Pirates: The Complete History from 1300 BC to the Present Day by Dr. Angus Konstam

Author:Dr. Angus Konstam [Konstam, Angus]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-10T07:59:00+00:00

CHARLES VANE AND HIS DIE-HARDS

By the time Charles Vane made his dramatic exit from New Providence in August 1718, he was already seen as one of the toughest pirates on the high seas. He began his career with Henry Jennings, attacking the Spanish treasure camps on the Florida coast. Before that he was probably a privateer, working out of Port Royal. By early 1718 he had command of his own sloop, the Ranger, and that April he took her on his first independent cruise. He captured two Bermudan sloops, and in depositions written by the sloops' owners Vane was accused of beating and torturing the two crews. One captain claimed that Vane had beaten him and his men and then tortured one of the crew by tying him up, then jabbing burning matches into his eyes. On the other sloop Vane hanged one of the crew until he was almost dead, then slashed at him with his cutlass until his fellow pirates calmed him down. Clearly Charles Vane was something of a murderous psychopath, who was quickly gaining a reputation for cruelty.5

We have already heard how the men who declined to accept the King's Pardon-the hard-liners or die-hards-looked towards Vane for leadership. By the time Woodes Rogers was expected, the island had split into two camps, and Vane had already made preparations to sail off on a fresh piratical spree. However, it says a lot about the man that he deliberately waited until Woodes Rogers arrived before making his escape, choosing such a flamboyantly provocative way of doing so. It was almost as if Vane was challenging Rogers to a duel. After quitting New Providence Vane headed towards Charles Town (now Charleston, South Carolina) and was reported loitering off the Charles Town Bar that August. Rogers sent Benjamin Hornigold after the Ranger, and although he never caught Vane, he did run into a sloop captured by Vane's former quartermaster-a pirate called Yeats.

According to Captain Johnson, Yeats had been given command of a prize by Vane, but, instead of operating in concert with the Ranger, Yeats sailed off on his own cruise. Hornigold encountered one of Yeats's victims in the Bahamas and captured its newly installed pirate crew. Former New Providence pirates to a man, they were taken back to Nassau, where they were tried and hanged. This was the first real test of Woodes Rogers's leadership, and fortunately for the authorities the mass hanging took place without incident. However, Charles Vane was still at large, and he was reportedly still operating in the waters of the Carolinas. By that time the South Carolina colony had sent a two-ship antipiracy squadron out on patrol, with orders to track Vane down. Although Vane managed to avoid them, another pirate, Stede Bonnet, was less lucky and was cornered and captured in the Cape Fear River. Bonnet and his men were taken back to Charles Town, where they too were tried and executed-the second mass hanging of pirates in as many months.

By September the

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