer ''Saint Guillaume'', capturing 12 merchantmen and raiding
Cork. Two years later, he captured 13 merchantmen with the ''Duchesse Anne'', earning a rank in the Navy. In 1709, Cassard, promoted to Commander, was tasked to escort a 25-ship food convoy on the 68-gun
''Éclatant''. On 29 April, supported by
''Sérieux'', he defeated five English ships, allowing the convoy to safely reach
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
.
The next year, Cassard lead a squadron comprising the 74-gun
''Parfait'', the 58-gun
''Sérieux'' and the 50-gun
''Phénix'' and the 60-gun
''Sirène'', with his flag on ''Parfait''. He was tasked to escort an 84-ship convoy inbound from
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
that had become blockaded at
Syracuse by a British fleet. He captured
HMS ''Pembroke'', while ''Sérieux'' secured the surrender of the 32-gun
HMS ''Falcon'' in the 9 November
Battle of Syracuse. The convoy reach
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department.
The Commune of Toulon h ...
. In 1711, Cassard again secured the way for a 43-ship convoy bound for
Pensacola. In December 1711, Cassard obtained the command of a 6-ship squadron and embarked on
an expedition in which he raided English, Dutch and Portuguese colonies in
Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
and in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
.
On 10 October 1712, Cassard captured the plantation of
Meerzorg in
Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...
for France, and threatened
Paramaribo
Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...
across the
Suriname River. Negotiations started, and on 27 October Cassard left with ƒ747,350 (€8.1 million in 2018) worth of goods and slaves.
After the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...
and the end of the war in 1713, Cassard started numerous trials to obtain payments.
Cassard retired in 1731. In 1736, he was declared insane after insulting the
Cardinal de Fleury, and detained in
Ham, where he died four years later.
Honours
*
Knight of the Order of Saint Louis (1719)
* Numerous ships of the French Navy named
''Cassard'' after him
* A Sea scout group (
Scouts et Guides de France) is named after him in
Nantes
Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
See also
*
Cassard expedition
References
External links
* Edward Phillips Statham
Privateers and Privateering- Cambridge University Press, 2011, , Chapter XV "Jacques Cassard", pages 229-240
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassard, Jacques
French privateers
French naval commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession
1679 births
1740 deaths
Military personnel from Nantes
Knights of the Order of Saint Louis