15. Stede Bonnet Realized, too Late, that LARPing as a Pirate Was a Mistake
Stede Bonnet seized only a few small and trifling prizes off the coasts of Virginia and the Carolinas. Only the fact that he paid his crew regular and generous wages – the only pirate captain to do so – kept them from deposing him and electing a replacement. He came across the pirate Blackbeard in Florida, who befriended Bonnet and persuaded him to give up command of the Revenge because of his utter incompetence at piracy. Bonnet transferred to Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge, where he remained as a guest. His own ship, Revenge, was taken over by one of Blackbeard’s lieutenants, whom the crew accepted as their new captain.
Soon thereafter, Bonnet accepted a royal pardon and a royal commission to go privateering against Spanish shipping. However, he decided to return to piracy in July, 1718. Hapless as ever, Bonnet thought that adopting the alias “Captain Thomas” and changing the name of his ship to Royal James would mask his identity. It did not. The following month, a British naval expedition found Bonnet anchored in the Cape Fear River estuary and captured him and his crew after a brief fight. Bonnet escaped escape, but was recaptured after a few weeks on the lam, and taken to Charleston. There, he was tried and convicted, sentenced to death by hanging, and was executed on December 10th, 1718.
