This timeline of the history of
piracy in the 1680s is a chronological list of key events involving
pirates between 1680 and 1689.
Events
1680
Bartholomew Sharp embarks on the "Pacific Adventure", a raid on Spanish settlements on the South American west coast. One crewman, Basil Ringrose, writes an account of the expedition, later published by
Alexandre Exquemelin.
John Williams captures James Kelley on a slave ship off the coast of West Africa, making him a crewmember.
April 15 – Landing on the
Isthmus of Darien,
John Coxen leads 331 buccaneers, including Bartholomew Sharp,
William Dampier,
Lionel Wafer,
Basil Ringrose,
William Dick and
John Cox, divided into five groups consisting of Bartholomew Sharp,
Richard Sawkins,
Peter Harris, John Coxon and
Edmund Cook. Marching towards the Spanish stronghold of
Santa Maria the buccaneers first met with the
Mosquito Indians who had reported it contained a large amount of
gold dust. The Spaniards, however, had been warned of their approach and had sent the gold to
Panama so by the time the buccaneers reached Santa Maria most of the party were in favour of stealing out on the Pacific Ocean in the Mosquito's canoes. While Coxon and his party were against the proposal, he was persuaded to stay and keep command of the expedition.
April 19–20 – Travelling in canoes into the
Bay of Panama, the buccaneers capture a Spanish vessel of 30 tons as well as a small Spanish
barque taken the following day.
April 23 – Arriving at Panama the buccaneers encountered three Spanish warships, one of which was commanded by
Captain Peralta who had previously fought against Sir
Henry Morgan's raid on Panama a decade before, engaging in a day-long battle which ended after two of the Spanish ships were boarded thus forcing the remaining ship to retreat. There were 48 casualties consisting of 18 killed and 30 wounded, including
Peter Harris who died ten days later.
July – After taking the Caracas seaport of La Guayra the previous month, the buccaneers (under Michel de Granmont) are driven from Caracas by Spanish defenders.
January – A mutiny is made against
Bartholomew Sharp and
John Watling is elected Captain. He attacks the Spanish settlement of
Arica, Chile. He is heavily outnumbered by the Spanish, the attack fails and he is killed.
May–August –
William Wright along with eight other privateers, later joined an additional 50 English South Sea sailors, departs the
San Blas Islands to raid the Spanish city of
Cartago, Costa Rica however many of the privateers miss the rendezvous at
San Andrés Island. Despite this setback Wright continues on with French privateers
Captain Archambaud and
Captain Toccart later capturing a Spanish
tartane which he later gives to 30 of the South Sea sailors who refused to sail with the French privateer whom they had joined at San Blias. Sailing towards
Corn Island and later
Bluefield's River Wright leaves the French privateers.
September – While at
Boca del Toro Wright joined Dutch Captain
Yankey Willems, who had no
commission of war, and departed the city sailing along the coast of
Colombia. Near
Cartagena Yankey sized a Spanish ship with a large cargo of
sugar and
tobacco. Traveling to
Curaçao the two attempted to sell the Spanish cargo but are forced to leave by the Dutch governor where they continued to the
Aves Island and to the
Islas Roques staying until February of the following year.
Pierre le Picard is reported by Governor of
Jamaica Sir
Henry Morgan raiding English and Spanish shipping off the coast of Jamaica. This is the last that is heard of Picard who disappears soon after until his return from a French South Sea buccaneering expedition in
1685.
May –
Thomas Lynch returns as Governor of Jamaica.
October –
Jean Hamlin captures between sixteen and eighteen ships near Jamaica before being forced to leave the area by a
frigate sent by Governor Thomas Lynch that fails to capture Hamlin.
December – Another frigate, the
Guernsey, is sent by Governor Thomas Lynch to capture Jean Hamlin however Hamlin manages to elude being captured once again. With ex-buccaneers such as
John Coxen closing in, Hamlin fled from his base in
Ile-la-vache sailing towards
St. Thomas where he was given sanctuary by governor
Adolph Esmit.
1683
January – French pirate
Jean Hamlin takes the British ship Thomas and William, Richard North commander, near the
Isle of Ash, off Hispaniola. Later, the crew reluctantly lets a French man-of-war escorting two Guinea ships continue unharmed. After trading peacefully with
Adolph Esmit, Governor of
St. Thomas, Hamlin captures a ketch out of
Nevis.[1]
February – An act is passed by the
House of Assembly of Jamaica (An Act For the Restraining and Punishing Privateers and Pirates.) prohibiting trade with pirates.
