by Craig Cabell
The three men plotting the pirate’s downfall decided upon a double-pronged assault. Normally, this classic military manoeuvre involves either attacking a single target from two different directions or attacking two targets simultaneously. The effect of such a move is to divide the enemy’s defences and cut off routes of retreat and re-supply in a sustained battle. However, this was not to be a sustained battle; it was to be a fast hard-hitting approach that relied on the element of surprise. The three men chose the strategy of attacking two different targets simultaneously.
On their side, Spotswood and the captains had the resources and manpower advantage. Captain Johnson claims in his narrative that Blackbeard had forty men at his disposal but some reports indicate the number was far fewer than that. Remember when Johnson stated that he went to Eden with around twenty men and there is no mention of the remaining twenty back at the ship? Perhaps that’s all the manpower Blackbeard had. Either way, his men would be no match for the well-trained Royal Navy crews, and the military assault had the advantage of surprise, or at least it should, if nothing went wrong.217
Yet something nearly did go wrong. Somehow, Tobias Knight in North Carolina learned that something was being planned. He had already been in receipt of several hogsheads of sugar from the pirate, which were increasingly looking like stolen goods. He had been involved in the hearing that awarded Blackbeard salvage rights to the vessel he found apparently abandoned. Knight sent a guarded note to Blackbeard which seemed to warn him of the coming battle when he wrote, ‘I would have you make the best of your way up as soon as possible your affairs will let you.’ If later the finger of collusion with Blackbeard was being pointed at Charles Eden, perhaps it was being pointed at the wrong man. Knight signed his letter to the pirate saying that he was Blackbeard’s ‘real and true friend’. If he knew any details of the scheme, he did not put those in the letter; perhaps he was trying to warn his friend something was about to take place while having an eye for his own reputation and any repercussions afterwards, in short, to save his own skin?218
The vague note didn’t help Blackbeard who, it seems, ignored this warning. Instead of sailing his sloop out into the relative safety of the ocean, he remained where he was, thinking perhaps that he was safe in his hiding-place and protected by the governor and the King’s Pardon. This lack of action was a fatal mistake.
However, there may be another reason for his lack of action. When Blackbeard blockaded Charles Town and wanted only a supply of medicine, it pointed to the possibility that his crew may have been ill and that he too, may have been unwell. If he knew he was fatally ill and wanted to go down fighting rather than hiding and wasting away, perhaps his lack of action now at Ocracoke in avoiding a battle would give him the opportunity to die a glorious death in battle rather than die slowly through disease. Win or lose, victory or savage but memorable death, he would win.
Back in Virginia, Spotswood set events in motion, even though he didn’t have the full backing from his Council. He was placing a great deal of trust in the abilities of others to carry out the task; an extremely risky thing to do for such an endeavour. If anything had gone wrong, he would be finished, but then these men he was working with were the Royal Navy and they were the best, weren’t they?
There would be two attacks. The first was to be a land attack with Captain Brand leading around 200 men across the border between Virginia and North Carolina, near Windsor, heading for Bath Town on the Pamlico River to search for the pirate. Once across the border, his force was to march south, through Plymouth, towards Bath Town, initially avoiding Albermarle where Governor Eden’s residence was.
If Spotswood was on shaky legal ground with an attack against a pirate in the coastal waters of another colony, he was certainly on no legal ground whatsoever in sending an armed force across the border into North Carolina. Blackbeard had accepted the King’s Pardon, and so was a law-abiding citizen of North Carolina in the official eyes of the law because there was no evidence to prove the contrary. Spotswood knew exactly where the limits of his jurisdiction were, he just chose to ignore them. From the moment the forces crossed the border, stealth and speed in equal measure were essential.219
The second attack would be by sea where a small force would sail to Ocracoke Island and attack Blackbeard’s sloop New Adventure in the hope that the pirate might be aboard her. Provided the sloop did not sail out to sea, Spotswood knew that this was where it would be found. His information told him that he stood a good chance of catching the pirate at one of the two locations. If the alarm was raised and the pirates on the island base headed to Bath to get away from the sea force, they would run right into Captain Brand’s army, while if any of the pirates based in Bath headed for the sloop they would run into the force coming in from the sea who would have blocked anyone trying to escape along the river.
