Born in New Orleans in 1780, the son of a French wigmaker, Renato Beluche went to sea as a youth and was master of a merchant schooner by the time he was twenty-five. During the many wars of his era, he served as a privateer; for a time he was associated with the Lafittes and disposed of prizes and their cargoes at Barataria. In 1812 he received letters of marque from Cartagena and became involved in the Latin American wars of independence.
When the British prepared to invade Louisiana late in 1814, they offered Jean Lafitte a commission for his assistance. Lafitte informed Governor William Claiborne of Louisiana, offering his and the Baratarians’ services if the proscription against them were lifted. The offer was refused, but as the need for seamen and cannoneers became desperate, the Louisiana legislature paved the way for granting amnesty to the Baratarians. Belliche and Dominique You, along with the Lafittes, commanded artillery batteries effectively in Andrew Jackson’s victory at New Orleans. Two weeks after the battle, when Jackson publicly praised Beluche, the Lafittes, and the various fighting units, Beluche was capturing Spanish merchantmen off Cuba.
On his return to Cartagena, Beluche served Simón Bolívar on numerous occasions and became Bolívar’s favorite naval officer. He commanded the squadron that blockaded Puerto Cabello; he also suggested and had an active part in the 1823 campaign on Lake Maracaibo that captured one of the last royalist strongholds.
After Venezuela was independent, Beluche moved his family to Puerto Cabello and continued in the Venezuelan service. In 1829 he sailed the frigate Colombia to the Pacific because of Bolívar’s troubles with Peru. By the time he reached Guayaquil, peace had been made, and he returned by way of Panama.
In 1836 Beluche was involved in an unsuccessful rebellion and was exiled, spending much of his time in New Orleans. In 1845 his rank was restored and he returned to Venezuela, where he died in i860. In 1963 his remains were interred in the Panteón Nacional, along with those of other Venezuelan heroes.
The author, who tenaciously researched the life and career of Renato Beluche for forty years, located numerous of his descendants in Panama, Venezuela, and Florida. Because Beluche’s activities took him to so many countries and islands, piecing together his life story required great dedication and considerable travel. His trail was never easy to follow; his career as a privateer was especially difficult to trace, except when prizes he had taken were involved in lawsuits, as often happened.
In order to make it clear to readers what was occurring around Beluche, even though his particular actions cannot be fully documented, the author has given detailed accounts of the battle for New Orleans and of the various phases of the Bolívarian campaigns. The result is a readable and informative book on one of the significant but little known participants in the Latin American struggles for independence in the north.
