Hippolyte de Bouchard
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| Hippolyte de Bouchard | |
|---|---|
 Hippolyte de Bouchard
(Hipólito Bouchard) |
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| Born | August 13, 1783 Saint-Tropez, France |
| Died | January 4, 1843 Peru |
Hippolyte de Bouchard, or Hipólito Bouchard (August 13, 1783 – January 4, 1843), was a French and Argentine sailor and corsair who fought for Argentina, Chile, and Peru. In Argentina he is remembered as a hero for having raided Spanish California and raising the Argentine flag.
Bouchard was known for his heated temper, which led to incidents between him and his subordinates, to whom he meted out terrible punishment whenever they disobeyed him.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Bouchard was born in Saint-Tropez in 1783 (according to some sources,[attribution needed] he was born on January 15, 1780). The son of André Louis Bouchard and Thérese Brunet was baptized as Andre Paul but eventually went by the name Hippolyte. He initially worked in the French merchant fleet, then served in the French Navy in their campaigns against the English, thus starting his life at sea. After many campaigns in Egypt and Santo Domingo, the young Bouchard came to Argentina in 1809 and, in order to aid the May Revolution, became a part of the National Argentine Fleet, led by Azopardo. On March 2, 1811 he fought for the first time under the Argentine Flag by defeating the Spanish Captain Jacinto de Romarate in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, and in July and August of that year he played a major role in defending the City of Buenos Aires from a Spanish blockade. In March, 1812 Bouchard joined the Mounted Grenadiers Regiment led by José de San Martín and took part in the Battle of San Lorenzo in 1813, where he captured a Spanish flag and therefore was granted Argentine citizenship. Some months later he married Norberta Merlo.
[edit] Campaign with Guillermo Brown
In 1815 Bouchard started a naval campaign under the command of Admiral Guillermo Brown, wherein he attacked the fortress of El Callao and the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil. On September 12, 1815 he was granted a corsair license to fight the Spanish aboard the French-built corvette Halcón, which had been bought to the Argentine State by Vicente Anastacio Echeverría. Most of the officers were French, except for the second commander, the Englishman Robert Jones, and Ramón Freire. Before weighing anchor a conflict between Bouchard and his superiors arose when the expedition's agent, Severino Prudant, promoted several sailors. Echevarría intervened and settled the conflict.
The campaign fleet was comprised of the frigate Hercules under the command of Guillermo Brown, the Santísima Trinidad under the command of his brother, Miguel Brown, the schooner Constitución under the command of Oliverio Russell, and the Halcón. The Hércules and Santísima Trinidad set sail from Montevideo on October 24; the other two ships departed five days later. The plan was for all four ships to rendezvous at Mocha Island where they would establish a plan of operation. The Brown brothers arrived at the island on the 28th of December, with the Halcón arriving the following day. Upon arrival Bouchard announced that while circumnavigating Cape Horn his ship was exposed to fourteen days of severe weather, and it was on that basis that he had concluded that the Constitución had sunk (neither the ship nor its crew were ever seen again). On December 31 Brown and Bouchard agreed to operate together during the first hundred days of 1816. Any plunder would be divided as follows: two parts to Brown, as the commander-in-chief, and one-and-a-half parts each for the Santísima Trinidad and the Halcón. Bouchard and Miguel Brown subsequently set course for the Peruvian coast, while the Hércules sailed to the Juan Fernández Islands in order to free a number of patriots that were being held prisoner there.