As far as the sea assault was concerned, the shallow waters around Ocracoke Island, filled with submerged and partly submerged sand bars, made it almost impossible for large warships to navigate. Before they could get near to Blackbeard’s sloops they would have been marooned on any of the sandbanks and shoals lying just under the surface of the water. The only way the sea assault would work would be if they attacked using smaller vessels such as sloops. The Royal Navy had no sloops in the area. Of course, if Spotswood was following the rules to the letter he should have contacted the Admiralty to seek permission for the assault to take place, but he was not a man to let rules stand in the way of results. An answer would take far too long.
Spotswood, Brand and Gordon decided that two sloops would be needed for the sea attack. Spotswood would hire the sloops and the captains would provide the crews from their own ships. Shortly after the meeting Spotswood hired the two vessels and fitted them out from his own finances, which gives us a good indication of the state of his determination and his wealth at the time. Both sloops arrived in Hampton (what was then called Kecoughtan) on 17 November 1718, just four days after the meeting. In his letter to the Council of Trade and Plantations Spotswood wrote:
Having gained sufficient intelligence of the strength of Tache’s crew, and sent for pylots from Carolina, I communicated to the Captains of H.M. ships of war on this station the project I had formed to extirpate this nest of pyrates. It was found impracticable for the men of war to go into the shallow and difficult channels of that country, and the Captains were unwilling to be at the charge of hyring sloops which they had no orders to do, and must therefore have paid out of their own pockets, but as they readily consented to furnish men, I undertook the other part of supplying at my own charge sloops and pilots.220
In those days it was not uncommon for governors, Royal Navy crews, privateers or anyone else who captured pirates to claim a percentage of their treasure. Indeed, it would have been one of the motivations for mounting the expedition. As this was common practice, Spotswood offered various sums to the crews that did the fighting as a reward for a successful mission; this would come out of the public finances of Virginia:
... receive out of the public money, in the hands of the Treasurer of this Colony, the several rewards following that is to say, for Edward Teach, commonly called Captain Teach or Blackbeard one hundred pounds; ... for any lieutenant, master or quartermaster, boatswain or carpenter, twenty pounds; every other inferior officer, fifteen pounds and for every private man taken aboard such ship, sloop or vessel, ten pounds...221
Spotswood must have decided the amounts before the expedition departed on its historic mission, but he had not yet consulted his Council. There were very few members he could trust and the fewer people who knew about the expedition, the less chance there was for a leak to find its way to Blackbeard, but clearly there was one as Tobias Knight knew that something was in the wind. Every day Spotswood’s political standing was growing more tenuous and in the case of the rewards, he’d made the offer before he had permission to do so.
Command of the naval expedition was given to the First Lieutenant of HMS Pearl, Lieutena
nt Robert Maynard. He took command of the Jane, the larger of the two sloops and command of the other vessel, the Ranger, was given to Midshipman Hyde. In his narrative, Captain Johnson describes Maynard as ‘an experienced officer and a gentleman of great bravery and resolution’.
Time was fast approaching for the mission to begin. The crews on both sloops worked quickly, loading an assortment of ammunition, muskets, pistols, cutlasses and naval stores. No cannon were loaded. These men knew that Blackbeard had at least eight big guns on his vessel, giving him a distinct advantage in a battle as he could fire first and at a longer range.
However, by having no heavy guns the two sloops would have been lighter and faster. This was what Maynard and his crews were relying on – speed and manoeuvrability. Without the cannon and the ammunition for them the sloops would sit higher in the water which meant there was less chance of them being grounded on a shoal or sand bar. Then they really would be sitting targets for the pirate’s cannons. If Blackbeard had received warning that the Royal Navy was on its way to destroy him and had his crews ready and his guns primed and ready to fire there would be no contest, the entire expedition could turn out to be a disaster. Jane and Ranger would have been blasted out of the water before either could sail anywhere within range for the crews to fire their muskets.
