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Blackbeard's Ship Confirmed off North Carolina

Started by Captain Jack Wolfe, August 31, 2011, 09:38:50 AM

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Lady Amy of York

Fascinating info. Thanks for sharing  Jack .
I need to go search thru my pirate books, cause i'm just as curious as everyone else  to know what happen to the surgeon and what his name was.
Lady Amy of York/CaptainAmy of FeistyLady pirateship
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Lady Amy of York

#16
this might give us  a clue  to the name of the surgeon :

Blackbeard the Pirate is a 1952 Technicolor adventure film made by RKO. The film was directed by Raoul Walsh and produced by Edmund Grainger from a screenplay by Alan Le May based on the story by DeVallon Scott. The film follows Edward Maynard (Keith Andes), who sets out to earn a reward by proving that privateer Henry Morgan (Torin Thatcher) also engages in piracy. Maynard, however, winds up posing as a surgeon on a ship captained by Blackbeard

Although in reality...Lieutenant Robert Maynard, of the HMS Pearl, was the active-duty naval officer dispatched by the governor of Virginia to put an end to Blackbeard's plundering. A detailed, eyewitness report of their bloody battle is part of the official record. (Adding to the implausibility of the plot itself, it is difficult to imagine how a bounty hunter could disguise himself as a surgeon, especially when called upon to perform delicate surgery, as he is in the film!)
Lady Amy of York/CaptainAmy of FeistyLady pirateship
Cheiftess Feisty of Clan O' Doinn
HF:Sterling

Welsh Wench

Well, we know how Hollywood likes to take poetic license with things!

This article is not for the squeamish--

http://www.cindyvallar.com/medicine.html

Medicine at sea was pretty primal. But as it pointed out, a medicine chest stocked was worth between £300-400.

So a man who knew how to use it was invaluable.

I still wonder why he didn't take all three of the surgeons. And I guess the only way to find out the name of the surgeons would be to find La Concorde's roster in the French archives.

Blackbeard sure as heck didn't take any time to write down his rollcall!
Show me your tan lines..and I'll show you mine!

I just want to be Layla.....

DonaCatalina

Dang, all I can find is that Le Concorde was owned out of Bordeaux, Pierre HIRIGOYEN, captain, Paul Raymond, owner.
http://naviresnouvellefrance.com/vaisseau1700/html/page1753.html

Anyone want to visit the archives in Paris for me?
Musée national de la Marine - Paris
Aurum peccamenes multifariam texit
Marquesa de Trives
Portrait Goddess

Captain Jack Wolfe

And that the only thing we know about her use before her career as a slaver was her turn as a privateer during Queen Anne's War (appropriate, no?) with one Rene Montaudoin as captain. 

From the French Archival Research section of the Queen Anne's Revenge online research site: http://www.qaronline.org/History/french.htm

Otherwise, she's a ship of currently unknown provenance.  She evidently changed hands more than once.
"I'm not sure about people anymore. They're responsible for some pretty nutty stuff. Individuals I'm crazy about, though." ~ Opus

Anna Iram

Welsh Wench I don't know how accurate this is. This article suggests all three surgeons went aboard as well as a french cabin boy, carpenters etc. As stated in the officers depositions at the time.

Jack I've read, through google university, that the ship was perhaps Dutch built.

Love the bit here about Blackbeard giving his smaller ship to thr French captors and their renaming it "The Bad Encounter" . This may or may not be factual, but I like the spirit of the thing. :)


http://www.qaronline.org/History/search.htm

Lady Amy of York

Quote from: DonaCatalina on September 02, 2011, 11:35:22 AM
Dang, all I can find is that Le Concorde was owned out of Bordeaux, Pierre HIRIGOYEN, captain, Paul Raymond, owner.
http://naviresnouvellefrance.com/vaisseau1700/html/page1753.html

Anyone want to visit the archives in Paris for me?
Musée national de la Marine - Paris

A trip to Paris ?!  OOO...french wine, pastries, french men,  and  shopping .....I'm in  !!!!  LOL  !
Lady Amy of York/CaptainAmy of FeistyLady pirateship
Cheiftess Feisty of Clan O' Doinn
HF:Sterling

Welsh Wench

Lady Amy--I know a patisserie three blocks from the Louvre that is fantastic and the quiche at the Musee D'Orsay is not to be believed!
So..I am up for a trip to Paris.

So, Jack, how is that homework in the French Archives coming along?

