Another one that everybody and his brother seems to be knowin' is good ole' Cap'n Edward Teach, or as we call'em Blackbeard





Edward Teach ('Blackbeard')
September 1717 to November 1718. English. Ships: Queen Anne's Revenge, Revenge. AKA.: Blackbeard, Thatch, Edmund Drummond. Blackbeard, as Teach is most widely known as, is the classic example of what most envision as a pirate. Defoe wrote about Teach, exaggerating his character into an irrational creature who performed the most heinous acts against mankind. These acts had him shooting crewmen every now and then to remind the crew who was boss, locking himself and his first mate in a hold with fiery brimstone while Teach ranted like the possessed, having more than 14 wives, twisting saltpeter wicks into his beard and lighting them before battle giving himself an aura of demonic possession, and in general painting a picture of him as being superhuman and totally corrupt. Latter authors have embellished upon Defoe's creation to the point where "Blackbeard" is synonymous with the devil incarnate. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Edward Teach was born in Bristol, England. He served the crown on Jamaican ships raiding the French and Spanish ships during the War of Spanish Succession (1702- 1713 ). He enlisted with Benjamin Hornigold in 1716 at New Providence Island. On one excursion, Teach was given command of a captured sloop. Hornigold and Teach plundered several ships off the American coast and in the Caribbean in 1717. Toward the end of the year, they seized a large well built ship that had been trading between Africa and Martinique. After dividing their plunder, Hornigold and Teach went their own ways. Teach keeping the prize and renaming her "Queen Anne's Revenge". Teach armed her with 40 cannon. Teach captured and burned a large British merchantman near Saint Vincent. According to Defoe, he also fought off the warship "Scarborough". The log of the aforementioned ship has no mention of any encounter with pirates. Teach took several sloops off Crab Island and Saint Kitts with a crew of 300.
Teach was very charismatic, a natural born leader. His crew was highly disciplined and Teach was shown the utmost respect as were his officers. He was a skilled navigator, literate, and physically impressive.
January 1718, Teach arrived at Bath, North Carolina. Teach was given a pardon by Governor Charles Eden after he swore an oath to give up piracy. At Bath Teach found a new window of opportunity. He sold pirate loot, finding that the locals would pay a higher price for the goods than the fences he was accustomed to using. Teach sailed for the Bay of Honduras in March, 1718. He met Stede Bonnet along the way. Teach took Bonnet's ship the "Revenge" and made Bonnet his guest against Bonnet's will. A member of Teach's crew by the name of Richards was given command of Bonnet's ship. Not long after Bonnet's impressment, Teach captured the sloop "Adventure" putting Israel Hands in charge of the "Adventure". Captain David Herriot had been in charge of the "Adventure" and decided to join Teach's crew after losing his ship. Teach would soon add another sloop, the name not known. This brought Teach's fleet to 4 sloops. With his fleet he looted several ships in the Bay of Honduras. Teach then struck north where he would take several more prizes.
Teach blockaded Charleston, South Carolina and plundered around 9 ships in May, 1718. One of the prizes carried several high-ranking citizens of Charleston as well as £ 1,500 in coinage. Teach informed the governor that ransom was demanded for the prisoners. He demanded a medicine chest and certain drugs (Venereal disease was a common affliction among pirates) worth less than £ 400. Teach's demands were met and all prisoners released unharmed.
Teach next made his way to North Carolina going by way of the Topsail Inlet ( Beaufort Inlet ). Teach ran his ships "Adventure" and "Queen Anne's Revenge" aground striking a sandbar. It is speculated that Teach ran his ships aground to avoid splitting their booty. Some of the crew were upset at Teach's tactics and voiced their opinion. The riotous men were marooned on the sandbar. Teach gave the ship "Revenge" back to Bonnet. Teach took about 40 men and the loot and made off in the fourth unnamed sloop.
Teach arrived at Bath where he was welcomed as an important member of the community. Teach received a second pardon from Governor Eden. The sloop which he had stolen from British merchants was certified to Teach by the Vice-Admiralty court. At Bath, Teach purchased a house across from the governor's house and anchored his ship at Ocracoke Island. Teach married the 16 year old daughter of a wealthy plantation owner. At the celebration Teach was wined and dined by the local gentry. Teach would show his appreciation by lavishly entertaining them in return. Teach would stay at Bath for several months.
Teach went to Philadelphia where a warrant was issued for his arrest. He left Philadelphia, sailing for Bermuda where he seized 2 French ships. One of the ships was loaded with coca and sugar, the other ship empty. Teach released the French crew giving them the empty ship. Teach took his prize to Bath, arriving there in September. At Bath, Governor Eden and Tobias Knight, the colony's chief justice declared the French ship a derelict. Teach was allowed to keep the cargo after burning the ship. For their fee, Governor Eden received 60 barrels of sugar, Tobias Knight received 20. In October 1718, Teach was visited at Ocracoke by Charles Vane. The two enjoyed a drunken feast.
The governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood had become wary of the pirates settled to his south. During the trial of William Howard (Teach's former quartermaster), Howard testified to Teach's crimes. Governor Spotswood coveting Teach's supposed riches seized the opportunity to dispatch 2 sloops to attack Ocracoke. He further sent forces overland to attack in tandem with the two sloops commanded by Robert Maynard.
December 2, 1718, Maynard arrived at Ocracoke with about 60 men. They attacked Teach's force of about 20 the following morning. Maynard's force tried to board Teach's vessel as they had no cannon. According to Defoe, Teach raised a glass and toasted Maynard with the oath:
"Damnation seize my soul if I give you quarters, or take any from you."
Maynard trying to close ran both his ships aground on a sandbar. Teach fired a broadside, disabling one of Maynard's sloops and killing about 20 of Maynard's men. Maynard tried to close after hiding his men below deck. Teach's men threw grenades when Maynard's ship closed, but they were ineffective as only Maynard's pilot and helmsman were on deck. Teach grappled and boarded with about 12 others. Maynard's force swarmed on deck and commenced to fight hand to hand. Teach and Maynard met in personal combat. Teach was shot by Maynard but the ball had no visible effect. Maynard's cutlass stopping a powerful blow from Teach snapped at the hilt. When Teach moved in to finish Maynard a British seaman attacked him from behind wounding Teach in the throat and neck. Teach continued to swing his cutlass as blood was spurting from his neck. Teach was encircled by Maynard's men. Teach received five pistol shots and 20 severe sword wounds before finally succumbing. Maynard decapited Teach displaying his head on the prow of his ship. Spotswood's dreams of riches was unfulfilled as only about £ 2,238 of booty was collected from Teach's haven.
Many have sought in vain for supposed buried treasure only to find nothing. It is doubtful that Blackbeard ever had any treasure to bury as he never took a prize of much value and that which he took was more than likely spent on his lavish lifestyle.



