Blackbeard

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 Oceanr />
  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