WITH HAIR AFIRE AND PISTOLS BLAZING: BLACKBEARD, TERROR OF THE SEA Blackbeard, or Edward Teach, is surely, along with Captain William Kidd, one of the best-known pirates in history. But unlike Kidd, Blackbeard was the pirate's pirate, an immense man with exceptional strength and courage, a great leader of men who was as cruel and sadistic as he was brave. One time Blackbeard forced a captain to eat his own lips, nose, and ears; on another occasion he shot off his mate's knee for no reason at all save his own amusement; still another time he burned brimstone in the hold with the hatches closed to simulate hell and stuck it out longer than any of his crew. With his long plaited, beribboned black beard like a ''frightful Meteor" covering his face he frightened America more than any comet.On one occasion, Blackbeard and his cohorts captured a French merchant ship in the Bahamas. So much did he fancy this vessel that he chose to use her as his own, renaming her the Queen Anne's Revenge. Blackbeard became known as the most-feared scoundrel of the seas. Although few settlers ever knew what this pirate looked like, it has been said that he was a gigantic figure, towering over the other pirates "like a huge umbrella." Aside from being strong, powerful, and robust, he wore a superfluous growth of long black hair and plaited his thick beard into portentous, interlaced pigtails like snakes crawling about his face. Carrying six pistols, three on each side at all times, he sprang unto action, surprising his victims. Unique to Blackbeard was his practice, whenever he pirated a vessel, of embarking upon his prey with flaming firebrands coursing from his hair. When this massive, blazing figure jumped upon a vessel, courage often went over the side.
Blackbeard was now at the height of his career, raking in fortune upon fortune, while the people off the North Carolina coast lived not only in constant fear of their property and belongings, but of their lives as well. They tried appealing to their governor, but this proved futile, because Charles Eden, who had arrived in the new colony just one year after Blackbeard had commenced his piracies, was part of the pirate game himself. Talk was that while Eden was in office, more pirates than ever before were plaguing the vessels of the area. Rumors passed daily among the settlers that their governor could not be depended on to help. Wasn't he taking a part in the spoils, receiving his share of the pilfered tea, tobacco, cloth, and sundry items plundered by the pirates. Of course in return for his share, the pirates went unharmed and undisturbed. The settlers of Bath stood helpless.
Hope flickered in their hearts when they learned that the king of England had made a strong effort to end piracy by offering a complete pardon to any pirate who would voluntarily give himself up. But when Blackbeard heard this news, he virtually tied up the entire port of Charleston. He was determined to let the authorities know that he was in command of the ports, and he wasn't about to relinquish his title, nor let any of his comrades give themselves up. About this time Blackbeard and another pirate, Major Stede Bonnet, were partners in pirating the waters in and around Charleston. One night the two men were busy chipping barnacles from their careened vessels, when Blackbeard advised his partner that he had performed enough piracy and that he would turn himself in to the governor.
But Blackbeard had tricked him. No sooner had Bonnet left Blackbeard's side, than the terror of the sea stole Bonnet's spoils and hid the loot with his own. Only then did he himself meet with the governor and give himself up.
For the next year Blackbeard became a respectable citizen of Bath. He won the heart of a young girl, established a home, and became the ideal husband and businessman. However, Blackbeard, or Mr. Edward Teach as he was now called, was a man of extremely rich tastes, and after he used up all his money, he saw no alternative save to return again to piracy. At first he was satisfied with small hauls, but as his greed grew, he longed for greater prizes. It was while attempting to take one that he finally met his match.
Two British warships were lying in the James River. Blackbeard, anxiously awaiting them, knew their efforts at maneuvering their large vessels in the narrows and shallows would be futile. Like a cat ready to pounce upon its victim, his lips curled with smugness as he watched them. Lieutenant Robert Maynard and a Captain Gordon of the British Royal Navy set out in two small sloops with their men and guns ready to take on the famous Blackbeard. Making their way slowly and cautiously, using long sweep oars and feeling for the shallow bottom, they proceeded toward the pirate ship, her flag raised. When Lieutenant Maynard maneuvered his sloop next to Blackbeard's ship, roaring shouts of damnation rained down upon him. The stage was set for battle. Unfortunately, the other sloop ran aground. Just the Pearl and the pirate ship would fight to the death.
Unluckily for Lieutenant Maynard and his crew, the railing on their sloop was much too low to offer any protection, and the pirate ship fired its cannon, volley after volley. The shattered young bodies of sailors were soon strewn the length of the sloop. Maynard shouted for his men to go below but to be ready to come forward upon his command. All that remained on deck were the young lieutenant and his helmsman. Steering their sloop with direct aim at the pirate ship, they steeled themselves for Blackbeard's worst.
Within minutes the two men in charge met head on, firing point blank at each other. It was Blackbeard who missed. With a fury, the pirates leaped onto the Pearl, and at precisely the same moment, Maynard's men swarmed from below and began attacking. A ball from the lieutenant's pistol pierced deep into Blackbeard's chest, ripping it wide open. But he continued to fight with all the strength he could muster. Blackbeard swung a hard, fast blow, knocking the lieutenant's sword into the water. It was at this precise moment that one of the sailors saw his superior's plight and brought his own blade down on the pirate, dealing him a second devastat-
ing blow. Each of the two men slashed at each other; despite his mortal wounds, Blackbeard fought on. It was during the split-second that he reached for one of the spare pistols hidden in his red sash, that he slumped forward dead at last.
Blackbeard's head was cut off, exposed on the bowsprit, and later taken to Bath. As for his headless body, it was thrown overboard, and legend has it that it defiantly swam around the sloop several times before sinking out of sight.
