Excerpt from HistoryExtra article, “Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate: how a mid-life crisis created the ‘worst pirate of all time’” available here.
Bonnet himself could not have known the impact his arrival in Nassau would have on the course of pirate history and lore, or on colonial commerce and trade. It was here that Bonnet met Edward Thatch (or Teach), known to the world as Blackbeard, with whom his legacy would be forever connected.
Blackbeard and Bonnet struck up either a friendship or a business arrangement, with Blackbeard taking over as captain of the Revenge (an upgrade for his current, smaller vessel) and Bonnet staying aboard as an observer and apprentice to one of the most feared pirates of all time.
Their working relationship grew more complicated as the two sailed throughout the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the American colonies. Working together on-and-off between September 1717 and late summer 1718, they took dozens of prizes and pulled off one of the era’s most significant naval blockades, holding the walled-city of Charleston hostage for six days and effectively stopping all commerce to the city.
Blackbeard soon amassed a large flotilla under his command, including a new flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
It was in the summer of 1718 that Blackbeard and Bonnet arrived in North Carolina to take advantage of King George I of Great Britain’s pledge to pardon pirates who turned themselves in.
Sending Bonnet first to meet with Governor Eden of North Carolina, Blackbeard stayed with the flotilla near Topsail Inlet. But while Bonnet was ashore, Blackbeard double-crossed the Gentleman Pirate, looting his ship and marooning most of the Revenge’s crew onto an island with no food or water.
Upon his return, Bonnet was furious. He quickly resumed his captaincy of the Revenge, picked up the marooned men and chased Blackbeard up the Carolina coast. Perhaps luckily for Bonnet, he never again saw any signs of Blackbeard.
For the full Stede Bonnet story, The Life and Tryals of the Gentleman Pirate, Major Stede Bonnet is available on Amazon and through all major booksellers.
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