A Map Showing the Final Days of Edward Teach and Stede Bonnet

[Sully Cross]

   Having left Charleston, South Carolina after their blockade of Charleston Harbor in May, here's a map showing locations where Pirates Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet spent their final days in 1718.

 

   1. Beaufort, NC - June 10th Blackbeard's ship Queen Anne's Revenge and Israel Hands ship Adventure both ground on sandbars in the Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. Crew and supplies are moved unto Bonnet's ship Revenge and a captured Spanish sloop. Bonnet travels to Bath, North Carolina to accept a pardon from Governer Charles Eden. Upon his return to Beaufort he discovers Blackbeard and Hands had stripped his ship of supplies, abandoned Bonnet's crew, and made off in the Spanish sloop. Blackbeard maroons 25 of his own men on a nearby island, Bonnet rescues them while searching for Blackbeard. Blackbeard and Hands reach Bath, accept pardons, and moor in the town for the summer. Bonnet, unable to find the two, makes his way south to the mouth of the Cape Fear River.

 

   2. Bath, NC - Home of North Carolina Governor Charles Eden. Eden allows Blackbeard and Hands to sail in their Spanish sloop now renamed Adventure. They return in September with cargo from 2 captured French ships and split the haul with Eden and Judge Tobias Knight.

 

   3. Bonnet’s Creek near Southport, NC - Bonnet's final stand occurred on September 27th. His ship, in much need of repair, is careened near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, North Carolina. Several days later Bonnet is surprised by Col. William Rhett, sent by South Carolina Governor Robert Johnson, who was actually searching for Charles Vane. He makes a fight of it but is captured and taken to Charleston for trial and execution. He is hanged December 10th.

 

   4. Ocracoke Island, NC - Ocracoke Inlet was Teach's favorite anchorage. It was a perfect vantage point from which to view ships travelling between the various settlements of North Carolina, and it was from there that Teach first spotted the approaching ship of Charles Vane in October. Vane had sailed north from Charleston unknowingly pursued by William Rhett. Teach and Vane spent several nights partying on the southern tip of Ocracoke Island, accompanied by Hands, Robert Deal and Calico Jack Rackham. Vane and his crew left in early November, but he and Deal soon lost their ship to mutineer Calico Jack.

 

   5. Pamlico Sound, NC - Blackbeard's last fight happens almost 2 months after Bonnet's capture. Hands and half of their crew were at Bath while Blackbeard was aboard the Adventure partying with locals in Pamlico Sound. Lt. Robert Maynard sent by Virginia Governer Alexander Spotswood surprises him on November 17th and attacks. Both ships ground on sandbars, fire shots until refloated, after several hours Blackbeard is killed, and the survivors captured. Maynard's partner Cpt. Brand captures Hands and the rest of the crew in Bath. The prisoners are taken to Williamsburg, Virginia to be tried and executed. In exchange for a pardon, Hands testified against the corrupt North Carolina officials. His fate is unknown to history.

 

Edited May 24 by Sully Cross