Edward Teach or Thatch, better known as the infamous pirate, Blackbeard, converted from privateering to piracy following the British withdrawal from Queen Anne’s War in 1713.  Late in the fall of 1717, historical records indicate that Blackbeard was cruising in the vicinity of the Caribbean's windward islands when he and his fellow pirates captured the French slaveship, La Concorde, the vessel he would keep as his flagship and rename Queen Anne's Revenge.

With his new ship, Blackbeard and his crew patrolled the Caribbean taking prizes and adding to his fleet before arriving in South Carolina in May 1718.  Blackbeard blockaded the port of Charleston, seizing several ships attempting to enter or leave the port and detaining the crew and passengers of one ship, the Crowley, as prisoners. As ransom for the hostages, Blackbeard demanded the pirates be given a chest of medicine. Once delivered, the captives were released, and the pirates continued their journey up the coast.

In June 1718, Blackbeard's fleet attempted to enter Old Topsail Inlet in North Carolina, now known as Beaufort Inlet. During that attempt, Queen Anne's Revenge and the sloop, Adventure, grounded on the ocean bar.   Stranded, Blackbeard subsequently marooned some pirates and fled Beaufort with a hand picked crew and most of the valuable plunder.

Blackbeard's untimely demise came six months later at North Carolina’s Ocracoke Inlet when he encountered an armed contingent sent by Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood and led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard. In a desperate battle aboard Maynard's sloop, Blackbeard and a number of his fellow pirates were killed. Maynard returned to Virginia with the surviving pirates and the grim trophy of Blackbeard's severed head hanging from the sloop's bowsprit.

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