The sea-rovers whom we know by the name of buccaneers had an origin somewhat similar to that of the Moslem corsairs of Barbary. The reader will not have forgotten that the latter, after being driven out of Spain, settled on the north coast of Africa, and then, after being instructed in the nautical arts by the seamen of different nationalities, rose to the rank of grand corsairs.
So, likewise, the buccaneers were at first inoffensive settlers in Hispaniola, but, after having been driven from their habitations by the Spaniards, developed an implacable hatred of the latter and devoted themselves to infesting the shores of Spanish America and intercepting ships on their way over the sea. And just as the Moslem corsairs were a mixture of several nations—English, Dutch, Levantine, Italian and so on—in like manner the company of buccaneers before long was made up of various European seamen from many a different port.
But among the English buccaneers a special place must be reserved for a Bristol seaman named Edward Teach, better known as “Black-Beard” Teach, just as we remember the great Moslem corsair was known as Red-Beard Uruj, or Barbarossa. Teach left the west of England, and having arrived at Jamaica shipped as one of the crew of a privateer during the French war, and was not long in showing that he was made of the right stuff of which those who rove the seas for booty are supposed to be. But it was not until a Captain Benjamin Hornigold gave him the command of a prize which he had taken that Teach began to have his full opportunity. In the spring of 1717 Hornigold and Teach sailed away from the West Indies for North America. Before they had reached their destination they had captured a vessel with 120 barrels of flour, which they distributed between their two vessels. A little later they seized two more vessels, from which they obtained a quantity of wine and treasure. The pirates next proceeded to the coast of Virginia, where they cleaned ship, and then, after these diversions, they captured a ship bound for Martinique.
Hornigold now returned with his prizes to the island of Providence, and presently surrendered himself to the King’s clemency. But Teach went about his business as an independent pirate now. The vessel in which he sailed was fitted with forty guns, and he named her The Queen Anne’s Revenge, and he began rapidly to accumulate wealth. One day, while cruising near the island of St. Vincent, he captured a large vessel called the Great Allan, pillaged her of what he fancied and then set her on fire. Only a few days later the Scarborough man-of-war hove in sight, and for several hours the two ships engaged. The former recognised that Teach was a pirate and was endeavouring to conquer him: but it is a fact that after a time the Scarborough, seeing she was not a match for The Queen Anne’s Revenge, deemed it better to retire from the contest, thus allowing Teach to resume his piratical profession.
He next found himself encountering a sloop, which was commanded by a Major Bonnet, and Teach and Bonnet agreed to throw in their lot together. But as “Black Beard” soon saw that Bonnet was inexperienced in naval matters the former gave the command of the sloop to one of the crew named Richards, whilst Bonnet transferred to the larger ship. And then the two craft went roaming over the seas with singular success. Indeed, were one to mention every ship that Teach captured, the reader would find the catalogue to be one of mere monotony. The pirate had but to give chase after a sail, hoist his black flag, and the fleeing ship would heave-to and surrender. But as I believe the reader would find it more interesting to become acquainted with the more interesting episodes rather than a complete list of every single engagement, I propose to confine myself to the former.
Teach cruised about the West Indies and off the southern portion of what are now the United States. He would anchor off Charleston (South Carolina), wait till an outward-bound ship emerged from the harbour, and then promptly seize her, or, just to vary matters, he would capture a couple of others as they were about to enter Charleston. The impudence of the man was amazing, and his audacity spread terror in the town and paralysed the trade of the port. No vessel dared to show her nose outside the harbour, and a whole fleet of ships was thus tied up inside unable to move. And then, like many of these pirates, Teach showed how remarkably clever and resourceful he was. By this time he had captured quite a large number of prisoners, and it became essential that medicine supplies should be procured by some means. To this end he had the remarkable impudence to demand a medicine-chest from the governor: and this request was made neither diplomatically nor even politely. He asked for it with consummate insolence. He sent some of his own crew ashore, together with several of the prisoners, demanding these medicinal stores, and it was made quite clear to the governor that if these were not forthcoming and a safe return made to the ships, every prisoner should instantly be put to death, and the captured ships burnt to ashes. Whilst these negotiations were being carried on by the little deputation of prisoners, the pirate’s crew were swaggering up and down the streets of Charleston, and not a hand dared to touch them.
The governor was in a dilemma and listened carefully to the insolent demand: but as he was anxious to prevent human carnage, he got together medicinal supplies to the value of over £300 and sent them aboard. But to show you what sort of a man Teach was, let it be said that as soon as the pirate obtained these goods and the safe return of his own men, he pillaged the captured vessels of all their gold and provisions, then put the prisoners back on their respective ships and set sail for North Carolina. On the way thither Teach began to consider how he could best secure the spoil for himself and a few of his especial friends among the crew, so he pretended that he was about to give his ship’s bottom a scrub and headed for the shore, where she grounded. He then called to the sloop to come to his assistance. This they attempted, but the sloop also took the ground badly and both ships became total wrecks. Teach then took the tender, put forty hands therein, had about half of them landed on a lonely sandy island three miles from the shore, “where there was neither bird nor beast nor herb for their subsistence.” Had it not been for Major Bonnet, who afterwards sent a long-boat for them, they would have died.
