Picture source: Atlas Obscura
During the Golden Age of Piracy, pirates roamed the open seas, seeking glory and booty. They led lives of lawlessness, pillaging, and crime, and of these deeds, tales were told. In those days, a Black pirate rose in reputation and was called Black Caesar.
Simply known as Caesar at first, this pirate didn’t start his journey as a criminal. Instead, he lived somewhere in West Africa before the events that led to his descent into lawlessness.
Although there is a limit to what anyone can verify about these marauders, enough evidence exists to confirm some facts about this man. From being a captive to ruling an island and going on to sail with Blackbeard himself, this is the tale of Black Caesar.
Background and Capture
Black Caesar’s story starts in a village in West Africa where he ruled as a tribal chief. He was reported to be a huge man and displayed a cunning streak that helped him evade slave takers.
Despite his multiple evasions, Caesar later fell for a slave trader’s trick. The man got his attention by showing him a clock. Satisfied with Caesar’s interest, the slave trader told him he had more treasures and equipment to show him. But he couldn’t bring everything from his ship, as they were too heavy to carry or move by hand. Caesar agreed to board his ship to look at these pieces of equipment.
However, the slave trader already gave his men the order to set sail slowly once Caesar and his men had been enticed with all he promised.
The plan worked and by the time the tribal leader and his men realized they had been tricked, it was too late. Since the ship was already out in the open sea, the only option left was to try to overpower the slave trader and his men to turn the ship around.
Unfortunately, they were driven back due to the superior weapons of the slave traders. And so, Caesar’s voyage into slavery began.
Escape
Having gotten what he wanted, the slave trader set sail. Aboard the ship, Caesar eventually made a friend with one of the sailors. He collected food and water only from the man and came to trust him.
The ship that carried the slaves was headed for Florida. However, upon getting close to the Florida Reefs, the crew encountered a storm that threatened to destroy the ship. Caesar’s friend snuck to him free and together they escaped from the doomed ship on a longboat.
They made it to the shore as the only survivors of the storm.
Piracy Years
After escaping the slave ship, Caesar and his friend began to use the longboat to rob any passing ship that fell for his trick. Their mode of operation revolves around pretending to be stranded sailors in need of help. Any ship that stopped to lend aid would be boarded and raided. The ammunition they used came from the destroyed slaver’s ship.
Picture source – Pop’s Soapbox
Eventually, the two gained lots of treasure that they hid in Elliot Key. Some years later, Caesar and his friend had a fight over a young woman taken from one of the raided ships. This disagreement caused the Black pirate to kill his closest friend and marked the end of their partnership.
Caesar went on to recruit more men and eventually gathered enough to venture into the open sea. The pirates started raiding ships but also had some ways of evading capture when routed.
Although records of his latter years of piracy are few, enough evidence has shown that Caesar served on Queen Anne’s Revenge – Blackbeard’s ship. He was also said to be aboard the ship when Blackbeard met his end.
Death
There are several variations of Black Caesar’s death, with some believing he died by blowing up the ship per Blackbeard’s instructions. Another account stated that Caesar was captured and tried but was not sentenced and he returned to the possession of a prominent individual as a slave.
However, the most popular version states that Black Caesar was captured and hanged as a pirate.
Regardless of how he might have met his end, Black Caesar left a mark in the history of piracy and crime on the open seas.
Side Facts:
- Black Caesar had a harem of up to one hundred women. He captured them from attacked ships.
- The Black pirate also had lots of prisoners that he kept on his island. However, he often left them with no food whenever going out on raids. As a result of this, some of them die of starvation from time to time.
- Caesar’s Rock is named after Black Caesar.
