Edward Thache (Blackbeard) and Major Stede Bonnet: Choose Your Friends Wisely
Jean Pillement, A Shipwreck in a Storm (1782). Pastel on gessoed canvas.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Accession Nol. 437292. Public Domain / Open Access.
Edward Thache, Junior — some would say Teach or Thach rather than Thache — was the eldest son of Edward and Elizabeth Thache. Edward Jr., spent his early years on the family’s small plantation near Spanish Town, the capital of Jamaica. His father was known not only as a plantation owner but also as a mariner, suggesting that the sea was a part of young Edward’s life from an early age.
In those days, “plantation” meant a sizable agricultural estate that focused on cash crops like sugar or tobacco. It could be smaller than the vast plantations that the term presently conveys. It could be a large farm with enslaved labor, but it still had a commercial focus on export rather than subsistence farming.
When Edward Jr. was about 16 (b. 1682), his mother died and his father married Lucretia Axtell. When his father died about seven years later (1706), Edward Jr., now about 24, inherited his father’s estate. Not interested in plantation life, he deeded the property over to his stepmother and headed to Port Royal where he joined the Royal Navy and served on Her Majesty’s Ship Windsor. After his naval service, he became a crewman on merchant ships. Some say they saw him wandering the streets of Philadelphia with his merchant seamen buddies. Whether his presence in Philadelphia was true has not been documented. He would have been no different than hundreds of seamen who visited Philadelphia during the later stages of the Queen Anne’s War. He may not even have had his famous black beard at the time, due to maritime protocol.
After sailing for others, Thache acquired a small sloop with six guns that he named Adventure. He and his crew of about 30 began cruising the Bahama Channel, the shipping lane between the northern coast of Cuba and the southern islands of the Bahamas, attacking small merchant ships.
Around December 13, 1716, Thache was sailing off Cape Donna Maria on the western end of Hispaniola when he came upon Benjamin Hornigold, the captain of the sloop Delight. Hornigold had captured the merchant ship Lamb and had sent a boarding party to seize provisions. Thache sent a canoe with his boarding party to join Thache’s boarding party. After Thache and Hornigold disengaged from the Lamb, they cruised together for several days.
. . . . .
In the spring of 1717, Major Stede Bonnet, a well-to-do planter from Barbados, did the unthinkable. He left his wife, three small children and a plantation estate and went to the port city of Bridgetown. There, just arriving, was a 60 to 70-ton New England built merchant sloop. Bonnet purchased the sloop, paying cash to its captain, and renamed it Revenge. Bonnet had it outfitted with ten guns and his library. Yes, this would be a pirate ship with a library. The transaction was highly unusual because pirates never bought their ships, they commandeered them on the open sea. Bonnet hired a crew of 70 and paid them wages, another no-no for pirates. Pirate crews were never paid wages, they split the plunder they seized.
“Major” Stede Bonnet must have had military experience, everyone thought, but that too was a misconception. Landowners in Barbados, by statute, acquired the title “Major.” So, Major Bonnet, with neither military experience nor knowledge of the sea, sailed forth in his purchased sloop Revenge to seek adventure.
After leaving Bridgetown in early June 1717, he sailed northwest through the Windward Islands — St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines. He then crossed towards the Spanish Main — Venezuela and Columbia — capturing a few small merchant vessels. Changing directions, he sailed west and north through the Bay of Honduras and towards the Yucatán Channel, the narrow passage between the western tip of Cuba and the Yucatán Peninsula (the Campeche coast).
In August, while in or near the Yucatán Channel, Bonnet came upon what he thought was a rather large and inviting merchant ship. Unfortunately, the merchant ship was a heavily armed Spanish frigate. The frigate was part of the guarda coasta, which patrolled the Castilian shipping lanes.
Bonnet miscalculated and engaged the warship. Soon he was severely injured and unable to captain his ship. After the Revenge suffered extensive damage and lost about 30 of its crew, some killed while others were injured, it disengaged. Bonnet’s sloop fled north-northeast towards the Bahamas — the only direction that avoided the prevailing easterlies and the Castilian patrols.
By happenstance, within days or weeks of his encounter with the Castilian warship, Bonnet and his battered sloop Revenge came upon Edward Thache and his sloop Adventure near the northern exit of the Yucatán Channel as it opened towards the southern Bahamas.