On January 10, 1816 the three vessels met again near the fortress of El Callao. The ships formed a blockade and bombarded Guayaquil and its nearby the fortification. The following day the group seized the brigantine San Pablo, which was used to transport sick and injured sailors as well as the liberated prisoners. On the 13th the frigate Gobernadora was captured, and Lt. Colonel Vicente Banegas, officer of the Republican Army of Nueva Granada, joined the fleet. Four more ships were commandeered on the 18th, including the schooner Carmen and the brig Místico along with two other ships, one of which was sacked and sunk. On January 21 the Argentinian fleet again attacked the fortress, sinking the frigate Fuente Hermosa in the process. Seven days later two more vessels were captured, the frigates Candelaria and Consecuencia. The next day the expanded fleet sailed north in the search of the Guayas River. On February 7 the Argentinian contingent arrived at Puná Island, near Guayaquil. As they arrived, Guillermo Brown ordered Bouchard and his brother to stay close to the seven ships they had captured. Brown took the command of the Santísima Trinidad, with which he wanted to attack Guayaquil. The next day his attack demolished the fort of Punta de Piedras, located some five leagues from Guayaquil. However, on the 9th of February Brown failed in his attempt to take the castle of San Carlos, and was instead captured by the royalist forces. After a long negotiation, the Argentinian corsairs traded Brown for the Candelaria, three brigantines and five correspondence chests that had been taken from the Consecuencia.
After three days, Bouchard informed Brown that his ship was close to sinking and that the officers wished to return to Buenos Aires. He then asked for a division of the booty, and received the Consecuencia, the Carmen, and 3.475 pesos as compensation (he had to leave the Halcón behind). Bouchard elected to return to Buenos Aires via Cape Horn, and it was there that new incidents with the crew arose, many of which were solved with violence, such as a duel with one of his sergeants. When an officer on the Carmen notified Bouchard that the ship was in imminent danger of foundering, Bouchard nonetheless ordered the man to continue the journey. As a result, the crew mutinied and headed to the Galápagos Islands. The Consecuencia, with Bouchard still in command, made port in Buenos Aires on June 18.
[edit] Campaign with La Argentina
Bouchard decided to stay with the frigate Consecuencia for his next campaign. In concert with Vicente Echevarría the ship's name was changed to La Argentina. Preparing the ship was not an easy task, as it was very heavy and some 100 meters long. Echevarría acquired 34 artillery pieces and hired experienced carpenters to mount them in place. Upon Bouchard's request, the Argentine State gave him 4 bronze cannons and 12 iron cannons, 128 guns, and 1,700 cannonballs, but he was unable to requisition small arms such as boarding guns or sabers (even cavalry sabers). Even more difficult was finding the 180 men he needed for a crew, especially given Bouchard's reputation as ill-tempered (which dogged him after the conflicts in the Pacific). Most of the sailors he did enlist were foreigners, though some were from the provinces of Corrientes and Entre Ríos.
On June 25, with La Argentina still in port, a sailor struck one of his superiors, which was naturally considered an act of insubordination. When Bouchard discovered this he ordered the sailor's arrest, which in turn provoked his companions to act out. One of the fellow sailors attacked Commander Sommers, who killed the attacker in self defense. This did not prevent other members of the crew from barricading themselves inside the ship, which led their being forcibly removed by the marine infantry, led by Sommers. The conflict killed two crewmen and wounded four others. Following the altercation Echevarría sent a letter to Supreme Director Juan Martín de Pueyrredón explaining that the incident was the result of the crew having been stuck in Buenos Aires for an extended period, and that chances of further outbreaks would be lessend once the ship put to sea. Two days later La Argentina headed to Ensenada de Barragán, which started rumors flying that Bouchard had deserted the service. In reality, the frigate disembarked under the authority of a general order which required ships that were subjected to loading delays and such but were otherwise seaworthy leave the harbor in order that they not be caught at anchor should the Spanish attempt an invasion. On June 27 Bouchard obtained the Argentine corsair patent (a "letter of marque") that authorized him to prey on Spanish commerce, the countries of Spain and Argentina being in a state of war at the time.
