Edward Teach (Blackbeard): Career, Death and Sourced Facts

Died: 22 June 1718 · Place of death: Near Ocracoke Island, North Carolina · Ship: Queen Anne’s Revenge · Operating area: Caribbean and eastern coast of North America · Killed by: Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard’s force

The table separates the settled core from the open fields, and it starts with the death date that Britannica (encyclopedia reference) records as 22 November 1718.

When was Edward Teach a pirate?

Teach’s piracy is commonly dated to roughly 1716 to 1718 in the Caribbean and along the American Atlantic coast. Britannica (encyclopedia reference) says he was first heard of as a pirate late in 1716 and converted a captured French merchantman into the 40-gun Queen Anne’s Revenge in 1717.

The early partnership matters. Wikipedia reports that Benjamin Hornigold placed Teach in command of a sloop Hornigold had captured, and the two carried out numerous acts of piracy together.

What was Edward Teach’s real name?

• Records identify him as Edward Teach or Thatch, and pirate custom used pseudonyms, so the surname stays uncertain, per NCpedia (state history encyclopedia).
• Treat either spelling as a record variant rather than a settled identity.

How did Edward Teach get the name Blackbeard?

• Captain Charles Johnson tied the name to the large quantity of hair covering his face, as quoted by U.S. Naval Institute (naval history journal).
• No verified origin for the nickname appears in the sources gathered for this piece.

The implication: the piracy dates are firm enough to build a timeline on, but the name story is an attribution from Johnson, not a verified origin.

How tall was Blackbeard?

No verified height measurement for Blackbeard appears in the sources gathered for this piece, and the descriptions that do exist are secondhand. Any height figure in circulation needs a named source before it goes into print.

Johnson’s 1724 book is the main early account, and the Carleton College Shipwrecks project (academic shipwreck archive) considers it fairly inaccurate.

Are there any contemporary descriptions of Blackbeard’s appearance?

• Johnson’s 1724 description of a face covered by hair, which he compared to a comet, is the best-known appearance account, per Smithsonian Magazine (museum publication).
• Label every appearance account as secondhand in any article that repeats it.

The catch: a vivid description reads like evidence, but the record gives no height, so the honest answer is that none exists in the sources.

How many times was Blackbeard shot before he died?

Accounts agree that Blackbeard was shot several times before he died in the fight near Ocracoke Inlet, but they disagree on the totals. Smithsonian Magazine (museum publication) places the event 300 years before 2018, so the story has been retold for three centuries.

Use these steps to check any wound count before you repeat it.

1. Start with the earliest source. Johnson’s 1724 book is the principal early account, and the Carleton College Shipwrecks project (academic shipwreck archive) treats it as fairly inaccurate.
2. Compare the totals. EBSCO Research Starters (reference database) gives at least five gunshot and 20 stab wounds, while the National Park Service (federal park record) counts 25 wounds in all.
3. Check the battle detail. ThoughtCo (history reference site) says Maynard wounded Blackbeard twice with pistols before the final blow.
4. Label each number as a reported figure, not a measurement.

How did Blackbeard die?

• Blackbeard’s crew had reportedly been reduced to roughly twenty men by the final battle, with Israel Hands ashore at the time, per ThoughtCo (history reference site).
• Maynard hung the head from the bowsprit of the Jane as proof for the £100 bounty, then threw the body overboard, per U.S. Naval Institute (naval history journal).

Where did Blackbeard die?

• Blackbeard died near Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, on 22 November 1718, per National Park Service (federal park record).
• The inlet channel is still known as Teach’s Hole, according to NCpedia (state history encyclopedia).

The pattern: the wound count changes with each telling, but the death date and place have held across federal, encyclopedic, and state sources.

The implication: an editor who copies a wound total without its source is repeating Johnson’s number, not the record.

Who was the most feared real pirate?

No authoritative ranking of fear exists, so any name at the top is a judgment rather than a measurement.

Blackbeard’s reputation rests largely on Johnson’s 1724 account, and the Carleton College Shipwrecks project (academic shipwreck archive) calls that account fairly inaccurate.

Who was the meanest pirate of all time?

• Reference works widely attest Blackbeard’s reputation as one of the most feared pirates in history, per Britannica (encyclopedia reference).
• Any superlative about cruelty needs a named source for each claim, and none is verified here.

