1.
Golden Age of Piracy
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The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation given to usually one or more outbursts of piracy in the maritime history of the early modern period. The modern conception of pirates as depicted in culture is derived largely, although not always accurately. The colonial powers at the time fought with pirates and engaged in several notable battles. Powell uses the only once. Its golden age may be said to have extended from about 1650 to about 1720, Pirate historians of the first half of the 20th century occasionally adopted Fiskes term Golden Age, without necessarily following his beginning and ending dates for it. This idea starkly contradicted Fiske, who had denied that such Elizabethan figures as Drake were pirates. Of recent definitions, Pringle appears to have the widest range, as early as 1924, Philip Gosse described piracy as being at its height from 1680 until 1730. Bottings definition was followed by Frank Sherry in 1986. In a 1989 academic article, Professor Marcus Rediker defined the Golden Age as lasting only from 1716 to 1726, angus Konstam in 1998, reckoned the era as lasting from 1700 until 1730. David Cordingly, in his influential 1994 work Under the Black Flag, defined the age of piracy as lasting from the 1650s to around 1725. Rediker, in 2004, described the most complex definition of the Golden Age to date, most of these pirates were of Welsh, English, Dutch and French origin. This involved considerable seaborne trade, and an economic improvement. The buccaneers migration from Hispaniolas mainland to the more defensible offshore island of Tortuga limited their resources, the growth of buccaneering on Tortuga was augmented by the English capture of Jamaica from Spain in 1655. In the 1660s, the new French governor of Tortuga, Bertrand dOgeron and these conditions brought Caribbean buccaneering to its zenith. A number of factors caused Anglo-American pirates, some of whom had cut their teeth during the buccaneering period, the fall of Britains Stuart period had restored the traditional enmity between Britain and France, thus ending the profitable collaboration between English Jamaica and French Tortuga. The devastation of Port Royal by an earthquake in 1692 further reduced the Caribbeans attractions by destroying the pirates chief market for fenced plunder. Furthermore, much of the Spanish Main had simply been exhausted, at the same time, Englands less-favored colonies, including Bermuda, New York, and Rhode Island, had become cash-starved by the Navigation Acts. This set the stage for the piracies of Thomas Tew, Henry Every, Robert Culliford
2.
Piracy on Lake Nicaragua
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Piracy on Lake Nicaragua refers to an era in Nicaraguan history from 1665 to 1857, when Caribbean pirates and filibusters operated in the lake and the surrounding shores. Lake Nicaragua, then called the Sweet Sea, is the largest freshwater lake in Central America and is connected to the Caribbean Sea by the San Juan River. Due to the burning of León in 1610, by a volcano, by 1650 the Golden Age of Piracy had begun in which buccaneers from several races and nations infested the West Indies. The lake is known to have been controlled by pirates as early as 1665 when Henry Morgan led six shallow draft canoes up the San Juan for an attack on Granada. The canoes were twelve metres long and acquired during an attack on Villahermosa, Mexico, in June Morgan led his band up the river by night while hiding in the day and when they reached the lake the pirates stealthily crossed it and landed outside town. A general assault was made on Granada and the Spanish were found completely off guard. After the hostilities had ceased Morgan went after the treasury of silver and his men set fire to the buildings. Pirates also founded their own towns at the time, among them Pueblo Viejo and Bluefields. Soon after Morgan left, the pirate Captain Gallardito began operating on Lake Nicaragua, following that incident the Spanish resorted to fortifying their territory. At one area southeast of Granada the Spanish Army Captain Fernando Francisco de Escobedo began building the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception in 1673 next to a rapid in the San Juan River. Dampier then went on to attack Granada after marching overland and he burned the colony down again on September 8, soon after the city of Leon was attacked and destroyed as well. Since the founding of British colonies in the West Indies, most notably Jamaica, pirates and Miskito Sambu filibusters attacked the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception repeatedly during the 18th century. Perhaps the most famous battle occurred in 1762 during the Seven Years War, eventually a force of 2,000 Britons and Sambus sailed up the San Juan in more than fifty boats and canoes where they laid siege to about 100 Spaniards in the fortress on July 26. The garrison commander had died only recently leaving his daughter, the nineteen-year-old Rafaela Herrera, Herrera killed the British commander herself on the first day of the battle and for six days afterward the two sides duelled with cannons. Occasionally the British and Sambus would charge forward for a close quarters engagement though they were beaten every time with heavy losses. A second British expedition was launched in 1780 and it captured the fort. Filibustering became popular in the 19th century, primarily in Latin America, perhaps the most famous filibustering expedition was William Walkers Conquest of Nicaragua in 1855, by which time the country was independent from Spanish rule. A civil war had broken out in 1854 between liberal and conservative forces, the conservatives, or Legitimists, held Granada while the liberals held Leon
3.
