6 Chapter 5 The Blockade of Charleston

Chapter 5 The Blockade of Charleston Blackbeard now controlled one of the largest pirate ships afloat. He gave himself a new title, commodore, because he felt he now deserved a rank above a captain. In the navy, a commodore is a person in command of an entire fleet. With his new ships, Blackbeard sailed west to Central America. Off the coast of what is now Belize, he captured the small British ship

Adventure, and added its twelve guns to his total. Blackbeard sailed along the Central American coast, finding and capturing several other small vessels. At one point, a large British ship called the Protestant Caesar tried to outsail the Queen Anne's Revenge. Blackbeard did not want to give up even one opportunity to seize supplies and treasure, so he chased down the ship. When the frightened crew saw Blackbeard's flag flying above the ship bearing down on them, they abandoned their ship and quickly rowed ashore. Blackbeard's men emptied the Protestant Caesar and then set fire to it. Safely on shore, the ship's crew joined the growing list of witnesses to Blackbeard's crimes.

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PIRATE FLAGS AT SEA, FLAGS WERE THE BEST WAY TO IDENTIFY A SHIP. NAVY SHIPS FLEW THEIR COUNTRY'S FLAG. PIRATE SHIPS WAITED UNTIL THEY NEARED THEIR PREY AND THEN RAISED A BLACK FLAG—THE EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN SIGN FOR PIRATES. PIRATES DECORATED THEIR BLACK FLAGS IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THE MOST POPULAR SYMBOL WAS A SKULL AND CROSSBONES, KNOWN AS THE JOLLY ROGER. BLACKBEARD'S OWN BLACK FLAG FEATURED A SMILING SKELETON HOLDING A SPEAR THAT POINTED AT A BLOODRED HEART.

Creating a fierce reputation had been a big part of Blackbeard's plan. By this time, he rarely engaged in battles at sea. Once sailors realized it was Blackbeard who was attacking, they almost always surrendered in fear. Blackbeard himself was growing as bold as his reputation. With each conquest, he seemed to take bigger and bigger risks.

In May 1718, Blackbeard did something no pirate had tried before: He blockaded an entire port. He sailed his ships into the harbor entrance of Charleston (then called Charles Town), South Carolina. Charles Town was a large and busy port. The colony of South Carolina shipped rice, indigo (a plant used to make blue dye), tobacco, and other crops to England. In just a few days, Blackbeard captured as many as ten ships trying to enter or