On July 9, 1817 (the first anniversary of the signing of the Argentine Declaration of Independence) Bouchard set out from Ensenada de Barragán in command of La Argentina on a two-year voyage, intending to travel across the Atlantic to the African coast in order to circumnavigate around the Cape of Good Hope and engage a fleet of ships operated by the Company of the Philippines [1] that had sailed from Spain to India. However, a fire broke out on July 19, which the crew had to fight for hours until it was extinguished. Consequently, when the ship subsequently arrived in the Indian Ocean it headed northeast to Madagascar, where it laid up at Tamatave (on the east of the island) for a period of two months while repairs were effected. Once in Tamatave, a British officer requested Bouchard's assistance in preventing four "slaver" ships (three British and one French) from leaving the island, whereupon Bouchard offered the use of all his available troops. The La Argentina seized the slavers' food supplies and recruited five French sailors prior to departing Madagascar with the intent of launching attacks on the Spanish merchant vessels that sailed in region. Unfortunately, much of the crew was soon afflicted with scurvy, which required that ship's operations be conducted by those few sailors who had escaped illness. On October 18 La Argentina encountered an American frigate that passed on the news that the Company of the Philippines had ended trade with India three years prior.
La Argentina headed toward the Philippines, weathering several storms in the Sunda Strait (that divides Island of Java and Sumatra, and connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean) along the way. On November 7 Bouchard decided to land at Java in order to let his sick crew members recuperate. After leaving the island, La Argentina continued on its journey to the Philippines. Travelling through the region was fraught danger with due to the presence of Malayan pirates, and was compounded the crew's weakened condition. The pirate ships were equipped with cannons in the prow and in the stern, and were outfitted with one mast and many oars. The Lanun as they were known to the Malay people were not seen until the morning of December 7, when the watchman sighted four small ships. Combat was delayed until midday when the largest of the pirate vessels attempted to close in on La Argentina. As Bouchard preferred to instigate boarding actions and relied on hand-to-hand combat he therefore chose forgo firing upon the aggressor. La Argentina's crew prevailed and were ordered to take the ship; in the meantime, the other would-be attackers fled. Bouchard convened a "war council" to judge the prisoners, sentencing all of them to death, save for the youngest. The condemned prisoners were returned to their ship (its mast had been damaged, and it was therefore unable to flee); the combatabt ship was subjected to salvo after salvo of cannon fire from La Argentina until it was sunk with all hands aboard, and unusual method of execution to say the least.
After passing through the Makassar Strait, La Argentina crossed the Celebes Sea and made landfall on the island of Joló. There she re-supplied and headed to the Spanish port at Manila for the purpose of establishing a blockade. Upon arrival on January 31, 1818 the Argentines stopped an English frigate attempting to dock to determine whether or not it carried supplies for the Spanish colony. Bouchard attempted to hide his origin, but the frigate's captain discerned what his true intentions were and warned the Spanish authorities of his intentions. The City of Manila had fortified walls and was protected by a redoubt, Fort Sanitago, with powerful artillery. Bouchard instead began to plunder nearby vessels, all the while staying clear of the Spanish cannons. For the next two months La Argentina captured a total of 16 ships through the use of intimidating cannon fire and quick boardings, while Manila's inhabitants fell into a state of despair as the price of food doubled, and even tripled. The governor sent two armed merchant vessels, accompanied by a corvette, to engage La Argentina. The group missed its opportunity, however, as Bouchard had already departed the area on March 30.
Few days after, the ship sighted a birgantine from the Mariana Islands. When it noticed the proximity of La Argentina, it fled to the port of Santa Cruz. The Argentine frigate was unable to approach the harbor because of its draft, so Bouchard ordered Sommers, Greissac and Van Buren to use three boats to capture the ship. The three officers and many crew members started to approach the birgantine that had not arrived to the port. Sommers managed to arrive get very close to the vessel when it anchored but his boat sunk as it crashed with the hull of the enemy ship. The birgantine's crew, instead of taking them prisoners they decided to attack them and killed fourteen of them. The others were recued by Greissac y Van Buren and returned to the frigate.
