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134-779: William Kidd ( c.  1654 – 23 May 1701), also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd , was a Scottish privateer . Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born in Dundee and later settled in New York City . By 1690, Kidd had become a highly successful privateer, commissioned to protect English interests in North America and the West Indies . In 1695, Kidd received

268-588: A royal pardon to pirates in the Indian Ocean, specifically exempted Kidd (and Henry Every ) from receiving a pardon, in Kidd's case due to his association with prominent Whig statesmen. Kidd became aware both that he was wanted and that he could not make use of the Act of Grace upon his arrival in Anguilla , his first port of call since St. Augustine's Bay. Prior to returning to New York City, Kidd knew that he

402-727: A "revolution in naval strategy" and helped fill the need for protection that the Crown was unable to provide. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558–1603), she "encouraged the development of this supplementary navy". Over the course of her rule, the increase of Spanish prosperity through their explorations in the New World and the discovery of gold contributed to the deterioration of Anglo-Spanish relations. Elizabeth's authorisation of sea-raiders (known as Sea Dogs ) such as Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh allowed her to officially distance herself from their raiding activities while enjoying

536-526: A 50-kilogram (110 lb) ingot expected to be silver was found in a wreck off the coast of Île Sainte-Marie in Madagascar by a team led by marine archaeologist Barry Clifford . It was believed to be part of Captain Kidd's treasure. Clifford gave the booty to Hery Rajaonarimampianina , President of Madagascar. But, in July 2015, a UNESCO scientific and technical advisory body reported that testing showed

670-415: A Spanish fleet raided Tortuga. 195 colonists were hung and 39 prisoners and 30 slaves were captured). The company could in turn issue letters of marque to subcontracting privateers who used the island as a base, for a fee. This soon became an important source of profit. Thus the company made an agreement with the merchant Maurice Thompson under which Thompson could use the island as a base in return for 20% of

804-643: A bargaining tool. Kidd landed in Oyster Bay to avoid mutinous crew who had gathered in New York City. To avoid them, Kidd sailed 120 nautical miles (220 km; 140 mi) around the eastern tip of Long Island, and doubled back 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) along the Sound to Oyster Bay. He felt this was a safer passage than the highly trafficked Narrows between Staten Island and Brooklyn . New York Governor Bellomont , also an investor,

938-623: A brief conflict between France and the United States, fought largely at sea, and to the Royal Navy's procuring Bermuda sloops to combat the French privateers. In Europe, the practice of authorising sea-raiding dated to at least the 13th century but the word 'privateer' was coined sometime in the mid-17th century. Seamen who served on naval vessels were paid wages and given victuals, whereas mariners on merchantmen and privateers received

1072-564: A businessman and cousin of the Earl of Warwick (the namesake of Warwick Parish ), who presented a proposal for colonizing the island noting its strategic location "lying in the heart of the Indies & the mouth of the Spaniards". Elfrith was appointed admiral of the colony's military forces in 1631, remaining the overall military commander for over seven years. During this time, Elfrith served as

1206-615: A carefully spun web of marital and political alliances in an attempt to control unauthorised raiding that would provoke war against them. In Malay political systems, the legitimacy and strength of their Sultan's management of trade determined the extent he exerted control over the sea-raiding of his coastal people. Privateers were implicated in piracy for a number of complex reasons. For colonial authorities, successful privateers were skilled seafarers who brought in much-needed revenue, especially in newly settled colonial outposts. These skills and benefits often caused local authorities to overlook

1340-581: A force of Bermudian privateers who had been issued letters of marque by the Governor of Bermuda . Bermuda was in de facto control of the Turks Islands , with their lucrative salt industry, from the late 17th century to the early 19th. The Bahamas made perpetual attempts to claim the Turks for itself. On several occasions, this involved seizing the vessels of Bermudian salt traders. A virtual state of war

1474-671: A former American privateer, mistaking her for a merchantman until too late; in this instance, however, the privateer prevailed. The United States used mixed squadrons of frigates and privateers in the American Revolutionary War . Following the French Revolution , French privateers became a menace to British and American shipping in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean, resulting in the Quasi-War ,

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1608-861: A guide to other privateers and sea captains arriving in the Caribbean. Elfrith invited the well-known privateer Diego el Mulato to the island. Samuel Axe, one of the military leaders, also accepted letters of marque from the Dutch authorizing privateering. The Spanish did not hear of the Providence Island colony until 1635 when they captured some Englishmen in Portobelo , on the Isthmus of Panama . Francisco de Murga , Governor and Captain-General of Cartagena , dispatched Captain Gregorio de Castellar y Mantilla and engineer Juan de Somovilla Texada to destroy

1742-548: A pirate. Various naval commanders were ordered to "pursue and seize the said Kidd and his accomplices" for the "notorious piracies" they had committed. Kidd kept the French sea passes of the Quedagh Merchant , as well as the vessel itself. British admiralty and vice-admiralty courts (especially in North America) previously had often winked at privateers' excesses amounting to piracy. Kidd might have hoped that

1876-406: A popular subject of pirate-themed works of fiction. The belief that he had left buried treasure contributed significantly to his legend, which inspired numerous treasure hunts in the following centuries. Kidd was born in Dundee , Scotland prior to 15 October 1654. While claims have been made of alternative birthplaces, including Greenock and even Belfast , he said himself he came from Dundee in

2010-548: A privateer's shift into piracy when a war ended. The French Governor of Petit-Goave gave buccaneer Francois Grogniet blank privateering commissions, which Grogniet traded to Edward Davis for a spare ship so the two could continue raiding Spanish cities under a guise of legitimacy. New York Governors Jacob Leisler and Benjamin Fletcher were removed from office in part for their dealings with pirates such as Thomas Tew , to whom Fletcher had granted commissions to sail against

2144-477: A privateer. This letter reserved 10% of the loot for the Crown, and Henry Gilbert's The Book of Pirates suggests that the King fronted some of the money for the voyage himself. Kidd and his acquaintance Colonel Robert Livingston orchestrated the whole plan; they sought additional funding from merchant Sir Richard Blackham . Kidd also had to sell his ship Antigua to raise funds. The new ship, Adventure Galley ,

2278-486: A result, privateering commissions became a matter of national discretion. By the passing of the Piracy Act 1717 , a privateer's allegiance to Britain overrode any allegiance to a sovereign providing the commission. This helped bring privateers under the legal jurisdiction of their home country in the event the privateer turned pirate. Other European countries followed suit. The shift from treason to property also justified

