Dash: American Ghost Ship

In the early 19^th century Britain and France were fighting the Napoleonic Wars. Despite President Thomas Jefferson and then-President James Madison’s efforts to keep neutral-- America found itself right in the middle of this conflict.

British impressment of Americans into service.

British and French trade restrictions disrupted American business, which had a devastating impact on our shipping industry and country.

These two country's privateers and military vessels blocked our ports and harassed American ships. The British took this a step further when they began to use impressment to steal American men and goods into their service.

President Madison’s response was to impose the economic Embargo Act of 1807. It mainly kept American ships bottled up in harbors along the East Coast.

This Embargo backfired for since it restricted our ships from trading for needed goods—it hurt the American people even more.

Also, ironically, this embargo didn’t stop the British harassment, which further damaged the American economy. The end result was President Madison declared war against Great Britain in 1812.

Privateering during the War of 1812.

During the War of 1812, the U.S. used government-licensed private armed vessels, known as privateers. These ships were not part of the American navy. Their task was to detain, seize, and take enemy vessels, their crews, and their goods. They then would bring these men into U.S. ports for prosecution.

So privateers were in part sanctioned pirate ships.

Dash

One such ship was a topsail schooner called Dash. It was built in 1813 in Freeport, Maine.

Dash was a half model or what is called a Hawk nest. This meant she had 16 guns and another ten fake “Quaker” wooden ones to fool the enemy.

She was built for speed and eventually was re-rigged with a unique sail to increase her already impressive speed.

The Dash was able to break Portland’s blockade three times in 1813, with a cargo of lumber for trade. She returned from the West Indies, having traded for coffee and sugar cane.

In September of 1814, she was commissioned as a privateer. She was re-armed with more guns and more men—mostly from Freeport. This vessel was able to capture fourteen enemy ships—all without one single injury to her crew.

In January of 1815, she left port with another privateer, the Chamberlain. She pulled ahead but ran into a heavy gale. The Chamberlain turned back but the Dash continued.

She was never heard from again. It is not known what happened to her, but some speculate that her captain underestimated her speed and ran her aground on the treacherous shoals of the Georges Banks.

Within months of the Dash’s disappearance, fishermen in Casco Bay swore they saw this ship bearing down on them through a mist. As this ship turned and headed for Freeport, they clearly saw the words “Dash—Freeport” written on her bow.

Over the years, these sightings continued, at one point they even increased. Fishermen and other boaters reported that this schooner seemed to appear out of nowhere—always in a fog.

Foggy Casco Bay

Witnesses noted that despite the fact there wasn’t any breeze this did not prevent this sailing ship from moving quickly.

As more sightings of this ship were noted, a legend began to be circulated about Dash. It states that when a descendant of one of Dash’s sixty crewmembers dies this ship returns to bear these loved ones on their final journey.

One impressive witness sighting occurred in the 1940s, during WWll. A U.S. naval ship and Coast Guard boats that were protecting Casco Bay saw an unusual sight one foggy afternoon.

A blip was noticed on their radar screens. These vessels headed for the spot. As the sirens went off and all men reported to their stations, they were surprised to see a 19^th century sailing schooner.

It was cruising along the channel headed for Freeport. By the time they reached this old ship, it had disappeared.

This sighting has been written about several times and has gone down as one of the most bizarre occurrences on the East Coast during the war.

Jean Lafitte: Pirate Ghost

In the early 19^th century Jean Lafitte was known for his piracy in the Gulf of Mexico, he was also known for his heroism during the Battle of New Orleans. 

But did his good traits cancel out his bad characteristics? 

On three separate occasions, U.S. presidents condemned and then exonerated and again condemned his actions. Some considered him a hero; others considered him a rogue. Either way, he was one of the most colorful characters in history.

Lafitte hated being called a pirate.

“I am not a pirate—I am a Corsair (owner of) a privateer.”

                                                                                Jean Lafitte

Louisiana became a United States territory in 1804 with the Louisiana Purchase. In 1805 Jean and his elder brother Pierre operated a warehouse in New Orleans—they used it to dispense the goods Pierre smuggled. 

When the U.S. government passed the Embargo Act of 1807, the brothers moved their operations to an island in Barataria Bay. 

By 1810 this new port was a success, and the bothers continued smuggling and started to engage in piracy. Through this activity, Jean Lafitte gained a fleet of ships.