Henry Morgan
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Sir Henry Morgan was a Welsh privateer, landowner and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, with the prize money from the raids he purchased three large sugar plantations on the island. Much of Morgans early life is unknown and he was born in south Wales, but it is not known how he made his way to the West Indies, or how he began his career as a privateer. He was probably a member of a group of raiders led by Sir Christopher Myngs in the early 1660s, Morgan became a close friend of Sir Thomas Modyford, the Governor of Jamaica. When diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of England and Spain worsened in 1667, Modyford gave Morgan a letter of marque, Morgan subsequently conducted successful and highly lucrative raids on Puerto Principe and Porto Bello. In 1668 he sailed for Maracaibo and Gibraltar, both on Lake Maracaibo in modern-day Venezuela and he raided both cities and stripped them of their wealth before destroying a large Spanish squadron as he escaped. In 1671 Morgan attacked Panama City, landing on the Caribbean coast and traversing the isthmus before he attacked the city, the battle was a rout, although the privateers profited less than in other raids. Morgan was appointed a Knight Bachelor in November 1674 and returned to Jamaica shortly afterward to serve as the territorys Lieutenant Governor and he served on the Assembly of Jamaica until 1683 and on three occasions he acted as Governor of Jamaica in the absence of the post-holder. He died in Jamaica on 25 August 1688 and his life was romanticised after his death and he became the inspiration for pirate-themed works of fiction across a range of genres. Henry Morgan was born around 1635 in Wales, either in Llanrumney, Glamorgan or Pencarn, several sources state Morgans father was Robert Morgan, a farmer. It is unknown how Morgan made his way to the Caribbean, in the 17th century the Caribbean offered an opportunity for young men to become rich quickly, although significant investment was needed to obtain high returns from the sugar export economy. Other opportunities for gain were through trade or plunder of the Spanish Empire. Much of the plunder was from privateering, whereby individuals and ships were commissioned by government to attack the countrys enemies. It is probable that in the early 1660s Morgan was active with a group of privateers led by Sir Christopher Myngs attacking Spanish cities and settlements in the Caribbean and Central America. In 1663 it is likely that Morgan captained one of the ships in Myngs fleet, and took part in the attack on Santiago de Cuba, about 1,500 privateers used Jamaica as a base for their activity and brought significant revenue to the island. As the planting community of 5,000 was still new and developing, a privateer was granted a letter of marque which gave him a licence to attack and seize vessels, normally of a specific country, or with conditions attached. A portion of all obtained by the privateers was given to the sovereign or the issuing ambassador. In August 1665 Morgan, along with fellow captains John Morris and Jacob Fackman, Modyford was impressed enough with the spoils to report back to the government that Central America was the properest place for an attack on the Spanish Indies
4.
