A Six Weeks' Pirate
About the time of Stede Bonnet's terminal adventures a very
unpretentious pirate made his appearance in the waters of New York. This
was a man named Richard Worley, who set himself up in piracy in a very
small way, but who, by a strict attention to business, soon achieved a
remarkable success. He started out as a scourge upon the commerce of the
Atlantic Ocean with only an open boat and eight men. In this small craft
he went down the coast of New Jersey taking everything he could from
fishing boats and small trading vessels until he reached Delaware Bay,
and here he made a bold stroke and captured a good-sized sloop.
When this piratical outrage was reported at Philadelphia, it created a
great sensation, and people talked about it until the open boat with
nine men grew into a great pirate ship filled with roaring desperadoes
and cutthroats. From Philadelphia the news was sent to New York, and
that government was warned of the great danger which threatened the
coast. As soon as this alarming intelligence was received, the New
Yorkers set to work to get up an expedition which should go out to sea
and endeavor to destroy the pirate vessel before it could enter their
port, and work havoc among their merchantmen.
It may seem strange that a small open boat with nine men could stir up
such a commotion in these two great provinces of North America, but if
we can try to imagine the effect which would be produced among the
inhabitants of Staten Island, or in the hearts of the dwellers in the
beautiful houses on the shores of the Delaware River, by the
announcement that a boat carrying nine desperate burglars was to be
expected in their neighborhood, we can better understand what the people
of New York and Philadelphia thought when they heard that Worley had
captured a sloop in Delaware Bay.
The expedition which left New York made a very unsuccessful cruise. It
sailed for days and days, but never saw a sign of a boat containing nine
men, and it returned disappointed and obliged to report no progress.
With Worley, however, progress had been very decided. He captured
another sloop, and this being a large one and suitable to his purposes,
he took possession of it, gave up his open boat, and fitted out his
prize as a regular piratical craft. With a good ship under his command,
Captain Worley now enlarged his sphere of action; on both shores of
Delaware Bay, and along the coast of New Jersey, he captured everything
which came in his way, and for about three weeks he made the waters in
those regions very hot for every kind of peaceable commercial craft. If
Worley had been in trade, his motto would have been "Quick sales and
small profits," for by day and by night, the _New York's Revenge_, which
was the name he gave to his new vessel, cruised east and west and north
and south, losing no opportunity of levying contributions of money,
merchandise, food, and drink upon any vessel, no matter how
insignificant it might be.
The Philadelphians now began to tremble in their shoes; for if a boat
had so quickly grown into a sloop, the sloop might grow into a fleet,
and they had all heard of Porto Bello, and the deeds of the bloody
buccaneers. The Governor of Pennsylvania, recognizing the impending
danger and the necessity of prompt action, sent to Sandy Hook, where
there was a British man-of-war, the _Phoenix_, and urged that this
vessel should come down into Delaware Bay and put an end to the pirate
ship which was ravaging those waters. Considering that Worley had not
been engaged in piracy for much more than four weeks, he had created a
reputation for enterprise and industry, which gave him a very important
position as a commerce destroyer, and a large man-of-war did not think
that he was too small game for her to hunt down, and so she set forth to
capture or destroy the audacious Worley. But never a Worley of any kind
did she see. While the _Phoenix_ was sailing along the coast,
examining all the coves and harbors of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the
_New York's Revenge_ put out to sea, and then proceeded southward to
discover a more undisturbed field of operation.
We will now leave Worley's vessel sailing southward, and go for a time
to Charles Town, where some very important events were taking place. The
Governor of South Carolina had been very much afraid that the pirates in
general would take some sort of revenge for the capture of Stede Bonnet,
who was then in prison awaiting trial, and that if he should be
executed, Charles Town might be visited by an overpowering piratical
force, and he applied to England to have a war-vessel sent to the
harbor. But before any relief of this kind could be expected, news came
to Charles Town that already a celebrated pirate, named Moody, was
outside of the harbor, capturing merchant vessels, and it might be that
he was only waiting for the arrival of other pirate ships to sail into
the harbor and rescue Bonnet.
Now the Charles Town citizens saw that they must again act for
themselves, and not depend upon the home government. If there were
pirates outside the harbor, they must be met and fought before they
could come up to the city; and the Governor and the Council decided
immediately to fit out a little fleet. Four merchant vessels were
quickly provided with cannon, ammunition, and men, and the command of
this expedition would undoubtedly have been given to Mr. Rhett had it
not been that he and the Governor had quarrelled. There being no naval
officers in Charles Town, their fighting vessels had to be commanded by
civilians, and Governor Johnson now determined that he would try his
hand at carrying on a sea-fight. Mr. Rhett had done very well; why
should not he?
Before the Governor's little fleet of vessels, one of which was the
_Royal James_, captured from Bonnet, was quite ready to sail, the
Governor received news that his preparations had not been made a moment
too soon, for already two vessels, one a large ship, and the other an
armed sloop, had come into the outer harbor, and were lying at anchor
off Sullivan's Island. It was very likely that Moody, having returned
from some outside operation, was waiting there for the arrival of other
pirate ships, and that it was an important thing to attack him at once.
As it was very desirable that the pirates should not be frightened away
before the Charles Town fleet could reach them, the vessels of the
latter were made to look as much like mere merchantmen as possible.