One could imagine Thache in his little six-gun 30-ton Adventure seeing a badly beaten up ten-gun, 60-ton sloop. “Whose ship is that, and what’s it doing here?” Being curious, one could only assume he would go over to the Revenge to investigate.
Bonnet must have been surprised when a tall, thin visitor with a long black beard boarded his ship. The beard was the real surprise because beards were simply not worn by pirates for hygiene reasons, and this beard was exceptionally long and exceptionally black.
It did not take Thache long to persuade Bonnet that it would be in Bonnet’s best interest to let him be in temporary command of the Revenge. He would lead both ships north, steering them to the shelter of Nassau Harbor on New Providence Island so the Revenge could be repaired.
Bonnet would not need to concern himself with the repairs. Thache would supervise them and he would make sure that both ships would sail in two weeks. Bonnet would also receive a gentleman’s share of the plunder.
Within a week or two, repairs were completed, crew added, supplies taken aboard, and the two ship fleet, Bonnet’s Revenge and Thache’s Adventure, sailed together, looking for ships to plunder.
By late September, they were sailing eastward along the north coast of Cuba. Early the next month, they passed through the Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola and worked slowly east, taking small ships and gathering additional crew as they sailed. From there, they sailed southeast, following the merchant routes through Guadeloupe and Dominica towards Martinique in the eastern Caribbean.
On November 28th, Thache’s fleet, now four ships, was sailing off the coast of Martinque when they came upon a French slave ship, La Concorde de Nantes. It had sailed from Whydah on the West African coast with about 455 enslaved Africans and was about to complete the Atlantic crossing, known as the middle passage of the slave triangle. The Revenge, under the command of Thache, attacked the French vessel. The smaller Advantage stayed at a distance. Seeing no alternative, La Concorde’s captain, Pierre Dossert, surrendered without serious resistance.
Thache transferred most of the enslaved Africans and crew to other vessels and took La Concorde as his new flagship. Bonnet — now sufficiently recovered from his injuries — resumed command of his ship Revenge.
La Concorde was refitted at Bequia or nearby St.Vincent, mounting 40 guns. Thache renamed the ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. At the same time, it was likely that Thache increased the number of guns on the Adventure from six to eight and began increasing its crew from 30 towards 70.
After the refitting, Thache’s fleet cruised north through the Caribbean, taking prizes around St. Vincent, St. Kitts, and Puerto Rico.
In February 1718, they were sailing through the Bahama Channel, between Cuba and the Bahama Islands, their pathway towards the Florida Straits. This narrow channel gave Thache an opportunity to pick up news from other mariners as to what prizes might lie ahead. Another bit of news concerned King George’s proclamation offering pirates a pardon if they ceased being pirates.
By March, Thache and his fleet were cruising westward towards the Bay of Honduras. He had heard that the 40-gun His Majesty's Ship Adventure, the most powerful Royal Navy warship in the Western Hemisphere, was now in the area, and Thache had hoped to take it on.
On March 28th, the Revenge came upon the 400-ton, 26-gun Protestant Caesar west of Jamaica near the island of Rattan [Roatán]. The Boston News-Letter reported that at about nine o'clock that evening, the Revenge came under the Protestant Caesar’s stern and fired a cannon and a small shot. The Protestant Caesar returned fire from its two stern chasers and its crew fired their small arms as well. The Revenge then hailed the larger ship in English saying that if it fired again, the Revenge would offer no quarter. The Protestant Caesar ignored the warnings and continued to fire on the Revenge. Eventually, the two ships disengaged and the Revenge sailed away.
Two weeks later, April 11th, the Queen Anne’s Revenge and its accompanying fleet, including the Revenge, approached the Protestant Caesar as it was loading logwood in the Bay of Honduras. Its captain, William Wyer, upon seeing that the Queen Anne’s Revenge had 40 guns and 300 men, surrendered and vacated his ship. The next day, Thache ordered the Protestant Caesar burned. His reason, as he told Captain Wyer, was revenge for the six of Sam Bellamy’s men from the Whydah Gally, who were hanged in Boston.
Thache and his fleet picked up the Gulf currents to sail north. By late April or early May, they were through the Yucatán Channel heading towards the Florida Straits.