Meanwhile Teach, now very rich, with the rest of his crew, went and surrendered himself to the Governor of North Carolina. Why? Not for any other reason than in order to plan out bigger piracies. For he knew that the governor would succumb to bribery, and by this official’s influence a court of vice-admiralty was held and The Queen Anne’s Revenge condemned as a lawful prize and the legal property of Teach, although it was a well-known fact that she belonged to English merchants.
It was not long before Teach was at sea again, and setting a course for Bermudas he pillaged four or five English and French merchantmen, and brought one of the ships back to North Carolina, where he shared the prizes with the governor who had already obliged him. Teach also made an affidavit that he had found this French ship at sea with not a soul on board, so the court allowed him to keep her, and the governor received sixty hogsheads of sugar for his kindly assistance. Teach was very nervous lest some one might arrive in the harbour and prove that the pirate was lying, so on the excuse that this ship was leaky and likely to stop up the entrance to the harbour if she sank, permission was obtained from the governor to burn her, and when that had been done, her bottom was sunk so that she might never exist as a witness against him.
But the time came when the piracies of this Teach could no longer be endured. Skippers of trading craft had already lost so heavily that it was resolved to take concerted action. The skippers knew that the Governor of Virginia was an honourable man, and they laid the matter before him, begging that an armed force might be sent from the men-of-war to settle these infesting pirates. The governor consulted the men-of-war captains as to what had best be done, and it was decided to hire two small vessels which could pursue Black Beard into all those inlets and creeks which exist on the American coast. These were to be manned by men from the warships, and placed under the command of Lieutenant May. A proclamation was also issued offering a handsome reward to any who within a year should capture or destroy a pirate.
But before we go on to watch the exciting events with which this punitive expedition was concerned I want the reader to realise something more of the kind of pirate they were to chase. A few actual incidents will reveal his character better than many words. The story is told that on a certain night when Black Beard was drinking in his cabin with Israel Hands (who was master of The Queen Anne’s Revenge), the ship’s pilot and a fourth man, Teach suddenly took up a pair of pistols and cocked them underneath the table. When the fourth man perceived this, he went up on deck, leaving Teach, Hands and the pilot together. As soon as the pistols were ready, Teach blew out the light, crossed his arms and fired at the two men. The first pistol did not harm, but the other wounded Hands in the knee. When Teach was asked why he did this, he replied with an oath, “If I didn’t now and then kill one of you, you would forget who I was.”
And there is another anecdote which shows his vanity in a curious manner. Like most blackguards, he was anxious to pose as a person who set no limits to his endurance. Those were the days of braggadocio, of pomposity and hard drinking and hard swearing. It happened that on this particular occasion the ship was doing a passage, and Teach was somewhat high-spirited through the effect of the wine, and he became obsessed with the idea of making his crew believe that he was a devil incarnate. “Come,” he roared to some of his men, “let us make a hell of our own, and try how long we can bear it.” It was obviously the prank of a drunken braggart, but with several others he went down into the hold of the ship and closed up all the hatches. He then filled several pots full of brimstone and other combustible matter and set it on fire. Quickly the hold became so bad that the men were almost suffocated, and some of them clamoured for air. The hatches were at last opened and Teach was as proud of having been able to hold out longest as if he had just captured a well-freighted prize. And, finally, you can also appreciate the man’s vanity in a totally different manner. His name was derived from his long black beard, which caused him to look exceedingly repellent; but he would sometimes even stick lighted matches under his hat, which, burning on either side of his face, lit up his wild fierce eyes and made his general appearance so repulsive that he exactly reflected his own character.
But to resume our story at the point where we digressed. About the middle of November 1717, Lieutenant Maynard set out in quest of Black Beard, and four days later came in sight of the pirate. The expedition had been fitted out with every secrecy, and care was taken to prevent information reaching Teach. But the tidings had reached Teach’s friend, the Governor of Bermudas, and his secretary. The latter therefore sent a letter to warn Teach to be on his guard. But Teach had before now been the recipient of false news, and he declined to believe that he was being hunted down. In fact, it was not until he actually saw the sloops which had been sent to catch him that he could realise the true state of affairs.
Maynard had arrived with his sloops in the evening of a November day, and deemed it wiser to wait till morning before attack. Teach was so little concerned, however, that he spent the night in drinking with the skipper of a trader. Black Beard’s men fully realised that there would be an engagement the next day, and one of them ventured to ask him a certain question. If, inquired the man, anything should happen to Teach during the engagement would his wife know where he had buried his money? Black Beard’s reply was short and concise. “Nobody but the devil and myself,” he answered, “knows where it is. And the longest liver shall take all.”