Blackbeard
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Edward Teach or Edward Thatch, better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britains North American colonies. Although little is known about his life, he was probably born in Bristol. Recent genealogical research indicates his family moved to Jamaica where Edward Thatch, Hornigold placed him in command of a sloop he had captured, and the two engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Teach captured a French merchant vessel, renamed her Queen Annes Revenge and he became a renowned pirate, his cognomen derived from his thick black beard and fearsome appearance, he was reported to have tied lit fuses under his hat to frighten his enemies. He formed an alliance of pirates and blockaded the port of Charles Town, after successfully ransoming its inhabitants, he ran Queen Annes Revenge aground on a sandbar near Beaufort, North Carolina. He parted company with Bonnet and settled in Bath Town, where he accepted a royal pardon, but he was soon back at sea, where he attracted the attention of Alexander Spotswood, the Governor of Virginia. Spotswood arranged for a party of soldiers and sailors to try to capture the pirate, during a ferocious battle, Teach and several of his crew were killed by a small force of sailors led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard. A shrewd and calculating leader, Teach spurned the use of force and he was romanticised after his death and became the inspiration for pirate-themed works of fiction across a range of genres. Little is known about Blackbeards early life and it is commonly believed that at the time of his death he was between 35 and 40 years old and thus born in about 1680. In contemporary records his name is most often given as Blackbeard, Edward Thatch or Edward Teach, however, several spellings of his surname exist—Thatch, Thach, Thache, Thack, Tack, Thatche and Theach. One early source claims that his surname was Drummond, but the lack of any supporting documentation makes this unlikely. Pirates habitually used fictitious surnames while engaged in the business of piracy, so as not to tarnish the family name, the author Robert Lee speculated that Teach may therefore have been born into a respectable, wealthy family. He may have arrived in the Caribbean in the last years of the 17th century, at what point during the war Teach joined the fighting is, in keeping with the record of most of his life before he became a pirate, unknown. With its history of colonialism, trade and piracy, the West Indies was the setting for many 17th, New Providences harbour could easily accommodate hundreds of ships, and was too shallow for the Royal Navys larger vessels to navigate. In New Providence, pirates found a welcome respite from the law, Teach was one of those who came to enjoy the islands benefits. Probably shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, he moved there from Jamaica, possibly about 1716, he joined the crew of Captain Benjamin Hornigold, a renowned pirate who operated from New Providences safe waters. In 1716 Hornigold placed Teach in charge of a sloop he had taken as a prize, in early 1717, Hornigold and Teach, each captaining a sloop, set out for the mainland. They captured a boat carrying 120 barrels of flour out of Havana, a few days later they stopped a vessel sailing from Madeira to Charles Town, South Carolina
5.
Battle of Cape Fear River (1718)
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The Battle of Cape Fear River, or the Battle of the Sandbars, was fought in September 1718 between a British naval expedition from South Carolina against the pirate ships of Stede Bonnet. British forces defeated the pirates in the Cape Fear River estuary which led to Bonnets death by hanging in Charleston, during the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, the Royal Navy was constantly in campaign against pirates in the Caribbean and off North America. Stede Bonnet was a very successful pirate, having captured several merchant ships, in August 1718, Bonnet was sailing from the Delaware Bay to the Cape Fear River. He commanded his sloop-of-war flagship Royal James and two armed sloops, Francis and Fortune. Royal James was a flagship of Blackbeard which was armed with eight cannon. The other two sloops were similarly armed, all together,46 pirates crewed them. Royal James was in need of careening and the season was soon to come so Bonnet chose the Cape Fear estuary as a reliable shelter against storms. For the next few weeks, Bonnets crew repaired the Royal James with material salvaged from a captured shallop, in late August, reports of Bonnets sloops in the Cape Fear River reached Governor Robert Johnson of South Carolina. Johnson ordered Militia Colonel William Rhett to command an operation to destroy the pirate threat and he did not have regular Royal Navy Sailors under his command, but probably volunteer militiamen and sailors from Charleston. At the colonels disposal were two eight-gun sloops with a combined 130 men, Colonel Rhett reached the Cape Fear River estuary on the night of September 26,1718, and was sighted by Bonnet and his men. Believing the sloops to be that of merchants, the pirates boarded three canoes and headed for the unrecognized South Carolinian expedition and it was at this time that Rhetts flagship, Henry, ran aground on a sandbar. This allowed the canoes to approach close enough to discover the identity of the grounded vessel, once they did they turned about and paddled back to their ships unharmed. They dispersed amongst Royal James, Fortune and Francis and loaded their arms, at daylight the following morning, Bonnet raised his flag and attacked. They sailed for a few minutes until they came within range of the ships, then opened fire with cannon. The British sloops returned fire and split up, but Henry ran aground again along with the other ship, to avoid enemy fire, Stede Bonnet steered his vessels close to the western shore of the river, and they ran aground on sand. At this point, only Henry and Royal James were within range of each other, for five to six hours, the two sides dueled, each unable to move. Henry was grounded in a position which left her crew with minimal cover from incoming fire, the opposite was true for Royal James, whose hull provided a bulwark against enemy fire. During the fighting, Bonnet stayed on deck with his pistol in hand, the pirates morale was good though, they cheered each other on and dared the South Carolinians to board
6.