Around May 20th, Josiah Burgess was sailing down the Florida Strait on his way from Charles Town to Nassau. He was stopped by Thache, who was sailing north. Thache wanted to know whether Burgess was familiar with Charles Town harbor. Burgess acknowledged that he had just come from Charles Town. Thache offered to buy Burgess’s cargo if he would show him into Charles Town harbor. Thache and his fleet of four ships, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, Bonnet’s Revenge, his original sloop the Adventure and another small sloop, followed Captain Burgess and his sloop, Providence, into the Charles Town harbor. Thache sent Burgess ashore to be “his eyes and ears.”
Between May 24th and June 3rd, Thache’s fleet blockaded the harbor. They seized eight or nine merchant ships trying to enter or leave and took their crews and passengers hostage. Several were prominent Charles Town citizens. His sole demand was a chest of medicines for his crew, who were suffering from venereal diseases. One wonders whether the medicine was for himself, as well. Thache threatened to execute his captives if the medicines were not delivered. After a week, a local physician's medicine chest was brought to Thache, and he released his prisoners and sailed north.
A week later, June 10th, the Queen Anne’s Revenge was following its fleet as it passed through the Topsail [Beaufort] Inlet into the deep and protected harbor. The extra weight of its 40-guns and the plunder from six-months at sea, made the ship sail low in the water and difficult to steer. It became stuck on a sandbar. Thache sent his quartermaster, William Howard, Hornigold’s former quartermaster, to the Adventure for assistance. Attempting to help, the Adventure ran aground and was abandoned alongside the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
Bonnet then made plans with his quartermaster, Robert Tucker, and his boatswain, Ignatius Pell, for them to sail with him to Bath Town to receive the king’s pardon from Charles Eden, the Governor of North Carolina, and for clearance for their ship to sail to St. Thomas in the Dutch West Indies. While they were absent, Bonnet’s crew was to ready Revenge for the voyage.
Before Bonnet returned, Thache approached Bonnet’s men as they were rigging their ship for the voyage to St. Thomas. He robbed them of their arms and provisions and marooned them on a small island. The Revenge had been left intact.
Thache and his crew of about 20 then took a small sloop, named it Adventure, and sailed to Bath Town to accept the king’s pardon from Governor Eden.
Thache bought a house in Bath Town and married, trying to give the appearance that he had settled down. The fact that he had received the king’s pardon did not prevent him from conducting his illegal business. He set up his crew on a remote location on the sound side of Ocracoke Island, which ultimately became known as Thache’s Hole. When he was not seizing merchant ships off the coast of the Carolinas, he spent most of his time at his camp with occasional trips to Bath Town to deal with the town’s residents, Governor Eden and the Governor’s secretary, Tobias Knight. The Governor and his secretary turned a blind eye on Thache’s activities.
. . . . .
Two and a half days after leaving Topsail Inlet, Bonnet returned for his crew and his ship. He renamed the Revenge the Royal James and only about 45 of his previous crew followed him.
Bonnet sailed to Bath Town to get his ship refitted. By August, he was sailing under the alias Captain Thomas and cruising the Virginia Capes and Delaware Bay, taking several merchant ships.
By September, Bonnet anchored at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina to refit and wait for hurricane season to pass. He remained there for several weeks, repairing the Royal James and guarding his captured sloops. He had told his crew they would sail to St. Thomas once repairs were completed. His crew was now 30 to 40 men.
Bonnet’s presence alarmed local colonists, who reported to South Carolina’s governor, Robert Johnson. Before Bonnet could leave the Cape Fear River, Governor Johnson had dispatched an expedition to destroy him.
On September 27th, Colonel William Rhett, commanding two sloops, the Henry and the Sea Nymph, sailed from Charles Town with about 130 men to hunt Bonnet. On September 29th, Rhett found the Royal James and her prizes still inside the Cape Fear estuary. After a long battle in the shifting shoals, both sides became grounded on sandbanks. When the tide rose, Rhett’s sloops refloated first, gaining the advantage. Bonnet, seeing no escape, struck his colors.
Bonnet and 36 men were brought to Charles Town. He escaped briefly with two crewmen but was recaptured within several days.
On November 12th-13th, a trial was held before the Vice-Admiralty Court under Chief Justice Nicholas Trott. Bonnet was charged with piracy and robbery of English vessels. He was convicted and sentenced to death along with 30 of his men.
. . . . .
Meanwhile, Thache was selective as to those he did business with. The fact that he refused to sell his pirated goods to some of the wealthier gentlemen of North Carolina did not sit well with them. They were losing money because Thache’s cheaper goods were flooding the local market and interfering with their profits. Their complaints struck a cord with the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood, who dispatched an expedition to Ocracoke Inlet, even though it was outside of his jurisdiction.
