“The time has come to make our move, gentlemen,” he said to begin the clandestine meeting in which all the hatches were closed tight. “Instead of a blessing, our large size has turned into an impediment, and it is time that we make a change and look to our futures. To accomplish our goals, the first step is to break up the companies. That is the first order of business. There is simply no way around it if we are to survive in the new order of Woodes Rogers and the other colonial governors hostile to our interests.”
Here he paused to ensure the men took a moment to reflect and understood the gravity of the situation. The crew was watching him closely and he couldn’t help but feel traitorous. But he reminded himself that he was only being deceitful towards a portion of his crew, and that he was only doing so after he had secured the medical supplies that would be a godsend to every crew member afflicted with the pox. All the same, he couldn’t help but feel guilty.
“The plan is to rid ourselves of our flagship and three-quarters of the total crew without harming a soul—and, in the process, achieve a liberation of sorts for everyone in this room, as well as for other conspirators we believe will come over to our side but aren’t privy to the details. The first step is to deal with the Queen Anne’s Revenge. She be too conspicuous a target and her draught too deep for hiding amongst the shallow tidal channels of Pamlico Sound or Chesapeake Bay. So we must abandon her and make it look like a navigational accident.
“Now I know we all feel guilty, as we should, but there is an important reason we are doing this. The era of piracy is over. That’s it, mates, it is done and over. The Crown’s hands-off policy of benign neglect is no more and the Admiralty is coming after us hard now. You’ve all seen how the newspapers have turned against us—they no longer portray us as roguish heroes, but as murderous cutthroats and the enemies of human decency. We’ve had a good run, lads, surely we have, but we are finished and none of us wants to go out doing a death dance at the end of a rope like poor old Captain Kidd. We have all enjoyed successful stints at sea and it is now time to pursue a quiet life, or at least lay low until the worst has passed. As for me, I am planning on applying to Governor Eden for the royal pardon, and I hope that many of you will do the same. But no man in this room shall tell another what to do and each man must act of his own accord.”
“Just how are ye planning on getting rid of a four-hundred-ton ship and two hundred fifty seamen?” asked Israel Hands. “You can’t just make them disappear.”
“We’re going to run the Queen Anne’s Revenge and Adventure aground at Old Topsail Inlet outside Fish Town—as I said, making it look like an accident. Then we’re going to transfer the plunder to the Spanish sloop for ourselves, and send Major Bonnet off in the Revenge to seek pardons from Governor Eden in Bath Town.”
“How are we going to make it look like an accident?” asked Garret Gibbons. “We may be able to fool most of the men, but I doubt we can fool everybody.”
“The ships will cross the fifteen-foot-deep outer sandbar one by one—the Queen Anne, Adventure, Revenge, and Spanish sloop—and then proceed up the curving channel to the anchorage at Fish Town. The flagship will have no problem navigating over the outer bar, but as she approaches the entrance to the tidal channel under full sail, I’m going to order you, Mr. Gibbons, as helmsman to maintain a course that will take her straight onto the shoals. The big ship will shudder to a halt, rip open like the belly of a pig, and the bow anchor lines will snap and the anchor will plunge into the water. I’ll send Mr. Howard up the channel in a boat to tell Mr. Hands to come down with the Adventure, supposedly to help get the Queen Anne off the shoal before the tide goes out. Mr. Hands will sail the Adventure straight into the shoal not far from the flagship. This will tear enormous holes in her hull. By the time the Revenge and the Spanish sloop reach the scene, the Queen Anne will be listing and her holds will be filled with water. We’ll then pretend to make a valiant effort to drag the flagship off the shoal with the anchor winch, but the effort will be for naught for the ship will be doomed and all eyes will see it. We will then transfer all salvageable men and cargo to the Revenge and the Spanish sloop and head for Fish Town to regroup.”
“What of ye townspeople?” asked Caesar. “What if one of the fisherman or someone else sees us and realizes what we’re doing?”
Thache nodded to indicate it was a good question. “We have nothing to fear from the handful of families living there. Most of them have no problem with sea rovers such as we. And even if they understood what we were up to, they have no practical way to send overland for help.”
“What about Bonnet?” asked Edward Salter the cooper. “How does he fit into the scheme?”
“When we regroup in Fish Town, I’m going to give him back the Revenge and tell him that he must sail to Bath Town. Once there, he will secure pardons for himself and his men from Governor Eden.”
“What of ye men that will be left ashore?” asked Salter. “What will become of them?”
“Nothing,” said Blackbeard. “They will be free to seek pardons from the governor and do as they like. But they will no longer be part of our company. I would venture that most of the men would disperse across the mainland. Some will quit a-pirating for good, others will jump back in the game. But they will be hunted down because our time is over, men. I’m sorry, but it just is.”
More questions followed. Some were requests for more detail, others reflected guilt and were efforts to rationalize their involvement. Several of the men wanted to ensure that none of their double-crossed shipmates would be physically harmed or killed during the grounding and subsequent seizure of the communal treasure. Like Thache, many felt guilty for what they were about to do, but most understood that double-crossing more than two hundred fifty of their cohorts was an ugly necessity if they wanted to begin a new life in modest comfort.
