Francois le Clerc

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Francois le Clerc, known as Jambe de Bois (or Wooden Leg), was a 16th century French privateer who led an expedition of eight ships in raids against Spanish strongholds and shipping in Puerto Rico and Hispanola during the 1550s [1], known for sacking Santiago de Cuba in 1554. He, along with his crew of 330 men, were the first Europeans to settle the island of St. Luca and used the nearby Pigeon Island to target Spanish treasure galleons [2].

In 1560, while awaiting a Spanish treasure fleet carrying a cargo of bullion, he caused a great deal of damage to settlements along the coast of Panama

Interestingly enough, he is credited as the first pirate in the modern era to have a "peg leg".

[edit] Further reading

Maxwell, Kenneth. Naked Tropics: Essays on Empire and Other Rogues. London: Routledge (UK), 2003. ISBN 0-415-94576-3
Mcgrath, John Terrence. The French in Early Florida: In the Eye of the Hurricane. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2000. ISBN 0-8130-1784-X