When the morning came, Maynard weighed anchor and sent his boat to sound the depth of water around where the pirate was lying. Teach then promptly fired at the boat, but Maynard then hoisted his royal colours and made towards Black Beard as fast as oars and sails could carry him. Before long both the pirate and two sloops were aground, but Maynard lightened his vessel of her ballast and water, and then advanced towards Black Beard, whereupon the pirate began to roar and rant. “Who are you?” he hailed, “and whence come you?” The naval officer quietly answered him. “You see from our colours we are no pirates.” Black Beard then bade him send his boat aboard that he might see who he was, but Maynard simply answered this impudent request by replying, “I cannot spare my boat, but I will come aboard you as soon as I can with my sloop.”
The swaggering pirate then raised his glass of grog and insolently drank to the officer, saying, “I’ll give no quarter, nor take any from you.” Maynard replied that he expected no quarter from him, nor, for his part, did he intend to give any. But whilst this exchange of courtesies went on, the tide had risen and the pirate’s ship floated off. As fast as they could the sloops were being rowed towards Teach’s ship, but as the ships drew near, Teach fired a broadside and so killed or wounded twenty of the naval men. A little later Black Beard’s ship drifted in to the shore and one of the sloops fell astern. But Maynard, finding that his own sloop was carrying way on and that he would fetch alongside Teach’s ship, ordered all his own men below, while he and the helmsman were the only two who remained on deck. The latter he managed to conceal so that only the officer was visible. But he ordered his crew to take their pistols, cutlasses and swords and to be ready for any duty immediately, and in order to make it possible for the men to regain the deck in the minimum time, he caused two ladders to be placed in the hatchway.
The sloop now came alongside the pirate, whereupon the latter had case-boxes, such as were discharged from cannon, thrown on board, having first been filled with powder, small shot, slugs and pieces of lead and iron. A quick match was placed in the mouth of these and then they were dropped on to the sloop’s deck. These would, of course, be exceedingly destructive, but inasmuch as the naval crew were below at the time, they did but little harm. And when Black Beard saw that by now there were only a few hands on deck he believed that these three or four were the sole survivors. He exulted greatly and cried, “Let us jump on board and cut to pieces those that are alive.” Now one of these case-boxes was causing a great cloud of smoke, so that Black Beard was able, together with fourteen of his men, to leap on the sloop’s deck without being immediately perceived. But as soon as the smoke began to clear, Maynard ordered his men up from below, who were on deck in a flash.
Then there began a fierce fight, and between Maynard and Black Beard there was a magnificent hand-to-hand encounter. At first they exchanged shots, and the pirate was wounded. Then they drew their swords, and each man lunged at the other. Matters were proceeding in an exciting manner until, by ill-luck, the lieutenant had the misfortune to break his sword. In a moment Black Beard would have dealt him a fatal blow, had not one of Maynard’s men instantly given the pirate a terrible wound in the neck and throat. After this the onslaught became fiercer and fiercer. Both sides were releasing their pent-up rage, and it was by no means certain who would win the fight. There were twelve service men against fourteen of the pirates, not counting Maynard or Teach. It is to be stated that neither side lacked bravery, and the greatest valour was displayed on both sides. The deck presented a sickening sight, and blood was seen spilt everywhere. Teach, though he had been wounded by the shot from Maynard and the blow from one of the latter’s men, as well as sundry other ugly cuts, still fought splendidly. But he was employing the very utmost of his physical resources, and finally, while in the act of cocking his pistol, fell down with a heavy thud to the deck dead.
In the meanwhile eight of his men had also perished, and most of the rest being wounded they clamoured for quarter, a request which was granted, seeing that Teach himself had been slain. Maynard severed the pirate’s head from his body, and after affixing it to the end of his bowsprit, sailed away to Bathtown in order to obtain medical aid for his wounded men. On ransacking the pirate ship there were found a number of incriminating documents which showed the close connection between Teach and the Governor of Bermudas. After Maynard’s men had their wounds attended to, the sloop left Bathtown, and with Black Beard’s head still swinging at the bowsprit end, proceeded to Virginia, where there was great rejoicing that the pirate pest had at last been killed. The prisoners were brought off from the sloop, tried, condemned and executed, with the exception of two. Of these one had been taken by Teach from a trading ship only the day before the fight, and he was suffering severely from no less than seventy wounds, but of these he presently recovered. The other man not executed was Israel Hands, who was master of The Queen Anne’s Revenge, who had remained on shore at Bathtown, where he was recovering from that wound we mentioned just now which Black-Beard one night in a playful humour had dealt him from his pistol in the dark.
So the American colonists were able to breathe again, and the trading ships were allowed to go about once more without fear of this scoundrel. The blow had been dealt decisively and neatly. It only remains to add one other fact which well indicates the desperate nature of this pirate. When, during the engagement, it seemed likely that he would be overcome, he had placed a negro at the gunpowder door with instructions to blow the ship up the moment Maynard’s men should come aboard. But inasmuch as Maynard’s clever stratagem lured the pirate and his men on board the sloop, a terrible disaster was avoided which would have involved both ships and doubtless all the men of each contesting party.