The Battle of Cape Fear River, or the Battle of the Sandbars, was fought in September 1718 between a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

naval expedition from the

Province of South Carolina Province of South Carolina, originally known as Clarendon Province, was a province of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the thirteen American colonies. The monar ...

against the

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

ships of

Stede Bonnet Stede Bonnet (1688 – 10 December 1718) was an early 18th-century English/Barbadian pirate, also known as the Gentleman Pirate for the reason that he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born in ...

. British forces defeated the pirates in the

Cape Fear River The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River (North Carol ...

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

which led to Bonnet's eventual death by hanging in Charleston.

Background

During the end of the

Golden Age of Piracy The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the Indian Ocean, North America, and West Africa ...

, the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

was constantly in campaign against pirates in the Caribbean and off North America. Stede Bonnet was a very successful pirate, having captured several merchant ships and assembled his own squadron of pirate ships. In August 1718, Bonnet was sailing from the

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inland ...

to the Cape Fear River. He commanded his sloop-of-war flagship ''Royal James'' and two other armed sloops, ''Francis'' and ''Fortune''. ''Royal James'' was a former flagship of

Blackbeard Edward Teach (alternatively spelled Edward Thatch, – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known abou ...

which was armed with eight cannon. The other two sloops were similarly armed. All together, 46 pirates crewed them. ''Royal James'' was in need of careening and the hurricane season was soon to come so Bonnet chose the Cape Fear estuary as a reliable shelter against storms. For the next few weeks, Bonnet's crew repaired the ''Royal James'' with material salvaged from a captured

shallop Shallop is a name used for several types of boats and small ships (French ''chaloupe'') used for coastal navigation from the seventeenth century. Originally smaller boats based on the chalupa, the watercraft named this ranged from small boats a l ...

. In late August, reports of Bonnet's sloops in the Cape Fear River reached

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

of South Carolina. Johnson ordered

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

William Rhett Colonel William Rhett (4 September 1666 – 12 January 1723) was a British-born plantation owner in the Province of Carolina in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He arrived in America in 1694, accompanied by his wife Sarah. Rhett quickly b ...

to command an operation to destroy the pirate threat. He did not have regular Royal Navy Sailors under his command, but locally raised sailors from Charleston. At the colonel's disposal were two eight-gun sloops with a combined 130 men.

Battle

Colonel Rhett reached the Cape Fear River estuary on the night of September 26, 1718, and was sighted by Bonnet and his men. Believing the sloops to be that of merchants, the pirates boarded three

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

s and headed for the unrecognized South Carolinian expedition. It was at this time that Rhett's flagship, ''Henry'', ran aground on a

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. ...

. This allowed the canoes to approach close enough to discover the identity of the grounded vessel. Once they did they turned about and paddled back to their ships unharmed. Instead of fleeing up the small river in darkness, Bonnet decided that he would fight his way back to the sea, so the next morning at daylight, the pirates prepared to pass the two British sloops, which were now free of the sandbar. They dispersed amongst ''Royal James'', ''Fortune'' and ''Francis'' and loaded their arms. At daylight the following morning, Bonnet raised his flag and attacked. They sailed for a few minutes until they came within range of the enemy ships, then opened fire with cannon and muskets. The British sloops returned fire and split up, but ''Henry'' ran aground again along with the other ship. To avoid enemy fire, Stede Bonnet steered his vessels close to the western shore of the river, and they ran aground on sand. At this point, only ''Henry'' and ''Royal James'' were within range of each other. For five to six hours, the two sides dueled, each unable to move. ''Henry'' was grounded in a position which left her crew with minimal cover from incoming fire. The opposite was true for ''Royal James'', whose hull provided a bulwark against enemy fire. During the fighting, Bonnet stayed on deck with his pistol in hand and warned that he would shoot any man who showed cowardice. The pirates' morale was good though; they cheered each other on and dared the South Carolinians to board. After five hours of fighting the South Carolinians had suffered 30 casualties, with nine pirates also killed or injured. The British sloops were downstream, and when the water began to rise in the early afternoon, Rhett's sloops were freed, while Bonnet's remained stranded. The British repaired their rigging and raised their sails. Soon after, ''Henry'' was in a position to fire its starboard guns directly onto the deck of Bonnet's ''Royal James.'' Bonnet ordered his gunner George Ross to light the powder magazine and scuttle ''Royal James'', but he was persuaded not to by his surviving crewmen who had already surrendered. After another few moments of conflict, ''Royal James'' was boarded and its crew captured.

Aftermath

The South Carolinians suffered twelve killed and eighteen wounded, while the pirates sustained twelve casualties and all the survivors were captured. Bonnet was taken to Charleston, arriving on October 3 to await trial on charges of piracy. Bonnet was separated from the majority of his crew and held for almost a month at the home of a Charleston provost marshal. With him was his

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervise ...

Ignatius Pell Ignatius Pell was a pirate who served as the boatswain to Captain Stede Bonnet aboard the ''Royal James'', a ship previously named ''Revenge''. He was arrested in October 1718 and testified against his crew and captain. Battle of Cape Fear Rive ...

, and the sailing master,

David Herriot David Herriot (died 1718, occasionally Herriott) was a ship’s master and pirate best known for serving under Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet. History Herriot was master of the 80-ton 8-gun Jamaican logwood hauler ''Adventure'' when it was capture ...

, all of whom escaped with the help of two slaves and a Native American and possibly local merchant Richard Tookerman. Governor Robert Johnson immediately ordered a £700 bounty to be awarded to any man who could kill or capture the pirates. Herriott was shot and killed on Sullivan's Island a few days later and Bonnet, the Gentleman Pirate, was soon recaptured after a skirmish on Sullivan's Island and

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

on December 10, 1718.

References

External links

Queen Anne's Revenge: Archaeological Site
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
Piracy worries in pirate pursuit Blackbeard
Baltimore Sun

Elite Magazine
National Register of Historic Places
National Park Service
Scientists Show Relics From Ship Fit For Pirate, Possibly Blackbeard
Chicago Tribune {{Pirates Piracy in the Atlantic Ocean

Cape Fear River 1718 1718 in the Thirteen Colonies Cape Fear River 1718 Military history of the Thirteen Colonies Colonial South Carolina Colonial North Carolina

Background

Battle

Aftermath

References

Further reading

External links