The blockadeįor the next year, Blackbeard maraudered around the Caribbean, causing havoc in the shipping lanes and indiscriminately taking prizes and cargo as he went. Soon after this Hornigold retired from piracy leaving Teach at large.
The following year the two are noted as commanding a small fleet of ships and it is during this time that Teach captured a French merchant vessel for his own, renaming her ‘Queen Anne’s Revenge’. Soon Hornigold gave Teach the command of his own vessel and together they continued to plague the Caribbean. In around 1716 he joined the crew of Benjamin Hornigold a renowned pirate operating out of New Providence in the Bahamas, the epicentre of piracy in the Caribbean. ‘he had often distinguished himself for his uncommon boldness and personal courage’ during this time and during his pirate years he is described as having a black beard ‘which he suffered to grow of an extravagant Length… he was accustomed to twist it with Ribbons, in small Tails… and stuck lighted Matches under his Hat, which appearing on each Side of his Face, his Eyes naturally looking fierce and wild, made him altogether such a Figure, that Imagination cannot form an Idea of a Fury, from Hell, to look more frightful.’Īfter the war with France ended, like the many other privateers lacking legitimate and legal employment, Blackbeard returned to what he knew best. We know with almost certainty that Blackbeard’s name was Edward Teach and whilst information about his early life is scarce it is widely believed that he was born in Bristol in around 1680 and served in the Royal Navy or as a privateer during the Queen Anne’s War. So why is he still a household name, a legend of history? What do we know about Blackbeard?įirstly, most of what we know about Blackbeard and his fellow pirates comes from one source, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates, which covers in great detail his exploits and was written in 1724 shortly after his death by Captain Charles Johnson, a possible pseudonym of the popular writer Daniel Defoe. But his piratical career was surprisingly short, in fact, he was only active as a pirate for a brief two years. Blackbeard is one of the most famous, or infamous, pirates in history.
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