Under The Black Flag by David Cordingly

Under The Black Flag:The Romance and The Reality Of Life Among The Pirates by David Cordingly is a history book published in 1995.

Pirates have always captured our imagination with stories of black schooners, tropical islands, treasure maps, colorful parrots, and buried gold. However, many stories commonly believed are actually a blend of historical facts mixed with 300 years’ worth of poems, romantic novels, adventure tales, and swash-buckling films. Pirates rarely walked the plank and typical plunder was not gold and silver but silk, cotton, tobacco, and slaves.

Cordingly compares the modern world’s perception of our eye-patch-wearing swordfighters with the real world of piracy. Even though there have been pirates since the Greeks, Romans, and Vikings, Under The Black Flag specifically focuses on the Golden Age of Piracy coinciding with the colonization of the New World.

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Wooden Legs & Parrots
Plundering The Treasure Ports
Sir Henry Morgan
Women Pirates and Pirates' Women
Storms, Shipwrecks, and Life at Sea
Into Action Under the Pirate Flag
Torture, Violence, and Marooning
Pirate Islands and Other Haunts
Sloops, Schooners, and Pirate Films
Captain Kidd and Buried Treasure
Hunting Down the Pirates
Trials, Executions, and Hanging in Chains

Wooden Legs & Parrots

The modern image of pirates mainly come from fictional sources – Long John Silver (Treasure Island) and Captain Hook (Peter Pan)
Pirate Demographics:
- 73-98% were seamen (former merchant service, Royal Navy, privateers)
- Multinational
- Mostly young men (average age: 27), very few aristocrats
- Pirates also engaged in slave trade and shared societal prejudices
Captains were ruthless & skilled in navigation/seamanship
- Elected by crew, they could be voted out
Commonalities:
- Serious injuries were frequent (e.g., self-cauterizing a leg wound)
- Animals were taken as souvenirs – Parrots were popular for the colors & speech
Henry Avery:
- Born 1653 in Plymouth, average height, not aristocratic.
- 1694: Seized ship after delayed pay, became pirate.
- 1695: Captured the Great Mogul’s ship (40 guns, 400 rifles, $100M+ today).
- Retired to the West Indies, never heard from again.

Plundering The Treasure Ports

Spain & The New World
- 1492 → Columbus landed in the Bahamas
- 1502 → Settlement established on Hispaniola; Balboa explores
- 1519 → Cortes conquered the Aztecs in Mexico
- 1532 → Pizarro conquered the Incas in South America
- 1596-1600 → Spain imported treasures worth $774 million
Western Europe Finds Out
- 1523 → French ship captured Spanish ships from Mexico, discovering gold, pearls, emeralds, and Aztec treasures
- France, Britain, and others began raiding and exploiting the New World
Sir Francis Drake
- 1573 → Fought through Panama jungle, raided Spanish caravans, capturing 15 tons of silver and £100,000 in gold
- 1577 → Began around-the-world voyage
- 1578 → Exited Strait of Magellan, raided South American coast
- 1579 → Captured Spanish treasure ship while disguised as a merchant vessel
- Seized £12 million today – one of history’s largest raids
- 1580 → Returned after 2 years, 9 months; knighted by the Queen. Total treasure worth £68 million today

Sir Henry Morgan

Widely Admired & Powerful
- Upon death → State funeral in Jamaica
- Knighted & appointed Lt. Governor of Jamaica
- Owned thousands of acres & sugar plantations
- Frequently met with Dukes, Parliament members, and King’s friends
Early Life & Military Career
- 1635 → Born in Wales
- 1654 → Joined army, captured Jamaica, making it a key British base
- 1665 → Raided Spanish, became military leader
- 1667 → Named Admiral of the “Brethren of the Coast” (all buccaneers)
Major Achievements
- 1668 → Captured & ransomed Portobello, Panama – surprise attack, one of 17th century’s most successful operations
- 1669 → Escaped Spanish trap in harbor by sinking merchant ship filled with gunpowder, used decoy maneuvers to escape
- 1670/71 → Led largest buccaneer fleet to Panama City, defeated 1,200 defenders with only 15 buccaneers killed
Later Life
- 1671 → Arrested for breaking peace, but was dropped because Spain attacked first
- Spent 2 years in London, free to mingle with the court
- 1674 → Knighted & appointed Lt. Governor of Jamaica
- 1687 → Died after years of illness and debauchery

