Excerpts from The Pirates Caesar pt. 4: Henri Caesar

(Author’s note: This is a fictional supplementary for the Junior Rangers Investigative Club Novels. While the legend of Henri Caesar, exists outside of this narrative, the information below is a product of my own imagination, and shouldn’t be taken as historically accurate. More so than even Black Caesar, Henri Caesar has a very dubious History. In all likelihood he did not exist. (more on that when I do my historical context for both Black Caesars in a future blog.) Even in this context, it is hard to extract a narrative which is exclusive to him, as both Henri Caesar and Black Caesar often merge in legend and story. Henri Caesar’s distinct traits seem to be his origin as a freedom fighter in the Haitian Revolution, and the context of the 1800’s within which he exists. So the story below, which I’m pretending was written by a character important to several of the Junior Rangers Investigative Club Novels, is more an exploration of a pirate like Henri Caesar within the context of 1800s Florida, than an actual guide to the probably-entirely-legendary man.

Another Author’s note: while we are dealing with a fictional pirate story. The fiction is based upon a legendary Pirate named Henri Caesar. He was a pirate, and subject to some harsh piratical behavior. So read with discretion, and if you are young, get your parent’s permission first.

The fiction starts. . . Now!)

From The Pirates Caesar, written by William T. Howard

Henri Caesar.

Black Caesar, cir. 1700, pirate from Africa who terrorized the Florida Straits and established a base and name for himself in Southern Florida, met his end as part of Blackbeard’s crew in the 1730s. He left his mark upon Biscayne Bay, where rumors of the ghosts and treasure he left behind still haunt the keys of Islandia.* (updated in the new edition to Biscayne National Park) Boats speed through Caesar Creek, which he used to hide from pirate hunters, past Caesars Rock, where he would hitch his boat to make his clever escape. Meigs Key, once known as Black Caesar’s Key, now sits empty, though it was once the hideout and shipyard for his pirate gang.

For nearly a century after his execution, charts carried his name, and sailors whispered tales of his story. But less than a hundred years after his passing, another man took up the mantle of Black Caesar, and soon reconquered the territory and strategy of his namesake. That man was a freedom fighter out of Haiti, and although he used the same Moniker: Black Caesar, to avoid confusion, we will call him by his given name: Henri.

Henri Caesar, cir. 1800s, the second Black Caesar to settle Biscayne Bay as pirate, came from different origins and another time, yet because of the similarities in of their name, location, and nature, legends of the two men often meld together and it can be hard to delineate the truth of each man.

Like the first Black Caesar, legends sat that Henri Caesar would use Caesar Creek, and the shallows of Biscayne Bay to hide from pirate hunters. There are some historians who attribute the story about pirates using a hook on Caesars Rock to keel their boat and hide their sails to Henri Caesar instead of his earlier counterpart. Like Black Caesar, Henri Caesar established a base on Elliot Key. Like Black Caesar, Henri Caesar preyed upon the numerous merchant ships which traveled up and down the coast of Florida. Like Black Caesar, Henri Caesar is said to have amassed a great fortune. Like Black Caesar, Henri Caesar met an unfortunate end, and treasure hunters still hope to find the hidden wealth he left behind.

As more than a century separates us from the younger pirate, and more than two centuries separates us from the older, it can be challenging to distinguish the two men both called Black Caesar. And yet there is much about Henri Caesar which stands out. So, as you read about the legend of Henri Caesar, try not to focus on the similarities, but instead on those things which make his story distinct, because I believe there is a deeper meaning to the story of the two men, which I will expound upon in a later chapter.

The Legend of Henri Caesar - Early Days

Henri Caesar was a young boy at the start of the Hattian Revolution. Growing up enslaved on one of the many sugar plantations in Haiti, Henri Caesar participated in an early revolt with the other much abused enslaved men and women. In this revolt, they successfully won their freedom, but they had to flee from French forces brought in to suppress them.

However, the sparks of rebellion across Haiti were kindling into fire of Revolution, and as more freedom fighters took up the cause, leaders like Dutty Boukman and Cecile Fatiman fanned those sparks into full scale revolt across the country. The Haitian Revolution is a remarkable historical turning point, and the rapidly changing situation and shifting balance of powers and fighting of the freed men, France, Britain, and the other forces which eventually resulted in one of the most successful slave-revolts and the first independent black republic in Caribbean history, deserves better treatment and more reading outside of this book.

