David Jewett was an American naval commander in the Quasi-War with France and following the end of that conflict he offered his services as a Mercenary in both Argentina and Brazil. Licensed as a privateer by the United Provinces of the River Plate (one of the precursor states of Argentina) to seize Spanish ships, he was later accused of piracy following the seizure of US and Portuguese flagged vessels.
Background
Jewett was born on June 17, 1772, in New London, Connecticut, the son of Patience Bulkley and David Hibbard Jewett, who served as a surgeon for the American army in the Revolution. He was the descendant of Joseph Jewett who emigrated from Yorkshire, England, in 1638 and settled in Rowley, Massachusetts During a voyage to Spain, on which he accompanied a relative, young David acquired the inclination for a sea-faring life that never left him.
Education
Jewett studied navigation in the United States and served his country in its early struggles.
Career
In the naval war against France, with his twenty-four gun command, the Trumbull, Jewett captured and sent home a number of prizes. He served as commander in the United States navy from April 6, 1799, to June 3, 1801, when he was discharged under the peace establishment act.
In June 1815 Jewett entered the service of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata (now the Argentine Republic) in command of the four-hundred-ton bark, Invencible, with which he captured several Spanish vessels. After returning to Buenos Aires from his successful cruise in the Invencible, he sailed for Port Soledad in the Falkland Islands (then called the Isles Malouines) in command of the Heroína, an armed vessel belonging to the United Provinces. Barely escaping shipwreck he landed there in October 1820, took possession of the islands in the name of the United Provinces, and set up the claim for legal title that was used in the later international disputes over ownership. He spent some months on the islands and returned to Buenos Aires in 1821.
In the following year Jewett left the employ of the United Provinces with the thanks of the government for his services. In 1822 he became a captain in the navy of Brazil, which had been declared an independent empire a month before. After a turn of duty before Montevideo he took a prominent and active part under Lord Cochrane in driving the Portuguese fleet out of Bahia, Brazil. He was promoted to be chief of division in the Brazilian navy on October 12, 1823, and succeeded the English admiral, John Taylor, who had served in the Brazilian navy for some time, in command of the naval forces that crushed, at Pernambuco, the organization called the Confederation of the Equator. Unlike his Connecticut countryman, Charles W. Wooster, who was then serving in the Chilean navy, Jewett seems always to have been on friendly terms with Lord Cochrane.
He continued the rest of his life in the Brazilian naval service and made numerous prolonged visits to the United States in behalf of the Brazilian government. He contracted for and superintended the building of certain ships of war, and contributed a large share to the upbuilding of the strength and tradition of the Brazilian navy.
Jewett died 26 July 1842 in Rio de Janeiro. He was interred the day after in the São Francisco de Paula church; his wife Eliza died a few months later. In 1850 his remains were relocated to the new cemetery of the Order of the Minims, in Catumbí.
Achievements
Connections
In 1827, on one of his trips, Jewett married Mrs. Eliza McTiers, the daughter of Augustine H. Lawrence, an alderman of New York City. They had a son, Augustine David Lawrence Jewett.