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Blackbeard "The most notorious
pirate of the seven seas."
The Story of Blackbeard the Pirate has
fascinated people for almost three centuries.
Now he is back in the news with the discovery of his ship "The Queen Anne's
Revenge" in the inlet at Beaufort, NC. We hope that these pages will help tell more
of the story of Blackbeard, his life and times, his ship, his house in Beaufort, and the
recovery of artifacts from his ship.
While in the Bahama's, Edward Teach began his odessy as
the most feared pirate on the high seas and came to acquire the ship that he renamed
"The Queen Anne's Revenge".
In New Providence, Teach met Capt. Benjamin Hornigold whose crew he joined in 1716. In
very little time, he became Hornigold's protg, and soon was given a captured sloop with
six cannons to command while still serving under Hornigold.
It was during the latter part of 1717 that Hornigold and Teach encountered a large ship
off St. Vincent flying the French flag. Hornigold and Teach both fired from their sloops
across the bow of the French boat and killed many on board. The ship, known as the
"Concorde" surrendered. She was actually a dutch built 'flute' that had come
into the possession of a St. Malo frenchman. The boat was rich in booty, and with
Hornigold's hold now filled with treasure, Teach asked if he could be given the command of
the captured ship. Hornigold knew he was reaching the end of his pirating days, and with
the wealth he had accummulated, he could retire. He agreed to give the ship to Teach and
to retire to New Providence. It was the last time he would see the man he had trained well
to become the vicious pirate Blackbeard.
Blackbeard honed his piracy skills, selecting bigger and better targets. But his greatest
feat was yet to come. In May 1718, Blackbeard decided to blockcade the harbor of
Charleston, South Carolina. He stretched his vessels across the harbor and made demands of
the town for money, supplies and medicine. The blockade wore on for weeks, and without
firing a shot, Blackbeard slowly received what he came for. The humiliation of the town at
the hands of pirates made the citizens determined to stop piracy and send a lesson to any
who practiced it. Four months later, they got their hands on Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard's
sometimes pirate friend. The people of Charleston hanged him.
Blackbeard gave his new ship the name "The Queen Anne's Revenge". He sailed the
vessel until June of 1718, when he sailed it into the Beaufort Inlet, known at that time
as the Topsail Inlet. It was there that he intentionally ran the ship aground under the
pretense of cleaning off the hull. In reality, he was plotting yet another theft of booty,
but this time it was from his own crew and his then ally Stede Bonnett. He took the
treasure and his favorite crew members and abandoned the ship in the inlet to be taken by
the tide.
After Abandoning "The Queen Anne's Revenge" and the smaller vessel
"Adventure" in the inlet, Blackbeard ane the remaining crew took the other ships
up Pamlico Sound to the town of Bath. There he received a pardon from the Royal Governor
and lived in Bath for a time making friends with the locals and the wealthy planters.
The lure of piracy was too much for Edward Teach, and he soon fell back into sailing the
North Carolina and Virginia coast looking for ships to plunder. He had settled on
Ockracoke Island, near Cape Hatteras, as his outpost. It was here that Lieutenant Maynard
of the Royal Navy found Blackbeard anchored at his favorite spot on the south side of the
island. His ships crept up on Blackbeard's and a fierce battle broke out between them.
Both sides took heavy casualties, and eventually Blackbeard was killed in battle
overwhelmed by the training and firepower of the Royal navy. Blackbeard's head was cut off
and his body thrown overboard where legend has that it swam around the ship several times
before sinking. The skull was displayed as a trophy on Mayard's arrival in Bath and in
Virginia.
The Loss of the "Queen Anne's
Revenge"
Blackbeard had successful exploits on the high seas and
had collected a great deal of treasure during his bold blockade of the Port of Charleston.
He heard rumors of a naval effort being assembled to rid the sea lanes of pirates once and
for all. He probably thought that the time was right to peacefully retire from pirating as
his mentor, Capt. Hornigold, had done.
He once again proved his treachery and devious nature as his plot unfolded in the Beaufort
Inlet.
Blackbeard was still sailing with Stede Bonnet, who by now was more of a nuisance than a
help. He approached the Inlet on the Queen Anne's Revenge with his mate Israel Hands in
command of the sloop "The Adventure and Bonnet's sloop. Earlier, Blackbeard had
secretly moved the best of the booty to one of the smaller sloops. He directed the crew of
the Queen Anne to run her aground for the purpose of cleaning the hull. While running
aground, the mast cracked and the hull began to fail. Making a good show, he had "The
Adventure" come along to cast over lines and help pull the Queen Anne off the bar.
Before long, the Adventure had also run aground in the surf.
With the crew aware of their predicament, Blackbeard spoke to Stede Bonnet of a 'new'
plan.
Blackbeard had learned that King George had extended his offer of a pardon to pirates
until September. Blackbeard expressed his interest in sailing to Bath, NC and taking the
pardon. He encouraged Bonnet to do the same, and promised him the return of his ship
"The Revenge" upon his return from receiving his pardon. Bonnet, who most likely
was glad to get away from Blackbeard quickly agreed, and left for Bath with a few crew and
a small boat. Blackbeard had promised him his ship and part of the booty upon his return.
With Bonnet gone, Blackbeard refloated the Adventure, and taking the rest of the booty
with him, sailed for what most likely is now known as the Fort Macon area of Bogue Island.
There he marooned 25 of his crew, cutting his number of remaining men to 40. He left
Bonnet's ship The Revenge, and headed north, up the Atlantic coast in the Adventure, now
able to keep more of the booty for himself and his crew.
Bonnet did return with his pardon and found his boat waiting for him. But Blackbeard was
gone with the treasure. Realizing he had been tricked, he set off to find Blackbeard to
get his share back. Before he left, he did notice the signals of the hapless crew marooned
on Bogue Island and sailed to pick them up before setting out. Bonnet never saw Blackbeard
again.
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