Dis info and the one above can be had at Davy Jones's locker at this web address link that below this line, argh
Link

Should people with ties to terrorist organizations be allowed in the United States? If so, should we blame Bush if they are involved in an act of terror?

Should people with ties to terrorist organizations be allowed in the United States? If so, should we blame Bush if they are involved in an act of terror?

As others have said mate - I guess it comes down to your definition of terrorist... in my definitions, anyone with any ties to the Israeli Likud party is a terrorist, but thats just me

As a side note... Ninja's are way better than Pirates.

BAM!!!

As a side note... Ninja's are way better than Pirates.

No, Pirate Ninjas are even better.



Open Fire!!

This the same Australia that kicks out boatloads of people trying to escape oppression

Exactly Dragnol.. the same country that had the "children overboard" before the last election which caused a huge scandal and swayed the election results..which now surprise surprise is been proven to be false and Howard knew about it before he opened his filthy mouth and bragged about it. Its the same country who has a government which refuses to say a simple "sorry" to the indigenous community so real reconciliation can take place. It's the same country who has as its leader a man who said "never ever" to GST yet brought it into place apon election. ... I could go on but it might be seen as hijacking.

Oh sorry I forgot... it is also the same country which changed it's borders so that if boat people land on a couple of the islands which were part of Australian territory then they werent considered really landing in australia... and we could ship them out to Nairu... hmm..

I could go on but it might be seen as hijacking

Not on this thread mate - the article is about Australia - so go on all you want...

We dont kick them out - they are processed like any other illegal immigrant desiring permanent residency - last time I checked - almost all of the immigrnats from the children overboard issue have been granted temporary protection Visa's... how would you have it PB - anyone can enter our country unchecked? in an ideal world - sure, but beleive it or not, there are people with malicious intent against our country, and genuine immigration cheats... they pay criminals to get them here, whilst we have 10,000 people a year who go through the proper avenues and channels...

And as for the simple 'sorry' why should John Howard say 'sorry' for something he didn't do? do you have any idea of the litigation prospects once the current administration says 'sorry' It acknowledges responsibility - where is that money going to come from? maybe the $3bn in indigenous support can be tapped into when we are paying all the indigenous Australians who would sue our government... He has acknowledged what happened was wrong, isn't that enough? 'Sorry' just opens the door for litigation... which means less money the governement can spend on better things like health care and education...

BAM!!!

Oh sorry I forgot... it is also the same country which changed it's borders so that if boat people land on a couple of the islands which were part of Australian territory then they werent considered really landing in australia... and we could ship them out to Nairu... hmm..

It didn't get blocked in the upper house mate...

BAM!!!

My grandmother was our church organist/choir director for years, and "Morning has Broken" was one of her favorite songs. It was played at a memorial service for her, in fact.
No..............Yusef Islam would not be welcome in my country, but Cat Stevens would.

Little Whip, you crack me up. First you say this:

it's hard for me not to uhmm, be mean to you

And then you have a go at Muggaz for doing the RIGHT thing (above), because he hasn't always done it elsewhere! We all know you have a long-term problem with him but let it go, LW, let it go ...

