by Craig Cabell
197 We saw a similar political victory during one of the general elections when Margaret Thatcher was re-elected as Prime Minister, shortly after the military victory over Argentina during the Falklands War. Had this military victory not been in favour of Britain, it is very doubtful that the subsequent election would have been in favour of the then current Prime Minister.
198 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 799, letter from Lieutenant-Governor Spotswood to Governor Earl of Orkney, Governor of Virginia.
199 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800, letter from Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, dated 22 December 1718.
200 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800, letter from Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, dated 22 December 1718.
201 Ibid.
202 Ibid.
203 Ibid.
204 Ibid.
205 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800, Part II (a), address of the House of Burgesses of Virginia to HM the King, dated 20 November 1718.
206 Ibid.
207 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800, letter from Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, dated 22 December 1718.
208 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 803, circular letter from Mr Secretary Craggs to Governors of Plantations.
209 We know from a letter written by Spotswood that several of the pirates were passing through Virginia on their way further inland and were assembling in larger numbers than were permitted in his Proclamation. For this reason, and to deprive those pirates of an opportunity to re-form under their leader, the hunt for Blackbeard was becoming more urgent. The letter is filed at CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800.
210 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800, letter from Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, dated 22 December 1718. The sum of £50 referred to is more than many people at the time could earn in a whole year, so for someone to be carrying that in loose change meant he was either a well-to-do gentleman or a criminal.
211 If we look at the figures, Howard lost two slaves of undisclosed value and £50 when he was arrested. He was then advised to sue for damages for the seizing of those effects and depriving him of his liberty to a sum of ten times the monetary figure. This would be not dissimilar to someone accused of theft stealing your car, crashing it, ending up in hospital and then suing you for loss of future earnings. It is no wonder Spotswood appeared riled by the whole situation.
212 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800, letter from Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, dated 22 December 1718.
213 Ibid.
214 Johnson, A General History, pp. 53 – 4, from the Proclamation written by Alexander Spotswood regarding the hunt for and capture of pirates.
215 There would not be any record of such a request since Spotswood would never have gone down that route. He was convinced, as we knew from subsequent legal proceeding, that Eden was allied with Blackbeard, and so any request for permission to send an armed party across the border would, Spotswood was no doubt convinced, have alerted Blackbeard and the hunt would have had to start all over again.
216 Johnson, A General History, pp. 53 – 4.
217 Johnson, A General History, p. 50.
218 Lee, Blackbeard the Pirate, p. 146.
219 In the days of the early colonies, each was treated as a separate governing body, independently answerable to the Council of Trade and Plantations. They were almost like separate countries, and as such, to send armed troops across a border from one to another was tantamount to an invasion.
220 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800, letter from Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, dated 22 December 1718.
221 Johnson, A General History, pp. 53 – 4.
222 Much of the information on the land expedition to Bath Town can be found in the Public Records Office, under the Admiralty papers 1/1472.
223 In several sources, including the BBC drama produced by Dangerous Films, the injury sustained by Israel Hands is caused by Blackbeard shooting his knee to enable him to escape the battle the captain knew would happen soon. The narrative by Captain Charles Johnson alludes to this also but informs us that the incident was created purely as an example to the rest of the crew of Blackbeard’s authority and that if he did not wound people occasionally, they might forget who he was. As if.
224 Johnson, A General History, p. 57.
225 Konstam, Blackbeard, p. 245 provides information regarding the trading sloop but does not refer to Samuel Odell. That reference comes from Lee, Blackbeard the Pirate, p. 137.
226 Konstam, Blackbeard, p. 246.
227 Konstam, Blackbeard, p. 243, citing Maynard’s report held at the National Maritime Museum at the time of writing.
228 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800, letter from Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, dated 22 December 1718.
229 Konstam, Blackbeard, p. 252, citing the Boston News Letter, February 16 – 23 1719.
230 Johnson, A General History, p. 56.
231 Johnson is the key source for this but both Lee and Konstam say it is quite probable that Odell was one of the two men Johnson tells us stopped Black Caesar from blowing up the ship.
232 Johnson, A General History, p. 57.
233 The account of the verbal exchange and the removing of the pirate’s head in this way is given in the Boston News Letter.
234 The figure of pirate casualties here is taken from the Boston News Letter report on the battle. The figure for the King’s men comes from a letter written by Lieutenant Maynard to his sister.
235 Johnson, A General History, p. 62.
236 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800, letter from Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, dated 22 December 1718.
237 Johnson, A General History, p. 57, referring to the number of wounds that apparently brought Blackbeard down; also found in the Boston News Letter.
238 Johnson, A General History, p. 54.
239 Taken from a letter written by Tobias Knight to Blackbeard on 17 November 1718 and later used against him. In our opinion, these words imply a definite warning to leave port, but without actually going into details of when and why.
240 Konstam, Blackbeard, p. 269.
241 Ibid., p. 272.
242 Ibid., p. 271.
243 Konstam, Blackbeard, p. 110 for further insight into the character of Charles Vane.
244 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 737, letter from Governor Woodes Rogers to the Council of Trade and Plantations.
245 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 807, letter from Woodes Rogers to Secretary Craggs regarding Benjamin Hornigold.
246 Johnson, A General History, p. 59.
247 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 807, letter from Woodes Rogers to Secretary Craggs regarding Benjamin Hornigold.
