Edward Teach (Blackbeard)
A short career, a long shadow.
The wiki mixes real history with the invented world of Free Nassau. Historical figures and dates are noted as such; invented characters, places and events belong to the game’s setting.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Active | About 1716–1718 |
| Flagship | Queen Anne’s Revenge, a former French slaver |
| Known for | Fearsome appearance and reputation; blockade of Charles Town (1718) |
| Died | 22 November 1718, Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina |
A name and a beginning
The man remembered as Blackbeard is usually called Edward Teach, though records also give Thatch, Thach and other spellings. He may have been from Bristol, and he may have served in privateers during the War of the Spanish Succession, but almost nothing about him is documented before 1716. That year he appears at Nassau as one of Benjamin Hornigold’s men. He proved capable enough that Hornigold gave him command of a captured sloop, and the two sailed in company through 1717, taking prizes from the Bahamas to the American coast.
Queen Anne’s Revenge
In November 1717, near Martinique, Teach’s company captured a large French slave ship, La Concorde. He kept her, mounted as many as forty guns and renamed her Queen Anne’s Revenge. The name has often been read as a jab at the Hanoverian King George and a nod to the late Stuart queen. With a powerful flagship and several smaller consorts, Teach now commanded one of the strongest pirate squadrons of the era. During this cruise he also met Stede Bonnet, a gentleman of Barbados who had turned pirate with little knowledge of the sea, and for a time Teach took effective command of Bonnet’s sloop.
The reputation
Much of the Blackbeard image comes from Captain Charles Johnson’s General History of the Pyrates, published in 1724. It describes a huge black beard twisted into tails with ribbons, a sling with several braces of pistols across the chest, and slow-burning fuses tucked under his hat so that smoke wreathed his face in action. Whether every detail is true, the purpose is clear: a crew whose captain looked terrifying often did not have to fight at all. Many merchant ships simply struck their colours when they recognised him, and there is little reliable evidence that Teach killed captives who surrendered.
The blockade of Charles Town
In May 1718 Teach brought his squadron to the bar of Charles Town, South Carolina, one of the richest ports in English America. For about a week he stopped every ship entering or leaving, and took prisoners, among them leading citizens. His price for releasing them was not gold but a chest of medicines. The town paid, the hostages were returned, and the squadron sailed north. Few episodes show more plainly how weak colonial defences were and how bold a well-armed pirate company could be.
Beaufort Inlet and the pardon
Within weeks Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground entering Topsail (now Beaufort) Inlet in North Carolina. Some contemporaries suspected that Teach grounded her deliberately to break up a company that had grown too large. He took the best of the plunder and a small crew, marooned others, and went to Bath to accept the King’s pardon from Governor Charles Eden. The wreck itself was rediscovered in 1996 and has since yielded cannon, anchors and thousands of artefacts.
Ocracoke
Teach did not stay retired. He was soon raiding again from the sounds of North Carolina, and in October 1718 he entertained Charles Vane’s company at Ocracoke. Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia, alarmed and acting with doubtful authority, sent two hired sloops under Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy. On 22 November 1718 they caught Teach at Ocracoke Inlet. After a broadside and a fierce boarding fight, Teach was killed, reportedly with many wounds, and his head was hung from Maynard’s bowsprit. His career as a captain had lasted only about two years.
In Free Nassau
Blackbeard is one of the starting captains. His deck leans on terror and boarding: cards that frighten enemy crews, weaken their attacks and reward getting alongside. He suits players who like to cripple a ship quickly and finish the fight hand to hand. See How to Play.