Blackbeard killed 294 years ago

The infamous pirate Blackbeard was killed November 22nd, 1718.   Edward Teach, who was better known as “Blackbeard” lived briefly in the town of Bath in Beaufort County during the summer of 1718.

Teach is reported to have been a privateer during Queen Anne’s War from 1701 to  1714 and turned to piracy afterward.  In 1717, Blackbeard and his fellow pirates captured the French slaveship La Concorde in the eastern Caribbean. He renamed it  Queen Anne’s Revenge.  In May 1718, the pirates arrived off Charleston, South Carolina and blockaded the port for nearly a week.

Soon after, Blackbeard’s fleet attempted to enter Old Topsail Inlet (now Beaufort Inlet). The vessels grounded on the ocean floor and were abandoned.

Six months later, at Ocracoke Inlet, Blackbeard encountered ships sent by the governor of Virginia, led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard. In a desperate battle, Blackbeard and several of his crew were killed. Maynard returned to Virginia with the surviving pirates and the grim trophy of Blackbeard’s severed head.