248 Ibid.
249 CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800, letter from Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, dated 22 December 1718.
250 A description of Stede Bonnet’s capture is made by Governor Robert Johnson, Governor of South Carolina, in CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 730 and Section 787. This is also mentioned by Alexander Spotswood in his letter to the Council of Trade and Plantations filed at CSPCS, Volume 30, Section 800.
251 Lee, Blackbeard the Pirate, pp. 148 – 51.
252 Lee, Blackbeard the Pirate, p. 142.
253 Johnson, A General History, p. 61.
254 ‘America and West Indies: June 1718’, CSPCS, Volume 30, 1717 – 1718, Sections 264 – 287.
255 ‘America and West Indies: August 1718’, CSPCS, Volume 30, 1717 – 1718, Sections 327 – 343.
256 ‘America and West Indies: October 1718’, CSPCS, Volume 30, 1717 – 1718, Sections 359 – 381, also found on www.british-history.ac.uk accessed 10 November 2011.
Index
Act of Union
Admiralty
Adventure
Adventure, New (see also New Adventure)
Anne, Queen
Arot, Louis
Atlantic Ocean
Bad Encounter (see also Mauvaise Rencontre)
Bahamas
Bath Town
BBC
Beaufort
Belize
Benin
Bequia Island
Bermuda
Betty
Bibby, Robert
Blake, James
Bonnet, Stede
Bostock, Captain Henry
Boston News Letter
Brand, Captain Ellis
Brooks, Joseph
Burgiss, Captain
Cabot, John Sebastian
Caesar, Black
Caribbean Sea
Carnes, John
Catt Island
Charles Town
Charleston (see also Charles Town)
Churchill, John
Churchill, Sarah Jennings
Clarck (Clark), Captain
Codd, Captain
Council of Trade and Plantations
Craigh, Captain
Crowley
Curtice, Joseph
Daniel, Stephen
Delaware Bay
Delicia
Demelt, Abraham
Dosset, Captain Pierre
Drake, Francis
Eden, Governor Charles
Edwards, Captain
Elizabeth I, Queen
Elizabeth and Mary
Ernaut, Lieutenant Francis
Farmer, Captain
Gale, Captain
Gates, Thomas
George I, King
Gibbens, Garrat
Gills, John
Goelet, Captain
Good Intent
Gordon, Captain George
Great Allen
Greensail, Richard
Grigg, Captain
Hamilton, Governor George
Hampton
Hands, Israel
Havana
Herriot, David
Hewes, Captain
Hispaniola
HMS:
Lyme
Milford
Pearl
Rose
Scarborough
Hobhouse, Captain Benjamin
Honduras, Bay of
Hornigold, Benjamin
Howard, William
Hume, Captain
Husk, John
Hyde, Midshipman
Jackson, Nath
Jane
Jennings, Captain Henry
Johnson, Captain Charles
Johnson, Governor Robert
Joy, Captain Richard
Kentish, Captain
Kidd, Captain William
King of Spain
Knight, Thomas
Knight, Tobias
La Concorde
Land of Promise
Lords Proprietors
Margaret
Marks, Mr
Martin, John
Martinique
Mauvaise Rencontre (Bad Encounter)
Maynard, Lieutenant Robert
Mesnier, Charles
Miller, Thomas
Montaudoin, Rene
Montserrat Merchant
Morton, Philip
Moseley, Edward
Musson, Captain Mathew
Nantes
Nassau
Native Americans:
Arawak tribe
Cape Fear tribe
Carib tribe
Catawba tribe
Cheraw tribe
Cherokee tribe
Coharie tribe
Coree tribe
Machapungo tribe
Meherrin tribe
Pamlico tribe
Saponi tribe
Tuscarora tribe
Tutelo tribe
Waccamaw tribe
Waxhaw tribe
Nelson, Admiral
New Adventure
New Division
New England
New Providence Island
Newton, Captain Thomas
North Carolina, Colony of
Ocracoke Inlet
Ocracoke Island
Odell, Samuel
Orkney, Earl of
Ormond, Mary
Outer Banks
Peters, Captain
Phillips, Joseph
Piracy, Golden Age of
Pritchard, Captain
Privateer
Protestant Caesar
Quedagh Merchant
Queen Anne’ s Revenge
Queen Anne’s War (see also War of Spanish Succession)
Raleigh, Sir Walter
Ranger
Revenge
Richards, Captain
Robbins, James
Robert
Roberts, Bartholomew
Roberts, Owen
Rogers, Governor Woodes
Royal African Company
Royal James
Royal Pardon
Salter, Edward
Samana Bay
Sao, Cheng I
Scurvy
Sea Nymph
Sipkins, Captain
Slave Coast
Slave trade
South Carolina, Colony of
Spanish Main
Spofford
Spotswood, Governor Alexander
St Lucia
St Vincent
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Stiles, Richard
Taylor, Captain Christopher
Topsail Inlet
Topsail Island
Turneffe Islands
Turpin, Dick
US Army Corps of Engineers
Utrecht, Union of
Vane, Charles
Virginia, Colony of
War of Spanish Succession
West Indies
White, Captain
White, James
Whydah, Port of
William
William III, King
Williamsburg
Wragg, Samuel
Wyer, Captain William