How The Infamous Pirate Blackbeard Was Outsmarted By The Royal Navy
During the summer of 1718, Edward Teach, also known as the infamous pirate Blackbeard, decided to give up his pirating ways in exchange for a royal pardon from the governor of North Carolina, which absolved him and his men of all crimes.
The pirates had committed many crimes, so this was a great deal for them. However, Blackbeard’s life as a law-abiding individual did not last long.
A few months before being pardoned, Blackbeard and his crew had barricaded Charleston, South Carolina, for about a week.
He raided ships, took hostages, and struck fear into the hearts of everyone in the Carolinas. But after being pardoned, he appeared to settle down.
He got married to the daughter of a local planter and moved into a house in Bath, North Carolina, just down the street from the governor who issued the pardon. After resting for a few weeks, he took up piracy again, as he was in need of more money.
Alexander Spotswood, the lieutenant governor of the Colony of Virginia, ran out of patience for Blackbeard, especially after he broke their plea deal agreement by capturing two unarmed French ships in late August.
In November 1718, Spotswood announced that he was offering 100 pounds to anyone who could provide evidence of having killed Edward Teach, or Blackbeard. The reward for any other pirate captain was only 40 pounds.
Spotswood provided Robert Maynard, an officer in the Royal Navy, with 60 men and two sloops, small sailboats that could chase Blackbeard through the coast’s narrow inlets and shallows.
On November 17, the Ranger and the Jane secretly made their way north from the James River in Virginia to the barrier islands of North Carolina.
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On the night of November 21, Maynard and his men identified Blackbeard’s boat near Ocracoke Island.
The next morning, they attacked while Blackbeard’s crew was sleeping off a night of drinking. They had the advantage of surprise, but it only lasted for a short time. The Jane ended up running aground once Blackbeard’s ship got going.
Blackbeard pulled up close enough to the Ranger to hold a conversation with Maynard, which mostly consisted of threats and taunts.
Then, Blackbeard launched his cannon, killing 20 men on Maynard’s sloop. Blackbeard assumed that the rest of the crew was dead as well. So, he and his men boarded the Ranger to claim the vessel.
But Maynard and his men were not dead—they were actually lying in wait, hiding on the deck and in the hold. When the pirates boarded the ship, they sprung up for close combat.
They overpowered Blackbeard, leaving him shot five times and cut 20 times over.
Maynard severed Blackbeard’s head from his body and hung the head from the boat’s bowsprit. The sloop triumphantly sailed back to Virginia with 14 prisoners and Blackbeard’s dead body. The most notorious pirate in history could terrorize the seas no more.
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