And don't give me that mowing the grass/going to faire excuse again.

<<----Happy girl.

My trip next month looks like I may drive up to Beaufort and see this for myself.
Show me your tan lines..and I'll show you mine!

I just want to be Layla.....

Captain Jack Wolfe

Paris?  Mai oui!  Sign me up!!   ;D

Research got interrupted by errands, so I'm back to it.  Breaking out the books feels good.  I love good old-fashioned page turning! 

As for faire, yeah.  But my suit is all pressed and sneakers (relatively) clean...   ;)
"I'm not sure about people anymore. They're responsible for some pretty nutty stuff. Individuals I'm crazy about, though." ~ Opus

Captain Jack Wolfe

#24
Well, finding out about our mysterious French surgeon has been a bust so far.  But I have found out a great deal about the ship herself.  So much for my "unknown provenance" statement.  This is why I love books for research!   ;D

I'm drawing from two sources, Captain Charles Johnson's "A General History of the Pirates" (1724) and noted historian Angus Konstam's "Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate" (2006).

In Capt. Johnson's (surprisingly terse) account, we find out just what type of ship La Concorde was:  Hornigold and Teach "returned to the West Indies, and in the Latitude 24 mad a Prize of a large French Guiney Man, bound to Martinico (Martinique), which, by Hornigold's consent, Teach went aboard as Captain...  Aboard this Guiney Man Teach mounted 40 guns, and named her the Queen Anne's Revenge."

The French Guineaman was a very specific type of ship.  She was built like a frigate, only on a smaller scale.  She was definitely built for speed, perfect for intercepting other vessels.  This fits because, as we'll see, she was originally a warship.

Konstam's research gives us a fuller picture.  The captain of La Concorde, Pierre Dosset, described in his report to his superiors in Paris, as being overtaken "by two boats of English pirates, one of 12 and the other of 8 guns armed with 250 men controlled by Edouard Titche, English..."

So we're definitely talking about the same ship.  Based on this, Konstam found that La Concorde was owned by a Monsieur Rene Montaudouin of Nantes.  The ship was built there in 1709-1710, originally purposed as a privateer.  She served in Queen Anne's war and had a fairly respectable record in service to the French government, taking a British and Portuguese ship on her maiden voyage.  But when the war ended, her value plummeted since no one wanted a ship linked to warfare.  Montaudouin, a prosperous businessman, was able to snap her up for a song and fitted her out as a slave ship.

Something of note in the way Capt. Johnson described the association of Benjamin Hornigold and Edward Teach at this point.  He described them as being "in Company".  Taking from his normal usage of this term throughout his work, this would indicate they were working together as associates, not as master and apprentice.  Given this, Hornigold didn't "allow" or "give" La Concorde to Blackbeard.  He agreed to a business decision that Teach should have the prize.  Hornigold retired from the Account soon after this action to become a pirate hunter, so it would make sense that he wouldn't want to add egregiously to his crimes before looking for a pardon.

I'll keep digging to see what else I can find.
"I'm not sure about people anymore. They're responsible for some pretty nutty stuff. Individuals I'm crazy about, though." ~ Opus

Welsh Wench

Wow, when you research something.....LOL

But a report that is only six years past the grounding of Queen Anne's Revenge would be alot more reliable.

And the fact that Konstam had access to the French captain's report lends credence to it all.

Thanks, Jack!

Now....no more playing around and try to find that surgeon's name! 

That is your homework.
Show me your tan lines..and I'll show you mine!

I just want to be Layla.....

Welsh Wench

OK, today I officially got a personal invitation from the QAR site to go to their Meet and Greet on October 26th...so I am shifting my plans around and doing my best to go there!
Show me your tan lines..and I'll show you mine!

I just want to be Layla.....

DonaCatalina

Aurum peccamenes multifariam texit
Marquesa de Trives
Portrait Goddess

Captain Jack Wolfe

#28
The QAR Research Team reported today that they found the lid to the nesting weights this afternoon whilst dredging the site.  They've searched for this item for several years, and are excited to have finally found it.  Perhaps it will shed some light on the identity of the original owner of the weights.
"I'm not sure about people anymore. They're responsible for some pretty nutty stuff. Individuals I'm crazy about, though." ~ Opus

DonaCatalina

Ok...his name etched on it some where is probably too much to ask for. Who would have thought that the identity of one person could become so interesting just because a few personal artifacts were discovered?
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