While Maynard and his men were preparing the two sloops the land forces had already started marching. Once they’d crossed the border between Virginia and North Carolina the force led by Captain Brand was in violation of the law. The crossing of the border was, legally, an armed invasion and the planned capture of pirates and their possessions were technically abduction and armed robbery.
Several influential people from North Carolina aided the land force as they crossed the border. Edward Moseley, the Surveyor General and Colonial Treasurer was one of them. He was against Governor Eden’s policies and planned to ride with Brand’s force right into Bath Town.
Six days after leaving their base in Virginia, Brand’s army was within 3 miles of Bath Town. He sent an advance scout in the form of Colonel Moore, another resident of North Carolina, to establish whether Blackbeard was in the town. He was not.222
However, Israel Hands was, along with about twenty-four other pirates from Blackbeard’s crew. At this time, Hands was still Blackbeard’s first mate and had been captain of the sloop Adventure before it was grounded in Topsail Inlet. After Blackbeard had shot him in the knee in an unprovoked outburst the wound prevented him from running. Virtually a cripple, he was unable to escape and all he could do was put up his hands in surrender.223
Brand then moved on to Governor Eden’s residence while the bulk of his force searched the town for pirates. To Eden’s disgust, his house was ransacked by Brand’s troops searching for evidence that would link him and his colleague, Tobias Knight, with Blackbeard. Although they located the sixty hogsheads of sugar in Eden’s barn and the twenty in Knight’s possession, they could not find any definite evidence that could connect either of these officials to the pirate. Perhaps the sea assault would meet with more success.
Chapter 15
Showdown
They were so closely and warmly engaged, the lieutenant
and twelve men against Blackbeard and fourteen, till
the sea was tinctured with blood round the vessel. Blackbeard
received a shot in his body ... yet he stood his ground, and
fought with great fury till he received five-and-twenty wounds
and five of them by shot. At length, as he was cocking another
pistol, having fired several before, he fell down dead.224
Captain Charles Johnson
It was 21 November 1718. Night was falling. Far away the land force was still marching towards Bath Town. On the far side of the island, Lieutenant Maynard quietly ordered the anchor to be slowly lowered into the water.
In the darkness, a few men rowed silently away from the Jane heading for the shore. They disappeared into the night. They were his eyes and ears.
He knew the morning tide would be favourable for him to launch his attack. He whispered his orders that went from man to man – no noise, no lights, and no fires. If a sound or light alerted the pirates to their presence the mission would be over. Through signals, Maynard ordered the Ranger to stop any vessels traversing the inlet and entering the river, ensuring that no word of their presence would reach Blackbeard. But stopping ships also meant he might be able to glean last minute information on where the pirate was lurking and clues on the strength of his defences.
On the far side of the inlet, the sloop New Adventure sat moored in its hideaway. The noise of drink-fuelled laughter drifted across the water. In his cabin, Blackbeard was drinking with Samuel Odell, captain of the trading sloop that had brought the letter by Tobias Knight warning Blackbeard of an impending attack. That sloop had been anchored nearby since 17 November. On board the New Adventure was a skeleton crew of no more than twenty-five men. The rest of the crew were in Bath Town with Israel Hands.225
So the night drifted by. The pirates revelled in their supposed safety, unaware of the danger they were in. No pirate lookouts had been posted by Blackbeard, which meant that come the dawn they would not have been as ready for battle as they should have been. The sailors in the sloops Jane and Ranger waited for sunrise which seemed to take an eternity to arrive.
Finally, the first light of dawn began to push away the darkness of night and Maynard quickly issued a small cold breakfast to his crews. The tides were higher and the order was quickly passed to move out. Yet, even without cannons weighing them down, Maynard was still unconvinced that he would not become beached on a sand bar just below the surface of the water, despite the fact that he had a local pilot, Master William Butler aboard.226 In the tides, some of the sand underneath may shift from one day to the next. If he suddenly ran aground, Blackbeard’s cannon could blast him to shreds. He sent a small tender, a longboat with four oars, ahead to sound out the perfect route and judge the depths.
