Quote:
Originally Posted by Taltarzac725
Lt. Maynard was left as the only living Captain on these two Royal Naval sloops as Mr. Hyde the other sloop's commander as well as his second-in-command were dead from Blackbeard's broadside. The call was put out to put anything and everything that was not a weapon over the side of the Jane and the Ranger including the drinking water, any parlor game cards and pieces the sailors had, any mystic talismans kept for luck, and any blunted weapons only good for teaching how to fence. After the ship was lightened of any unnecessary burdens, the tide and a wind sent it moving. While the ships were drifting, Lt. Maynard hid his remaining men of the Jane in the ship's hold but put two ladders at the ready for his men to make a quick maneuver if Blackbeard took the bait of a ship full with dead bodies and smeared with crimson. Blackbeard's ship The Adventure had also found the high tide and started to move towards the Jane. Teach's Hole Exhibit - Blackbeard History |
Maynard had left his pilot William Butler as well as a midshipman at the helm to keep on eye on Blackbeard's sloops. Blackbeard's next trick was hardly
quaint and had been the
basis of many a
stolid man to get very
testy. This was his own invention of the hand grenade-- a bottle filled with powder and pieces of iron and lead. Each missile also had fuse worked into its center. His men now bombarded
the Jane with these early versions of IEDs. Upon seeing the result of these explosions from the hand grenades, Blackbeard told his men: "They were all knocked on the head but three or four. Blast you-- board her and cut them to pieces".
Blackbeard the Pirate: A Reappraisal of His Life and Times Robert E. Lee, p. 119.