Editing Blackbeard (section)

===Last battle===
Maynard found the pirates anchored on the inner side of [[Ocracoke, North Carolina|Ocracoke Island]], on the evening of 21 November.<ref>{{Harvnb|Woodard|2007|pp=289–290}}</ref> He had ascertained their position from ships he had stopped along his journey, but being unfamiliar with the local channels and shoals he decided to wait until the following morning to make his attack.  He stopped all traffic from entering the inlet—preventing any warning of his presence—and posted a lookout on both sloops to ensure that Teach could not escape to sea.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lee|1974|p=113}}</ref> On the other side of the island, Teach was busy entertaining guests and had not set a lookout.  With Israel Hands ashore in Bath with about&nbsp;24 of ''Adventure''{{'}}s sailors, he also had a much-reduced crew. Johnson (1724) reported Teach had "no more than twenty-five men on board" and that he "gave out to all the vessels that he spoke with that he had forty".<ref>{{Harvnb|Johnson|1724|p=81}}</ref>  "Thirteen white and six Negroes", was the number later reported by Brand to the Admiralty.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lee|1974|p=210}}</ref>
{{Quote box |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=center | quote = ''Damn you for Villains, who are you?  And, from whence came you?''  The Lieutenant made him Answer, ''You may see by our Colours we are no Pyrates.  Black-beard'' bid him send his Boat on Board, that he might see who he was; but Mr. ''Maynard'' reply'd thus; ''I cannot spare my Boat, but I will come aboard of you as soon as I can, with my Sloop.''  Upon this, ''Black-beard'' took a Glass of Liquor and drank to him with these Words: ''Damnation seize my Soul if I give you Quarters, or take any from you''.  In Answer to which, Mr. ''Maynard'' told him, ''That he expected no Quarters from him, nor should he give him any''. | source = Reported exchange of views between Teach and Maynard<ref>{{Harvnb|Johnson|1724|p=82}}</ref>{{refn|No separate account of this exchange exists and Johnson's account may be considered a literary decoration.<ref>{{Harvnb|Konstam|2007|p=251}}</ref>|group="nb"}} | align = right | width = 33%}}
At daybreak, preceded by a small boat taking [[Depth sounding|soundings]], Maynard's two sloops entered the channel. The small craft was quickly spotted by ''Adventure'' and fired at as soon as it was within range of her guns. While the boat made a quick retreat to the ''Jane'', Teach cut the ''Adventure''{{'}}s anchor cable.  His crew hoisted the sails and the ''Adventure'' manoeuvred to point her starboard guns toward Maynard's sloops, which were slowly closing the gap.<ref>{{Harvnb|Konstam|2007|pp=246–248}}</ref> Hyde moved ''Ranger'' to the port side of ''Jane'' and the [[Flag of Great Britain|Union flag]] was unfurled on each ship.  ''Adventure'' then turned toward the beach of Ocracoke Island, heading for a narrow channel.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lee|1974|pp=115–117}}</ref> What happened next is uncertain.  Johnson claimed that there was an exchange of [[small arms]] fire following which ''Adventure'' ran aground on a [[Shoal|sandbar]], and Maynard anchored and then lightened his ship to pass over the obstacle.  Another version claimed that ''Jane'' and ''Ranger'' ran aground, although Maynard made no mention of this in his log.<ref>{{Harvnb|Konstam|2007|p=252}}</ref>

The ''Adventure'' eventually turned her guns on the two ships and fired.  The broadside was devastating; in an instant, Maynard had lost as much as a third of his forces.  About 20&nbsp;on ''Jane'' were either wounded or killed and 9&nbsp;on ''Ranger''.  Hyde was dead and his second and third officers either dead or seriously injured.  His sloop was so badly damaged that it played no further role in the attack.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lee|1974|p=118}}</ref> Contemporary accounts of what happened next are confused, but small-arms fire from ''Jane'' may have cut ''Adventure''{{'}}s [[jib sheet]], causing her to lose control and run onto the sandbar.  In the aftermath of Teach's overwhelming attack, ''Jane'' and ''Ranger'' may also have been grounded; the battle would have become a race to see who could float their ship first.<ref>{{Harvnb|Konstam|2007|p=253}}</ref>
[[File:Capture-of-Blackbeard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|''Capture of the Pirate, Blackbeard, 1718'', [[Jean Leon Gerome Ferris]], painted in 1920]]

Maynard had kept many of his men below deck, and in anticipation of being boarded told them to prepare for close fighting. Teach watched as the gap between the vessels closed, and ordered his men to be ready.  The two vessels contacted one another as the ''Adventure''{{'}}s grappling hooks hit their target and several grenades, made from powder and shot-filled bottles and ignited by fuses, broke across the sloop's deck.  As the smoke cleared, Teach led his men aboard, buoyant at the sight of Maynard's apparently empty ship, his men firing at the small group of men with Maynard at the [[stern]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Lee|1974|pp=119–120}}</ref>

The rest of Maynard's men then burst from the hold, shouting and firing. The plan to surprise Teach and his crew worked; the pirates were apparently taken aback at the assault.  Teach rallied his men and the two groups fought across the deck, which was already slick with blood from those killed or injured by Teach's broadside. Maynard and Teach fired their [[flintlock]]s at each other.  Maynard managed to hit Teach, while Teach missed. Both then threw their flintlocks away and drew their cutlasses. Teach broke Maynard's cutlass at the hilt.  Against superior training and a slight advantage in numbers, the pirates were pushed back toward the bow, allowing the ''Jane''{{'}}s crew to surround Maynard and Teach, who was by then completely isolated.<ref>{{Harvnb|Konstam|2007|pp=255–257}}</ref> Teach pressed onward and was about to deliver a killing blow, but was slashed across the neck by one of Maynard's men.  This redirected Teach's cutlass to strike Maynard's knuckles instead of killing him. Badly wounded, Teach was then attacked and killed by several more of Maynard's crew.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Citation |last=Snow |first=Edward Rowe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHI5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT250 |title=Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast |year=2017 |publisher=Edizioni Savine |isbn=9788899914400 }}</ref> The remaining pirates quickly surrendered. Those left on the ''Adventure'' were captured by the ''Ranger''{{'}}s crew, including one who planned to set fire to the powder room and blow up the ship.  Varying accounts exist of the battle's list of casualties; Maynard reported that&nbsp;8 of his men and 12&nbsp;pirates were killed. Brand reported that 10&nbsp;pirates and 11&nbsp;of Maynard's men were killed. Spotswood claimed ten&nbsp;pirates and ten&nbsp;of the King's men dead.<ref name=":1">{{Harvnb|Lee|1974|pp=120–123}}</ref>

[[File:Blackbeard's head.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Edward Teach's severed head hangs from Maynard's bowsprit, as pictured in Charles Elles's ''The Pirates Own Book'' (1837)]]
Maynard later examined Teach's body, noting that it had been shot five times and cut about twenty.  He also found several items of correspondence, including a letter from Tobias Knight.  Teach's corpse was thrown into the inlet and his head was suspended from the [[bowsprit]] of Maynard's sloop so that the reward could be collected.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lee|1974|pp=122, 124}}</ref> On their return to Virginia, Teach's head was placed on a pole at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay as a warning to other pirates and a greeting to other ships, and it stood there for several years.<ref>{{Citation|last=Ready|first=Milton|title=The Tar Heel State: A New History of North Carolina|year=2020|isbn=978-1-64336-099-7|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|page=33|oclc=1162374420}}</ref>