Women Pirates and Pirates’ Women

Women were considered unfit for the physical demands of sea life
- Some women joined Navy/merchant ships in disguise
Mrs. Cheng → in 1809, created a confederation of 50,000 pirates, larger than many country navies
Calico Jack → small-time pirate, treated victims semi-respectfully, loved women
Anne Bonny
- Born in Ireland, illegitimate daughter of a lawyer
- Raised as a boy to avoid scandal
- Moved to Carolina after affair revealed
- Married penniless seaman, sailed to New Providence
- 1719 → Abandoned husband, joined Calico Jack’s crew
- Pregnant, had child in Cuba, returned to crew
Mary Read
- Born in England, no father, siblings died
- Raised as a boy, joined army and proved bravery
- Married soldier, left for West Indies after his death
- Ship captured by Calico Jack and Anne Bonny, joined the crew
Arrest & Fate
- 1720 → Calico Jack & crew hanged
- Anne Bonny & Mary Read claimed pregnancy, sentence revoked
- Mary Read died in prison from fever
- Anne Bonny’s fate unknown

Storms, Shipwrecks, and Life at Sea

Shipwrecks & Storms
- 1717 → Largest shipwreck off Cape Cod, 144 men died, including Sam Bellamy
- Navigation was difficult; no method to find longitude until the 1760s
- Charts often inaccurate
Daily Life on Pirate Ships
- Easy-going but structured order
- Hard drinking, coarse language, gambling (cards, dice), casual cruelty
- Democratic, elections for captain, crew decided destinations and targets
- Captain had absolute power during battles & pursuit
- Quartermaster handled minor disputes, led attacks, commanded captured ships
Pirate Code
- Written articles created every voyage; each member signed
- Outlined rules for plunder, injury compensation, punishments
- Disability Insurance (e.g., right arm loss = 600 pieces of eight)

Into Action Under the Pirate Flag

Typical Pirate Attacks
- Victims didn’t resist
- Pirates openly showed hostile intentions during approach
- Didn’t immediately board; demanded captain come over
- Loot: gear, goods (food, ropes, sails)
- Skilled men (carpenters, coopers, surgeons) often detained
- Majority of attacks by single ship, but successful captains had multiple ships
Pirate Fleet Examples
- Bartholomew Roberts: 42-gun, 30-gun, 24-gun, and 16-gun ships (508 men total)
- Blackbeard: 40-gun, 300 men + 12-gun, 115 men + 2 other ships
- Vane: 12-gun + 8-gun ships
Bartholomew Roberts (Black Bart)
- Most successful pirate; captured 400+ ships
- Dressed in style, liked music, didn’t drink, discouraged gambling
- Elected captain after his ship was captured by pirates
Roberts’ Most Famous Raid
- Found 42 merchant ships bound for Lisbon
- Threatened to kill them if they signaled distress
- Captured richest ship with 40 guns, 150 men, 90,000 gold pieces, diamond cross, jewels, sugar, skins, tobacco
Pirate Flags
- Symbols: bleeding hearts, blazing balls, hourglasses, spears, cutlasses, skeletons
- Black flag = death, piracy symbol
- Blood-red flag = battle, no prisoners
- Pirates used fake flags for disguise

Torture, Violence, and Marooning

Pirate stories were often more horrific than romanticized
- No mention of walking the plank in most accounts (except 1 person in 1829)
Atrocities
- Bartholomew Roberts: Whipped men to death, cut off ears, used men for target practice
- Edward Low: Cut off a captain’s lips, broiled them, murdered 32 crew members
- Henry Morgan: Burned women in indecent areas, roasted one woman on a stove
- Montbars of Languedoc: Cut open victim’s stomach, nailed guts to a post, forced the man to dance to death
Common Tortures
- Stretched limbs with cords while beating
- Placed burning matches between fingers, burned alive
- Twisted cords around heads until eyes burst out
- Marooning

Pirate Islands and Other Haunts

Port Royal, Jamaica
- 1655 → Founded
- 1680 → Population of 3,000 – houses, churches, taverns, workshops
- Supported pirates for protection & economic reasons
- 1692 → Earthquake & tidal wave destroyed the town, killing 4,000+ people
- Kingston became the new capital, pirates no longer welcomed
Madagascar
- 1695 → Henry Avery captured the Great Mogul’s Treasure Ship
- 1696 → Pirate colony established, with trade as far as NYC
- 1700 → 17 pirate ships and 1,500 men in the colony
- Rivalries with natives & tropical diseases ended the colony
Shores of Central America
- Bay of Campeche & Bay of Honduras → Pirate & logcutter communities
- Harsh living conditions: drinking, swamps, mosquitos, alligators, parasites
Nassau, Bahamas
- Largest headquarters → Benjamin Hornigold, Blackbeard, Charles Bellamy, Charles Vane, Stede Bonnet, Calico Jack, Mary Read, Anne Bonny
- Overrun by pirates → The King sent warships with orders to kill pirates
Woodes Rogers
- 1679 → Born in Bristol
- 1708 → Went on a privateering expedition around the world, surviving storms, gunshot wounds, mutinies
- 1711 → Returned with £800,000 in plunder
- Appointed Governor of the Bahamas, repaired local defenses and government
- Ended Nassau as a pirate headquarters