Spotswood’s Royal Navy mercenaries were led by Robert Maynard, the first Lieutenant on His Majesty's Ship Pearl, and Thomas Tucker, an officer from His Majesty's Ship Lyme. Ellis Brand, captain of the Lyme, maintained the overall command of the operation. The Pearl and the Lyme were the two warships available to the Virginia forces, but they were unable to sail in the shallow waters of Ocracoke Island, where Thache would likely be found. Brand acquired two smaller sloops, the Ranger and the Jane. Maynard sailed the Ranger with 35 men; Tucker sailed the Jane with 25. Neither sloop was equipped with cannon so as not to attract attention.
The Ranger and the Jane set out at three o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, November 17th from Kecoughtan [Hampton], Virginia, a few days after Bonnet had been sentenced to death. They sailed south towards the Outerbanks region of North Carolina.
As Maynard and Tucker were sailing to confront Thache, he and his crew of 20 were busy with their recently captured French prize, the Rose Emelye, that was laden with sugar and cocoa. They were stripping the ship and making trips back and forth from Ocracoke to Bath Town to unload the large cargo in sections.
On the afternoon of the 21st, Maynard and Tucker arrived at the shoals west of Ocracoke Island. In the early evening, they found Thache and the Adventure at Ocracoke Island. It was now getting dark. Maynard ordered that they anchor for the night.
The next morning, November 22nd, the wind was light. Sailing was difficult. Maynard ordered the Jane to make its way to the Adventure and board her. The Ranger would flank the Adventure during the Jane’s assault.
Ranger began to sail but ran aground. Its crew frantically began heaving ballast to lighten it so it could get off the shoal. Before the Jane could get near the Adventure, it too ran aground. Thache ordered the Adventure to cut its cable and make for the Jane, firing a broadside, clearing the Jane’s deck. The Adventure turned to run up the channel. As the Jane moved to board the Adventure, the Adventure fired a broadside at the Ranger.
As the Adventure was moving past the Ranger, Maynard and his crew had an opportunity to board the Adventure. Rather than board, Maynard ordered his men to go below deck and wait for his signal. Thache and his men, believing that its broadsides had killed most of Maynard’s crew, boarded the Ranger. Maynard gave the signal and his men sprung from below and overwhelmed Thache and his men.
A report of the battle stated that Thache was shot five times and cut about 20. He was decapitated and his head was hung from the bowsprint of the Ranger, as it returned to Virginia.
. . . . .
On December 10, 1718, Major Stede Bonnet was hanged at White Point, Charles Town, South Carolina. He was survived by the wife and children he left in Barbados.
. . . . .
When I devised the title of this post, “Choose Your Friends Wisely,” I was not sure how two educated men who abandoned plantation life would intersect. I let their stories unfold as they sailed together.
When Edward Thache finally left Stede Bonnet at Topsail Inlet, it was not an act of cruelty but one of pragmatism. Thache always knew how to cut ties the moment an alliance no longer benefited him. Bonnet had once been useful — a gentleman with money and a larger ship. He was easy prey, severely injured at sea in a battered ship.
Major Stede Bonnet was the owner of his family’s plantation, with an established name in his community and a family that depended on him. But he needed to be someone else.
Thache’s patience with Bonnet ended when Bonnet’s usefulness ended. For Thache, every alliance was about survival and control.
What bound Thache and Bonnet was not friendship but a shared restlessness. Neither wanted what they had been born into — plantation life. Thache sought control, dominance; Bonnet sought identity. Each died as he had lived — Thache fighting for his last breath, Bonnet chasing an identity that would never be his. Together, they remind us that the sea may forgive many things, but self-deception is not one of them.
. . . . .
In closing, it is worth noting just how many often-told tales about Thache and Bonnet are simply the products of a writer’s imagination — Captain Charles Johnson (the pseudonym widely believed to conceal Nathaniel Mist or Daniel Defoe), A General History of the Pyrates (1724). From Thache’s Chesapeake Bay adventures to his meeting with Benjamin Hornigold off the Carolina coast to the burning of the Great Allen, Johnson’s colorful but inaccurate 1724 tale has distorted 300 years of history. In reality, the events he described never happened. A careful timeline created from reliable documents helps separate truth from fiction.
Martin A. Frey
October 14, 2025