José Joaquín Almeida

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.

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.

Capture of Pichincha After capturing the Portuguese vessels, Almeida returned to the island of St. Eustatius in the Caribbean, an island next to Puerto Rico. Here Almeida licensed the crew of Pichincha to carry out a new levy "on the same island of St. Eustatius, where a major owner and operator of the ship lives, which is the detested Almeyda, very well known for his piracy and criminal behavior on our shores, and on the same island of St. Eustatius seemed to have fixed his colony ".

Almeida also planned to sell the Portuguese slaves and even free blacks who formed the crews of captured ships, all of which was expressly forbidden by the Argentine laws and his privateering regulations, even since independence campaigns forced them to release him.

While most of the crew had been licensed or remained on land, on board were the captain and five of its officers and crew with 19 Portuguese black sailors who had already been aboard about three months, and the Spaniard José de Vera, an alcoholic ocean pilot from Santa Cruz de Tenerife known as The "Isleño" ("Islander"), who was engaged in the slave trade in St. Eustatius and was recently added to the crew.

The black people, dissatisfied with Almeida's leadership, wanted to take the ship and escape but they needed someone to pilot it. Vera was offered the position and accepted, agreeing to share the result of the sale of the vessel. On December 26, 1827, a riot occurred. In the action one of the mutineers and two of the crew were killed. The captain, with three head injuries and a broken arm, and the three survivors who supported him, were locked in the chamber to defend themselves with firearms that were stored there, but the rioters threw buckets of water on the weapons and wet the gunpowder. Vera then threatened to block the outlet and blow the powder magazine, forcing them to surrender.

After of seizing the ship, they cut the wires leaving the anchor and headed to Puerto Rico. As they passed the island of St. Thomas, without stopping, some prisoners were left in the boat. Vera excused himself by claiming that he did not deliver it because the captain had asked him not carry him to Puerto Rico because he was sworn not to take up arms against Spain: he had been a prisoner in the privateer Anguilita and had been taken to that place, where he vowed never to return to Colombia's service.

In Puerto Rico, Vera was quick to change his story: he was the victim of the pirates, captured in the boat Antonia, which was petty and forced to serve as Almeida's ship. He also betrayed his comrades, in proceedings brought by the authorities to decide on the prize "Don Jose Vera, a resident of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Practical Sea" requested "to have full credit of the brig called Pichincha arrested in the harbor of St. Eustatius by that Portuguese will see and also several free blacks and slaves."

While some argue that Almeida was captured at that time, it was not so. Vera himself confirmed of having told some white men if they were daring enough to capture Almeida on the island.

Imprisonment and death The real opportunity and circumstances of Almeida's capture are confusing. In 1829 Cadiz Press published that "By the brig Actress who arrived in New York on February 6 received news that the Patriot Pirate from Buenos Aires, was assured in the Plaza de San Juan de Puerto Rico, having made a 6-month cruise had been captured by six Spanish ships. On January 10, last month, two first lieutenants with 20 crewmen split from the Patriot and never returned, and two days later their crew mutinied against the captain (Almeida) and took the ship to San Juan where they handed the boat over to the authorities along with the captain, the latter was taken to Morro where he is well guarded, and the crew was released."

He remained a prisoner while they created his trial: "There imprisoned in Morro Castle the corsair Jose Almeyda, the person who continued to be the cause of the Marina Court, he was accused and charged with various heinous acts of piracy by the English, French and Portuguese governments."

He was eventually sentenced to death by the military and the ruling was approved by the High Court in Havana. On February 13, 1832, Almeida made a will and at 11 am, "that criminal was passed by the weapons February 14, 1832, in the vicinity of the castle where he was imprisoned, after being given spiritual relief, that called for religion and Christian charity." At the time of his execution he was 55 years old.

He also states that Almeida was from Lisbon, born into a distinguished family, and that his instruction was more than average. However, John Quincy Adams, who met him in the United States, described him as "a rustic and jovial sea wolf who cannot read or write." While his letters are preserved, including those directed to the Cadiz Maritime Journal on catches with the Congress in the waters of that city in 1817, he may be illiterate because in all the autograph letters apparently there are notable differences between their signatures during even a single campaign. Others claimed that "speaks English quite properly, of medium height and of a malicious look."

Almeida's long career became legendary. One story that was retold was that while he was on the island of Curacao, Almeida fell in love with a married woman. After a campaign and returning to the island, the woman's husband died on the same day, and Almeida married her and took her onto his boat, but she died of bullet wound in the first attack. Almeida had her body embalmed and buried "his treasure" on a desolate island near Puerto Rico, visiting each month. After Almeida's death, his second in command and some of the crew marched in search of treasure, which supposedly included jewels and gold. After unearthing the first copper box enclosing the coffin, they fought amongst themselves for the loot until the sole survivor opened the box and fled in terror from the embalmed corpse, falling from a cliff. Other crew members then discovered the scene and transported the woman's body to St. Thomas for burial.

Legend has it that years later a Spanish engineer visited the island, found the copper plates and heard the story. He called the island "Caja de Muertos" ("dead box"). Regardless of the veracity of the legend, the island's name actually originates from its topographical appearance, which resembles a coffin.

Two of his sons and his wife are probably buried in Baltimore: Oscar Almeida (buried May 15, 1829, a year old), Luisa Almeida (buried October 3, 1832, age 16, died from "bilious fever"), and Teresa Almeida (buried July 25, 1832, age 42).