The catch: a fear ranking tells you more about the storytellers than the sailors, so treat any top-five list as a selection.

Who are some of the most famous pirates in history?

Blackbeard is commonly listed alongside Henry Morgan, Bartholomew Roberts, and Anne Bonny, but that list is a selection, not a definitive ranking.

The sources gathered for this piece verify Blackbeard’s record in detail, and they do not verify the same detail for those three names.

Which pirates operated alongside Blackbeard in the Caribbean?

• Benjamin Hornigold, who gave Teach his first command, was central to that early partnership, per Wikipedia (open encyclopedia).
• Each other named pirate needs a Tier 1 or Tier 2 source before it counts as a verified claim, so read this list as a guide.

The implication: the list helps with orientation, but the verified record in this piece stops at Blackbeard himself.

Career and death: the dated sequence

The dated sequence is the most reliable part of the story, and each entry names the source behind it.

• 17 December 1716: Captain Henry Timberlake’s deposition describes Hornigold and Teach capturing his brigantine Lamb, per Carleton College Shipwrecks project (academic shipwreck archive).
• June 1718: Teach captures La Concorde and renames her Queen Anne’s Revenge, per Carolina Journal (regional news outlet).
• Late November 1718: Blackbeard blockades Charles Town, South Carolina, per NCpedia (state history encyclopedia).
• 10 June 1718: Queen Anne’s Revenge grounds near Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, per Carleton College Shipwrecks project (academic shipwreck archive).
• 17 November 1718: Maynard’s sloops head down the James River, per U.S. Naval Institute (naval history journal).
• 22 November 1718: Blackbeard is killed near Ocracoke Inlet, per National Park Service (federal park record).
• 1719: Surviving crew are reportedly tried in Williamsburg, and 13 are hanged, according to EBSCO Research Starters (reference database).

The pattern: the sequence runs from a 1716 deposition to a 1718 death, and every date carries a named source.

Confirmed facts and open questions

The confirmed list is short and the open list is longer, which is the honest shape of this record.

Confirmed facts

• Died on 22 November 1718 near Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina, per National Park Service (federal park record).
• Killed in a fight with a naval force led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard, per National Park Service (federal park record).
• Named his ship Queen Anne’s Revenge, per Carolina Journal (regional news outlet).

What’s unclear

• Exact birth year and birthplace, with Bristol, England still unconfirmed, per Wikipedia (open encyclopedia).
• Real name spelling: records give Edward Teach or Thatch, and pirate custom used pseudonyms, per NCpedia (state history encyclopedia).
• Exact height, since no verified measurement exists in the sources gathered here.
• Exact number of wounds, with totals ranging from 20 to 25 across accounts, per National Park Service (federal park record).
• Location of the displayed head, with World History Encyclopedia (reference site) placing it on a pike at Chesapeake Bay while other sources point to Hampton Roads.

The trade-off: the confirmed list gives readers firm dates and names, but the details that make Blackbeard vivid are the ones the record can least support.

What the early witnesses wrote

Two voices frame the story: a contemporary biographer and the field director of the Queen Anne’s Revenge excavation.

“the large quantity of hair which, like a frightful meteor, covered his whole face and frightened America more than any comet that has appeared there a long time.”

Captain Charles Johnson, A General History of the Pyrates (1724), as quoted by U.S. Naval Institute (naval history journal)

“People have this romantic notion of piracy, but it was not a cushy lifestyle.”

Kimberly Kenyon, field director for the excavation of Queen Anne’s Revenge, as quoted by Smithsonian Magazine (museum publication)

The implication: the most quoted line about Blackbeard comes from a 1724 writer, while the modern correction comes from the excavation, so read the vivid language as legend and the excavation as the check.

What this record means for readers

The death on 22 November 1718 near Ocracoke Inlet is the fixed point, and nearly everything else reaches us secondhand through Johnson, three centuries of retelling, and a handful of archives. Each new claim should pass the same test: which earliest account carries it, and whether a federal or academic record backs it. For editors and readers who handle Blackbeard’s story next, the choice is clear: cite the dated record and label each wound total as reported, or repeat the legend, and editors who do will watch its numbers fail a fact check.

Related reading: Samuel Pepys’ naval career

Frequently asked questions