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Posted on January 26, 2010 by

According to Charles Johnson, Blackbeard fought a running duel with the British 30-gun man-of-war HMS Scarborough, which added to his notoriety. However, neither the log of the Scarborough nor the official letters of its captain have any mention of such an encounter; historian Colin Woodard provides evidence suggesting Johnson confused and conflated two actual events: the Scarborough’s battle against John Martel’s band and Blackbeard’s close encounter with another warship, HMS Seaford.[11]

Blackbeard would plunder merchant ships, forcing them to allow his crew to board their ship. The pirates would seize all of the valuables, food, liquor, and weapons. Despite his ferocious reputation, there are no verified accounts of him killing anyone.[12] He deliberately cultivated his barbaric reputation, and so could prevail by terror alone.[13]

Colorful legends and vivid contemporary newspaper portrayals, however, had Blackbeard committing acts of cruelty and terror. One tale claims he shot his own first mate, saying “if he didn’t shoot one or two crewmen now and then, they’d forget who he was.” Another legend is that, having had too much to drink, Blackbeard said to his crew, “Come, let us make a hell of our own, and try how long we can bear it.” Going into the ship’s hold, they closed the hatches, filled several pots with brimstone and set it on fire. Soon the men were coughing and gasping for air from the sulphurous fumes. All except Blackbeard scrambled out for fresh air. When Blackbeard emerged, he snarled, “Damn ye, ye yellow-bellied sapsuckers! I’m a better man than all ye milksops put together!”[14] According to Captain Charles Johnson’s A General Historie of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates:
The Jolly Roger commonly attributed to Blackbeard

Before he sailed upon his adventures, he married a young creature of about sixteen years of age made Teach’s fourteenth wife … with whom after he had lain all night, it was his custom to invite five or six of his brutal companions to come ashore, and he would force her to prostitute herself to them all, one after another, before his face.

The story of Blackbeard’s treatment of his 14th wife, or even whether she was his 14th wife, has been called into question by some. Teach was away at sea for most of his adult life, leaving little time for continual marriages, and no records exist for his other 13 wives. Many primary documents also attest to Blackbeard’s merciful tendencies when it came to bystanders, which casts doubt onto the allegations that he had subjected his teenage wife to gang rape.[15]
Blockade of Charleston

Blackbeard’s chief claim to fame is his blockade of Charleston, South Carolina. In approximately late May 1718, Blackbeard entered the mouth of Charleston harbour with the Queen Anne’s Revenge and three lighter vessels. He plundered five merchant freighters attempting to enter or leave the port. No other vessels could transit the harbour for fear of encountering the pirate squadron.

Aboard one of the ships that Blackbeard captured in the harbor mouth was a group of prominent Charleston citizens, including Samuel Wragg. Blackbeard held these hostages for ransom, making an unusual demand: a chest of medicine. He sent a deputation ashore to negotiate this ransom. Due partly to his envoys’ preference for carousing rather than bargaining, the ransom took some days to be delivered, and Blackbeard evidently came close to murdering his prisoners. Eventually, the medicines were turned over, and Blackbeard released the hostages, without their clothing, but otherwise unharmed. Blackbeard’s whole squadron then escaped northward.

Shortly afterwards, Blackbeard ran two of his vessels,the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and the ship Adventure, aground at Topsail Inlet (now Beaufort Inlet). He has been accused by many, including his own crew, of deliberately running the ships aground in order to downsize his crew and increase his own share of the treasure.
Death
Blackbeard and Lieutenant Maynard

Having accepted a pardon, Teach had apparently retired from piracy. Nevertheless, Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia became concerned that the notorious freebooter lived nearby. Spotswood decided to eliminate Blackbeard, even though he lived outside of Spotswood’s jurisdiction.

Blackbeard operated in many coastal waters; it was difficult for larger vessels to engage him in battle. Two smaller hired sloops were therefore put under the command of Lieutenant Robert Maynard, with instructions from Spotswood to hunt down and destroy Blackbeard, offering a reward of £100, and smaller sums for the lesser crew members.

