With his long, black beard, dark eyes, and fierce temper, this monstrous giant was a figure to contend with. He wore three pairs of loaded pistols and a bare cutlass in his belt. One of his favorite methods of frightening victims was to tie lit fuses under his hat and in the filthy beard which gave him his name. There is much debate over Blackbeard�s true name. It is believed that he was christened Edward Drummond, but changed his name to Teach or Thatch when he went on the account. He was born in Jamaica, Bristol, or Virginia, but this is also unknown.
There are as many stories about Blackbeard as there are names and birthplaces for him, probably more. One such story, (which may actually be true), is that he shot his first mate after having a lot to drink one night. It is said that he crossed two pistols under the table and fired, striking Israel Hands, his first mate, in the knee. When asked why, he supposedly said, �If I don�t shoot one of my men every once in awhile, you�ll forget who I am.� It is also said that Blackbeard had at least fourteen teenage wives, and would reward his crew with them. Yet another story is that the Devil visited his ship. True or not, these stories make Blackbeard much of what he is known to have been today.
Blackbeard began his career serving on board a privateer, until the war ended in 1713. He fell in with Benjamin Horngold in 1715. Horngold was apparently so proud of his student, that Blackbeard was given command of a sloop in Horngold�s fleet in 1716. After capturing a French prize, he was even given Horngold�s ship, which he named the Queen Anne�s Revenge. His new ship was mounted with forty guns.
Just weeks after setting out on his own in 1717, Blackbeard captured his first prize in the Caribbean. It was a ship known as the Great Allen. Also in 1717, Blackbeard defeated the Navy frigate Scarborough. He went to the Bay of Honduras, where he met Stede Bonnet. He took Bonnet prisoner and left for Nassau in 1718. He moved on to make North Carolina his base of operations, after getting a �pardon� from a corrupt governor. Pardons were very easy to come by; all a pirate had to do was swear not to go on the account again. Blackbeard was able to stay in operation by bribing governor Charles Eden and secretary Tobias Knight.
Blackbeard set sail back to the Bay of Honduras, where he captured the Adventure, and made Israel Hands her captain. Two months later he headed back up the American coast and reached the harbor of Charleston in May of 1718.
It was there that he captured six small vessels and three rich merchants inside of a week by blockading the harbor. He took Samuel Wragg, his son, and two others hostage, and held them for ransom. His only demand was for medical supplies, but he threatened to murder the captives, and burn the ships and port if the citizens did not comply. He even sent one of the captives with the party that was to make the demand. Those in town complied, and the prisoners were set free.
Blackbeard returned to North Carolina, reaching Topsail Inlet later in 1718. By this time he had amassed a crew of over three hundred men, most of whom he wished to be rid of. He �allowed� Stede Bonnet to regain control of his ship, advising him to get a pardon. He dismissed all but forty of his men, but kept the sloop Adventure and the ex-crewmen�s belongings for himself and his now smaller crew.
On September eighteenth he reached his hideout on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. Once there he was joined by Charles Vane and his crew. There they threw a huge party where they indulged in copious amounts of liquor, dancing, and sex for a week. This annoyed and worried North Carolina planters, who appealed to governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia.
Spotswood bought two sloops and outfitted them himself. Lieutenant Robert Maynard was placed in charge of the expedition and one of the sloops. The second sloop was commanded by Lieutenant Baker. The expedition arrived at Ocracoke on November twenty first.
Blackbeard received warning of the expedition, but for unknown reasons, he chose to ignore it. The Navy struggled through the waterways to reach Blackbeard, running aground several times, but managing to get closer nevertheless. At this point Blackbeard began a running fight. He was tricked into boarding Maynard�s sloop, thinking that most of the crew was dead. He soon found out otherwise, when the men emerged from below decks, killing many of the pirates, including Blackbeard. One of Blackbeard�s Lieutenants then attempted to act on Blackbeard�s orders and blow up the Adventure, but that attempt failed. Maynard lost ten of his men, and twenty-five were wounded. Blackbeard�s head was hung from the bowsprit or yardarm (there is some debate here, also) of Maynard�s sloop.
