Pirate History

Nov 22, 2023, 12:08 PM

(I f'ed up and posted this in the P forum...I'm guessing NJDEV is working on a conspiracy for Cap'n Teach)

On #thisdateinpiratehistory in 1718, Edward Teach is killed in battle at Ocracoke Inlet, ending the reign of the dreaded pirate known as Blackbeard.

Teach had recently obtained a pardon from North Carolina Governor Charles Eden and settled in the town of Bath. He spent the summer of 1718 traveling between his home there and his sloop Adventure, anchored off Ocracoke. By September, rumors began stirring that he had returned to piracy, causing Virginia Gov. Alexander Spotswood to grow uneasy.

Spotswood outfitted two sloops and sent them south under the command of Lieutenant Robert Maynard, to capture the pirate.

Maynard and his sloops, Ranger and Jane, moved into position in the channel approaching Blackbeard and the Adventure. Having been entertaining guests the night before, Blackbeard was caught off-guard by the attack.

Thinking quickly, he countered by firing a broadside that decimated the sloops, killing many of Maynard's men and knocking the Ranger out of the fight completely. Maynard ordered his remaining men into the hold below deck and told them to be ready to fight.

As the Jane drew near, grappling hooks sailed across from Adventure and lashed the two ships together.
Blackbeard was the first over the rail, leading his pirates aboard. Seeing the deck of the Jane nearly empty, they charged at Maynard, at which time his remaining crew burst forth from the hold and began vicious hand-to-hand combat with the pirates.

Maynard and Blackbeard came together and drew their pistols, firing at one another. Blackbeard was struck, but nonetheless drew his cutlass and with a powerful stroke, broke Maynard's sword. The two battled across the blood-soaked deck, and as Maynard drew back to fire again, Blackbeard moved in for an attack but was grievously wounded in the neck by another member of the Jane.

Fatally injured, he was then jumped upon and killed by several more of Maynard's crew, with the finishing blow cutting off his head. The infamous pirate's body was dumped overboard into the Inlet, and his head was hung from the bowsprit of the Jane.

He did not get keelhauled like he did in Black Sails: