Michel de Grammont facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Michel de Grammont
Born	c. 1645 Paris, Kingdom of France
Died	April 1686 near St. Augustine, Florida
Piratical career
Nickname	Chevalier de Grammont
Type	Buccaneer
Allegiance	France
Years active	c. 1670 - 1686
Rank	Admiral
Base of operations	Caribbean
Commands	Hardi

Michel de Grammont (born around 1645 – died 1686?) was a French privateer. A privateer was like a pirate, but they had permission from their government to attack enemy ships. Michel de Grammont was born in Paris, Kingdom of France. He was lost at sea in the north-east Caribbean in April 1686. His career as a privateer lasted from about 1670 to 1686. During this time, he commanded his main ship, the Hardi. He mostly attacked places held by Spain, such as Maracaibo, Gibraltar, Trujillo, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, Cumana, and Veracruz.

Michel de Grammont's Early Life and Adventures

Michel de Grammont was a nobleman. He had to leave France after a serious disagreement. He went to Hispaniola, an island in the Caribbean. There, he was given a French ship and started working as a privateer.

His first big success was capturing a group of Dutch ships. These ships were carrying goods worth about 400,000 livres, which was a huge amount of money back then! On his next trip, his ship hit a reef and sank. Grammont then moved to Tortuga. He bought and prepared a new ship there. He used this ship to attack Spanish trading vessels.

When the Franco-Dutch War started between France and the Dutch Republic in 1678, Grammont joined a French fleet. This fleet was led by Comte d'Estrées. They planned to attack the Dutch island of Curaçao. However, the entire fleet of 17 ships was wrecked on the Las Aves Archipelago.

Leading a Fleet and Raiding Venezuela

In June 1678, Michel de Grammont became the commander of six ships and 700 men. These were the ships and men saved from the Las Aves disaster. De Grammont led his men to Venezuela, which was controlled by Spain. They captured Maracaibo and several smaller towns, including Gibraltar. They even went as far inland as Trujillo. For the next six months, the privateers took many valuable things from the whole region.

Sieur de Grammont entering a fort during a raid.

Attacking Puerto Principe, Cuba

On February 22, 1679, Grammont decided to attack Puerto Principe, which is now Camaguey city in Cuba. Early the next morning, Grammont and his 600 men were spotted near the town. A priest named Francisco Garcerán quickly rode back to town. He rang the church bells to warn everyone. The people of the town took their valuable items and hid them. Because of this, Grammont and his men did not find much to take.

To make things worse, on their way back to their ships, Grammont's forces were ambushed. They had to fight hard to escape. They lost many men but managed to get away with the rest of their crew and sail off.

Joining Forces and Raiding La Guaira

In May 1680, de Grammont teamed up with other privateers, Thomas Paine and William Wright, at Blanquilla Island. Their next target was La Guaira, a port city in Caracas. Only 47 of Grammont's 180 followers took part in the actual attack on the town. La Guaira was well protected by two forts and cannons on its walls.

The next day, Grammont heard that 2000 soldiers were coming from Caracas. Since more enemies were gathering nearby, he had to retreat to his ships. This was a difficult move. For two hours, de Grammont and a few of his bravest friends protected the others as they got onto the ships from the Spanish attacks. He was badly wounded in the throat but only lost eight or nine men in the whole fight. He captured the Governor of La Guaira and many other prisoners, but they didn't get much treasure. De Grammont went to the Isle d'Aves to recover from his wound. After a long time, he returned to Petit Goave.

Working with Other Privateers

After he recovered, de Grammont commanded eight ships. He didn't have much success until 1682. At the request of the governor of Petit-Goâve (now in Haiti), he joined Nicholas van Hoorn to attack Spanish ships. During this time, they attacked ships that belonged to the Dutch privateer Laurens de Graaf, though they didn't know it at the time. When they met de Graaf on Bonaco Island, they asked him to join them. De Graaf first said no, but later agreed.

On May 17, 1683, de Grammont, van Hoorn, Yankey Willems, Jacob Evertson, Jean Tristan, de Graaf, and several others attacked Veracruz in Mexico. They took 4,000 prisoners for ransom. Using two captured Spanish ships at the front, Yankey Willems and Laurens de Graaf were able to sneak into the Spanish harbor early in the morning. They landed a small group of men on shore. The privateers caught the soldiers guarding the city by surprise. Many soldiers were still sleeping. They took out the city's defenses, allowing the rest of the fleet to enter the harbor. After three or four days, Willems and the others looted the town. They then left when they saw the New Spain fleet approaching. Later, Grammont raided Spanish settlements in Florida, including St. Augustine. This forced people to move further south.

Final Raids and Disappearance

In July 1685, de Grammont and de Graaf attacked the Mexican city of Campeche. They spent two months taking things from the city but didn't find much treasure. De Grammont then sent a demand for ransom to the governor, who refused. De Grammont started to execute prisoners to get what he wanted. However, de Graaf stopped the executions, and de Grammont decided to leave his allies.

Michel de Grammont was last seen in April 1686. He was heading northeast, planning a raid off St. Augustine, Florida, with another French privateer named Nicolas Brigaut. Spanish soldiers captured and executed Brigaut when his ship got stuck near Matanzas Inlet. Brigaut was waiting for Grammont to rescue him and his sailors. But the rescue never came. Grammont's ship was caught in the same storm that wrecked Brigaut's vessel. Grammont's ship was lost with everyone on board.

See also

In Spanish: Michel de Grandmont para niños

• List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea

Books

• Pickering, David (2006) Pirates. CollinsGem. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY. pp-59.