Actually, Muggaz, you crack me up too. You're going to vote for John Howard, yet you claim:

I protested several times against the war in Iraq

Regardless of what Labor would or wouldn't have done under the circumstances, isn't that just a little schizoid? if you're so anti the war, how can you back the government that took us into it, and remains aggressively unrepentant at having done so? That's like saying, 'I'm voting for the Greens. I fundamentally disagree with their environmental policies, but on everything else they're closer to my point of view than anyone else.'

Strange how you bitch at PB earlier on a similar thread for a "hijack" that was quite on topic, but in opposition to your stance, yet you happily participate in all this pirate nonsense that has absolutely nothing to do with the question at hand. Just another example of your typical "do as i say, not as i do" attitude. Whats funnier still is that you delivered this admonishment on a third parties thread, where you had no right to tell others what they can and cant talk about. I guess hijacking is quite alright with you as long as its on your blog and building points.....but on someone else's blog you are quick to tell people they "shouldnt be doing that."

You are a joke. This is my blog, I can talk about Pirates, Ninja's or whatever I want to...I have written about my love for Pirates and Ninja's before, so any talk on the subject matter is more than welcome here. I can also talk about how pathetic you look trying to bring that up in MY blog... you have a sad obsession with me, and what I say...

Go fuel that obsession, and write another blog about me... you will fuel my ego as well... everyone is a winner.

Regardless of what Labor would or wouldn't have done under the circumstances, isn't that just a little schizoid?

The Iraq issue isn't enough to change my vote - I didn't agree with the war on Iraq, and I had to make my voice heard by turning out to protests, I can see the mistake of the Iraqi war, but I can see the benefits of Saddam being ousted as well... no one wins in a war, and war aside, John Howard and the coalition are the best party for me to vote for - I watched the official campaign launch this evening, and John Howard really is looking out for the average Australian, and if he has to make some tough decisions, and still keep interests rates as low as they are, he still have my vote.

I don't like Australia's bi-partisan system, but for me, as a person, the coalition is the best party for me to vote for.

BAM!!!

Link

Sounds like a real hard-core terrorist

BAM!!!

Turns out poor Cat Stevens had a case of mistaken identity, they meant to stop Youssouf (sp?) Islam not Yusif Islam, all a matter of spelling.

Strange how you bitch at PB earlier on a similar thread for a "hijack" that was quite on topic, but in opposition to your stance, yet you happily participate in all this pirate nonsense that has absolutely nothing to do with the question at hand.

That was me who started it, and it started with Johnny Depp and Pirates of Caribbean, so I had to plug my two favorite Pirates as examples against Hollywood pirates. Got ye sometin wrong wit pirates matey?

- GX

That was me who started it, and it started with Johnny Depp and Pirates of Caribbean, so I had to plug my two favorite Pirates as examples against Hollywood pirates. Got ye sometin wrong wit pirates matey?

No, it's just me she has a promlem with... It's ok, I cry myself to sleep, and i wake up better in the morning...

BAM!!!

Well you know I disagree with your assessment of the Liberal party of course. I too am a white middle class male, but I guess I give a toss about people other than myself and I know what a terrible thing Howard is doing to people who aren't myself (although these days he has started to threaten my own way of life because I am dependant on a woman on a disability pension and the economy aint lookin as rosy for her as Howard claims it is).

Re Yusuf Islam, I had to laugh when I read this story. They're banning the guy who sang "I'm being followed by a Moon shadow, moon shadow, moon shadow". Give me a break!

Australia has long had an unfair law regarding impatient refugee applicants, but it was not nearly so bad under labor. Under labor, there was a certain sense to the detention centres (designed as a quick initial health check). Now it is nothing but a racist infringement of human rights. Australia has lost its right to moralise when talking to Sputh African apartheid supporters or the Chinese. And so what if sorry opens up litigation? If it does, it's because we actually do owe them. We stole the whole bloody country don't forget! They deserve to get paid back. With interest. But money is not exactly the real issue on reconciliation, yet it has been reduced to that under howard. "Oh look we give em lotsa money".

I too am a white middle class male, but I guess I give a toss about people other than myself

Maybe I'm wrong, but Muggaz has never really seemed a heartless bastard... even if he is an al-Qaeda sympathiser and Osama's best mate.

I wouldn't vote for Howard because I think he's far too good at manipulation to be prime minister. I like PMs who are inept enough to get caught, not PMs with teflon for skin. It seems dangerous to me to have a PM who's cunning enough to fool most of the people most of the time.

Maybe I'm wrong, but Muggaz has never really seemed a heartless bastard... even if he is an al-Qaeda sympathiser and Osama's best mate.

haha... damn - I was going for evil and maliscious - I thought I had you all fooled!

Anywho - I am changing my vote to the Greens... I read their whole policy booklet, and other than pulling out of Iraq immediately, I pretty much agree with what they have to say... after all, Elections are a time to re-assess ones values!

but thats a whole nother blog coming soon!

BAM!!!

we didnt deport him

whatever girlfriend! i don't know who u be with but dont mess with the americans or else!!!! lol

jk just joking mugz before u call me arrogant and ignorant

i love my country though and i would have written a better response....but i dont have time to read all the 45 other responses to collaborate with, i'm a busy person....i have a life aside from Ju, not sayin all of u dont.....