During the golden age of piracy from 1660 to 1730, English colonists and mariners throughout the lower Chesapeake Bay had good reason to fear for their property — as well as their lives.
Cape Henry at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay in old Princess Anne County was a particularly attractive location for seaborn brigands to lay in wait for merchant vessels laden with valuable cargo.
“We’re close to the coast in this part of Virginia, so there were a lot of ships coming and going,” said Mary Taylor, historic interpreter at the Thoroughgood House in Virginia Beach.
Argall Thorowgood and his neighbors on the Lynnhaven River were not oblivious to the perils presented by pirates who prowled the Virginia Capes. From Elizabeth City (Hampton today) to Cape Henry, the waters were all but unprotected.
“There was fear because the pirates were pillaging the ships and creating a deficit of supplies that the colonists needed,” Taylor said. “They were stealing ships with cargos that included enslaved Africans, gold and alcohol.”
In November 1690, Thorowgood — and others along the Lynnhaven — were ordered by High Sheriff George Newton to keep continual watch at the mouth of the Lynnhaven River regarding the arrivals of the ships that entered at the capes while giving “timely notice” to the local militia officers.
“Piracy at that time was obviously a concern. John Thorowgood, the brother of Argall Thorowgood I, was tasked to be on the lookout for pirates in Lynnhaven Bay,” said Annmarie Reilly-Kay, director of the Virginia Beach History Museums. “The focus of this (Pirates and Piracy) program is on how the family here had a connection to what was happening at the time of piracy.”
Blackbeard was among the most feared of pirates. He went out of his way to inspire anxiety in sailors and the general citizenry. He included government officials as targets and accomplices.
“People feared Blackbeard. He had that menacing look with the black beard and black outfit,” Reilly-Kay said. “He was up and down the coast. It wasn’t just here in Virginia. It was in Ocracoke that they ended up getting him. They put his head on a pike as a warning to other pirates.”
Adam Thorowgood III owned an ordinary on the Lynnhaven. Following the battle between the pirate vessel La Paix and the HMS Shoreham, Thorowgood was actively involved in the “counter-piracy effort” in Princess Anne County.
Maritime suppliers around Lynnhaven Bay catered to merchantmen, providing water, provisions and seafaring gear, as well as entertainment for sailors seeking land-based diversion from the tedious routine of shipboard life.
Lynnhaven Bay was a haven for merchant ships, warships and privateers — and certainly an occasional pirate vessel or flotilla — entering or leaving the Chesapeake.
Pirate Louis Guittar, a Frenchman, wreaked havoc in the lower Chesapeake in the spring of 1700. Captain William Passenger of the HMS Shoreham received word that a pirate ship — La Paix — was hanging out in Lynnhaven Bay attacking merchant ships laden with highly prized cargo. The predatory intruder was Captain Louis Guittar. Guittar’s ship, La Paix, was a 200-ton vessel armed with 20 guns and 150 men.
“French pirate Louis Guittar came into Lynnhaven Bay. We know that there were others in the Chesapeake Bay,” interpreter Mary Taylor said. “Guittar was probably the most damaging here. Of course, Blackbeard did a lot of damage along the Virginia and Carolina coastline.”
In less than a week, Guittar and his men had seized no fewer than three vessels, kidnapped the crews and looted the ships. Captain Passenger received an urgent message from Francis Nicholson, governor of Virginia, requesting assistance in subduing the pirates aboard La Paix.
Governor Nicholson joined Captain Passenger aboard the HMS Shoreham, anchored three leagues from Lynnhaven Bay — and waited until sunrise. Guittar spotted the Shoreham and turned La Paix to attack the British warship.
The ships exchanged gunfire at close range for almost ten hours. In the afternoon, the wind picked up, and the Shoreham outmaneuvered the pirate ship. During the exchange of fire, Captain Passenger had managed to shatter the masts, damage the rigging and destroy several guns aboard the pirate vessel. The La Paix attempted to escape but crashed onto the shore.
Guittar refused to surrender, threatening to blow up his ship with the captured victims from merchant vessels in the hold unless Passenger agreed to quarter — or mercy.
Governor Nicholson, concerned for the welfare of the hostages seized by the pirates, agreed that as long as the pirates surrendered peaceably, he would “refer them to the king’s mercy.”
Between 25 and 30 pirates had been killed in the fighting. Of the 124 pirates who surrendered, 111 were taken to England for final judgment. Guittar and 23 of his men were hanged in London in a single day.
Three pirates who had escaped the custody of Major John Thorowgood, sheriff of Princess Anne County — John Hoogling, Cornelius Franc, and Francois Delaunee — were later recaptured in Accomac and hanged in Virginia.
While the threat posed by Louis Guittar and La Paix was quickly resolved, the inhabitants of Princess Anne County clearly recognized the necessity of vigilance for seaborn danger.
Piracy along the Old Dominion’s coastline remained a huge concern in the Chesapeake. Blackbeard — the most famous pirate of his era — regarded the Virginia Capes as his stomping ground. He established his headquarters in Bath Town, North Carolina, a distance of 100 miles as the crow flies from Princess Anne County.
Governor Alexander Spotswood sent an expedition to Carolina to capture Blackbeard and his crew. In 1718, Blackbeard was killed in the fight — his severed brought to Virginia and mounted on a post at the entrance to the Hampton River as a warning to others who might be considering piracy as a career choice. Some members of Blackbeard’s crew were hanged after trials in Williamsburg.
Blackbeard was not the last pirate. With warships and public hangings, British authorities continued their determined efforts to eliminate the scourge of piracy in the West Indies and along the Atlantic coast.
Princess Anne County (Virginia Beach) legend and lore about pirates and buried treasure no doubt stem from the Battle of Lynnhaven Bay between Pirate Louis Guittar’s La Paix and the Shoreham, as well as Blackbeard’s exploits in the Chesapeake Bay and his nasty “nest of pirates” on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Following the Pirates and Piracy focus program and the guided house tour, staff members provided visitors with snacks and offered a number of follow-up activities — among them completing a crossword puzzle to qualify for booty from the treasure chest prize box.
“There are prizes for adults and children,” said Lex Becraft, a staff tour guide. “We have temporary (pirate-inspired) tattoos for everyone — and an exhibit to check out in the house,” she said. “We also have pirate-themed things — pencils, tote bags, mugs.”
Mark Gingrich, a local resident, was among those who participated in the Pirates and Piracy evening focus program.
“There is so much history around here. I learned that there was more piracy in the area than I had ever known,” Gingrich said. “There was a lot of traffic (ships) coming through here, and it makes sense that pirates would target this area.”
Jessica Feurhahn initiated a group visit to the Thoroughgood House. She and her children were among the first to experience the program.
“I thought they would enjoy learning about pirates and the history. It’s interesting,” Feurhahn said. “I thought pirates would be a subject that would intrigue them. Kids like pirates.”