2412-537: A royal commission from the Earl of Bellomont , the governor of New York , Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire , to hunt down pirates and enemy French ships in the Indian Ocean . He received a letter of marque and set sail on a new ship, Adventure Galley , the following year. On his voyage he failed to find many targets, lost much of his crew and faced threats of mutiny. In 1698, Kidd captured his greatest prize,

2546-627: A royal pardon under the 1698 Act of Grace , which Culliford accepted despite its expiration. He was arrested despite the pardon, and taken to the Marshalsea prison on 1 August 1700. He was tried for piracy of the Great Mohammed and his pardon was ruled invalid. He was saved from hanging, because he was needed in Samuel Burgess ' trial. Following the trial, Culliford disappeared from record, and rumour has it that he next served on

2680-409: A share of the takings. Privateering thus offered otherwise working-class enterprises (merchant ships) with the chance at substantial wealth (prize money from captures). The opportunity mobilized local seamen as auxiliaries in an era when state capacity limited the ability of a nation to fund a professional navy via taxation. Privateers were a large part of the total military force at sea during

2814-571: A shoemaker to work as a privateer. Such was the success of Enríquez, that he became one of the wealthiest men in the New World. His fleet was composed of approx. 300 different ships during a career that spanned 35 years, becoming a military asset and reportedly outperforming the efficiency of the Armada de Barlovento . Enríquez was knighted and received the title of Don from Philip V , something unheard of due to his ethnic and social background. One of

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2948-401: A specified period of time. Typically, the owners or captain would be required to post a performance bond . The commission also dictated the expected nationality of potential prize ships under the terms of the war. At sea, the privateer captain was obliged to produce the commission to a potential prize ship's captain as evidence of the legitimacy of their prize claim. If the nationality of a prize

3082-476: A style of patriotic-religious authority that Europeans, and later Americans, found difficult to understand and accept. It did not help that many European privateers happily accepted commissions from the deys of Algiers , Tangiers and Tunis . The sultans of the Sulu archipelago (now present-day Philippines ) held only a tenuous authority over the local Iranun communities of slave-raiders. The sultans created

3216-522: A testimony given by Kidd to the High Court of Admiralty in 1695. There have also been records of his baptism taking place in Dundee. A local society supported the family financially after the death of the father. The myth that his "father was thought to have been a Church of Scotland minister" has been discounted, insofar as there is no mention of the name in comprehensive Church of Scotland records for

3350-505: A way to assert naval power before a strong Royal Navy emerged. Sir Andrew Barton , Lord High Admiral of Scotland , followed the example of his father, who had been issued with letters of marque by James III of Scotland to prey upon English and Portuguese shipping in 1485; the letters in due course were reissued to the son. Barton was killed following an encounter with the English in 1511. Sir Francis Drake , who had close contact with

3484-663: A young man, Newport sailed with Sir Francis Drake in the attack on the Spanish fleet at Cadiz and participated in England's defeat of the Spanish Armada. During the war with Spain, Newport seized fortunes of Spanish and Portuguese treasure in fierce sea battles in the West Indies as a privateer for Queen Elizabeth I. He lost an arm whilst capturing a Spanish ship during an expedition in 1590, but despite this, he continued on privateering, successfully blockading Western Cuba

3618-454: Is occasionally cited as a bisexual or homosexual pirate. But lack of evidence leaves the exact nature of their relationship unclear. At St. Mary's a number of his sailors elected to return to America, paying Giles Shelley to take them on as passengers aboard the Nassau . While at Saint Mary's Island, four British warships under Commodore Thomas Warren arrived. The pirates were offered

3752-616: The Adventure Galley behind, ordering her to be burnt because she had become worm-eaten and leaky. Before burning the ship, he salvaged every last scrap of metal, such as hinges. With the loyal remnant of his crew, he returned to the Caribbean aboard the Adventure Prize , stopping first at St. Augustine's Bay for repairs. Some of his crew later returned to North America on their own as passengers aboard Giles Shelley 's ship Nassau . The 1698 Act of Grace , which offered

3886-832: The Caribbean . He is also famous for his short-lived 1598 capture of Fort San Felipe del Morro , the citadel protecting San Juan, Puerto Rico . He arrived in Puerto Rico on June 15, 1598, but by November of that year, Clifford and his men had fled the island due to fierce civilian resistance. He gained sufficient prestige from his naval exploits to be named the official Champion of Queen Elizabeth I. Clifford became extremely wealthy through his buccaneering but lost most of his money gambling on horse races. Captain Christopher Newport led more attacks on Spanish shipping and settlements than any other English privateer. As

4020-634: The Earl of Warwick , for whom Bermuda's Warwick Parish is named (the Warwick name had long been associated with commerce raiding, as exampled by the Newport Ship , thought to have been taken from the Spanish by Warwick the Kingmaker in the 15th century). Many Bermudians were employed as crew aboard privateers throughout the century, although the colony was primarily devoted to farming cash crops until turning from its failed agricultural economy to

4154-790: The East India Company ketch Josiah . In Madras they commandeered the ship, returned to piracy, and sailed for the Bay of Bengal . Near the Nicobar Islands , the crew retook the ship and marooned Culliford. He was rescued by Ralph Stout , captain of the Mocha . When Stout was killed in 1697, Culliford became captain, briefly sailing alongside the Charming Mary (formerly captained by Richard Glover , then Richard Bobbington , and later John Ireland ). Cullingford then pursued

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4288-533: The English Civil War . Spanish and French attacks destroyed New Providence in 1703, creating a stronghold for pirates , and it became a thorn in the side of British merchant trade through the area. In 1718, Britain appointed Woodes Rogers as Governor of the Bahamas , and sent him at the head of a force to reclaim the settlement. Before his arrival, however, the pirates had been forced to surrender by

4422-586: The Grand Master of the Order, and were authorized to attack Muslim ships, usually merchant ships from the Ottoman Empire . The corsairs included knights of the Order, native Maltese people, as well as foreigners. When they captured a ship, the goods were sold and the crew and passengers were ransomed or enslaved, and the Order took a percentage of the value of the booty. Corsairing remained common until

4556-667: The Great Mohammed in the Red Sea in September 1698. The Great Mohammed carried £130,000 in cash. While returning to Saint Mary's Island they plundered another ship in February 1699. In June 1699 Culliford was living at Edward Welch settlement on Ile Ste. Marie near Madagascar with fellow Captain John Swann ; while there, Swann was referred to as “a great consort of Culliford’s, who lives with him.” Because of this, Culliford

