In October 2001, the Friends of Archives (FOA) contracted with French historian Jacques Ducoin to conduct archival research on a French slave ship named La Concorde of Nantes. This effort was undertaken to support the Division of Archives and History's ongoing investigations of the shipwreck site at Beaufort Inlet believed to be the remains of Blackbeard's flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge. Historical sources indicate that Blackbeard captured La Concorde on November 28, 1717, near the island of Martinique and lost the ship while entering Beaufort Inlet in June 1718.

A compendium of French slave-trading expeditions, compiled by Jean Mettas, describes three voyages of La Concorde, which operated out of the port of Nantes, the center for the French slave trade. North Carolina researchers knew that there must be a wealth of information in the French archives on La Concorde but needed to find the right person to conduct that research. Finally, Philippe Lafargue, Deputy Director of Tryon Palace in New Bern, made contact with Dr. Jacques Ducoin. Dr. Ducoin was well suited for this project having received his doctoral degree from Sorbonne University with a dissertation on the port of Nantes in the eighteenth century. Dr. Ducoin has also been involved in recent efforts in Nantes, and elsewhere in Europe and Africa, to study and interpret the French slave trade.

The FOA contract requested Dr. Ducoin to conduct research on La Concorde in the Archives Departementales de Loire-Atlantique in Nantes, the Centre des archives d'outre-mer in Aix-en-Provence, and the Archives Nationales in Paris. Specifically, Dr. Ducoin was asked to address the following research questions:

1. Was La Concorde of Nantes, owned by Rene Montaudoin, the ship that the pirate Blackbeard captured in the fall of 1717 and renamed the Queen Anne's Revenge?
2. Was La Concorde that undertook the 1717 voyage for Rene Montaudoin the same ship used in 1715 and 1713 voyages?
3. What was the origin of La Concorde? When and where was it built? Do any physical descriptions or dimensions for this vessel survive?

Dr. Ducoin quickly answered the first question when he found a letter from Charles Mesnier, Administrator of Martinique. That letter, dated December 10, 1717 states:

…last 28 November, being within 60 miles from here [La Concorde] was attacked by two boats of English pirates, one of 12 and the other of 8 guns armed with 250 men commanded by Edouard Titche, English….

Dr. Ducoin also found compelling documentary evidence that the 1717 La Concorde was the same ship that undertook the 1715 and 1713 slave trading voyages for Rene Montaudouin. The third question, regarding the origin of La Concorde, proved to be more difficult to answer. Finally, in the archive in Nantes, Dr. Ducoin found evidence that in 1710 Rene Montaudouin acquired a 300-ton frigate armed with 26 cannon and named La Concorde. This was during Queen Anne's War (the War of Spanish Succession) and Montaudouin operated La Concorde as a privateer. Among other documents, Dr. Ducoin located a 10-page report on the first privateering expedition of La Concorde that lasted from July 1710 to November 1711. During that voyage La Concorde traveled down the west coast of Africa and to the islands of the Caribbean and captured ships belonging the English, Dutch, and Portuguese.

Dr. Ducoin has submitted a 149-page draft report on his research. That report details his research and includes photocopies and transcriptions of twenty-one orignal documents.

*Compiled by Richard W. Lawrence, Underwater Archaeology Branch

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