Maynard sailed from James River on November 11, 1718, in command of thirty men from HMS Pearl, and twenty-five men and a midshipman of HMS Lyme, and in command of the hired sloops, the Ranger and Jane (temporarily commissioned as His Majesty’s Ships to avoid accusations of piracy themselves). Maynard found the pirates anchored in a North Carolina inlet on the inner side of Ocracoke Island, on the evening of November 21.[16]

Maynard and his men decided to wait until the following morning because the tide would be more favourable. Blackbeard’s Adventure had a crew of only nineteen, “Thirteen white and six Negroes”, as reported to the Admiralty. A small boat was sent ahead at daybreak, was fired upon, and quickly retreated. Blackbeard’s superior knowledge of the inlet was of much help, although he and his crew had been drinking in his cabin the night prior. Throughout the night Blackbeard waited for Maynard to make his move. Blackbeard cut his anchor cable and quickly attempted to move towards a narrow channel. Maynard made chase; however, his sloops ran aground, and there was a shouted exchange between captains. Maynard’s account says, “At our first salutation, he drank Damnation to me and my Men, whom he stil’d Cowardly Puppies, saying, He would neither give nor take Quarter”, although many different versions of the dialogue exist.

Eventually, Maynard’s sloops were able to float freely again, and he began to row towards Blackbeard, since the wind was not strong enough at the time for setting sail. When they came upon Blackbeard’s Adventure, they were hit with a devastating broadside attack. Midshipman Hyde, captain of the smaller Jane, was killed along with six other men. Ten men were also wounded in the surprise attack. The sloop fell astern and was little help in the following action. Maynard continued his pursuit in Ranger, managing to blast the Adventure’s rigging, forcing it ashore. Maynard ordered many of his crew into the holds and readied to be boarded. As his ship approached, Blackbeard saw the mostly empty decks, assumed it was safe to board, and did so with ten men. Blackbeard’s assault was preceded by several grenades made by filling rum bottles with gunpowder. Broken glass swept the deck and gunpowder smoke obscured Maynard’s view of Blackbeard’s boarders.[9]
Blackbeard’s severed head hanging from Maynard’s bowsprit

Maynard’s men emerged, and the battle began. Primary sources disagree about the exact circumstances of Blackbeard’s death. The most quoted account of the following events comes from the Boston News-Letter. (Other, more direct accounts included the letters of Maynard himself and those of his commanding officers.)[17]

Maynard and Teach themselves begun the fight with their swords, Maynard making a thrust, the point of his sword against Teach’s cartridge box, and bent it to the hilt. Teach broke the guard of it, and wounded Maynard’s fingers but did not disable him, whereupon he jumped back and threw away his sword and fired his pistol which wounded Teach. Abraham Demelt struck in between them with his sword and cut Teach’s face; in the interim both companies engaged in Maynard’s sloop. Later during the battle, while Teach was fighting Maynard another soldier came and sliced him in the neck, killing him. Maynard then cut off his head and hung it from his bow.

Despite the best efforts of the pirates (including a desperate plan to blow up the Adventure), Teach was killed, and the battle ended. Teach was reportedly shot five times and stabbed more than twenty times before he died and was decapitated. Legends about his death immediately sprang up, including the oft-repeated claim that Teach’s headless body, after being thrown overboard, swam between 2 and 7 times around the Adventure before sinking. Teach’s head was placed as a trophy on the bowsprit of the ship (it was also required by Maynard to claim his prize when he returned home). Despite the sheer terror of the battle with the pirates and the wounds that the crew received, Maynard received only a meagre prize of £100 from Spotswood. Teach’s head was placed on a pike or pole on the north shore of the Hampton River in Virginia at a place now called Blackbeard’s Point as a warning to other sailors who thought of taking up piracy.