4690-637: The Horne Frigate , Culliford's first pirate command. However, the pirates lost most of their booty when the two ketches they sent to bring their wealth to New York fell into the hands of French privateers. The disappointed Culliford returned to New York with Mason, where they returned aboard a single ship, the Jacob , another captured French vessel, and set sail in December 1690. Culliford served as captain's quartermaster , one of two quartermasters aboard

4824-523: The Industrial Revolution proceeded, privateering became increasingly incompatible with modern states' monopoly on violence . Modern warships could easily outrace merchantmen , and tight controls on naval armaments led to fewer private-purchase naval weapons . Privateering continued until the 1856 Declaration of Paris , in which all major European powers stated that "Privateering is and remains abolished". The United States did not sign

4958-430: The Jacob . Culliford and his fellow pirates eventually made their way to India, landing at Mangrol in 1692, where they robbed and abused the local population. The Gujaratis eventually captured Culliford and seventeen of his comrades, and Culliford spent the next four years in a Gujarati prison. In the spring of 1696, Culliford and some of his comrades escaped and made their way to Bombay , where they signed aboard

5092-543: The Rose , attacked a Spanish and a French privateer holding a captive English vessel. Defeating the two enemy vessels, the Rose then cleared out the thirty-man garrison left by the Spanish and French. Despite strong sentiments in support of the rebels, especially in the early stages, Bermudian privateers turned as aggressively on American shipping during the American War of Independence . The importance of privateering to

5226-527: The Vietnamese island of Phú Quốc . Knight and Graham were caught, convicted of illegally landing on Vietnamese territory, and each assessed a $ 10,000 fine . They were imprisoned for 11 months until they paid the fine. For years, people and treasure hunters tried to locate the Quedagh Merchant . It was reported on 13 December 2007 that "wreckage of a pirate ship abandoned by Captain Kidd in

5360-648: The War of the Grand Alliance broke out, Kidd, Culliford, and their British comrades mutinied against a French prize crew, taking the ship from French Captain Jean Fantin and renaming it the Blessed William , with Kidd put in command. In February 1690, Culliford led his own mutiny and deprived Kidd of his command. The pirates elected William Mason as captain. Culliford sailed with the pirates through

5494-554: The 1,593 vessels captured by British naval and privateering vessels between the Great Lakes and the West Indies. Among the better known (native-born and immigrant) Bermudian privateers were Hezekiah Frith , Bridger Goodrich, Henry Jennings , Thomas Hewetson, and Thomas Tew . Bermudians were also involved in privateering from the short-lived English colony on Isla de Providencia , off the coast of Nicaragua. This colony

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5628-425: The 15th century, the country "lacked an institutional structure and coordinated finance". When piracy became an increasing problem, merchant communities such as Bristol began to resort to self-help, arming and equipping ships at their own expense to protect commerce. The licensing of these privately owned merchant ships by the Crown enabled them to legitimately capture vessels that were deemed pirates. This constituted

5762-476: The 1690s, Kidd visited Block Island where he was supplied with provisions by Mrs. Mercy (Sands) Raymond, daughter of the mariner James Sands. It was said that before he departed, Kidd asked Mrs. Raymond to hold out her apron, which he then filled with gold and jewels as payment for her hospitality. After her husband Joshua Raymond died, Mercy moved with her family to northern New London, Connecticut (later Montville), where she purchased much land. The Raymond family

5896-660: The 17th and 18th centuries. In the first Anglo-Dutch War , English privateers attacked the trade on which the United Provinces entirely depended, capturing over 1,000 Dutch merchant ships. During the subsequent war with Spain , Spanish and Flemish privateers in the service of the Spanish Crown, including the Dunkirkers , captured 1,500 English merchant ships, helping to restore Dutch international trade. British trade, whether coastal, Atlantic, or Mediterranean,

6030-708: The 17th century has been found by divers in shallow waters off the Dominican Republic ". The waters in which the ship was found were less than ten feet deep and were only 70 feet (21 m) off Catalina Island , just to the south of La Romana on the Dominican coast. The ship is believed to be "the remains of the Quedagh Merchant ". Charles Beeker, the director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs in Indiana University (Bloomington) 's School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation,

6164-557: The 18th century, preying on the shipping of Spain, France, and other nations during a series of wars, including the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War ( King William's War ); the 1702 to 1713 Queen Anne's War ; the 1739 to 1748 War of Jenkins' Ear ; the 1740 to 1748 War of the Austrian Succession ( King George's War ); the 1754 to 1763 Seven Years' War (known in the United States as the French and Indian War ), this conflict

6298-461: The 400-ton Quedagh Merchant , a ship hired by Armenian merchants and captained by an Englishman. The political climate in England had turned against him, however, and he was denounced as a pirate. Bellomont engineered Kidd's arrest upon his return to Boston and sent him to stand trial in London. He was found guilty and hanged in 1701. Kidd was romanticized after his death and his exploits became

6432-619: The Adventure Galley sailed down the Thames , Kidd unaccountably failed to salute a Navy yacht at Greenwich, as custom dictated. The Navy yacht then fired a shot to make him show respect, and Kidd's crew responded with an astounding display of impudence – by turning and slapping their backsides in [disdain]. Because of Kidd's refusal to salute, the Navy vessel's captain retaliated by pressing much of Kidd's crew into naval service , despite

6566-436: The Americans as enabling the rebellious colonies to win their independence. Also, the Americans were dependent on Turks salt, and one hundred barrels of gunpowder were stolen from a Bermudian magazine and supplied to the rebels as orchestrated by Colonel Henry Tucker and Benjamin Franklin , and as requested by George Washington , in exchange for which the Continental Congress authorised the sale of supplies to Bermuda, which

6700-431: The Bermudian economy had been increased not only by the loss of most of Bermuda's continental trade but also by the Palliser Act , which forbade Bermudian vessels from fishing the Grand Banks . Bermudian trade with the rebellious American colonies actually carried on throughout the war. Some historians credit the large number of Bermuda sloops (reckoned at over a thousand) built-in Bermuda as privateers and sold illegally to

