Virginia Chandler

Charles Town must have seemed like easy plunder for pyrates. Why would I say something like that? Well, my hearties, because you may know about Blackbeard’s blockade of Charles Town in 1718, but I’ll wager that you don’t know about the other pyrate blockades. Aye, our beloved Blackbeard was NOT the only pyrate to challenge this port royal! Get your grog, here we go!

Did ye miss the first plunder of Charles Town starring Charles Vane? Here ’tis: Pyrate Blockades of Charles Town: Charles Vane

Richard Worley

Alas, Richard Worley, we barely knew ye. Tragic but true, Richard Worley had a very short-lived pirate career. Like Blackbeard, and other privateers from Queen Anne’s War, Worley found himself very wanting when the war ended. He still hungered for sea battle. Thus, Worley became a pyrate, which, in retrospect, may not have been the best career choice for him.

Sometime in 1719, Worley and his crew of 12 (!) men, sailed to the Bahamas. He was being chased by a pyrate hunting ship, The Phoenix, that had 20 guns. It’s safe to say, I think, that Worley and crew were runnin’ for their lives.

Down in the Bahamas, Worley got himself a new ship, some more guns, and a few more good men. To celebrate, Worley and his men created the famous Jolly Roger flag (that even modern pyrates, like Bootstrap Ginny, fly today!)

Unfortunately for Worley and his crew, even though they had just made the coolest flag ever invented, their celebration was very short. Worley made the fateful decision that he was going to Charles Town, and he was going to do what Blackbeard had done: Hold the city hostage and show the world that pyrates still ruled the seas.

Only, he didn’t quite do that. Instead, Worley found himself surrounded in Charles Town harbor by four British warships, galleons, no less.

Sidenote: One of the four British warships was the Revenge — aye, the ship that had once belonged to Stede Bonnet. It had been re-outfitted after Bonnet’s capture and was now in his majesty’s service capturing pyrates!

Worley failed to escape the trap, but being ALL pyrate, he refused to surrender. Some say he was killed on deck, still fighting, and others say he was arrested and later executed. Either way, it was a bitter end.

Charles Harris and Edward “Ned” Low

Poor Charles Town, the pyrates weren’t quite done with ye. After Blackbeard, Vane, and Worley all sailed into the harbor (with varying degrees of success), Charles Harris and Edward “Ned” Low decided to pay a visit a few years later in 1722.

Low and Harris didn’t actually enter Charles Town harbor and capture ships; instead, they waited in the waters of the Atlantic, not far from the mouth of the harbor, and took their victims. That was their plan, anyway. But, it wasn’t what happened.

Charles Town was finished being pyrate’s plunder. They now had warships and bounty hunters at their dispatch. When the HMS Greyhound showed up, Low and Harris bravely (foolishly?) attempted to engage, but their ships were no match for the man o’ war. Low ordered his skeleton crew to raise the sails, and the Fancy turned tail and left Harris to fend for himself.

After Low and Harris, there were no more attempted pyrate blockades of Charles Town. The Golden Age of Piracy was fading, and the colonial cities that had once been friendly, or at least, tolerant of pyrates, were no more.

Still, there is an echo of pyrate in Charleston today. As you stand at the harbor, close your eyes and let the seabreeze caress you…it’s there…sometimes a whisper, other times, a roar.

Until next time, fair winds!