“Once the ships have been wrecked, we’ll flee the scene with the company’s communal chest of plunder,” said William Howard, who had long been in on the plot and assisted Thache in putting it together. “And that includes the slaves from La Concorde and the fourteen Angolans we recently seized from the Princess of Bristol.”
“Aye, Mr. Howard is correct. The valuable treasure packed away in our hold belongs to every man here in accordance with his fair share under the articles. This is your payday, gentlemen. What I am offering you is a division of our fortunes by forty—instead of three hundred and thirty. Some might call it treachery, others downright cruel. But I have another word for it: I call it being practical. I call it getting a fair share in a world that has suddenly become all too complicated. The sand is shifting beneath our feet and the world we have come to know these past two years is gone. So I say we take what is rightfully ours one last time as gentlemen of fortune and then let the chips fall where they may.”
“I still think they’re going to know we double-crossed them,” said Caesar. “They’re going to realize it, and we’re going to have to live with it and look over our shoulders for the rest of our lives.”
“Aye,” said Thache solemnly. “But the way I look at it is that’s a chance we’re going to have to take.” He turned to his quartermaster. “Let’s put it to a vote, Mr. Howard. I want this to be unanimous because once we move forward, there can be no discord amongst us. And there can be no turning back.”
Howard nodded. “Aye, we need to vote. All those in favor say aye.”
To Thache’s surprise, the vote was unanimous in favor of the plan.
CHAPTER 40
OLD TOPSAIL INLET
FISH TOWN, NORTH CAROLINA
JUNE 2, 1718
AS THE PIRATE FLOTILLA ENTERED OLD TOPSAIL INLET, the Queen Anne’s Revenge was in the first position, carrying more sail than Thache knew was prudent. But of course that was the whole point. The grounding and its immediate aftermath had to look real before the eyes of the squadron’s four separate crews—and he wanted the sheer force of the impact to be terrifying to eyewitnesses. Making it look like an accident wa
s critical, but he knew it wouldn’t be easy.
Suddenly, a thousand different worries bombarded his mind and he wondered if he should still go through with it. Was he really going to allow his flagship and the Adventure to be driven into a sandbar and destroyed just so he and his inner circle could break up the company and retire in comfort? Or was there still a chance he could call it off and not foist this treachery upon his mostly loyal crew?
Feeling the world hanging in the balance, he looked at Garret Gibbons, who was manning the helm today per the plan. The young bosun was waiting for his go-ahead signal, but Thache had yet to issue it. He was deeply torn, especially now that he was actually about to go through with it. Once he gave the nod and Gibbons yanked the wheel hard to starboard, there was no turning back and the plan had to be followed to the letter. And yet…and yet a part of him still didn’t want to commit.
Damnit, Edward—you must make a decision!
The Queen Anne’s Revenge barreled towards the offshore bar, like a comet streaking across the sky. He estimated that she was moving at a clip of just under ten knots. He looked at Gibbons, who was waiting intently for his signal. The young man’s muscles were taut, his concentration nursed to the highest level. Thache then looked shoreward, peering through his spyglass. Three miles away to the northwest, he could see the quiet village of Fish Town, and off his bow he saw barrier islands covered with sand dunes and sea grass. Most prominent among them was a distinctive sand hill a league distant from the village known as Bogue Banks. A handful of whalers and fishing vessels were anchored in the harbor and Thache could see people gathered on the beach and along the edge of the shanty town, watching him and his men maneuvering towards the narrow channel.
Old Topsail Inlet snaked its way northward through the sandbars, passing between the two sand-blown spits of land that separated the inland waterway of the back sound from the Atlantic. From his experience in these coastal waters sailing out of Philadelphia, he knew the main channel was between three fathoms and seven fathoms deep and about three hundred yards wide. A half-mile beyond the point the channel opened out into the back sound, allowing ships to enter the equally narrow coastal channel running east and west from Fish Town or anchor off the town proper.
Damnit man, I cannot wait any longer!
He looked at his helmsman. “Hard to starboard, Mr. Gibbons, and right into those shoals!” he said in a brisk whisper, commanding the helmsman to a course that took her straight onto the outer bar.
“Aye, Captain,” and he spun the wheel of the pirate flagship crazily to the north as the consort of pirate ships in her wake prepared to follow the Queen Anne’s Revenge through the narrow passage into the safety of the anchorage.
Suddenly, Thache felt the sails go slack as the flagship heeled violently, running hard aground on the submerged sand bar. The vessel shuddered to a stop, the force of the collision so violent that seamen were thrown off their feet and the lines snapped on one of the ship’s bow anchors, which splashed into the water. Dozens of planks were severely bent and sprung loose, and the mainmast was instantly shattered. Howard, Gibbons, and Caesar—the only three with him on the quarterdeck—were forced to grab onto the railing so as not to tumble to the deck. As the ship heaved and groaned like a wounded elephant, he couldn’t help but feel as if he had killed his beloved flagship dead.
