Andrew Holmes Was a Special Forces Pirate Hunter Before Mackinac- Part 2:

Before the war, Andrew Holmes was from a prominent family in Virginia and was a 1799 graduate of Princeton (but I thought he had been expelled for his role in the "Great Rebellion" of 1807.  Perhaps he was only suspended or later reinstated.

  It is said that he killed a man in a duel.  he enlisted and trained as a "Dragoon" in the 24th U.S. Infantry, a cavalry unit.

The War Department sent Holmes and a detachment of dragoons to New Orleans with orders to stop piracy and slave smuggling.  That meant the Lafitte brothers.

Lafitte had built a fortified camp at Barataria Bay.  Holmes and his men eventually captured them.

He was needed in the Detroit area in the War of 1812.  In February 1814, he led an attack on British fortifications at Port Talbot.  He then beat off an attack of 240 British troops at the Battle of Longwoods and was promoted to major after that battle.

--Brock-Perry