Royal James

Every statement above that rests on a checked claim carries a small number; the numbers lead here. Each entry gives what is claimed, how far the record supports it, and where it comes from.

1. Stede Bonnet was defeated and captured at the mouth of the Cape Fear River on 26 to 27 September 1718 by a South Carolina expedition under Colonel William Rhett, in an action called the Battle of Cape Fear River or the Battle of the Sandbars, in which all three fighting vessels grounded on the falling tide and exchanged small arms fire for about five to six hours until the returning tide floated Rhett's heavier force first and Bonnet surrendered. Unverified Reported, not yet checked against the record. Period narrative: Nic Butler, "The Pirate Executions of 1718", Charleston Time Machine, Charleston County Public Library; "The Tryals of Major Stede Bonnet, and Other Pirates" (London, 1719)
2. Casualties in the Cape Fear action fell mainly on Rhett's two sloops, and the two accounts differ. The Governor and Council of South Carolina, writing on 21 October 1718, reported that "Wee had killed on board Collo. Rhett eight men and fourteen wounded, of which four are since dead, and on board Capt. Hall, two killed and six wounded", that is ten killed outright, twenty wounded, and four of the wounded dead by the time of writing. The printed narrative of 1724 gives instead "killed in this Action, on Board the Henry, ten Men, and fourteen wounded; on Board the Sea Nymph, two killed and four wounded", that is twelve killed and eighteen wounded, and puts the pirates' loss lower, at "seven killed and five wounded, two of which died soon after of their Wounds". The figures of fourteen dead and twenty wounded sometimes attributed to the Governor and Council are an aggregation of their numbers rather than their wording. Disputed The sources disagree, and we say how. Official correspondence and printed narrative: Governor and Council of South Carolina to the Council of Trade and Plantations, Charles Town, 21 October 1718, item 730 in Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, volume 30, 1717-1718, ed. Cecil Headlam (London, 1930), pp. 359-381 at page 367 (C.O. 5, 1265. No. 121; and 5, 1293. pp. 173-175), read on British History Online; and Charles Johnson, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates (London, 1724), chapter IV, Of Major Stede Bonnet and His Crew
3. Held under guard in the town marshal's house at Charles Town because the town gaol was inadequate, Bonnet escaped on or about 24 October 1718, reportedly in disguise and with the help of sympathisers, in company with his sailing master Herriot; Rhett pursued and the pair were recaptured on or near Sullivan's Island, Herriot being killed in the taking and Bonnet returned to custody. Unverified Reported, not yet checked against the record. Period narrative: Nic Butler, "The Pirate Executions of 1718", Charleston Time Machine, Charleston County Public Library; "A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates" (1724), attributed to Captain Charles Johnson, for the escape narrative only
4. The Royal James and the Revenge are one hull: the Charles Town Court of Vice-Admiralty sat on 28 October 1718 for the trial of the pirates taken in a sloop formerly called the Revenge but afterwards the Royal James, which is Stede Bonnet's sloop under a second name. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV, Of Major Stede Bonnet and his Crew), the opening of the account of the Court of Vice-Admiralty
5. Where the renaming falls is not settled: Johnson's General History places it at the end of July 1718, as the sloop left Delaware Bay for the Cape Fear River, and gives it to the company, whereas later accounts place it earlier, at Topsail Inlet, when Bonnet resumed command of his own vessel after Blackbeard lost the Queen Anne's Revenge. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV, Of Major Stede Bonnet and his Crew), the removal from Delaware Bay to Cape Fear River
6. Bonnet had taken the King's mercy in his own name and returned to piracy under the name of Captain Thomas, and was arraigned at Charles Town as Stede Bonnet, alias Edwards, alias Thomas, late of Barbadoes, mariner. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV, Of Major Stede Bonnet and his Crew), the relapse into piracy under the name of Captain Thomas, and the list of persons arraigned and tried
7. Bonnet's Royal James is a different vessel from the Royal James of Edward England, which was the ship Pearl of Captain Tyzard, exchanged for England's own sloop, fitted out and new christened, and cruised at the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands in 1719, when Bonnet's sloop was already a prize at Charles Town. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. V, Of Capt. Edward England and his Crew), the taking of the Pearl
8. The ten guns and about seventy men often quoted for the sloop belong to her earlier fitting out at Barbados, when she was the Revenge and Bonnet paid for her himself, and that count rests on Johnson alone. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV, Of Major Stede Bonnet and his Crew)
9. Judge Nicholas Trott told Bonnet at his sentencing that it had been fully proved at his trial, by an unwilling witness, that he had taken and rifled no less than thirteen vessels since he sailed from North Carolina. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the Lord Chief Justice's Speech upon pronouncing sentence on Major Stede Bonnet
10. Two prizes lay with the Royal James at Cape Fear and were the two takings the court chose to charge: the sloop Fortune, Thomas Read master, and the sloop Francis, whose name the indictment prints as the Frances, Peter Manwaring master, boarded at a place called Cape James alias Cape Inlopen and charged to 2 August, the Fortune being charged to 31 August, while Johnson's narrative has both taken in the last days of July. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the form of the indictment printed after the arraignment list, and the note following it