However Henri Caesar’s part in the revolt is notable only because he was young, (some sources suggest that he was only 12) when it began and because he fought in, and survived, the many phases of the revolution, witnessing the establishment of Haiti’s independence. There are no accounts of the individual battles in which he took part, or his opinions on or support for or from the various factions within the freedom fighters. Yet he must have distinguished himself to either the men who would become his crew or someone in power, because 13 years after the revolution began, as Haiti declared it’s final independence and began to form a more formal government, Henri Caesar is given command of a ship and takes to the sea.

Fig 4. A:  A pirate ship.

Henri Caesar - Pirate

Whether he was commissioned by the new Haitian Government to become a captain, supported by a merchant, or he simply seized a ship with the support like-minded men, we do not know. What we do know is that soon after setting sail Henri Caesar and his crew raised the black flag. Preying upon Merchants from the countries they had once fought for their freedom, Henri Caesar and his crew quickly took to the pirate life, seizing riches from the numerous ships which plied the Caribbean.

For a time, because they were unknown, Henri Caesar and his crew were able to sail into various Caribbean ports and trade their stolen goods for liquor and good times. However, the 1800’s were near the end of the age of Piracy, as the navies of various nations previously in competition were united upon the cause of eliminating pirates. And as word of Henri Caesar’s various acts of piracy spread he, his men, and his ship were hunted.

Perhaps because of his name, he and his crew heard the legend of the Black Caesar from the past century. Perhaps it was mere coincidence. Whatever the case, when Henri Caesar and his men needed a hiding spot, and a place to establish their own base, they settled upon the small set of islands surrounding Biscayne Bay.

Much had changed in the previous century, and yet much had stayed the same. The Spanish, who had never established a long-term colony in Biscayne Bay were gone. They had sold Florida to England, but England had not settled the land either. Seminole and other indigenous peoples utilized the waters of the Miami River, and fished the bay, wreckers patrolled the shallows off the islands for opportune salvage, but there was scant settlement in the northern Keys.

Fig 4.B The waters of Caesars Creek rumored to be the hiding place of both Pirates Caesar.

Perhaps Henri Caesar and his men sailed into Caesars Creek and discovered the rotted wreckage of Black Caesar’s port. Perhaps, the islands had grown wild, untamed by all but the legend of those previous men. Whatever the case, Henri Caesar, much like his predecessor recognized the strategic value of the challenging, but navigable, Caesars Creek, and the islands around it. They soon adopted the strategy of the long lost Black Caesar’s Pirates.

Like the men who came before, they would hide their ship within Caesars Creek, and set their eyes upon the horizon to look for promising merchant vessels. Sailing had changed and the Caribbean was more settled. This meant that there were many more ships on that horizon, some merchants some navy. Henri Caesar and his crew were known to sail much further abroad to avoid being attacked and to find the perfect prey vessels. They would frequent various ports in the Bahamas and beyond to drink, carouse, and spend their spoils, but when they caught word that pirate hunters were after them, or grew tired of life in the civilized world, they would return to Caesars Creek and a base on Elliot Key.

But the life of a pirate had always been brief, and lives of piracy in the Caribbean were coming to an end. While Black Caesar had remained free so long as he did not take increased risks—a testament to the seclusion of their hiding spot— that seclusion was not to last.

Henri Caesar’s end

Fig. 4. C. Illustration of two ships in battle.

The shallow waters of Caesars Creek, and the emptiness of southern Florida made the perfect hideout, for a time. Anytime they faced pursuit, Henri Caesar’s pirates would utilize their faster ship, and knowledge of the shallow waters around the keys to make their escape. Perhaps Henri Caesar and his crew would have been able to continue their life of piracy indefinitely, as it is speculated that Black Caesar could have lasted much longer had he not decided to subject himself to another pirate in the century before. However, whereas Black Caesar had met his fate in the bad decision to team up with Blackbeard. Henri Caesar and his crew were doomed by a more inevitable situation, the changing of the times.

Other groups of people began to freequent Biscayne Bay. Sailors from the Bahamas came to harvest wood from the keys, fish the bay and to transport people. The people they would transport were runaway slaves and Black Seminoles. Florida, Spanish or English colony that it was, was ungoverned by either nation, and in their place, many people escaping slavery sought freedom in the empty territory. But people from the southern United States, fearing the opportunities presented by this southern underground railroad, had begun to make incursions into the territory.

