Charlotte de Berry
Some
time after gaining control of her own pirate ship, Charlotte's crew
began to not only trust her, but to respect her as well. They
knew of
her status as a woman, but they also knew of the skill that she showed
when they went up against other ships. The skill that Charlotte
showed during the raids allowed the men to trust in her command and
follow her without hesitating.
Such loyalty was required when
on a
routine run off the African coast, her usual hunting ground, they came
across a ship that was much larger than their own, and with a far
bigger crew. These small little
facts were only cause for
Charlotte to want it even more. That, and the fact that Charlotte
knew
you did not outfit a ship with that much firepower unless you had
something big worth protecting, in this case gold-dust.
Charlotte
gave the command to head straight for the other ship, an English ship
known as "Lizard," and to raise the black flag of a pirate.
The raising of the black pirate flag left the captain of the Lizard
only one choice of action at this point: to
continue
straight ahead for Charlotte's ship, the "Trader," and prepare to
fight.
Charlotte's ship was more agile and faster because it was
smaller, while the English ship relied more on firepower and close
range.
Once the two ships came within
range of each other, the massacre
began. There was a constant battle on both sides to keep the
other off
the deck. The battle was like a tug of war. At one point
Charlotte and
her
crew began to board the Lizard, only to later be pushed back by
the
English.
Then it would be the English that would board the Trader only to
be pushed back by the pirates. The fighting continued for
some time,
with both ships incurring a lot of damage and many casualties.
When
it looked as though Charlotte and her crew were about to lose, she
gathered what was left of her resolve and pushed herself to the front
of the fighting. Seeing this, her men were again infused with her
fighting spirit and helped her to push back against the English.
Charlotte was armed with two pistols and before she could get a shot
off, both of the pirates standing next to her fell dead to the
ground.
Charlotte's response to this was to aim, with deadly accuracy, and kill
the English who had killed her men.
At the sight of Charlotte's
resolve, the English were then pushed back onto their own ship in full
retreat. Unbeknownst
to the English, their ship had taken on too much damage and sank
shortly after. The Lizard, her men, and her cargo were then
buried
deep within the sea.
This conflict was hard on both
the Trader,
and her crew. Charlotte led the Trader and her crew into a hidden
creek
where
both the boat and the crew would have time to heal and prepare for
their next skirmish.
Author's Note:
It is because of the loyalty
and
respect that Charlotte had from her crew that nobody questioned going
up against a much stronger ship. Even after losing many men in
her
attempt to conquer the Lizard, the crew she had left was still
incredibly loyal to her, although maybe a little more willing to speak
up the next time she might try to lead them against a ship that had a
much
bigger advantage.
This story only goes to show,
"You win some,
you lose some." It is applicable to many aspects of life,
especially to people follow a dangerous walk of life, like that
of a
pirate.
A pirate's life is incredibly risky. The story goes to show that
while
they put forth a bunch of effort they are not guaranteed of
results. This is why the gold dust is still sitting on the bottom
of the ocean
floor and nobody is profiting from it.
I especially like this story because it portrays the pirates as the
underdog. Typically people think that because pirates have the
advantage of stealth that they are the likely winners. This story
shows that pirates do not always win. Piracy is a game of luck
and
skill.
Bibliography: Edward
Lloyd's History of the
Pirates,
April 30th, 1836. Websource.
Image Information: This
is a picture of a female pirate. Websource.