Boss of the Bayou, a Novel of Jean Lafitte While Governor Claiborne takes charge of the Louisiana Purchase, Jean Lafitte takes over Barataria. The fate of the young United States hangs in the balance, and only a pirate can save it. In the early 19th Century, adventurers came to seek their fortunes in the New World. Jean and Pierre Lafitte came to New Orleans as the city was moving from French to American rule. Jean Lafitte was uniquely qualified to lead the territory known as Barataria, 2000 acres of wild bayou outside the city, a nest of smugglers and pirates. He sailed the Caribbean as a corsair. His brother Pierre was an honest merchant who was ruined when a Spanish captain ransacked their ship. Jean vowed revenge on the Spanish. He sold plunder and slaves at auction in a place called the Temple. He lived on Grande Terre, where he scanned the horizon with a spyglass. One day a storm blew up in the Gulf, a schooner capsized, and a man clung to the hull. Lafitte sailed out to rescue him. Stephen Henderson was the master of Destrehan plantation, 1500 acres of sugar cane and 200 slaves. Lafitte sent a gift for the lady of the house, Zelia. He visited, and they became friends. Although it was against the law, Zelia was teaching their slaves to read and write, and Stephen built a schoolhouse on the property. Newly-arrived Africans started a slave rebellion. Stephen held off the howling mob. After a standoff, they continued toward the city. Claiborne sent out the militia to kill them. Zelia was friends with Claiborne's wife Angelique, a coquette who was having an affair with attorney John Grymes. Jean Lafitte turned to piracy when he captured a Spanish vessel. He preyed on all ships except those of France or America. He persuaded the other pirates to give clear passage to American ships, because it was bad for business. This caused a conflict with Gambio, who insisted on attacking ships of all nations. There was a mutiny which Lafitte squelched with a bullet. The disappearance of an American ship, the Corinthian, caused much talk in the city, pointing the blame at Lafitte. General Humbert's birthday party became a fiasco when Humbert denounced the Baratarians as pirates. The clash almost caused a riot in the Hotel de la Marine, until Jean Lafitte calmed down his renegade captains. Governor Claiborne sent dragoons into the bayou. One moonlit night there was a skirmish. The brothers were caught with smuggled goods, arrested and brought into the city. The banker Sauvinet bailed them out with Lafitte money, and Jean made good his escape, but Pierre came back into town to visit his lady love Marie Villars, a Creole beauty who was part black. Pierre was clapped into prison. There he befriended three slaves named Sam, Caesar and Hamilcar. Jean Lafitte shunned women until he fell in love with Catherine Villars, the younger sister of Marie. He had met his match. Pierre escaped, along with the three blacks, leading to perilous adventures as they make their way through the bayou. Claiborne sent the navy to clean out Barataria and they captured ten ships and hundreds of men. All Lafitte had left was a storehouse of musket flints and gunpowder. In the War of 1812, the British marched on New Orleans. When Andrew Jackson came to defend the city, his army needed ammunition. Lafitte negotiated a trade: flints and powder for his men's freedom. Jackson agreed to give any man who would fight for the United States a pardon and citizenship. Free men of color, French, Kentucky riflemen, Choctaw braves, and Tennessee regulars all fought in the Battle of New Orleans. Baratarians Rene Beluche and Dominic You manned the artillery as cannoneers. Around 2,000 British were killed and only eight American. The battle consolidated the Louisiana Purchase and gained respect for the new nation. Lafitte and his captains sailed away to Galveston and passed into legend.