6834-806: The British ship Dorill , but the Dorill opened fire and severed the Mocha 's mainmast. Culliford retreated to St. Mary's Island ( Île Sainte-Marie ) off eastern Madagascar , plundering ships along the way. At Saint Mary's, Culliford plundered a French ship with £2,000 worth of cargo. Meanwhile, William Kidd, hunting pirates, found Culliford at St. Mary's Island. While plotting to capture Culliford's ship most of Kidd's crew (who had grown angry with their captain) abandoned Kidd and signed on with Culliford. Culliford and his new crew then set off in late June 1698, leaving Kidd and his ransacked ship to fend for themselves on St. Mary's Island. Shortly after departing Saint Mary's Island, Culliford met up with Dirk Chivers . They joined forces with Joseph Wheeler and captured

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6968-404: The Caribbean, sacking ships and attacking a town. They went to New York to sell their booty. Mason was granted a letter of marque by Jacob Leisler , then acting governor of New York, and Culliford accompanied the pirates as they ransacked and laid waste two French Canadian towns. The pirates also captured a French frigate named L'Esperance . Mason granted this ship to Culliford, who renamed it

7102-415: The Declaration over stronger language that protects all private property from capture at sea, but has not issued letters of marque in any subsequent conflicts. In the 19th century, many nations passed laws forbidding their nationals from accepting commissions as privateers for other nations. The last major power to flirt with privateering was Prussia in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War , when Prussia announced

7236-434: The French, but who ignored his commission to raid Mughal shipping in the Red Sea instead. Some privateers faced prosecution for piracy. William Kidd accepted a commission from King William III of England to hunt pirates but was later hanged for piracy. He had been unable to produce the papers of the prizes he had captured to prove his innocence. Privateering commissions were easy to obtain during wartime but when

7370-468: The Isle of Wight by one, Captain James Reskinner [ James Reiskimmer ], a ship very richly laden with silver, gold, diamonds, pearls, jewels, and many other precious commodities taken by him in virtue of a commission of the said Earl [of Warwick] from the subjects of his Catholic Majesty ... to the infinite wrong and dishonour of his Catholic Majesty, to find himself thus injured and violated, and his subjects thus spoiled, robbed, impoverished and murdered in

7504-445: The Pyrates , published more than 25 years after the event by an author whose identity is disputed by historians, Kidd made peaceful overtures to Culliford: he "drank their Captain's health", swearing that "he was in every respect their Brother", and gave Culliford "a Present of an Anchor and some Guns". This account appears to be based on the testimony of Kidd's crewmen Joseph Palmer and Robert Bradinham at his trial. The other version

7638-402: The Revolution they used their knowledge of Bermudians and of Bermuda, as well as their vessels, for the rebels' cause. In the 1777 Battle of Wreck Hill, brothers Charles and Francis Morgan, members of a large Bermudian enclave that had dominated Charleston, South Carolina and its environs since settlement, captaining two sloops (the Fair American and the Experiment , respectively), carried out

7772-437: The Seas, or, the Famous Pirate's Lament" lists "Two hundred bars of gold, and rix dollars manifold, we seized uncontrolled". It also inspired numerous treasure hunts conducted on Oak Island in Nova Scotia; in Suffolk County , Long Island in New York where Gardiner's Island is located; Charles Island in Milford, Connecticut ; the Thimble Islands in Connecticut and Cockenoe Island in Westport, Connecticut . Kidd

7906-429: The alternate name of the Islands of Bermuda commemorating Admiral Sir George Somers ) in 1625, discovered two islands off the coast of Nicaragua, 80 kilometres (50 mi) apart from each other. Camock stayed with 30 of his men to explore one of the islands, San Andrés, while Elfrith took the Warwicke back to Bermuda bringing news of Providence Island. Bermuda Governor Bell wrote on behalf of Elfrith to Sir Nathaniel Rich,

8040-420: The area, and gathering around 2,000 pounds sterling. Later, during the War of the Grand Alliance , on commissions from the provinces of New York and Massachusetts Bay , Kidd captured an enemy privateer off the New England coast. Shortly afterwards, he was awarded £150 for successful privateering in the Caribbean . One year later, Captain Robert Culliford , a notorious pirate, stole Kidd's ship while he

8174-455: The best-allied plunder of British trade, particularly in the West Indies. During the American Revolutionary War , the Continental Congress , and some state governments (on their own initiative), issued privateering licenses, authorizing "legal piracy", to merchant captains in an effort to take prizes from the British Navy and Tory (Loyalist) privateers. This was done due to the relatively small number of commissioned American naval vessels and

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8308-415: The booty. In March 1636 the Company dispatched Captain Robert Hunt on the Blessing to assume the governorship of what was now viewed as a base for privateering. Depredations continued, leading to growing tension between England and Spain, which were still technically at peace. On 11 July 1640, the Spanish Ambassador in London complained again, saying he understands that there is lately brought in at

8442-426: The brig Rover and Joseph Barss of the schooner Liverpool Packet . The latter schooner captured over 50 American vessels during the War of 1812 . The English colony of Bermuda (or the Somers Isles ), settled accidentally in 1609, was used as a base for English privateers from the time it officially became part of the territory of the Virginia Company in 1612, especially by ships belonging to Robert Rich ,

8576-419: The captain's strong protests and the general exclusion of privateer crew from such action. Short-handed, Kidd sailed for New York City, capturing a French vessel en route (which was legal under the terms of his commission). To make up for the lack of officers, Kidd picked up replacement crew in New York, the vast majority of whom were known and hardened criminals, some likely former pirates. Among Kidd's officers

8710-427: The charges of piracy on high seas and the murder of William Moore. Whilst awaiting trial, Kidd was confined in the infamous Newgate Prison , regarded even by the standards of the day as a disgusting hellhole, and was held there for almost 2 years before his trial even began. Kidd had two lawyers to assist in his defense. However, the money that the Admiralty had set aside for his defense was misplaced until right before

8844-445: The church. The Spanish took sixty guns, and captured the 350 settlers who remained on the island – others had escaped to the Mosquito Coast. They took the prisoners to Cartagena. The women and children were given a passage back to England. The Spanish found gold, indigo, cochineal and six hundred black slaves on the island, worth a total of 500,000 ducats, some of the accumulated booty from the raids on Spanish ships. Rather than destroy

8978-424: The colony. The Spanish were repelled and forced to retreat "in haste and disorder". After the attack, King Charles I of England issued letters of marque to the Providence Island Company on 21 December 1635 authorizing raids on the Spanish in retaliation for a raid that had destroyed the English colony on Tortuga earlier in 1635 ( Tortuga had come under the protection of the Providence Island Company. In 1635

