Edward Teach: lived between
1680 and 1718. He was better known as
Blackbeard, the notorious English pirate who sailed and marauded in the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American Colonies. He was probably born in Bristol, England. Probably a sailor on ships during Queen Anne's War before settling on the Bahamas. Which was a base for Captain Benjamin Hornigold, whose crew Teach joined sometime around 1716.
Hornigold placed him in command of a sloop
he had captured, and the two engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Their numbers were boosted by the addition to their fleet of two more ships, one of which was commanded by Stede Bonnet
, but toward the end of 1717 Hornigold retired from piracy, taking two vessels with him.
Blackbeard captured a French merchant vessel, which he renamed The Queen Anne's Revenge. He equipped her with 40 guns and became a feared pirate. He was reported to have tied lit fuses under his hat to frighten his enemies.
After he ran the Queen Anne's Revenge aground near Beaufort, North Carolina, he settled in Bath Town. There he accepted a royal pardon. But he was soon back at sea, where he attracted the attention of Alexander Spotswood, the Governor of Virginia. Spotswood arranged for a party of soldiers and sailors to try to capture the pirate, which they did on 22 November 1718. During a ferocious battle, Teach and several of his crew were killed by a small force of sailors led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