Bouchard wanted a revenge for the deaths but in order to capture the birgantine he needed a vessel with a smaller stern. So he Greissac to lead some sailors and take any of the schooners that sailed near the port. Once captured, Bouchard put a number of cannons in her and sent on her Greissac and Oliver leading 35 sailors. The schooner attacked on April 10 but the birgantine's crew had fled. When they were away from Santa Cruz, the Argentines took a Spanish schooner loaded with precious objects. However, because of the strong winds it was possible to send only an officer and eight sailors to sail the vessel. The schooner was on sight until April 15, possibly the insubordination was caused by the value of the shipment. La Argentina travelled to the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) to find new crew members to replace the those who had died from scurvy. Bouchard hired Sir Peter Corney to captain the Santa Rosa, a captured ship whose crew had mutinied.
On November 20 Bouchard raided El Presidio de Monterey in Monterey, California. Soon thereafter, Bouchard's forces approached the coast near the Mission Santa Barbara and threatened the nearby town. The padres armed and trained 150 of their neophyte charges to prepare for attack. With their help, the soldiers at El Presidio de Santa Bárbara confronted Bouchard, who sailed out of the harbor without attacking.[1] The privateer brought La Argentina and the Santa Rosa to within sight of Mission San Juan Capistrano on December 14 and sent forth an envoy with a demand for provisions. The garrison soldiers were aware that Bouchard had recently conducted raids on the settlements at Monterey and Santa Barbara, so the demand was rebuffed and threats of reprisals were made. In response, Bouchard ordered an assault on the Mission, sending some 140 men and a trio of cannon to take the needed supplies by force. The Mission guards engaged the attackers but were overwhelmed, and the marauders left several damaged buildings in their wake, including the Governor's house, the King's stores, and the barracks. Among the Spanish settlements in California the raids earned Bouchard a reputation as "California's only pirate"[2] (and was therefore often referred to as Pirata Buchar by the Spanish colonists of the day).[3]
In his adopted country of Argentina, Bouchard is revered as a patriot and several places (one being a major avenue in Buenos Aires) are named in his honor.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Jones, Roger W. (1997). California from the Conquistadores to the Legends of Laguna. Rockledge Enterprises, Laguna Hills, CA.
- Leffingwell, Randy (2005). California Missions and Presidios. Voyageur Press, Inc., Stillwater, MN. 0-89658-492-5.
- Yenne, Bill (2004). The Missions of California. Advantage Publshers Group, San Diego, CA. 1-59223-319-8.
[edit] Further reading
- Bartolomé Mitre (1909), Páginas de Historia, Buenos Aires: La Nación
- Cichero, Daniel E. (1999), El corsario del plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. ISBN 950-07-1560-0
- De Marco, Miguel Ángel (2002), Corsarios Argentinos, Buenos Aires, Argentina. ISBN 950-49-0944-2
- Departamento de Estudios Históricos Navales de la Armada Argentina (1987), Historia marítima Argentina: Tomo V, Buenos Aires, Argentina. ISBN 950-9257-05-2
- Gregory, Kristiana. The Stowaway: A Tale of California Pirates. Scholastic Trade, 1995. ISBN 0-590-48822-8
- Pitt, Leonard. Decline of the Californios : A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californians, 1846-1890. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1970. ISBN 0-520-01637-8
[edit] See also
- USS Borie (DD-704), a United States Navy destroyer sold to Argentina in July, 1972 and renamed Hipólito Bouchard; the ship saw action in the Falklands War.
[edit] External links
- The California State Military Museum - Spanish and Mexican California: Hippolyte de Bouchard and His Attacks on the California Missions
- The Day Pirates Sacked the Mission article at the Mission San Juan Capistrano official website — URL accessed on December 2, 2005.
- Hipólito (Hypolite) Bouchard and the Raid of 1818 article at the Monterey County Historical Society official website — URL accessed on December 2, 2005.
- Hippolyte de Bouchard - Pirate
- Todo-Argentina.net - Biographical summary (in Spanish).
- Long biography
