Born on 30 September 1679 to a family of merchants of Nantes, Cassard began a career as a sailor at age 14 on the merchantmen owned by his family. In January 1697, he joined the French Navy on bombship
Éclatante. In 1700, Cassard became a merchantman captain. The next year, the
War of the Spanish Succession broke out, and Cassard converted to a
privateer. In 1705, he captained the privateer
Saint Guillaume, capturing 12 merchantmen and raiding
Cork. Two years later, he captured 13 merchantmen with the
Duchesse Anne, earning a rank in the Navy. In 1709, Cassard, promoted to Commander, was tasked to escort a 25-ship food convoy on the 68-gun
Éclatant. On 29 April, supported by
Sérieux, he defeated five English ships, allowing the convoy to safely reach
Marseille. The next year, Cassard lead a squadron comprising the 74-gun
Parfait, the 58-gun
Sérieux and the 50-gun
Phénix and the 60-gun
Sirène, with his flag on
Parfait. He was tasked to escort an 84-ship convoy inbound from
Smyrna that had become blockaded at
Syracuse by a British fleet. He captured
HMS Pembroke, while
Sérieux secured the surrender of the 32-gun
HMS Falcon in the 9 November
Battle of Syracuse. The convoy reach
Toulon. In 1711, Cassard again secured the way for a 43-ship convoy bound for
Pensacola. In December 1711, Cassard obtained the command of a 6-ship squadron and embarked on
an expedition in which he raided English, Dutch and Portuguese colonies in
Cape Verde and in the
Caribbean. On 10 October 1712, Cassard captured the plantation of
Meerzorg in
Suriname for France, and threatened
Paramaribo across the
Suriname River. Negotiations started, and on 27 October Cassard left with ƒ747,350 (€8.1 million in 2018) worth of goods and slaves. After the
Treaty of Utrecht and the end of the war in 1713, Cassard started numerous trials to obtain payments. Cassard retired in 1731. In 1736, he was declared insane after insulting the
Cardinal de Fleury, and detained in
Ham, where he died four years later. == Honours ==