Blackbeard suffered twenty-five stab wounds and five gunshots before succumbing to his injuries. Leading a charge aboard the vessel, he and his men were surprised by Maynard’s crew. When Jane began to take damage, Maynard ordered the crew to go below deck, creating the illusion of an abandoned vessel.īlackbeard took the bait. Maynard’s two ships, Jane and Ranger, were immediately fired upon by Blackbeard and his crew, severely damaging the Ranger. Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard, the commanding officer of the arranged assault, found Blackbeard in Ocracoke Inlet on November 22, 1718. Acting in secrecy, Spotswood arranged an ambush of Blackbeard, offering a bonus for Blackbeard’s death. With commercial vessels using Ocracoke Inlet to access inland ports, Blackbeard and several other pirates found the coastal waterway an ideal target.Īfter tolerating Blackbeard’s terrorism for eighteen months, North Carolina residents and merchant sailors begged Virginia’s colonial governor Alexander Spotswood for help. Piracy became rampant in North Carolina after Blackbeard bribed colonial governor Charles Eden to ignore criminal activities. The flag, much like Blackbeard’s personal image, was designed solely to intimidate.ĭespite his outlandish persona and reputation as one of the most feared men of the seas, Blackbeard’s time as a pirate was short-lived. In Blackbeard’s case, the flag flying over the Queen Anne’s Revenge depicted a heart dripping blood and a skeleton holding an hourglass and spear. Flags became an important aspect of that image. The image pirates such as Blackbeard cultivated was often just as important as their actions. In addition, he cultivated his image to strike fear into the hearts of other sailors, wrapping slow-burning lighted coils in his long, black hair and beard.

In battle, Blackbeard was a savage opponent with a reputation for inhuman strength. He and his men sailed the Caribbean and the Atlantic coast of North America, torturing merchant ship crewmen and passengers, stealing cargo, and gaining a reputation as one of the most notorious pirates in history.

Queen Anne’s Revenge, as Blackbeard now called the ship, carried a crew of approximately 300 men and 40 cannon. In 1717, after Hornigold rewarded him with a hijacked ship, Blackbeard set out on his own. His career in piracy began in the Caribbean with fellow pirate Benjamin Hornigold. Born Edward Teach (or possibly Thatch), he served England as a privateer in Queen Anne’s War until turning to piracy at war’s end in 1713. The name Blackbeard is synonymous with pirating in the eighteenth century.

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