State

The Carolina Pirates Oul.sf uncling* anioii^ them wore* Edwnrcl IVjmIi (or Thnlcli) nncl Slcilo lloiinet. Tlioy ployod liavoc with shipping off the North Carolina coast until finally captured. In the town of Atlantic. North Caro¬ lina. at the eastern end of United Stales Highway Number 70, stands a marker erected by the state recording the fact that the pirate Шаек beard was killed near Ocracokc Inlet, twenty miles northeast across Pamlico Sound. This marker serves as a reminder of a da> when pirates spread terror along the entire American coast. It was danger¬ ous for a skipper to venture into certain inlets and harbors frequented by the freebooters. Blackboard, whose real name was Edward Teach or Thatch, was only one of the hundreds of pirates who cruised along the American coast more than two centuries ago. With their low- priced goods to sell and with plenty of gold to spend, the pirates were wel¬ comed by trading classes and certain officials. Even kings upon occasion en¬ couraged and rewarded them, so it is no wonder that at one time or another they were harbored by nearly every colony in America. Retreat to Carolina In time murinurings against the sea- robbers arose, and eventually measures were taken to wipe out piracy. As the laws were made more strict and were more rigidly enforced, the pirates with¬ drew from one after another of their strongholds, until at last the only re¬ treat left them was the coast of North Carolina. Into the inlets and creeks along the coast of this colony they swarmed in hundreds. The authorities made no efforts to arrest them, and some even made dishonorable connec¬ tions with them. Thatch, who under the name Blackboard had spread ter¬ ror along the entire North American coast, was intimate with many leading inhabitants, and frequently visited Tobias Knight, secretary of the colony. Not all the inhabitants were in league with the pirates, however, and as Black- beard became more reckless and arrogant, the number of his enemies in¬ creased. His intimacy with North Caro¬ lina officials made appeal to them useless, so those who were determined to rid the country of his presence turned 6 to Governor Spotswood of Virginia for aid. Their applications were success¬ ful. and Captain Ellis Brand and Lieu¬ tenant Robert Maynard were sent to the North Carolina Coast with two ships and instructions to bring Thatch and his crew to Virginia dead or alive. Blackbcard had been warned by his friend Knight of the intended attack, hut had evidently treated the warning lightly, for he was unprepared for the conflict when the Virginians hove in sight near Ocracokc Inlet. But he soon made ready for action, and when May¬ nard and his sloops came within range, his broadside gave notice that the capture would not be easy. The battle long hung in doubt. Finally fortune seemed to favor the pirates, for Thatch at the head of a strong attacking party boarded Maynard's sloop. Maynard, however, had adopted a stratagem to bring about this movement, and his men. who were hiding below, now- rushed on deck. A bloody struggle fol¬ lowed. Thatch himself attacked May¬ nard. and fought with such fury that lie did not fall until after he had been shot five times and had received twenty sword wounds But he was finally dis¬ patched. and many of his men were captured, although some of them had escaped by jumping overboard and swimming ashore. The Virginians next sailed to Bath where they seized certain goods which Thatch had concealed in Knight’s barn: With Blackboard's head suspended from the bow¬ sprit and the prisoners and the spoil safe in the hold, the Virginians then sailed home in triumph. At Williams- burgh the prisoners were tried, and four of them were condemned and hanged. Evidence brought out in the trials showed that Knight was impli¬ cated in the crimes committed by Thatch and his crew, but the council of the province, after a pretense at investigating Knight's activities de¬ clared him innocent. No proceedings were taken against Governor Eden, who also seems to have been involved. Two months before Blackboard's de¬ feat. South Carolina had taken meas¬ ures to eradicate piracy by sending Colonel William Rheti on an expedi¬ tion to the Cape Fear River. Though Rhett did not know it when he set out, he was to encounter Stede Bonnet, in many respects the most remarkable of all the sea-robbers of this period. A wealthy, educated man of good family, he had for some unknown reason launched out at middle age on the des¬ perate career of piracy. At one time he was in league with Blackboard, but later he proceeded alone, and in Au¬ gust. 1718. he was at Cape Fear repair¬ ing and overhauling his sloop, the "Royal James." Charles Town had suf¬ fered severely from the insolence of pirates, and when news reached that city that a pirate was rendezvousing at Cape Fear, two vessels were sent out under Rhett to ward off the expected invasion. After a delay occasioned by the depredations of Charles Vane, another pirate. Rhett reached Cape Fear on the evening of Septem¬ ber 28. Both he and Bonnet spent the night clearing decks for action, and dawn disclosed a scene of activity such as had never be¬ fore been witnessed in those secluded waters. The sun had barely risen when the pirate craft came flying down the river with all sail set. past the place where the two attacking sloops lay at anchor. Seeing that his opponents out¬ numbered him two to one. Bonnet in¬ tended to resort to the favorite pirate method of defense and maintain a run¬ ning conflict, trusting to the chances of escape that he would have could he reach the open sea. Rhett saw his pur¬ pose. and made for him as he rounded the sheltering point of land. The treacherous shoals off Cape Fear were disastrous to both parties, for soon all three vessels were grounded. Fire was opened from the positions in which they grounded, and for five hours the bloody contest was kept up. Only one of the South Carolina vessels was with¬ in range of the pirates, and its whole deck was exposed to their fire, while Bonnet's ship had careened so that its deck was protected. Though the South Carolinians fought with dauntless cour- ( Continued on page it) THE STATE. APRIL 7. 195