Both sloops were soon afloat again, but that precious element of surprise had been lost. To intimidate their attackers, the pirates began shooting at the approaching sloops.
When the Jane pulled to within about half a pistol shot of the Adventure , there was a brief conversation between Maynard and Blackbeard. According to a second-hand account in the Boston News-Letter , the exchange was as follows:. Teach called to Lieutenant Maynard and told him he was for King George, desiring him to hoist out his boat and come aboard. Maynard replied that he designed to come aboard with his sloop as soon as he could, and Teach, understanding his design, told him that if he would let him alone, he would not meddle with him; Maynard answered that it was him he wanted, and that he would have him dead or alive, else it would cost him his life; whereupon Teach called for a glass of wine, and swore damnation to himself if he either took or gave quarter.
As soon as the talking was over, Blackbeard took full advantage of his superior firepower and unleashed a booming broadside of partridge and swan shot that killed the commander of the Ranger and severely wounded five of his men, including the second and third in command. Shorn of its officers, the Ranger fell behind and was not a factor until the very end of the battle. The broadside also wounded many men on the Jane , but they continued to fight.
Before going to the cabin, Maynard ordered the pilot and a midshipman to stay on deck and alert him as to what Blackbeard was doing. If it worked out as Maynard hoped, the pirates would soon come to him. As soon as Blackbeard was aboard, the pilot signaled Maynard, who, along with 12 of his men, rushed to the main deck, catching the pirates off guard.
During the six-minute melee that ensued, the combatants slashed, thrust, and shot at one another at close range, their grunts, screams, and groans intermingled with the sounds of clashing steel and exploding gunpowder.
When the smoke finally cleared, the great Blackbeard lay dead, and the rest of his men who had followed him onto the Jane were either killed or severely wounded. At about the same time, the Ranger arrived, and its men boarded the Adventure and beat the remaining pirates into submission. While doing so, one of the navy sailors was killed by friendly fire. Pirates who lost their nerve and jumped overboard, rather than fight to the end, were shot in the water as they tried to escape.
None of them survived, and one corpse was found in the reeds days later, with buzzards circling overhead. Maynard took nine pirates prisoner, three of whom were white, and the rest black. One of the men wounded on the Adventure was trader Odell, who had visited Blackbeard to celebrate but was caught up in the battle. Although Odell fought with the pirates, Maynard and his men owed him a debt of gratitude, for if it had not been for his quick thinking, the death toll off Ocracoke that day would have been much higher.
Before the fighting started, Blackbeard instructed one of his crew, a black man named Caesar, to blow up the ship in the event that the pirates were defeated. In , he joined the crew of Benjamin Hornigold, a notorious pirate operating out of the Bahamas. Soon Hornigold gave Teach the command of his own vessel, and together they plagued the Caribbean.
In May , Blackbeard took part in one of his most audacious and famous acts. He held the town for ransom, capturing ships, cargo and sailors until his demands for medicine were met.
With an advantage in firepower, the pirate ship unleashed a broadside from its cannons that killed the commander of the Ranger and scattered the men on the Jane. Demonstrating quick thinking, Maynard set a trap for the pirates.
He ordered all his men except for the pilot and midshipman below deck. Seeing the deck of the Jane clear of most of its men, Blackbeard brought his ship alongside and led his men over the rails with a rope in hand to lash the vessels together. Six minutes of brutal fighting ensued as swords clashed, fists flew and guns fired before the British sailors subdued the pirates. Blackbeard sustained a terrible pummeling before finally succumbing.
Blackbeard may have died, but his legend quickly gained a life of its own. Yet, he is often portrayed as a ruthless, even murderous character who terrorized his foes. Johnson employed full use of his literary license in portraying Blackbeard as a bloodthirsty warrior who entwined strands of his fulsome beard in black ribbons. Dolin notes that no contemporary accounts describe the pirate setting his facial hair ablaze.
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