9112-428: The commanding officer of the vessel was in possession of a valid Letter of Marque (fr. Lettre de Marque or Lettre de Course ), and the officers and crew conducted themselves according to contemporary admiralty law . By acting on behalf of the French Crown, if captured by the enemy, they could claim treatment as prisoners of war , instead of being considered pirates. Because corsairs gained a swashbuckling reputation,

9246-458: The creation of a 'volunteer navy' of ships privately-owned and -manned, but eligible for prize money. (Prussia argued that the Declaration did not forbid such a force, because the ships were subject to naval discipline.) In England , and later the United Kingdom , the ubiquity of wars and the island nation's reliance on maritime trade enabled the use of privateers to great effect. England also suffered much from other nations' privateering. During

9380-449: The criminalisation of traditional sea-raiding activities of people Europeans wished to colonise. The legal framework around authorised sea-raiding was considerably murkier outside of Europe. Unfamiliarity with local forms of authority created difficulty determining who was legitimately sovereign on land and at sea, whether to accept their authority, or whether the opposing parties were, in fact, pirates. Mediterranean corsairs operated with

9514-402: The defenses, as instructed, Pimienta left a small garrison of 150 men to hold the island and prevent occupation by the Dutch. Later that year, Captain John Humphrey , who had been chosen to succeed Captain Butler as governor, arrived with a large group of dissatisfied settlers from New England. He found the Spanish occupying the islands, and sailed away. Pimienta's decision to occupy the island

9648-401: The effort to convict him by depriving him of the money and information which might have provided him with some legal defence. In particular, the two sets of French passes he had kept were missing at his trial. These passes (and others dated 1700) resurfaced in the early 20th century, misfiled with other government papers in a London building. These passes confirm Kidd's version of events, and call

9782-545: The end of the 18th century. During King George's War , approximately 36,000 Americans served aboard privateers at one time or another. During the Nine Years War , the French adopted a policy of strongly encouraging privateers, including the famous Jean Bart , to attack English and Dutch shipping. England lost roughly 4,000 merchant ships during the war. In the following War of Spanish Succession , privateer attacks continued, Britain losing 3,250 merchant ships. In

9916-405: The expiration of a commission or the signing of a peace treaty could face accusations of piracy. The risk of piracy and the emergence of the modern state system of centralised military control caused the decline of privateering by the end of the 19th century. The commission was the proof the privateer was not a pirate . It usually limited activity to one particular ship, and specified officers, for

10050-574: The extent of his guilt as a pirate into question. A broadside song, "Captain Kidd's Farewell to the Seas, or, the Famous Pirate's Lament" , was printed shortly after his execution. It popularised the common belief that Kidd had confessed to the charges. The belief that Kidd had left buried treasure contributed greatly to the growth of his legend. The 1701 broadside song "Captain Kid's Farewell to

10184-465: The first attempt, the hangman's rope broke and Kidd survived. Although some in the crowd called for Kidd's release, claiming the breaking of the rope was a sign from God, Kidd was hanged again minutes later, and died. His body was gibbeted over the River Thames at Tilbury Point, as a warning to future would-be pirates, for three years. Kidd remains were either buried in the riverbank near where he

10318-560: The following year. In 1592, Newport captured the Portuguese carrack Madre de Deus (Mother of God), valued at £500,000. Sir Henry Morgan was a successful privateer. Operating out of Jamaica, he carried on a war against Spanish interests in the region, often using cunning tactics. His operation was prone to cruelty against those he captured, including torture to gain information about booty, and in one case using priests as human shields . Despite reproaches for some of his excesses, he

10452-615: The gold gained from these raids. English ships cruised in the Caribbean and off the coast of Spain, trying to intercept treasure fleets from the Spanish Main . During the Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604) England continued to rely on private ships-of-war to attack Iberian shipping because the Queen had insufficient finance to fund this herself. After the war ended many unemployed English privateers turned to piracy. Elizabeth

10586-497: The highest time of peace, league and amity with your Majesty. Nathaniel Butler , formerly Governor of Bermuda, was the last full governor of Providence Island, replacing Robert Hunt in 1638. Butler returned to England in 1640, satisfied that the fortifications were adequate, deputizing the governorship to Captain Andrew Carter. In 1640, don Melchor de Aguilera , Governor and Captain-General of Cartagena, resolved to remove

10720-523: The ingot consisted of 95% lead, and speculated that the wreck in question was a broken part of the Sainte-Marie port constructions. Privateer Privateering allowed sovereigns to raise revenue for war by mobilizing privately owned armed ships and sailors to supplement state power. For participants, privateering provided the potential for a greater income and profit than obtainable as a merchant seafarer or fisher. However, this incentive increased

10854-400: The intolerable infestation of pirates on the island. Taking advantage of having infantry from Castile and Portugal wintering in his port, he dispatched six hundred armed Spaniards from the fleet and the presidio, and two hundred black and mulatto militiamen under the leadership of don Antonio Maldonado y Tejada , his Sergeant Major, in six small frigates and a galleon. The troops were landed on

10988-445: The island of Nevis. Kidd was an experienced leader and sailor by that time, and the Blessed William became part of Codrington's small fleet assembled to defend Nevis from the French, with whom the English were at war. The governor did not pay the sailors for their defensive service, telling them instead to take their pay from the French. Kidd and his men attacked the French island of Marie-Galante , destroying its only town and looting

11122-631: The island, and a fierce fight ensued. The Spanish were forced to withdraw when a gale blew up and threatened their ships. Carter had the Spanish prisoners executed. When the Puritan leaders protested against this brutality, Carter sent four of them home in chains. The Spanish acted decisively to avenge their defeat. General Francisco Díaz Pimienta was given orders by King Philip IV of Spain , and sailed from Cartagena to Providence with seven large ships, four pinnaces , 1,400 soldiers and 600 seamen, arriving on 19 May 1641. At first, Pimienta planned to attack

11256-418: The issuing of privateering contracts. These contracts allowed an income option to the inhabitants of these colonies that were not related to the Spanish conquistadores. The most well-known privateer corsairs of the eighteenth century in the Spanish colonies were Miguel Enríquez of Puerto Rico and José Campuzano-Polanco of Santo Domingo . Miguel Enríquez was a Puerto Rican mulatto who abandoned his work as

11390-559: The most famous privateers from Spain was Amaro Pargo . Corsairs (French: corsaire) were privateers, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with France, on behalf of the French Crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds. Although not French Navy personnel, corsairs were considered legitimate combatants in France (and allied nations), provided