But there was no time now for guilt. Instead, it was time to flawlessly execute the second phase of the plan. In theory, the wooden-hulled sailing ship, though she had been dealt a mortal blow, could still be saved—if he moved quickly. He had to be a convincing actor.
“Mr. Howard, if you would please take Caesar and a handful of men in one of the longboats to the Adventure and tell Mr. Hands to come get me off this blasted shoal before the tide goes out! Be quick about it man, or I’ll bend a marlinspike around your loaf!”
“Aye, Captain!” and he and Caesar were off.
At that moment, Stede Bonnet—who was not in on the plan—came staggering out of the great cabin with a gash on his head. Thache realized he must have been thrown onto the floor or smashed into a wall from the impact. “What the bloody hell is going on? Are we under attack?” he cried.
“No, we’ve run aground on a damned bar. I’ve just sent Mr. Howard to get help from the Adventure.”
“Good lord, are we going to be able to make it off?”
“With a little luck, we should be able to. But we have to act quickly.”
Soon the Adventure came upon his larboard. He called out to Israel Hands at the helm, talking loudly through his speaking trumpet so that eyewitnesses would hear him. “Throw over lines to haul the beached ship off the sand! That way we’ll drag her off the sandbar!”
“Aye, Captain!”
Thache looked around at the faces to see if the men were buying it. The lubberly Bonnet obviously was. Surveying the others, he didn’t see any suspicious looks and suspected that the ruse was working. At least his actions made sense. He would have the Adventure pretend to drag his flagship off the sandbar with the goal of beaching her somewhere suitable at low tide, which would allow her crew to repair the damage to the hull. Once she was safely floating again, the men could work on any other damage to her masts and rigging. It would be a slow, laborious business, but it could be done. He just had to make sure the crewmen not in on the plan continued to be fooled.
The Adventure pressed towards him, Israel Hands rising to the occasion. Hailing Hands, he asked him to pass a tow rope and haul the pirate flagship off the submerged sandbar. Because the bar lay on the starboard side of the channel, Thache had the Adventure pass close alongside the port side of the larger flagship and secure the vessel with a cable. But the maneuver only managed to pull the Queen Anne’s Revenge further onto the sandbar, damaging her keel and lower hull beyond repair. After readjusting the cable, Hands pretended to make a second attempt to save the vessel, but this time he sailed the Adventure straight into a shoal a pistol shot from the flagship. He, too, had managed to run his ship ashore and make it appear like an accident. The Adventure’s planks sprung apart under the force of the impact, tearing enormous holes in her hull.
Both pirate ships were, for the moment, stranded wrecks. As the water poured into their immobile hulls, they settled in the shallow water. Thache continued to act out his part. Knowing Bonnet was watching him, he gave exaggerated expressions of mortification and ran about the boat giving orders and cursing his misfortune. He could tell the Barbadian was buying the clever deception hook, line, and sinker, and he exchanged conspiratorial glances with Gibbons to that effect. They both couldn’t believe their eyes: the plan was working to perfection.
Now there was yelling and gesturing on board each of the vessels. By the time the Revenge and the Spanish sloop reached the scene, the Queen Anne’s Revenge had begun listing to port, her holds filling with water. To make it seem as though he was doing everything possible to save his flagship, Thache commanded a group of pirates to row one of the vessel’s anchors four hundred yards into the channel, set it, and then attempt to drag the ship off the shoal with their anchor winch, but the effort failed.
As the waves drove the massive flagship further onto her side and the Adventure was battered by the surf, it became clear that nothing could now save the two pirate ships. Thache ordered Howard to move all provisions and treasure onto the Revenge and the Spanish sloop, neither of which had run aground and were still afloat in the middle of Topsail Inlet. The water was pouring into both the Queen Anne’s Revenge and Adventure so fast now that they would soon both have to be abandoned.
Ten minutes later, Thache heard the keel of the mighty pirate-of-war crack and felt a tremor beneath his feet. Almost tumbling to the deck, he was able to recover his balance and quickly chased down his quartermaster amidships.
“Master Howard, you need to double-time it and transfer the remainder of the cargo now, man! We’ve not but a few minutes until she’s lost to the sea!”
“Aye, Captain! We’ll see that s
he be done!”
He returned to Bonnet on the quarterdeck. “Captain Bonnet, if you would please come with me to your quarters, there’s something I would like to discuss with you.”
Bonnet was staring out over the railing at the immobilized Adventure. “My God, we’ve lost them both?” he gasped, unable to believe his eyes.
“I’m afraid so,” said Thache soberly. “Now if you’ll please step inside your cabin so we can talk in private, I’d like to lay out plans for the future.”
“Yes, of course.”
They made their way along the awkwardly tilted deck to the plushly furnished great cabin packed with Bonnet’s books and fine clothing. “I’m giving you back command of the Revenge,” Thache declared without preamble. “You’ll be in charge again as soon as we pack up and make our way to shore.”
Blackbeard- The Birth of America Page 30
