St. Louis Cemetery Number Two - Dominique You
Dominique You was a pirate, privateer captain, lieutenant of Jean Lafitte, Hero of the Battle of New Orleans, Freemason, and notable citizen of New Orleans after the battle. He was born in Haiti in 1775. Serving as an artillerist in the army of the French Revolution, he traveled with the expedition to Santo Domingo in 1802. When that expedition failed to defeat the slave revolt led by Toussaint l'Ouverture, You went to New Orleans and became associated with the Lafitte brothers, Jean and Pierre. (Some accounts claim that You is a third Lafitte brother, but actual evidence of this is unclear.)
Recruited along with the Lafittes and their men by Andrew Jackson to defend New Orleans against a British invasion in January, 1815, You made excellent use of his artillery skill on January 8, 1815, when the British force attacking the city was repulsed. Hailed by Jackson and the population of New Orleans as a hero, You received pardon for his acts of piracy and settled down to become a private citizen of New Orleans. He died on November 15, 1830
When word traveled around the city that You had passed. Mayor Denis Prieur and the city council appropriated money for a funeral with full military honors and a tomb in St. Louis Cemetery #2. The tombstone inscription contains a Square and Compasses, indicating that You was a Freemason, along with the following epitath, taken from "La Henriade" by Voltaire:
"Intrpide guerrier, sur la terre et sur l'onde,
Il sut, dans cent combats, signaler sa valeur
Et ce nouveau Bayard, sans reproche et sans peur
Aurait pu sans trembler, voir s'crouler le monde."
The translation is on the brass plaque on the tomb:
"Intrepid Warrior on land and sea
In a hundred combats showed his valorThis new bayard without reporach or fear
Could have witnessed the ending of the
World without trembling" The brass plaque was added in the 1970s by the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Here is an earlier illustration of the tomb, from Grace King's 1926 book, New Orleans, The Place and Its People:
Safety warning!
St. Louis Number Two is, in our opinion, the most dangerous cemetery in New Orleans. It's literally surrounded by public housing projects that are known for being high-crime areas. This is NOT a place for casual wanderers to venture into. If you're looking to get a feel for New Orleans cemeteries, there are safer places to go. If you're looking for something specific from here, contact us, and we'll see if we can get a photo for you up here on the site.