Aboard the two sloops a total of more than fifty-seven men waited for the coming battle. Thirty-three men had been chosen from the Pearl and the rest were taken from the Lyme to crew the two sloops. Each of the two sloops had a pilot familiar with the waters in Pamlico Sound and around Ocracoke Island.
As they waited, many of the Royal Navy crews cleaned their weapons, checked their powder, and said a last prayer. While they had no cannon they were loaded down with the weaponry they would need: cutlasses, daggers, pistols, muskets, grenades, pikes and boarding axes, along with various amounts of ammunition.
Moderate gales & fair Weather, this day I rec’d from Captain Gordon an Order to Command 60 men out of his Majesties Ships Pearl & Lyme, on board two small Sloops, in Order to destroy Some pyrates, who resided in N. Carolina, This day Weigh’d and Sail’d hence with ye Sloops under my Command, having on board Proviso of all species with Arms & Ammunition Suitable for ye occasion.227
If they won, it would see the end of the most feared and notorious pirate in the region. If they lost, that pirate’s fame and reputation would be such that no-one, not even the Royal Navy, would dare come near him. If they lost, nothing could stop him. They had to succeed. The reputation and political life of a colonial governor were resting on their actions, as was the reputation of the Royal Navy in its ability to defeat the scourge of piracy. The future years of trading throughout the colonies also rested on their shoulders, for if Blackbeard was not defeated, the pirates would flock here in droves.
The sloops followed the tender around the island. There was very little wind, the sky was overcast and grey, the water smooth and the crews resorted to using their oars to get them into position to attack. Quietly, the Royal Navy men rowed their two sloops following the little tender ahead of them. The stern of the New Adventure slowly came into view as the men rowed and inch by inch, moment by moment, more of it could be seen.
At the south-western tip of the island the New Adventure was moored, her bows facing
the oncoming force. As the approaching tender came into view the alarm on the pirate sloop was raised as one man rushed below decks to tell Blackbeard. Moments later Blackbeard emerged from his cabin and climbed up to the main deck just as the Ranger and Jane cleared the shelter of the island. He ordered his master gunner, Philip Morton, to fire on the longboat, sending a shot across the tender’s bow. The tender quickly turned away, coming in behind one of the sloops for protection.
There is some confusion as to the order of events immediately following this. Johnson tells us that Maynard hoisted the King’s colours, which was standard maritime procedure but it is more likely that Maynard held off raising his colours. Pirates often revealed their identity to their prey at the last possible moment when escape was impossible and it seems plausible that Maynard might have done the same. He needed to get his sloops within 100 yards of the New Adventure so they would be within musket range, and giving himself away too early would have meant sure death from Blackbeard’s guns. For Maynard to show his hand at this point would have been foolish. So he waited.
Instead of raising his anchor, Blackbeard cut his cable, clearly aware that there was some doubt about who the two sloops were. The pirates then quickly hoisted their sails as the sloop began to drift with the tide running parallel to the shore. Blackbeard could have escaped by sailing north into Pamlico Sound and then out to sea; instead he chose to turn and fight. He ordered the ship to be turned so that her starboard guns would come to bear on the approaching sloops.
On Maynard’s port side was the Ranger, and the two sloops headed in a line abreast formation towards the pirates. When they were within 500 yards, they were definitely within range of the pirate cannon and completely at Blackbeard’s mercy. Once he fired a broadside using grapeshot it would cut the Royal Navy men to pieces. However, Maynard had modified the sloops by ensuring extra ladders had been fitted and hatch covers taken away, allowing the crew to quickly come up on deck and join in on any hand-to-hand fighting. Now, he ordered the bulk of his crew below decks to give them some protection from the broadside that would inevitably come.