José Joaquim Almeida (1777 – February 14, 1832) was a Portuguese-born American privateer who fought in the Anglo-American War of 1812 and the Argentine War of Independence.
Biography José Joaquim Almeida (Almeyda or D'Almeyda) was born around 1777 on São Miguel Island, Azores Islands (Portugal). He was the son of José Almeida and Ana.
From a young age he devoted himself to naval craft. He emigrated to the United States in 1796, at 19 years old, settling in Baltimore, Maryland, where he obtained citizenship, devoted himself to maritime trade. He later married the young immigrant Teresa Ana. He was soon well known in Baltimore, as Joseph, father of ten children, owner of a home in Duke Street, and a war hero.
War of 1812 When the War of 1812 began between the United States and Great Britain, Almeida participated as a privateer in the fight against the British. He brought in 16 investors who bought his schooner Joseph & Mary, which measured 139 tons, and he only kept one share. Joseph & Mary, under Captain William Westcott, was hit by friendly fire, and after capturing only two ships (Piscataqua and a sloop) was captured on November 25, 1812, near Cuba by the British frigate HMS Narcissus.Jeffrey Orenstein, "Joseph Almeida: Portrait of a Privateer, Pirate & Plaintiff, Part 1," The Green Bag, Second Series, Volume 10, Number 3 (Spring 2007), The Green Bag, Inc., in cooperation with the George Mason University School of Law.
Despite this failure, which was lightened by the fact that he only kept one part of the ship, Almeida recovered quickly. As captain of the schooner Caroline, and later Kemp, Almeida captured over 35 British ships and earned $300,000 in net profit. His brilliant performance as a sailor and tactician also enriched his funding partners and made him a war hero, especially when, in the winter of 1814, Kemp successfully attacked a convoy of nine British ships.
Almeida sailed with Kemp in late November 1814 from Wilmington, North Carolina, to make a cruise to the West Indies. On December 1, in the Gulf Stream, the ship chased a convoy of eight British merchant ships protected by a frigate, which in turn launched in pursuit of the privateer. At night, Kemp was able to lose the pursuit and on the morning of the next day turned on the merchantmen again. At noon on December 3 he found them lined up in battle formation; at 14:00 hours he launched an attack, unleashing his artillery on both sides, then attacking other ships. After an hour and a half, they all had surrendered. Kemp lacked enough men to operate all the ships so they selected four, and left the rest to continue.
In a campaign of only six days, which was perhaps the boldest blow given by a privateer from Baltimore, Almeida defeated eight ships without any assistance, sacked four that contained 46 guns and 430 men, who were sent to Charleston. One only of the ships he caught, Rosabella of 261 tons, loaded with sugar and coffee, was estimated at $300,000 (although in that case it was destroyed upon entering the port).
The press celebrated his return to the feat and proudly Almeida said "Like the gallant Perry, we can say 'we have met the enemy and they are ours.' " The actions of Kemp became one of the greatest privateering achievements in the War of 1812.
In total Kemp captured 11 enemy ships, including the packet and brig Portsea, vessels Ottawa and Princess, the sloop P. W. Mynes, and the schooner Resolution.
The capture of a British brig loaded with hundreds of slaves, the 129-ton schooner Caroline, under Almeida's command resulted in a judicial action that established jurisprudence in the United States. Almeida tried to sell the slaves as prize goods covered under the Prize Act of 1812, but was opposed by Thomas Parker, the District Attorney of South Carolina, on the grounds that assuming ownership was a contradiction of the Prohibition Act of 1807, which banned the importation of slaves. Parker argued that the sale of slaves did in fact amount to importation and "claimed the slaves on behalf of the United States as prisoners of war." Almeida v. Certain Slaves, which was considered one of the most important legal cases of the period, was filed before District Judge John Drayton, the former governor of South Carolina. Despite the arguments of Almeida's attorney, Robert Y. Hayne, Drayton ruled against Almeida.
With Caroline, Almeida captured 24 ships, including the brigs Drake, Abel, Elizabeth, Elizabeth City, Experience, Criterion and Stephen, the schooners Carlscrona, Fanny, Jasper, Jason, and Mariner, the boats Joachim and Eliza, and sloops Osiris, Industry, Mary, and Peggy.
After the war he went into business with a new schooner, Friends Hope. While in New Orleans he heard from the Spanish expedition under General Pablo Morillo, and wanting to take advantage of trade restrictions in the area, went to Cartagena de Indias, Viceroyalty of New Granada, to smuggle. Arriving in Cartagena in December 1815 he was fooled by the Patriot flag flying and not seeing anything suspicious looking, entered port, where they were captured by Spanish forces. The ship and its cargo were confiscated and Almeida and his men were stripped, brutally beaten with rifle butts and locked in a dank prison until his transfer to Cartagena, which Almeida called "the most painful march, during which we suffered more than you can describe." The prisoners, including the battered crew, were forced to march barefoot from Cartagena to Santa Marta, Colombia, during which several of the men died.
Although he was soon released and returned to Baltimore, Almeida was left without a livelihood and was marked by the experience and the desire for revenge by the simple desire of wealth, which marked his career from that time on: "the hatred that burned in my abuse and the loss of my private property led me to enlist in the South American service".