11524-466: The nation was not at war with England, but also certain to anger Dutch-born King William. Kidd refused, calling Moore a lousy dog. Moore retorted, "If I am a lousy dog, you have made me so; you have brought me to ruin and many more." Kidd reportedly dropped an ironbound bucket on Moore, fracturing his skull. Moore died the following day. Seventeenth-century English admiralty law allowed captains great leeway in using violence against their crew, but killing

11658-567: The new Tory ministry hoped to use Kidd as a tool to discredit the Whigs who had backed him, but Kidd refused to name names, naively confident his patrons would reward his loyalty by interceding on his behalf. There is speculation that he could have been spared had he talked. Finding Kidd politically useless, the Tory leaders sent him to stand trial before the High Court of Admiralty in London, for

11792-715: The only attack on Bermuda during the war. The target was a fort that guarded a little used passage through the encompassing reef line. After the soldiers manning the fort were forced to abandon it, they spiked its guns and fled themselves before reinforcements could arrive. When the Americans captured the Bermudian privateer Regulator , they discovered that virtually all of her crew were black slaves. Authorities in Boston offered these men their freedom, but all 70 elected to be treated as prisoners of war . Sent as such to New York on

11926-628: The passes would provide the legal fig leaf that would allow him to keep Quedagh Merchant and her cargo. Renaming the seized merchantman as Adventure Prize , he set sail for Madagascar . On 1 April 1698, Kidd reached Madagascar. After meeting privately with trader Tempest Rogers (who would later be accused of trading and selling Kidd's looted East India goods), he found the first pirate of his voyage, Robert Culliford (the same man who had stolen Kidd's ship at Antigua years before) and his crew aboard Mocha Frigate . Two contradictory accounts exist of how Kidd proceeded. According to A General History of

12060-413: The period. Others still hold the contrary view. As a young man, Kidd settled in New York City , which the English had taken over from the Dutch. There he befriended many prominent colonial citizens, including three governors. Some accounts suggest that he served as a seaman's apprentice on a pirate ship during this time, before beginning his more famous seagoing exploits as a privateer . By 1689, Kidd

12194-411: The pirates whom he expected to encounter off Madagascar . With his ambitious enterprise failing, Kidd became desperate to cover its costs. Yet he failed to attack several ships when given a chance, including a Dutchman and a New York privateer. Both were out of bounds of his commission. The latter would have been considered out of bounds because New York was part of the territories of the Crown, and Kidd

12328-599: The poorly defended east side, and the English rushed there to improvise defenses. With the winds against him, Pimienta changed plans and made for the main New Westminster harbor and launched his attack on 24 May. He held back his large ships to avoid damage, and used the pinnaces to attack the forts. The Spanish troops quickly gained control, and once the forts saw the Spanish flag flying over the governor's house, they began negotiations for surrender. On 25 May 1641, Pimienta formally took possession and celebrated mass in

12462-480: The pressing need for prisoner exchange . Robert Culliford Robert Culliford (c. 1666 – unknown; last name occasionally reported as Collover ) was a pirate from Cornwall who is best remembered for repeatedly checking the designs of Captain William Kidd . Culliford and Kidd first met as shipmates aboard the French privateer Sainte Rose in 1689; there were only six other Britons aboard. After

12596-554: The privateer's persona as heroic patriots. British privateers last appeared en masse in the Napoleonic Wars . England and Scotland practiced privateering both separately and together after they united to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. It was a way to gain for themselves some of the wealth the Spanish and Portuguese were taking from the New World before beginning their own trans-Atlantic settlement, and

12730-449: The risk of privateers turning to piracy when war ended. The commission usually protected privateers from accusations of piracy, but in practice the historical legality and status of privateers could be vague. Depending on the specific sovereign and the time period, commissions might be issued hastily; privateers might take actions beyond what was authorized in the commission, including after its expiry. A privateer who continued raiding after

12864-705: The sea after the 1684 dissolution of the Somers Isles Company (a spin-off of the Virginia Company, which had overseen the colony since 1615). With a total area of 54 square kilometres (21 sq mi) and lacking any natural resources other than the Bermuda cedar , the colonists applied themselves fully to the maritime trades, developing the speedy Bermuda sloop , which was well suited both to commerce and to commerce raiding. Bermudian merchant vessels turned to privateering at every opportunity in

12998-414: The sloop Duxbury , they seized the vessel and sailed it back to Bermuda. One-hundred and thirty prizes were brought to Bermuda in the year between 4th day of April 1782 and the 4th day of April 1783 alone, including three by Royal Naval vessels and the remainder by privateers. The War of 1812 saw an encore of Bermudian privateering, which had died out after the 1790s. The decline of Bermudian privateering

13132-621: The sovereign, was responsible for some damage to Spanish shipping, as well as attacks on Spanish settlements in the Americas in the 16th century. He participated in the successful English defence against the Spanish Armada in 1588, though he was also partly responsible for the failure of the English Armada against Spain in 1589. Sir George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland , was a successful privateer against Spanish shipping in

13266-401: The subsequent conflict, the War of Austrian Succession , the Royal Navy was able to concentrate more on defending British ships. Britain lost 3,238 merchantmen, a smaller fraction of her merchant marine than the enemy losses of 3,434. While French losses were proportionally severe, the smaller but better protected Spanish trade suffered the least and it was Spanish privateers who enjoyed much of

13400-447: The trials start, and he had no legal counsel until the morning that the trial started and had time for just one brief consultation with them before it began. He was shocked to learn at his trial that he was charged with murder. He was found guilty on all charges (murder and five counts of piracy) and sentenced to death. He was hanged in a public execution on 23 May 1701, at Execution Dock , Wapping , in London. He had to be hanged twice. On

13534-589: The vessels and recruit large crews, much larger than a merchantman or a naval vessel would carry, in order to crew the prizes they captured. Privateers generally cruised independently, but it was not unknown for them to form squadrons, or to co-operate with the regular navy. A number of privateers were part of the English fleet that opposed the Spanish Armada in 1588. Privateers generally avoided encounters with warships, as such encounters would be at best unprofitable. Still, such encounters did occur. For instance, in 1815 Chasseur encountered HMS St Lawrence , herself