Their cannon were covered, and the greater part of the crews was kept
below, out of sight. Thus the four ships came sailing down the bay, and
early in the morning made their appearance in the sight of the pirates.
When the ship and the big sloop saw the four merchant vessels sailing
quietly out of the harbor, they made immediate preparations to capture
them. Anchors were weighed, sails were set, and with a black flag flying
from the topmast of each vessel, the pirates steered toward the Charles
Town fleet, and soon approached near enough to the _King William_, which
was the foremost of the fleet, to call upon her captain to surrender.
But at that moment Governor Johnson, who was on board the
_Mediterranean_, and could hear the insolent pirate shouting through his
speaking-trumpet, gave a preconcerted signal. Instantly everything was
changed. The covers were jerked off from the cannon of the pretended
merchantmen, armed men poured up out of the holds, the flag of England
was quickly raised on each one of them, and the sixty-eight guns of the
combined fleet opened fire upon the astonished pirates.
The ship which seemed to be the more formidable of the enemy's vessels
had run up so close to her intended prey that two of Governor Johnson's
vessels, the _Sea-Nymph_ and the _Royal James_, once so bitterly opposed
to each other, but now fighting together in honest comradeship, were
able to go between her and the open sea and so cut off her retreat.
But if the captain of the pirate ship could not get away, he showed that
he was very well able to fight, and although the two vessels which had
made him the object of their attack were pouring cannon balls and musket
shot upon him, he blazed away with his cannon and his muskets. The three
vessels were so near each other that sometimes their yard-arms almost
touched, so that this terrible fight seemed almost like a hand-to-hand
conflict. For four hours the roaring of the cannon, the crushing of
timbers, the almost continuous discharge of musketry were kept up, while
the smoke of the battle frequently almost prevented the crews of the
contending ships from seeing each other. Not so very far away the people
of Charles Town, who were standing on the shores of their beautiful
harbor, could see the fierce fight which was going on, and great was the
excitement and anxiety throughout the city.
But the time came when two ships grew too much for one, and as the
_Royal James_ and the _Sea-Nymph_ were able to take positions by which
they could rake the deck of the pirate vessel, many of her men gave up
the fight and rushed down into the hold to save their lives. Then both
the Charles Town vessels bore down upon the pirate and boarded her, and
now there was another savage battle with pistols and cutlasses. The
pirate captain and several of his crew were still on deck, and they
fought like wounded lions, and it was not until they had all been cut
down or shot that victory came to the men of Charles Town.
Very soon after this terrible battle was over the waiting crowds in the
city saw a glorious sight; the pirate ship came sailing slowly up the
harbor, a captured vessel, with the _Sea-Nymph_ on one side and the
_Royal James_ on the other, the colors of the Crown flying from the
masts of each one of the three.
The other pirate ship, which was quite large, seemed to be more
fortunate than her companion, for she was able to get out to sea, and
spreading all her sails she made every effort to escape. Governor
Johnson, however, had no idea of letting her get away if he could help
it. When a civilian goes out to fight a sea-battle he naturally wants to
show what he can do, and Governor Johnson did not mean to let people
think that Mr. Rhett was a better naval commander than he was. He
ordered the _Mediterranean_ and the _King William_ to put on all sail,
and away they went after the big ship. The retreating pirates did
everything they could to effect escape, throwing over their cannon, and
even their boats, in order to lighten their ship, but it was of no use.
The Governor's vessels were the faster sailers, and when the _King
William_ got near enough to fire a few cannon balls into the flying
ship, the latter hauled down the black flag and without hesitation lay
to and surrendered.
It was plain enough that this ship was not manned by desperate pirates,
and when Governor Johnson went on board of her he found her to be not
really a pirate ship, but an English vessel which not long before had
been captured by the pirates in whose company she had visited Charles
Town harbor. She had been bringing over from England a company of
convicts and what were called "covenant servants," who were going to the
colonies to be disposed of to the planters for a term of years. Among
these were thirty-six women, and when the South Carolinians went below
they were greatly surprised to find the hold crowded with these
unfortunate creatures, some of whom were nearly frightened to death. At
the time of this vessel's capture the pirate captain had enlisted some
of the convicts into his crew, as he needed men, and putting on board of
his prize a few pirates to command her, the ship had been worked by such
of her own crew and passengers as were willing to serve under pirates,
while the others were shut up below.
Here was a fine prize taken with very little trouble, and the _King
William_ and the _Mediterranean_ returned to Charles Town with their
captured ship, to be met with the shouts and cheers of the delighted
citizens, already excited to a high pitch by the previous arrival of the
captured pirate sloop.
But Governor Johnson met with something else which made a stronger
impression on him than the cheers of his townspeople, and this was the
great surprise of finding that he had not fought and conquered the
pirate Moody; without suspecting such a thing, he had crushed and
utterly annihilated the dreaded Worley, whose deeds had created such a
consternation in northern waters, and whose threatened approach had sent
a thrill of excitement all down the coast. When this astonishing news
became known, the flags of the city were waved more wildly, and the
shouts and cheers rose higher.
Thus came to an end, in the short time of six weeks, the career of
Richard Worley, who, without doubt, did more piratical work in less time
than any sea-robber on record.