In Baltimore, he met Thomas Taylor, who was acting as a privateer of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, and agreed to join in the fight. They visited the offices of D'Arcy and Didier, one of the largest trading houses in the city and a company with a long history of funding privateers during the War of 1812, and left with six blank privateering licenses and an offer from David Curtis DeForest, a major American businessman living in Buenos Aires. If they obtained the necessary funding to outfit the vessels, DeForest would provide commissions and act as an agent in Buenos Aires, taking care of the paperwork for awarding the prizes and providing the necessary legal and political coverage. D'Arcy & Didier as financiers would receive 50% of the proceeds of the auction of prizes; DeForest would receive 10%, with the rest for the captain and his crew.
United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata (River of Silver) Indeed, on August 1, 1815, the owner DeForest, had applied carte blanche to operate with General Belgrano, the Tucumán, Criollo from Buenos Aires and Potosi, Bolivia. On August 31, the government granted a patent that on September 30 was extended to the Congress in Buenos Aires to replace Belgrano.
First cruise
On May 14, 1816, Almeida left from Baltimore in command of the schooner Congress, the former Orb, measuring 165 tons, and bearing copper-lined helmets, armed with 7 to 9 long guns, one of them rotating, and manned with 75 men. Orb had acted as a privateer in the War of 1812 under Captain Robert Hart, and was armed by the house D'Arcy and Didier (Henry Didier Jr. and John N. D' Arcy). Off the coast of Virginia, Almeida raised the Argentine flag, which was accompanied by a salvo of guns, signalling the start of their first cruise.
The plan, although it was made under a false name, was detected by Spanish agents in that city, who reported that he planned to "attempt a coup for Santa Elena to rescue Bonaparte."
Soon Congress caught its first prey, including the brig San Andrés (June 21, 1816, declared fair game September 30), brig Sereno (June 24, 1816), the frigate NS de Gracia to the Bold (June 25, 1816, declared good prize on 29 October) and the schooner Leone (June 25, 1816, with cargo valued at $200,000, declared fair game on August 31) .
In July 1816, Congress appeared in Cape St. Vincent, and on July 9, after addressing a small jabeque and looting a brig loaded with copper, which was abandoned, Almeida captured the 75-ton brig, Tres Amigos. On July 22, 1816, the first capture occurred in the waters near the Bay of Cádiz, at Cape Sao Vicente. Congress, commanded by Almeida, captured the polacre San Francisco that was heading to Cartagena, Spain from Santiago de Cuba. He captured the brig Leon and Charlotte (July 25) next.
Other prizes from the campaign were the frigate San Rafael, the launches Diamond, the Two Brothers and Carmen, the schooner San Francisco de Paula and the mystical Lady of Sorrows. Between June and September, Congress, along with four other privateers from Buenos Aires, captured prizes valued at over $3,000,000 US.
After operating for a time in the Cadiz, Spain waters, Almeida went to the Caribbean, where he made numerous captures and intercepted a significant correspondence between the authorities of Mexico and Spain.
On September 25, 1816 Congress returned to Buenos Aires and was topped, thus ending his campaign.
Second cruise
On October 18, Almeida headed a consortium of investors from Baltimore, represented by Stevenson & Goowdin, and he purchased the ship at auction to continue the privateering voyage alone. According to the request, on November 7 the government issued him a carte blanche on bond No. 67, financed by Juan Pedro de Aguirre, who also owned 20%.
It is maintained that the "letter of marque against the Spanish flag " authorized by the " Supreme Director of the United Provinces of South America" to "state war schooner, named Congress, its captain Jose Almeida; given in Buenos Aires on November 7, 1816", signed by Juan Martín de Avellaneda and Juan Florencio Terrada, interim secretary.
Meanwhile, he requested citizenship but was denied by Juan Martín de Pueyrredón, the Supreme Director of the United Provinces, on October 25, 1816, stating that the letter of marque was sufficient for the purpose of proving that he acted in the service of the nation and not as a mere pirate.
Finally, Almeida started in mid-November in command of the schooner Congress for a second season in the Caribbean Sea, especially on the island of Cuba. Then he maintained an active trade with Spain.
As part of its mission, they carried the Colonel Manuel Dorrego to the United States, by order of Pueyrredón, but being found sick and at his request they moved him to the captured schooner San Antonio in the vicinity of Cuba. In just ten days, Almeida made 16 captures and while he continued at the rate of the four-month campaign, those waters gave huge profits. Among the prizes were the brig San Antonio de Padua, captured on January 28, 1817, with a cargo of sugar, snuff, and silk scarves (burned); the schooner New Catalina; the brig San Antonio Abad (February 19), of Veracruz and in ballast, that was burned; the brig Paz on February 24 on a trip from Sisal to Havana; the brig San Jose from Campeche to Havana with cargo of brandy and wine; and the schooners Mary and Squirrel (with load of sarsaparilla and $2,000, burned).
Regarding the schooner New Catalina, captured on February 9, 1817: while trying to capture the ship, Almeida confronted the Spanish war brig Fernando VII, despite a clear inferiority in firepower. However, in the night it was recaptured by the Spanish privateer brig Campedor. Almeida then attacked Campedor, which eventually withdrew itself. After recovering New Catalina, Almeida set her ablaze because she was in bad shape after the fight.