So, many Black men and women who had escaped, and many others who had been born into freedom within the territory began to travel to the east coast of Florida and negotiate passage by way of any ship to the Bahamas or other nations which had outlawed slavery. Biscayne Bay, and Key Biscayne became a major staging point for people hoping to escape U.S. slavery. The number of people fleeing Florida surged when word spread that the United States finally purchased the territory, and more people than ever sought passage from Bicscayne to the Bahamas, some even fleeting by way of canoe. In an effort to prevent such flight, after a U.S. Survey, a Lighthouse was built on Key Biscayne, a beacon to warn ships of the shallows, but also to illuminate any illegal activity in the area.

Such a beacon would have rendered Henri Caesar’s hiding place, only a few miles south, obsolete.

At the same time that U.S. purchased Florida, and the Cape Florida light was being built, the United States Navy was growing in size, strength, and resolve. One of the strongest motivators for the growth of the U.S. Navy was the elimination of pirates, and a fleet was established with the sole purpose of hunting down anyone sailing a black flag.

According to legend,

It was under these merging pressures that Henri Caesar and his men were forced to flee southern Florida, soon finding themselves engaged with the Flagship of the U.S. Anti-Pirate Fleet. The USS Enterprise. While Henri Caesar’s vessel was vastly more capable of navigating the shallow waters of the Florida Keys, it was underpowered against even a small naval vessel, and facing the might of the USS Enterprise, Henri Caesar and his crew surrendered in hope of clemency.

However for Henri Caesar, Pirate Captain, known to have hunted the waters around Florida for more than a decade, mercy was temporary, as he was taken to Key West, where he was tried and executed for numerous crimes witnessed by the survivors from many of the vessels he had attacked.

Henri Caesar’s Legacy-

When it comes to discussions of the legacy of Henri Caesar, it is hard to seperate the man from his predecessor: the other Black Caesar of Biscayne Bay. Both were Black men who had captained pirate crews. Both were said to have established their base on Elliot Key in Florida while hiding their ships in Caesar’s Creek. Rumors abound that both men left behind a vast fortune, hidden and undiscovered because of their untimely demise. And it is impossible to distinguish which namesake now graces the Creek, the Key, and formerly graced the island which carry the name Caesar.

Yet, I, William T. Howard, find the story of Henri Caesar much more compelling, despite his ties to the older Caesar. Perhaps this is because of the Pirate Box which was, for a brief time, in my possession. Because, while researching the history of Henri Caesar, Black Caesar, and the whole of Biscayne Bay, I noticed that the Pirate Map secreted within that Pirate Box contained one interesting element. The map of Biscayne Bay, which spurred my entire adventure into the legacy of the Pirates Caesar, is nearly illegible. It has no directions, is poor in scale, and despite the illustrations, has no key to help us understand what has been drawn. Yet there is one recognizable feature, I believe can be verified, and that is the illustration of a lighthouse on Key Biscayne.

Fig 4. D Image of the pirate box, containing 2 papers bound with twine:  a map and a letter, a short dagger, and several strike minted coins.

There was no lighthouse in Biscayne Bay in the time of Black Caesar, but that lighthouse might have heralded the end of the younger Henri Caesar. I can easily imagine a story in which Henri Caesar, in his haste to flee safety, might have left his treasure behind, and recorded by map, a way for other trusted souls to find it to bring it back to him. Were he to record such a map, I have no doubt the lighthouse would have been a noteworthy landmark for such a friend to follow.

A friend addressed as Juan.

With possession of only pictures of that map and the other contents of that Pirate Box, I remain uncertain about their legitimacy, however if there is any truth to the tale of the plumber who found them, then perhaps that box and the map inside are tied to Henri Caesar, and perhaps then, it is possible that his Legacy continues, and his treasure can still be found.

End of Chapter

(Final Author’s note! As we head into October, I will be putting these pirate stories on pause, as in 2 weeks, I will be hosting a book signing in Bowling Green Kentucky at the Barnes and Nobel on Campbell Lane. Next weekend will probably be a blog about that. And for the rest of the month, and into November, expect a few more spooky entries. Potentially more tales from the Specter Detectors, this time featuring some of the J.R.I.C. crew!!!)

In the meantime, if you have time, please stop by the Barnes and Nobel in Bowling Green, Ky on October 19th from 1-3 pm, to pick up a signed copy of the first two books in the Junior Rangers Investigative Club Series, and feel free to ask me about the next two titles in the series which will both be coming out, hopefully soon and soon-ish (end of 2025 probs!)