2. Getting Rolled by Blackbeard
As might be expected from a rich dilettante who took to piracy on a whim, Stede Bonnet was not a very good pirate. He soon revealed himself an incompetent sailor and worse leader, who managed to seize only a few small and trifling prizes off the coasts of the Carolinas and Virginia. It was only because he paid his crew regular and generous wages – the only pirate captain to do so – that the men refrained from deposing Bonnet and electing another captain in his stead.
He came across 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 either a guest or de facto prisoner – sources differ. His own ship, Revenge, was taken over by one of Blackbeard’s lieutenants, whom the crew accepted as their new captain.
