Louisa (Quasi-War privateer)

Louisa firing on French privateers from Algeciras.^[1]

The Louisa was an American merchant ship that gained fame in 1800 while sailing as a privateer out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during Quasi-War with France.

The owners of the Louisa obtained a letter of marque that authorized her captain to act against French merchant shipping during the war. She was armed with twelve six-pound guns and manned by a crew of thirty men (including officers).^[2]

In August 1800 she was attacked off Gibraltar by several French privateers that sailed out of Algeciras, in North Africa.^[3] Her captain, Thomas Hoggard (Thomas Haggard), was wounded and taken below to his cabin. However, the Louisa fought off the attack, and Hoggard was taken ashore at Gibraltar, where he subsequently died.^[4]

The USS Haggard (DD-555) was named in honor of the bravery of the Louisa's captain and crew in the action off of Gibraltar.

Other Louisas

• Louisa. Privateer out of Baltimore, War of 1812.
• Louisa. Privateer out of Buenos Aires, taken over by crew, October 1818, to be used for piracy.
• Louisa. Whaling schooner, 35 tons. Built at Hobart, 1834, foundered near Bruny Island, 22 October 1836. All hands lost.

See also

Famous privateers

References

Citations

1. Abbot, American Merchant Ships and Sailors, p. 42: "INSTANTLY THE GUN WAS RUN OUT AND DISCHARGED".
2. Hall, "Recollections of a Voyage to Italy", p. 210: "The ship was the Louisa, a letter of Marque, mounting twelve guns, but appearing to have eighteen, six of them being what the sailors called Quakers; that is, very pacific ones, made of wood. She was commanded by Thomas Hoggard, and had a crew of thirty men."
3. Maclay, A History of the United States Navy, pp. 207-208.
4. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, p. 360: "DEATHS ... Issue of November 29, 1800 ... At Gibraltar, of the wounds he received in his gallant action with several privateers and piratical barges, Captain Thomas Hoggard, of the ship Louisa, of Philadelphia."

Bibliography

• Abbot, Willis J. (illustrations, Ray Brown). American Merchant Ships and Sailors. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company (1902).
• Hall, John E. (editor). "Recollections of a Voyage to Italy in the year 1800." The Port Folio and New-York Monthly Magazine, II-3 (September 1822) 207-236. Philadelphia: Harrison Hall (1822).
• Maclay, Edgar Stantan. A History of the United States Navy, from 1775 to 1894. New York: D. Appleton and Company (1895).
• Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, The Vol. XXIII. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania (1899).