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Capture of the schoonerBravo
Part ofWest Indies Anti-Piracy Operations,Piracy in the Caribbean
A picture of USRCLouisiana
Date August 31, 1819 Location offFlorida,United States,Gulf of Mexico Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Caribbean pirates
Commanders and leaders
William H. Crawford Jairus Loomis	Jean La Farges
Strength
2schooners	1 schooner
Casualties and losses
Unknown	1 schooner captured

Thecapture of the schoonerBravo was a naval battle fought in 1819 betweenUnited States Revenue Cutter Service cutters and one ofJean Lafitte'spirate ships.

In early 1819, the two U.S.Revenue CuttersUSRC Alabama andUSRC Louisiana had just been constructed inNew York City at a cost of $4,500 each. The twosister ships, each equipped with a singlepivot gun in the 9- to 18-pounder range, were dispatched to theGulf of Mexico to conduct counter-piracy patrols.

In August 1819,Alabama was temporarily assigned toNew Orleans to help thwart the pirate incidents in those waters withLouisiana. On 31 August, the two ships were sailing the Gulf off southernFlorida when they sighted theschoonerBravo. U.S. Revenue-Marine Captain Jairus Loomis crew gave chase and eventually came within firing range.Bravo resisted and a brief gunnery duel occurred, in which the first officer and three crew members ofLouisiana were wounded. Several pirates were killed in action.^[1] The Americans then boardedBravo and the pirates were captured.Jean La Farges, who commanded the suspected privateer, was alieutenant of French pirateJean Lafitte. Apparently noletter of marque was presented to the Americans, which explained why the pirates fled at the sight of the Revenue Cutter schooners. Jean La Farges was subsequently hanged in Louisiana on May 25, 1820.^[2]

In the following years, more battles occurred between United States naval forces and pirates in the Gulf of Mexico and theCaribbean. On 19 April 1819,Alabama andLouisiana destroyed a pirate base at thePatterson's Town Raid onBreton Island,Louisiana. Another action was fought on 10 July 1820 when theCaptainLouisiana Jairus Loomis captured four pirate ships offBelize. On 2 November 1822,Louisiana along withUSS Peacock and theRoyal Navy schoonerHMS Speedwell captured five pirate vessels offHavana,Cuba.

Louisiana's career was soon over. In March 1824 she was put up for public auction.Alabama eventually went on to fight theslave trade in theAtlantic until she was sold inFlorida on 6 August 1833.

• Barbary Wars
• Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa

• Official U.S. Coast Guard history page
• Donald Canney.U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995.
• U.S. Coast Guard.Record of Movements: Vessels of the United States Coast Guard: 1790 - December 31, 1933. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934–1989

• Anti-piracy battles involving the United States
• History of Louisiana
• United States Revenue Cutter Service
• 19th-century military history of the United States
• August 1819

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