Blackbeard's reign: short, strange, overhyped
Was North Carolina's most famous pirate more myth than menace?
Off the coast of North Carolina lies one of the world’s most treacherous stretches of sea—a place where shifting shoals, sudden storms, and centuries of shipwrecks have earned it the name “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” In this Charlotte Ledger series, journalist Mark Washburn explores the region’s lore through wartime sinkings, devastating hurricanes, pirate legends, lost treasure and enduring nautical mysteries.
MONDAY: The Mystery of the Ghost Ship Deering: A schooner runs aground with no crew aboard — only clues, whispers and a six-toed cat remain. (🎥 Watch video)
TUESDAY: North Carolina’s Pirate Legacy: Blackbeard’s legend looms large — but how much of it is true, and where’s the treasure he left behind? (🎥 Watch video)
WEDNESDAY: The Tides of War: The quiet beaches of North Carolina once lit up nightly with fire and torpedoes, turning the shoreline into a clandestine battlefield where vessels vanished and history pivoted.
THURSDAY: The Elusive Treasure: Centuries of shipwrecks — but only one treasure fleet ever made it this far north. Is it still out there?
FRIDAY: Tales from the Depths: From daring rescues and doomed voyages to a storm-sunk movie star, these are the shipwreck stories you’ve never heard — but won’t forget.
Blackbeard’s legend looms large — but how much of it is true, and where’s the treasure he left behind?
By Mark Washburn
Blackbeard is our official pirate. No other scallywag is as closely related to the North Carolina coast as the boogeyman plunderer of history and legend.
Little about his early life is known, but he had great PR, that much is certain. Sailors spread exaggerated tales about his treachery all over the Caribbean.
As for corporate branding, he adopted a fearsome countenance, all beard and braids. Sometimes, it was said, he lit cannon fuses and stuck them in his hair (unlikely) for that bit of sparkle that makes all the difference.
Henry Bostock, captain of the merchant sloop Margaret, had the pleasure of Blackbeard’s hospitality for about eight hours on Dec. 5, 1717, near Anguilla in the Caribbean as Blackbeard’s pirates ransacked his ship.
In a later deposition, Bostock said Blackbeard was a menacing creature, “from that large quantity of hair, which, like a frightful meteor, covered his whole face, and frightened America more than any comet that has appeared there a long time. This beard was black, which he suffered to grow of an extravagant length; as to breadth, it came up to his eyes; he was accustomed to twist it with ribbons.”
After plundering Bostock’s cargo, Blackbeard let Bostock and his crew go, free to tell the tale.
Blackbeard prowled in the final days of the Golden Age of Piracy, an epoch that wound down in the early 1700s. He retains strong name recognition to this day, the archetype of the ruthless buccaneer.
So, to keep up appearances for our favorite pirate son, let’s keep this just between ourselves:
Blackbeard was no big deal.
Yes, he had his moments. He captured some ships, and then a few more, and pretty soon he had a crew of about 120 sailing with him. He was Commodore Blackbeard for a while and a pest to shipping interests.
His flagship was the Queen Anne’s Revenge, a captured French ship. He had a good ride, preying on merchantmen. He never landed a treasure ship.
Blackbeard, armed for combat, from a 1736 engraving in Johnson's General History.
Blackbeard’s strange demand
His biggest score was the poorest one, a strange bargain in May 1718 outside Charleston, S.C., then called Charles Town.
He blockaded the prosperous port, capturing nine vessels leaving the harbor. One was called the Crowley, bound for London with a delegation of prominent citizens, including Samuel Wragg of the Council of the province of Carolina.
It was with Wragg that Blackbeard bargained. Here’s the deal, said the rogue: We need hospital supplies. Go to port and return with a hefty locker of medical goods. Then we’ll release the hostages.
Otherwise, the lot of you will be killed, and we’ll send your severed heads to the governor.
No jewels? No silver? Wragg knew a good deal when he heard it, and soon came a medical chest stuffed with the best that Charles Town could provide. Blackbeard, pleased with the bargain, kept his word and released the captives unharmed.
In their underwear.
Pirates, you see, had a devil of a time with the laundry. Things wore out and they were often in rags. Nice clothes were always in demand.
Back to Cape Lookout
Capture of the Pirate Blackbeard by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1920.
Blackbeard ordered his flotilla north, to one of his favorite haunts near Beaufort, N.C., where the Queen Anne’s Revenge and an escort quickly ran aground on the sandbar. Two more hulls for the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
Blackbeard soon went to the colonial capital of Bath to call on the governor. Pardons for piracy were being handed out like Bible tracts if one promised to reform. Blackbeard vowed to abandon the profession and got one.
But the Charles Town blockade was big news. Up in Virginia, Gov. Alexander Spotswood had heard enough. He decided to invade North Carolina and squash Blackbeard’s career.
On Nov. 22, 1718, a force of sailors led by Lt. Robert Maynard sailed into Blackbeard’s ken at Ocracoke. Maynard had hidden most of his force below deck. Blackbeard saw an easy score and attacked.
After a volley of cannon fire, Blackbeard and his men scrambled aboard Maynard’s boat, the fizz of victory suddenly dissolving into the war cries of Maynard’s marines, rising from the hold. Furious combat ensued.
Blackbeard took five bullets, then came the swords. He died on the deck. Maynard ordered his head cut off and the torso tossed overboard. Six times did the decapitated body of Blackbeard swim around the boat (unlikely), or so goes the legend.
Blackbeard’s head was mounted on a spike on the bowsprit of Maynard’s vessel and later presented to Spotswood. His skull has gone missing through the centuries, though fakes, like splinters from the True Cross, occasionally come to market.
There was some diplomatic static about Spotswood operating outside his jurisdiction, but it died down, even as Blackbeard’s legend grew.
Where’s the treasure?
Now you want to know about Blackbeard’s treasure. Everyone does.
On Nov. 21, 1996, researchers found a shipwreck in the shoals off Beaufort. Careful archaeology all but proves it is the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
Cannons, a rusted blunderbuss, a ship’s bell and myriad other relics — yes, some objects from an old medical chest — have been recovered. Archaeological treasures to be sure, but nothing in the way of jewels or gold.
Maybe he buried his treasure on shore?
Unlikely. Plenty have searched, none have found.
You see, only one pirate, Capt. William Kidd, is known to ever have buried some of his treasure. He stuffed it in the earth on Gardiners Island, off Long Island, N.Y., hoping to bargain with authorities for his freedom. It didn’t work. He met the hangman May 23, 1701.
Author Eric Jay Dolin, in his authoritative book “Black Flags, Blue Waters,” about the Golden Age of piracy, confronts the mythology. Pirates didn’t bury their fortunes, he said. That’s pure nonsense. They divided up the booty and spent it as fast as possible.
Why would they bury it? Who knew when they might come back. Or who might find it in the meantime?
Buried pirate treasure is largely the invention of Robert Louis Stevenson whose sensational 1883 novel “Treasure Island” used it as a plot point. Stevenson’s book, a fabulous adventure with the villainous Long John Silver, has never gone out of print.
So how ruthless was Blackbeard? Not much, actually. Don’t spread it around, but:
His entire campaign of terror lasted a mere 18 months.
And there is not a shred of evidence that he ever killed anybody.
So, arrrrrrrrr.
Mark Washburn is a retired Charlotte Observer writer and columnist who lives in Davidson. Reach him at mwashburn76@gmail.com.
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🎥 Watch a 1-minute video adaptation of today’s ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’ story by TikTok-er Beck Hassen (beckography on TikTok):
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