Capture of the William
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The Capture of the William refers to a small single ship action fought between Calico Jacks pirate ship and a British sloop-of-war from Port Royal, Jamaica. The battle was fought in Dry Harbor Bay, and ended with the capture of the famed pirate, Calico Jack commanded the William, a small but fast twelve ton sloop during the action. Her armament was light, consisting of at least four cannons and at the time of battle carried a crew of fourteen including Jack, Calico Jack was originally a pirate under Captain Charles Vane but soon after turned to piracy. In 1719, he sailed to New Providence to receive a pardon, the War of the Quadruple Alliance had begun and England hoped to make privateers of Caribbean brigands to fight the Spanish. Captain Jack was capable of receiving a pardon, but he did not receive a commission to attack the Spanish fleet, Calico settled in New Providence, where he met Anne Bonny, but when his money was gone he returned to his life of crime. On August 22,1719, Jack and eight men others captured the William from Nassau harbor, Governor of Jamaica, Nicholas Lawes, directed Captain Jonathan Barnet to take two privateer sloops on a mission to hunt him down. The encounter is remembered more for its participants than the actual combat and it was around 10,00 at night on October 20,1720 when the Snow-Tyger discovered the William at anchor in Dry Harbor Bay near the shore. The Williams crew was mostly drunk and sleeping, including Captain Rackham, Barnet ordered his men to extinguish all lights and to silently approach the resting pirates. Once his sloop was near the William, Barnet ordered the pirates to surrender, Captain Rackham awoke and the pirates on deck answered with a few shots from their swivel gun. Captain Barnet then order his ship to return a broadside and to close in, the pirates immediately set sail, trying to flee, but most of the crew retreated into the cabins. The William made it only a few yards before the Snow-Tyger caught up with her, Mary Read, Anne Bonny and another pirate remained on deck and attempted to fight off the attackers, but eventually surrendered. Angered by the cowardice displayed by her shipmates, Read killed one of her fellow pirates after witnessing the retreat into the cabin, the boarding party stormed the cabins and the remaining pirates were captured along with the drunk Calico. A few British fighting men were wounded but none were killed in the quick action, the Snow-Tyger sustained light damage to her sails and rigging and the William suffered heavy damage to her poop. Calico Jack and his crew were taken to Port Royal, where Jack and eleven others were tried on November 16, Calico was disemboweled and his body placed in a cage and gibbeted on the small Deadmans Cay at the entrance of Port Royal. The remains of the pirates were placed at various locations around the port. Mary Read and Anne Bonny avoided hanging by claiming that they were pregnant, Read died several months later before her scheduled execution, some accounts say Bonny retired and settled in North America and others say she returned to piracy. Bonny spoke of Calico and reportedly said that if he had fought like a man, he need not have been hanged like a dog, a now famous saying
7.
