Why Blackbeard Took Charleston, SC Hostage
Just pretend this is Blackbeard’s ship
There’s a lot of misconceptions about pirates, people think they were all no rule having outcasts, feared by all, sailing the seas ready to kill all and plunder gold on any ship just to bury it on some no name island.
Some people even think a pirate’s favorite letter is “R” when it’s clearly…. The “C”! BA DUM TSHH!
But despite all these misconceptions, sometimes pirates did have to do things that would be considered “walk the plank” material like the time Blackbeard took hostages and a port in 1718.
Today we’re going to correct some pirate misconceptions and tell you about Blackbeard’s most daring act that might have been done for good reasons.
Who Was Blackbeard?
Before we get to Captain Blackbeard’s hostage situation let’s talk about what his life was like. And I mean his pirate life because we actually don’t know much about his prior life to swashbuckling.
Historians aren’t even really sure about his real name, it’s mainly thought to be Edward Teach but it could be Thatch, Thack, Tack, Theach, or Drummond but even Wikipedia questions that one. But it was also thought Edward Teach was a fake name Blackbeard gave so no one could ever track down any of his relatives.
We do know that at some point before his seafaring days he was stationed in Jamaica possibly as a privateer or sailor on a privateer ship. Privateers are sort of like mercenaries with stricter rules, for example privateers were employed by a nation but were only allowed to attack ships of other nations and they were paid with whatever they could take.
In this case it’s most likely Eddy T was working as a privateer for the British colony in the early 1700’s. Which makes sense since the United States wasn’t the United States yet and many countries laid claim to different parts of the country.
Wars Lead to Confusion
Spain, France, and Great Britain all had a piece of that proverbial American Apple Pie but then war broke out in Europe mainly because Spain was without a king or a successor and that meant it was up for grabs because I presume no one called ‘dibs’ quick enough.
But this war called the War of Spanish Succession starting in 1702, also meant the territories in the colonies of America were up for grabs as well. And everyone wanted a piece of it, mainly the port towns, because if you control the ports you control the trade.
The conflict in the colonies became called Queen Anne’s War which will be a whole other episode but it eventually ended with the treaties of Utrecht in 1713. But South Carolina was still somewhat disputed, now by Great Britain, France, and Spain specifically Charles Town.
Today it’s known as Charleston, it was named Charles Town back in 1670 to honor King Charles the second but slowly changed to Charleston, I don’t know maybe they thought if they did it slowly nobody would notice.
But Charles Town had ports, and ports were like gold and in 1717, the new governor Robert Johnson, was going to do whatever he could to protect the ports. Which he would need to do since somewhere out in the seas Edward Teach was signing the pirate code and creating the fearsome Blackbeard persona.
The Pirate Code
And yes, the pirate code was a real thing, a set of laws all pirates stuck to while out at sea. Pirates were actually pretty organized, while pirate codes changed a bit during the decades some of the same rules stuck.
There was an equal distribution of whatever they plundered from ships and it usually wasn’t gold, mainly it was household items or equipment for their ships. There was an equal say in rules, usually through voting. Pirates also had a bedtime, by 8 pm it was lights out, although you could continue drinking except it would have to be on deck with no light but the moonlight.
Don’t get me wrong some were still killers but others like Blackbeard weren’t known for killing despite what the legends say. Blackbeard was more like Batman, relying on striking fear into other ships until they surrendered.
Captain Blackbeard
He was a tall broad-shouldered man who would wear multiple weapons on a strap over dark clothing with a wide hat. And of course, he had a large long black beard but he would stick slow-burning matches in it and light them when going into battle.
The appearance of a pirate captain with embers and smoke burning from his face made many believe he was of hell. Because of this and knowing of the pirate code, many merchants and ships would just surrender, knowing if they didn’t fight they would be allowed to live.
Many realized if they didn’t bother Blackbeard or pirates for that matter, they would be left alone even when they appeared on land in port towns like Charles Town. In fact, pirates were sort of like minor celebrities, people in the colonies thought pirates were sticking it to the man, in this case, Queen Anne.
See; the Queen Anne War was given that name by the colonies as a way to sort of distance themselves from it, saying “that’s not my war, that’s Queen Anne’s” and because of the tension between the colonies and Britain, pirates weren’t actually hated except by officials like Governors who would alert the British Navy.
Taking The Revenge
While pirates were taken care of by some locals if they were seen by watchmen they would have problems so it came as a shock when Blackbeard and his ship, The Queen Anne’s Revenge showed up at the port of Charles Town and took it hostage.
It was May 22nd, 1718, The Queen Anne’s Revenge along with three other smaller ships, called sloops, captured five vessels, staying a good distance from the port they sent some hostages with pirate guards to make their demands of the town. What could they want? Treasure? The Governor? The town?
Medicine, they needed medicine. The story goes that Blackbeard and his men were suffering from several illnesses and STDs so they risked taking the port hostage to get the medicine they needed. Blackbeard knew he had about two weeks before the British Navy showed up, one week for them to be alerted and another for them to arrive so he gave Charles Town two days to procure his medicine or else he would burn the ships and kill all the hostages.
Governor Robert Johnson, despite being on a warpath to hunt down pirates, relented almost immediately probably because Blackbeard was blocking the port which meant no trade or money, and it’s always about the Benjamins or whatever they were called back then.
After three days, the medicine still hadn’t arrived and a messenger came aboard to tell Blackbeard they needed more time as the ship carrying the medicine had capsized. Blackbeard, probably noticing the messenger had peed himself and wore his brown pants, gave them a few more days but he moved all his ships into the harbor to show he meant business.
The town quickly gathered the supplies, preparing them to go aboard Blackbeard’s ship but they couldn’t approach without the pirate guards Blackbeard sent ashore with the original demand. The town looked desperately for the guards and after some time they finally found them, drunk in a pub.
A four-hundred-pound chest of medicine was delivered to Blackbeard and now satisfied and no longer burning, he and his crew left Charles Town without incident. Although no one was killed, the act was thought to be especially brazen and risky.
Act of Grace
It’s thought by some that this act, and the fact that Blackbeard ran his ship aground just two weeks later, caused Blackbeard to surrender under what was called the Act of Grace, a full pardon for any surrendering pirate and issued by King George the first.
Blackbeard removed his weapon strap, his black clothing, and the matches in his beard becoming Edward Teach again, or Thatch, or whatever name he chose. But you can take the man out of the pirate life but you can’t take the pirate life out of the man. Just two weeks after obtaining a pardon, Blackbeard was back, capturing 5 ships near Bermuda.
Blackbeard sailed off to instill more fear into those traveling by sea, taking and plundering wherever and whatever he wanted, and taking over the seas. And by that I mean he did that for 5 months before he was captured by Captain Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy.
Maynard beheaded Blackbeard and hung his head from his ship which you know what? Feels a bit unnecessary. But that’s a story for another article… this one, read - Captain Blackbeard’s Last Stand.