13668-600: The voyage that contributed to Kidd's reputation as a pirate and marked his image in history and folklore . Four-fifths of the cost for the 1696 venture was paid by noble lords, who were among the most powerful men in England: the Earl of Orford , the Baron of Romney, the Duke of Shrewsbury , and Sir John Somers . Kidd was presented with a letter of marque , signed personally by King William III of England , which authorized him as

13802-838: The war ended and sovereigns recalled the privateers, many refused to give up the lucrative business and turned to piracy. Boston minister Cotton Mather lamented after the execution of pirate John Quelch : Yea, since the privateering stroke so easily degenerates into the piratical and the privateering trade is usually carried on with so un-Christian a temper and proves an inlet unto so much debauchery and iniquity and confusion, I believe I shall have good men concur with me in wishing that privateering may no more be practised except there may appear more hopeful circumstances to encourage it. Privateers who were considered legitimate by their governments include: Entrepreneurs converted many different types of vessels into privateers, including obsolete warships and refitted merchant ships. The investors would arm

13936-511: The word "corsair" is also used generically as a more romantic or flamboyant way of referring to privateers, or even to pirates. The Barbary pirates of North Africa as well as Ottomans were sometimes called "Turkish corsairs". Corsairing ( Italian : corso ) was an important aspect of Malta's economy when the island was ruled by the Order of St. John , although the practice had begun earlier. Corsairs sailed on privately owned ships on behalf of

14070-529: The years prior to American independence, mostly to the American colonies. Many Bermudians occupied prominent positions in American seaports, from where they continued their maritime trades (Bermudian merchants controlled much of the trade through ports like Charleston, South Carolina , and Bermudian shipbuilders influenced the development of American vessels, like the Chesapeake Bay schooner ), and in

14204-468: Was a member of a French–English pirate crew sailing the Caribbean under Captain Jean Fantin . During one of their voyages, Kidd and other crew members mutinied, ousting the captain and sailing to the British colony of Nevis . There they renamed the ship Blessed William , and Kidd became captain either as a result of election by the ship's crew, or by appointment of Christopher Codrington , governor of

14338-585: Was also alleged to have buried treasure on the Rahway River in New Jersey across the Arthur Kill from Staten Island. Captain Kidd did bury a small cache of treasure on Gardiners Island off the eastern coast of Long Island, New York, in a spot known as Cherry Tree Field. Governor Bellomont reportedly had it found and sent to England to be used as evidence against Kidd in his trial. Some time in

14472-437: Was also arrested and imprisoned. They were separated and she never saw him again. The conditions of Kidd's imprisonment were extremely harsh, and were said to have driven him at least temporarily insane. By then, Bellomont had turned against Kidd and other pirates, writing that the inhabitants of Long Island were "a lawless and unruly people" protecting pirates who had "settled among them". The civil government had changed and

14606-475: Was also attacked by Dutch privateers and others in the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch wars. Piet Pieterszoon Hein was a brilliantly successful Dutch privateer who captured a Spanish treasure fleet. Magnus Heinason was another privateer who served the Dutch against the Spanish. While their and others' attacks brought home a great deal of money, they hardly dented the flow of gold and silver from Mexico to Spain. As

14740-423: Was approved in 1643 and he was made a knight of the Order of Santiago . When Spain issued a decree blocking foreign countries from trading, selling or buying merchandise in its Caribbean colonies, the entire region became engulfed in a power struggle among the naval superpowers. The newly independent United States later became involved in this scenario, complicating the conflict. As a consequence, Spain increased

14874-504: Was ashore at Antigua in the West Indies . In New York City , Kidd was active in financially supporting the construction of Trinity Church, New York . On 16 May 1691, Kidd married Sarah Bradley Cox Oort, who was still in her early twenties. She had already been twice widowed and was one of the wealthiest women in New York, based on an inheritance from her first husband. On 11 December 1695, Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont , who

15008-505: Was authorised in part by the New York governor. Some of the crew deserted Kidd the next time that Adventure Galley anchored offshore. Those who decided to stay on made constant open threats of mutiny . Kidd killed one of his own crewmen on 30 October 1697. Kidd's gunner William Moore was on deck sharpening a chisel when a Dutch ship appeared. Moore urged Kidd to attack the Dutchman, an act that would have been considered piratical, since

15142-484: Was away in Boston, Massachusetts. Aware of the accusations against Kidd, Bellomont was afraid of being implicated in piracy himself and believed that presenting Kidd to England in chains was his best chance to survive. He lured Kidd into Boston with false promises of clemency, and ordered him arrested on 6 July 1699. Kidd was placed in Stone Prison , spending most of the time in solitary confinement . His wife, Sarah,

15276-475: Was declared a pirate very early in his voyage by a Royal Navy officer, to whom he had promised "thirty men or so". Kidd sailed away during the night to preserve his crew, rather than subject them to Royal Navy impressment . The letter of marque was intended to protect a privateer 's crew from such impressment. On 30 January 1698, Kidd raised French colours and took his greatest prize, the 400-ton Quedagh Merchant , an Indian ship hired by Armenian merchants. It

15410-565: Was dependent on American produce. The realities of this interdependence did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm with which Bermudian privateers turned on their erstwhile countrymen. An American naval captain, ordered to take his ship out of Boston Harbor to eliminate a pair of Bermudian privateering vessels that had been picking off vessels missed by the Royal Navy, returned frustrated, saying, "the Bermudians sailed their ships two feet for every one of ours". Around 10,000 Bermudians emigrated in

15544-429: Was devastating for the colony's merchant fleet. Fifteen privateers operated from Bermuda during the war, but losses exceeded captures; the 1775 to 1783 American War of Independence ; and the 1796 to 1808 Anglo-Spanish War . By the middle of the 18th century, Bermuda was sending twice as many privateers to sea as any of the continental colonies. They typically left Bermuda with very large crews. This advantage in manpower

15678-561: Was due partly to the buildup of the naval base in Bermuda , which reduced the Admiralty's reliance on privateers in the western Atlantic, and partly to successful American legal suits and claims for damages pressed against British privateers, a large portion of which were aimed squarely at the Bermudians. During the course of the War of 1812, Bermudian privateers captured 298 ships, some 19% of

15812-493: Was executed or more probably taken for the ignominious process of public dissection by surgeons a common fate for executed persons. (i.e. Hogarth's Tom Nero ) Of Kidd's associates, Gabriel Loffe, Able Owens, and Hugh Parrot were also convicted of piracy. They were pardoned just prior to hanging at Execution Dock. Robert Lamley, William Jenkins and Richard Barleycorn were released. Kidd's Whig backers were embarrassed by his trial. Far from rewarding his loyalty, they participated in