Battle of Cape Lopez
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The Battle of Cape Lopez was fought in early 1722 during the Golden Age of Piracy. A British man-of-war under Captain Chaloner Ogle defeated the pirate ship of Bartholomew Roberts off the coast of Gabon, Bartholomew was the most successful pirate during the Golden Age, he captured well over 400 vessels ranging from small fishing boats to large frigates. In April 1721, Roberts, also known as Black Bart, was sailing the coast of Martinique when he came across a French frigate of fifty-two guns, aboard the vessel was the governor of the French colony who was hung by Roberts from the yardarm of his ship. Roberts and his men captured the two French warships off the Senegal Rivers mouth, the sixteen-gun sloop-of-war Comte de Toulouse and a ten-gun brig, Comte de Toulouse was renamed the Ranger and the brig Little Ranger. After taking the two Frenchmen, the pirates sailed southeast for the present day Gabon, while on the way, off the coast of Pepper Coast Roberts sighted and captured the Royal Africa Company frigate Onslow which he renamed the Royal Fortune. The frigate mounted over forty guns and the crew consisted of about 250 men, black and white. Black Barts luck was soon to run out though, as two Royal Navy men-of-war began patrolling the waters of West Africa, at about the same time, Roberts anchored in Cape Lopez for careening. The British vessels on patrol were the fourth-rates HMS Swallow and HMS Weymouth, both mounting fifty guns or more but only the Swallow under Captain Chaloner Ogle encountered Black Bart. When Captain Ogle sailed around the cape he sighted four vessels, three of them pirates and one a merchant ship the Neptune belonging to a Captain Hill, which was illegally trading with the brigands. Ogle spotted a sandbar and quickly ordered his ship to turn out of the way, by this time the pirates had spotted the Swallow so Roberts allowed Captain James Skyrm in the Ranger to capture what he thought was a fleeing merchant ship. Sensing an opportunity, Captain Ogle chose to let the pirate chase him for hours until they were far away from the cape. Ogle then turned about, raised the White Ensign and engaged Captain Skyrm, after a relatively short action, the sloop was captured, made a prize, and ten pirates were killed. Ogle then patiently sailed back to Cape Lopez where he arrived five days later on February 10,1722, a few moments later they discovered the incoming vessel was not their sloop but the Swallow. One of the pirates, a man named Armstrong who had absconded from the Swallows sister ship Weymouth at Madeira, recognized the British frigate and told Captain Roberts. Most of the crew from the Little Ranger was ordered to join the crew of the Royal Fortune so as to keep as many pirates as possible aboard the flagship for defense, the Little Ranger which was hauled on her side being cleaned at the time, was abandoned. When the pirates left, Captain Hills crew went aboard the Little Ranger and looted gold and other valuables, Roberts plan called for him to sail directly for the Swallow in order to quickly pass her and then escape. By doing this the Swallow would have to turn about to engage or chase the Royal Fortune which would give Roberts valuable time to flee. The plan however had one default, by sailing right past the British frigate, Captain Roberts set out for his escape and issued the command for Little Ranger and the merchantman to leave
8.
Capture of the Fancy
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The Capture of the Fancy was a famous British victory over two pirate ships under Captain Edward Low. When off Delaware Bay Low attacked a Royal Navy man-of-war which he mistook for a whaler, the resulting combat lasted several hours and ended with the capture of one pirate vessel. Edward Low was a pirate from New England known for his extreme cruelty. He personally killed over fifty men and committed atrocities such as forcing prisoners he captured to cannibalism. By summer of 1723 Low commanded the eighty-ton schooner named Fancy and was the most feared pirate in the Atlantic, accompanying Fancy was the sloop-of-war Ranger under Captain Charles Harris. Fancy was armed with ten guns and had a crew of forty-four, Ranger was a former French sloop which was captured by Low off Grenada earlier in 1723. Her armament and number of crew is not known, some accounts cite Low as having commanded the sloop Fortune during the encounter with the British post ship HMS Greyhound under Captain Peter Solgard. The sixth-rate mounted a twenty gun armament and a complement of about 120 officers, Low was headed due northwest from the Azores to attack shipping off the British North American colonies. Searching for Low was HMS Greyhound, while cruising off Delaware Bays mouth, Low and his pirates sighted the man-of-war and gave chase. Lows schooner took damage and began returning shot while Harris in the Ranger maneuvered into firing position, Ranger opened fire briefly with her guns but after only a few minutes both the sloop and schooner chose to flee. A running battle continued for several hours. Fancy was dismasted by well-placed cannon fire but escaped, while Captain Harris in the Ranger was defeated, wind was not in favor of the pirates, so they used oars to help steer their ships away from the British. The use of oars proved to be pointless when the faster Greyhound came alongside the Ranger, grappling hooks were thrown and the British sailors boarded the sloop. After a few moments of intense close-quarters combat the pirates surrendered and were taken prisoner. Captain Lows schooner Fancy is said to have carried around £150,000 in gold during the engagement, thirty-seven white and six black pirates were captured. Twenty-five of these, including the young Harris, were hung near Newport, Captain Solgard became famous in New York City and in England and also received prize money for the sloop he captured which also carried gold during the time of battle. Solgard eventually rose to the rank of admiral in the Royal Navy, ned Low continued his life of piracy and took several more ships, including a 22-gun French man-of-war. He seemingly grew more cruel after his defeat, particularly to his English captives, circumstances of his death are unknown, though he perished sometime in 1724
