Captured ship: L'Union of Bordeaux (master Jean Francois Gaussiran). History: a French...

Captured ship: L'Union of Bordeaux (master Jean Francois Gaussiran).

History: a French ship, bound from Saint Domingue to Bordeaux (taking on cargo at at Jeremie, Saint Domingue in May 1803, and calling at Cap Francois in June 1803, when it picked up more mail).

Documents: about 500 letters to France, most unopened, but with a significant number opened. A further box of letters from L'Union, most unopened, is HCA 32/927.

From the opened letters, it is clear that the French in both places were very concerned with their situation: these letters are likely to throw light on the last months of the France's military attempt to control Haiti. See HCA 32/1214/5923 for court papers and ships papers.

Archival History: the identification of mail with a particular ship was lost very early, perhaps in 1803, when these French papers were mixed with Dutch letters. In January 2023, the letters were identified as having come from two ships captured four days apart by the privateer Lancaster of Liverpool (John Pettigrew commanding), where the main sets of papers were sent in with the prize crews, and the mail-in-transit remained on the Lancasterat sea, where it became intermingled: - T

• The first capture was the Dutch ship De Vigilantie (master Moelart), bound from Surinam to Flushing (Vlissingen): the few letters found here have been added to the court papers and ships papers of De Vigilantie at HCA 32/1214/5919. See also HCA 32/923 for other mail-in-transit perhaps from this ship.
• The second capture was this ship, L'Union of Bordeaux (master Jean Francois Gaussiran).

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