15946-576: Was generally protected by Sir Thomas Modyford , the governor of Jamaica. He took an enormous amount of booty, as well as landing his privateers ashore and attacking land fortifications, including the sack of the city of Panama with only 1,400 crew. Other British privateers of note include Fortunatus Wright , Edward Collier , Sir John Hawkins , his son Sir Richard Hawkins , Michael Geare , and Sir Christopher Myngs . Notable British colonial privateers in Nova Scotia include Alexander Godfrey of

16080-440: Was governing New York, Massachusetts , and New Hampshire , asked the "trusty and well beloved Captain Kidd" to attack Thomas Tew , John Ireland , Thomas Wake , William Maze , and all others who associated themselves with pirates, along with any enemy French ships. His request had the weight of the Crown behind it, and Kidd would have been considered disloyal, carrying much social stigma, to refuse Bellomont. This request preceded

16214-518: Was initially settled largely via Bermuda, with about eighty Bermudians moved to Providence in 1631. Although it was intended that the colony be used to grow cash crops, its location in the heart of the Spanish controlled territory ensured that it quickly became a base for privateering. Bermuda-based privateer Daniel Elfrith , while on a privateering expedition with Captain Sussex Camock of the bark Somer Ilands (a rendering of " Somers Isles ",

16348-483: Was loaded with satins , muslins , gold, silver, and a variety of East Indian merchandise , as well as extremely valuable silks. The captain of Quedagh Merchant was an Englishman named Wright, who had purchased passes from the French East India Company promising him the protection of the French Crown. When news of his capture of this ship reached England, however, officials classified Kidd as

16482-439: Was not permitted. Kidd said to his ship's surgeon that he had "good friends in England, that will bring me off for that". Escaped prisoners told stories of being hoisted up by the arms and "drubbed" (thrashed) with a drawn cutlass by Kidd. On one occasion, crew members sacked the trading ship Mary and tortured several of its crew members while Kidd and the other captain, Thomas Parker, conversed privately in Kidd's cabin. Kidd

16616-529: Was not the enemy of the commissioning sovereign, the privateer could not claim the ship as a prize. Doing so would be an act of piracy. In British law, under the Offences at Sea Act 1536 , piracy, or raiding a ship without a valid commission, was an act of treason . By the late 17th century, the prosecution of privateers loyal to the usurped King James II for piracy began to shift the legal framework of piracy away from treason towards crime against property. As

16750-560: Was of African ancestry, he would be considered the highest-ranking black pirate or privateer so far identified. Van der Heul later became a master's mate on a merchant vessel and was never convicted of piracy. In September 1696, Kidd weighed anchor and set course for the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. A third of his crew died on the Comoros due to an outbreak of cholera , the brand-new ship developed many leaks, and he failed to find

16884-408: Was one of the experts leading the Indiana University diving team. He said that it was "remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location", and that the ship had been the subject of so many prior failed searches. Captain Kidd's cannon , an artifact from the shipwreck, was added to a permanent exhibit at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis in 2011. In May 2015,

17018-777: Was presented by Richard Zacks in his 2002 book The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd . According to Zacks, Kidd was unaware that Culliford had only about 20 crew with him, and felt ill-manned and ill-equipped to take Mocha Frigate until his two prize ships and crews arrived. He decided to leave Culliford alone until these reinforcements arrived. After Adventure Prize and Rouparelle reached port, Kidd ordered his crew to attack Culliford's Mocha Frigate . However, his crew refused to attack Culliford and threatened instead to shoot Kidd. Zacks does not refer to any source for his version of events. Both accounts agree that most of Kidd's men abandoned him for Culliford. Only 13 remained with Adventure Galley . Deciding to return home, Kidd left

17152-423: Was quartermaster Hendrick van der Heul . The quartermaster was considered "second in command" to the captain in pirate culture of this era. It is not clear, however, if Van der Heul exercised this degree of responsibility because Kidd was authorised as a privateer. Van der Heul is notable because he might have been African or of Dutch descent. A contemporary source describes him as a "small black Man". If Van der Heul

17286-428: Was said by family acquaintances to have been "enriched by the apron". On Grand Manan in the Bay of Fundy , as early as 1875, there were searches on the west side of the island for treasure allegedly buried by Kidd during his time as a privateer . For nearly 200 years, this remote area of the island has been called "Money Cove". In 1983, Cork Graham and Richard Knight searched for Captain Kidd's buried treasure off

17420-695: Was said to exist between Bermudian and Bahamian vessels for much of the 18th century. When the Bermudian sloop Seaflower was seized by the Bahamians in 1701, the response of the Governor of Bermuda, Captain Benjamin Bennett , was to issue letters of marque to Bermudian vessels. In 1706, Spanish and French forces ousted the Bermudians but were driven out themselves three years later by the Bermudian privateer Captain Lewis Middleton . His ship,

17554-485: Was succeeded by the first Stuart monarchs, James I and Charles I , who did not permit privateering. Desperate to fund the expensive War of Spanish Succession , Queen Anne restarted privateering and even removed the need for a sovereign's percentage as an incentive. Sovereigns continued to license British privateers throughout the century, although there were a number of unilateral and bilateral declarations limiting privateering between 1785 and 1823. This helped establish

17688-505: Was vital in overpowering the crews of larger vessels, which themselves often lacked sufficient crewmembers to put up a strong defence. The extra crewmen were also useful as prize crews for returning captured vessels. The Bahamas, which had been depopulated of its indigenous inhabitants by the Spanish, had been settled by England, beginning with the Eleutheran Adventurers , dissident Puritans driven out of Bermuda during

17822-469: Was wanted as a pirate and that several English men-of-war were searching for him. Realizing that Adventure Prize was a marked vessel, he cached it in the Caribbean Sea , sold off his remaining plundered goods through pirate and fence William Burke , and continued towards New York aboard a sloop. He deposited some of his treasure on Gardiners Island , hoping to use his knowledge of its location as

17956-418: Was well suited to the task of catching pirates, weighing over 284 tons burthen and equipped with 34 cannon , oars, and 150 men. The oars were a key advantage, as they enabled Adventure Galley to manoeuvre in a battle when the winds had calmed and other ships were dead in the water. Kidd took pride in personally selecting the crew, choosing only those whom he deemed to be the best and most loyal officers. As

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