Excerpt from HistoryExtra article, “Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate: how a mid-life crisis created the ‘worst pirate of all time’” available here.
In spring 1717, Bonnet set sail in search of fame, fortune, and adventure. Eager to leave his life behind, he travelled north of Barbados for his fresh start. He was sighted off Jamaica, then made his way to Virginia, where the Revenge enjoyed early success pillaging several English ships for plunder. Bonnet would spend the next few months off the coasts of North Carolina, New York, South Carolina and Florida.
Like other pirates, most of what Bonnet plundered was not treasure, gold, silver or jewels, but was actually more mundane, day-to-day necessities (provisions, clothes, ammunition and rigging) to stay afloat and to trade for money.
Bonnet and his crew rarely engaged in full-fledged sea battles (when they did, it did not go well). Instead, Bonnet – like other pirates – would fire a warning shot across the bow of a ship and fly its Jolly Roger to garner a quick surrender.
Records of his interactions with other ships showed ‘the Gentleman Pirate’ treated most of his captives with respect, with one exception: Bonnet routinely burned all ships based out of Barbados, presumably to either mask his identity or exact revenge on his former homeland.
Despite his initial successes, Bonnet’s inexperience and ignorance soon became obvious.
Off the coast of Florida around August 1717, Bonnet attacked a large Spanish man-of-war, likely sent to patrol and secure the remaining treasure of a sunken Spanish treasure fleet.
Bonnet was among those injured in the initial broadside, and half his crew was killed. The few able-bodied men remaining aboard the Revenge were able to flee, making their way to the pirate haven of Nassau.
For the full Stede Bonnet story, The Life and Tryals of the Gentleman Pirate, Major Stede Bonnet is available on Amazon and through all major booksellers.
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