11. The Royal James proved very leaky at Cape Fear River, mending her held the company there for almost two months, and the crew took a small shallop in the river and ripped her up for timber to repair the sloop. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative and public history: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the removal from Delaware Bay to Cape Fear River; Nic Butler, The Pirate Hunting Expeditions of 1718, Charleston Time Machine
12. South Carolina fitted out two sloops against her under Colonel William Rhett, commissioned by Governor Robert Johnson, the Henry of eight guns and seventy men under Captain John Masters and the Sea Nymph of eight guns and sixty men under Captain Fayrer Hall, about 130 men in all; Rhett crossed the bar on 15 September, went south after Charles Vane first, and stood for Cape Fear only when he missed him. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative and public history: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the fitting out of the Carolina sloops and the cruise after Vane; Nic Butler, The Pirate Hunting Expeditions of 1718, Charleston Time Machine
13. On the night before the engagement Bonnet showed his prisoner Captain Manwaring a letter he said he would send to the Governor of Carolina, threatening that if the sloops then in sight had been sent against him and he got clear off he would burn and destroy every vessel going in or out of South Carolina. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the night before the engagement in Cape Fear River
14. Rhett entered Cape Fear River on the evening of 26 September 1718 and saw three sloops at anchor over a point of land; in the running fight next morning the Henry grounded within pistol shot of the Royal James and on her bow while the Sea Nymph grounded ahead of her and almost out of gunshot; the grounded pirate sloop listed away from the Henry so that her men were covered while Rhett's were exposed; the two sides kept a brisk fire for near five hours, the pirates making a wiff in their bloody flag and beckoning with their hats for Rhett's men to come aboard; and when the tide floated the Henry first Bonnet sent a flag of truce and surrendered. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the entry into Cape Fear River on the evening of the 26th and the engagement that followed
15. Rhett took possession of the sloop, found that the Captain Thomas who commanded her was Major Stede Bonnet, weighed from Cape Fear on 30 September and brought her into Charles Town on 3 October 1718 with her people as prisoners. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative and public history: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the surrender and the return to Charles Town; Nic Butler, The Pirate Hunting Expeditions of 1718, Charleston Time Machine
16. The men taken in the Royal James were tried at the Court of Vice-Admiralty at Charles Town before Nicholas Trott, by adjournment from 28 October to 12 November 1718, on two indictments, the court having thought fit to prosecute two takings when more might have been proved against the greater part of the crew. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative and public history: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the sessions of the Court of Vice-Admiralty and the note following the printed indictment; Nic Butler, The Charleston Pirate Trials of 1718, Charleston Time Machine
17. The prisoners made little or no defence, each pleading that he had been taken off a maroon shore and shipped with Bonnet for St. Thomas and that want of provisions at sea forced him to what he did, and it counted against them that they had all shared ten or eleven pounds a man. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the trial of the crew and the verdicts at the Court of Vice-Admiralty
18. Four of the men arraigned were acquitted, Thomas Nichols, Rowland Sharp, Jonathan Clarke and Thomas Gerrard, and twenty-two were hanged at White Point near Charles Town on Saturday 8 November 1718, a date the printed narrative misprints as 1711; other condemned men were not among those hanged, and later accounts give the number of the executed in round figures that do not match the printed list of names. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the verdicts and the account of the executions after the sessions
19. Bonnet was tried on 10 November 1718, after his escape had delayed him, was convicted on one indictment by verdict and on the other by his own confession, was sentenced on 12 November in the words shall go from hence to the place from whence you came, and from thence to the place of execution, where you shall be hanged by the neck till you are dead, and was executed at White Point near Charles Town on 10 December 1718. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative and public history carrying trial text: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV), the trial of Bonnet and the close of the Lord Chief Justice's Speech; Stede Bonnet and the Golden Age of Piracy (Part Two), In Custodia Legis blog post, quoting The Tryals of Major Stede Bonnet and other pirates (1719) at page 43
20. No contemporary builder's certificate, certificate of registry or survey of the sloop has been located, so her dimensions, tonnage and rig under the name Royal James rest on the trial narrative and on Johnson rather than on any ship's document. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Period narrative and catalogued trial print: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV, Of Major Stede Bonnet and his Crew); The tryals of Major Stede Bonnet and other pirates (Charles-Town admiralty sessions 28 October to 12 November 1718), Library of Congress KF223.B594 B594 1719, catalogued and not read
21. No wreck, archaeological site or material remains of the Royal James have been identified; she was not lost but taken whole and carried into Charles Town, and what became of the hull after October 1718 is not recorded in any source read for this record. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Period narrative and public history: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. IV, Of Major Stede Bonnet and his Crew); Nic Butler, The Pirate Hunting Expeditions of 1718, Charleston Time Machine