Sloops, Schooners, and Pirate Films

Pirate ships were aster, better armed, more seaworthy
- Merchant ships → 10-18 men, 6 guns
- Pirate ships → 150+ men, 30-40 guns
Blackbeard
- Queen Anne’s Revenge → 32-gun warship
- Blockaded Charleston, SC for 5 days, plundered ships & ransomed the town
Famous Pirates & Their Largest Ships
- Bartholomew Roberts → Royal Fortune, 230 men, 51 guns
- Henry Avery → Fancy, 46 guns, 150 men
- Captain Kidd → Adventure Galley, 287 tons, 152 men, 34 guns
- Sam Bellamy → Whydah, 300 tons, 28 guns, iron grenades
Pirate Schooner was not established until after the Great Age of Piracy

Captain Kidd and Buried Treasure

Few documented examples of pirates burying treasure
- Most spent plunder on drinking, gambling, and luxuries
- Common plunder included goods, silks, spices, and slaves
Captain William Kidd
- Large and powerful, Violent temper, struggled to earn respect from his crew
- 1614 → Born in Scotland
- 1689 → Privateer in the Caribbean
- 1691 → Moved to NYC, married a wealthy widow, built connections with merchants and politicians
Privateering Expedition
- Funded by King William III, Lord Chancellor, and Massachusetts Governor
- 1696 → Left NYC with 152 men
- Attacked a pilgrim convoy outside his contract, while flying the flag of piracy
- Tortured English crew members, stole boats, and attacked villages
- Killed a crew member and joined pirates for drinks in a pirate harbor
- 1699 → Declared a pirate by the British government
Arrest and Trial
- Returned to NYC to negotiate but was arrested
- Imprisoned for 2 years until trial, sentenced to hanging
- 1701 → First pirate to speak before British Parliament
Buried Treasure Rumors
- Rumored to have £400,000 in treasure, but only £14,000 was recovered
- His ship sailed near Gardiners Island & Block Island before his arrest, fueling rumors

Hunting Down the Pirates

Blackbeard’s Final Battle (1718)
- Governor of Virginia organized an expedition to hunt Blackbeard
- Lieutenant Maynard hid men below deck and surprised Blackbeard’s crew when boarding
- Blackbeard fought Maynard in a swordfight, shot 4 times, stabbed 20 times, and continued fighting until a final broadsword slash ended him
Pirate Population Peak & Decline
- 1720 → peak with 1,500 – 2,000 pirates in Caribbean & North America
- For comparison, Port Royale (3,000 people), Charleston (5,000), Newfoundland (2,000), NYC (18,000)
- Pirate numbers declined rapidly due to pardons, increased naval patrols, capture rewards, and public executions:
  - 1720 → 2,000 pirates
  - 1723 → 1,000 pirates
  - 1726 → under 200 pirates, fewer than six attacks
Royal Navy in 1718
- 1718 → Royal Navy had 67 “ships-of-the-line”, 63 warships, and 13,000 seamen
- Even the smallest ships had 50 guns, equal to Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge (largest pirate ship)
- 1715 → Only 4 navy ships on East Coast and 5 in Caribbean
Notable Pirate Deaths
- 1718 → Blackbeard killed
- 1722 → Bartholomew Roberts and 52 crewmen hanged
- 1723 → Edward Lowe and 26 crewmen hanged
- 1718 → Stede Bonnet (Blackbeard’s consort) and 33 crewmen hanged

Trials, Executions, and Hanging in Chains

Execution & Display
- For 400+ years, pirates were hanged at Execution Dock on the Thames
- Thousands attended; many pirates gave speeches
- Bodies left for three tides, then removed
- Disposed by unmarked grave, dissection, or hung in chains
- American executions held in Boston, Charleston, Williamsburg, and Newport
- Corpses of notorious pirates (Captain Kidd, Captain Gow, Calico Jack, Charles Vane) displayed in public places
- 1716–1726 → 400 pirates publicly hanged
Pirate Trials
- Trials lasted just 1–2 days, even for large groups
- Pirates had no lawyers and were often uneducated
- Rarely any witnesses testified in their favor

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