In 1718 Governor Spotswood of Virginia sent an expedition to North
Carolina, which succeeded in surprising, capturing, and beheading the
notorious "Black Beard," who in company with one Stede Bonnet, had long
ravaged the coast with impunity.
In August of the same year word was brought to Charlestown that Bonnet
with his ship the _Royal James_ was refitting in the Cape Fear River.
Colonel William Rhett volunteered to attack him. With two sloops of
eight guns each, the _Henry_ and the _Nymph_, and about 130 men in all,
he set sail, and found Bonnet at anchor in the Cape Fear River. In
making the attack, and during the encounter, all three ships ran
aground. The fight raged desperately all day between the _Henry_ and the
_Royal James_, the _Nymph_ being unable to get off the shoal and come to
the help of her companion ship. Bonnet finally surrendered and was taken
prisoner to Charlestown. It is this adventure which the poem celebrates.
Bonnet escaped, but was afterwards recaptured by Colonel Rhett on
Sullivan's Island.
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