President Madison put the Embargo Act in place to stop American ships from docking at foreign ports—it was hoped this act would ensure Americans would not trade with either Britain or France who was engaged in a war. 

Madison wanted to prevent the appearance that the Americans were favoring one country over the other. This put a great hardship upon American merchants and the economy, especially in the south. 

The embargo didn’t work, and in fact, it was the reason we became involved in the War of 1812 with Britain.

Jean Lafitte being an entrepreneur and astute diplomat was able to take an island in Barataria full of shiftless seafarers, and fisherman and turn them into an organized group of buccaneers, smugglers, and wholesalers. 

From the ships, they plundered off the Caribbean Coast, and the Atlantic he and his crews kept a constant flow of black-market provisions—including negro slaves who were an essential commodity to the south-- moving through the Mississippi Delta to help feed and clothe Louisiana. 

As a result, he won the praise of the local rich and poor alike, and for a time the authorities even turned a blind eye.

Boldly Lafitte advertised his market days on billboards and posters throughout New Orleans:

COME ONE! COME ALL!

TO JEAN LAFITTE'S

BAZAAR & SLAVE AUCTION

TOMORROW

AT THE TEMPLE

***FOR YOUR DELIGHT***

CLOTHING GEMS & KNICK-KNACKS

FROM THE SEVEN SEAS

“The Temple” was named after an ancient Indian sacrificial altar. Lafitte and his brother chose this spot because it was accessible and halfway between New Orleans and Barataria Bay.

Barataria Bay

Jean Lafitte was considered a gentleman pirate. He never attacked an American ship; in fact, he respected the American Constitution and American ideals. 

He was a man without a country, and he hoped that one day his Barataria island kingdom would become a part of these same ideals. 

Despite Lafitte’s shifty methods his steady supply of clothes, spices and, furniture, etc.—all sold at discount prices—while avoiding high tariffs--helped New Orlean residents survive and thrive.

In 1814 a new territorial governor, W.C.C. Claiborne decided Lafitte should not be accepted into polite society anymore. Claiborne made sure Lafitte was harassed, and that his island home at Barataria was destroyed. 

He then imprisoned Lafitte. But Lafitte proved that America meant more to him than his own personal wealth. With the War of 1812 underway, Americans needed ships and men. Lafitte and his men back at sea in 1815 helped Andrew Jackson protect New Orleans and the entire Mississippi River from the British.

Lafitte National Historical Park and Reserve

His contemporaries described Lafitte as a man of grace and elegant manners—accomplished in conversation. 

Yet this was the man who was often described as the “ferocious head of desperadoes.” Unfortunately, the nation that he trusted did not trust him. 

When he sailed away from American shores for the last time, he felt betrayed by a country that didn’t understand him. Whether he was pirate, thief, businessman, or savior—Jean Lafitte lives on as a hero.

Many witnesses in the Gulf of Mexico report ghostly sightings of Jean Lafitte and his fleet of ships. 

Workers on oil platforms throughout the Gulf state they have seen a billow of sails on the horizon before sunset, always heading east. 

Crews of offshore supply vessels describe hearing the flapping of sail riggings and the cry of phantom voices, calling out commands to their ghostly crews in the Creole patois once spoken in Barataria. 

Small boats have felt the passage of an entire ghostly fleet that is unseen but produces visible white foam where their bows break the waves—finished passing they leave a tremendous wake in the dark waters.

One three-man crew on a charter fishing boat, anchored off the Grand Isle near Barataria Bay in the dead of night reported that they all saw an apparition of a pale man, clad in black and wearing a wide-brim hat such as the one Lafitte wore, standing on the aft deck of their sport fisherman. 

They stated the apparition looked at them forlornly then turned his head in the direction of Louisiana and disappeared before their eyes.

Many believe that when Lafitte’s ghostly fleet is seen it is a protective harbinger that warns something bad or evil is about to befall the Louisiana coast. The apparition of Jean Lafitte and his fleet were spotted just before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

On dry land, the ghost of Lafitte is seen at the Blacksmith shop his brother owned in the French Quarter in New Orleans. 

While alive, Lafitte and his brother were said to plan their raids in this shop. 

Today this structure is a bar. Several witnesses have seen Lafitte sitting in the dark at a table in the rear. He holds a brandy in one hand, and the smell of cigar smoke surrounds him. When they look again, his figure is gone.

 Others state that they have encountered him in the bar’s ladies room.