March – Pirate hunter
Thomas Pain, allegedly commissioned by Jamaican Governor
Thomas Lynch, leads a group of privateers in a raid against
St. Augustine, Florida however they soon withdraw to
New Providence after looting several nearby villages.
May –
Jean Hamlin raids shipping off the coast of
Sierra Leone capturing English and Dutch ships. Later that year Hamlin's band split into separate bands with Hamlin returning to the Caribbean. Arriving in
St. Thomas in late 1683 or early 1684 Hamlin's ship
La Trompeuse was burned in the island's harbor by English naval officer
Captain Carlile commanding
HMS Francis. Hamlin would be granted refuge in St. Thomas by Danish Governor
Adolph Esmit until his removal in October 1684.[2]
December – Laurens de Graaf leads a successful
raid on Cartagena capturing several large ships for his pirate fleet.
January – In retaliation for the
St. Augustine raid in
1683 Spanish forces raid
New Providence. Later that year the Spanish burn the town killing several of the settlements defenders and taking others captive to
Havana. The remaining survivors flee to
Jamaica and the
Carolinas as the English
Bahamas colony is abandoned.
One of the last great buccaneering raids is attempted in the unsuccessful attack on the city of
Panama by a force of about 3,000 men led by
Edward Davis,
John Eaton,
Charles Swan, and several others. With the outbreak of the
War of the Grand Alliance in 1689 these men, as well most of the remaining buccaneers, would become legitimate
privateers as the era of buccaneering came to a close.
May – A fleet of French buccaneers, including
Pierre le Picard, crosses the
Isthmus of Panama on their way to the South Sea and loot
Guayaquil. Later that year Picard leaves the South Sea expedition and returns to the Caribbean. On his way to the Caribbean he attacks and loots the city of
Segovia.
September – The
Armada de Barlovento return to Campeche, with a loss of three ships from a
hurricane, the remaining fleet encountered Graff's fleet off
Cabo Catoche, on the way back from the raid on Campeche. The armada succeeded in sinking one ship and capturing another. While pursuing Graff's already heavily damaged flagship the explosion of a cannon on one of the armada vessels, killing three gunners, allowed Lorencillo to escape. Held responsible for abandoning the chase several Armada officers were suspended from duty. Two days following the battle Armada commander
Ochoa died at sea from a sudden illness. However the Armada had captured 120 sailors, many of whom later defected from
La Salle's colony, agreeing to reveal La Salle's plans for a French settlement on a river known as the "
Michipipi" in exchange for escaping the death penalty. This information would later lead the Armada de Barlovento to launch a series of expeditions along the
Gulf of Mexico to locate this colony.
1686
Michel de Grammont, sailing from
Yucatán along with the rest of the
buccaneer fleet, becomes separated from the other ships while trying to evade a
storm, and is never seen again.
The
Armada de Barlovento embarks on a three-year expedition to locate and destroy
La Salle's colony which French
privateers had been using as a base to raid Spanish shipping in the
Gulf of Mexico. The expedition would see the rebirth of exploration of the
Gulf of Mexico and the southeastern coast of North America which would provide valuable information to future European maps of the region.
Spanish raiders based in
St. Augustine, Florida attack nearby settlements in
Charleston, South Carolina as a response to the rising pirate haven in the Carolinas. A counterattack, planned by the French, is prohibited by recently arriving Governor
James Colleton.
March 31 – Captain Swan sails from Cabo Corrientes on an expedition to the Orient. William Dampier later joins Swan's crew on the Cygnet.
Future governor of
MassachusettsWilliam Phips salvages a Spanish treasure ship, worth around £300,000, off the coast of northern Hispaniola. He is knighted for this deed.
January – Captain
Joseph Bannister, an English pirate who had eluded capture by Jamaican authorities for over two years, is captured and hanged on
HMS Ruby in
Port Royal.
December – The
Duke of Albemarle arrives in Port Royal as Governor of Jamaica.
July 8 — Thomas Pound, with six men including Thomas Hawkins, Thomas Johnson, Eleazer Buck, John Siccaden, Richard Griffen and Benjamin Blake sailed a sloop to Lovell's Island where they were joined by sailors Daniel Lander, Samuel Watts, William Warren, William Dun and Henry Dripper.
August 16 — Thomas Pound captures the
sloop Godspeed near Race Point. Exchanging their smaller ship for the Godspeed the Captain, John Smart, is sent with a message from Pound to Boston authorities that he knew where the English naval sloop was located. However, if they continued to pursue Pound "she should find hot work for they would die every man before they would be taken."