Black Bart Versus Dick Turpin
Black Bart
Background:
When you think about the golden age of piracy, Your mind will go to Blackbeard. Edward Teach is the most famous pirate but he is in a long shot not the most successful. That honor belongs to a gentleman named Bartholomew Roberts, better known as Black Bart.
Born in Wales, in the year of 1682. Little is known about Barts early years. We do know that he went to sea early in his life and was a very competent sailor and he became second mate on the slaver ship princess in 1719.
Things completely changed when the Welsh pirate Howell Davis took control of the ship. Davis found out that Roberts was Welsh as well and forced the man into a life of piracy, which the Catholic Roberts did not like at all.
Bart impressed the other pirates with his navigation skills and when Davis got killed six weeks later, Bart got voted to become the new captain. Even though he had been forced to join, Bart accepted the position. According to some historians of that time, Roberts felt that if he had to be a pirate, he rather be a commander then a common man. His first order of business: Destroy the town where Davis had been killed, to avenge the former captain.
Their first big load was in South America, where he took a treasure fleet that was bound for Portugal. The captain simply sailed towards the bay in Brazil where the fleet of 42 ships and two men of war's were waiting to set sail. Bart acted like he was part of the convoy and took one ship without anybody noticing. Bart then searched for the biggest ship, took it quickly and sailed away with his two new ships. The two warships never were able to catch him.
While Bart went on to chase another ship, a few of his crew members, led by an Irishman named Walter Kennedy, took off with one of the Portuguese ships and most of the loot.
Roberts was furious and swore that it would not happen again, so he started writing something that later got known as the pirate code. Within, he set rules for pirates about: How to behave on ship and off ship, the punishments for breaking the codes and even how to share the loot. Black Bart made any new crew mate swear to these rules and he added a rule that Irishmen could never become full members of his crew.
When Roberts had new crew members and acquired additional loot, he found himself in Barbados. There he aimed to take another ship, not knowing that it was lead by a pirate hunter named Rogers. He was paid by the authorities of Barbados to capture Rogers. The pirate hunter attacked and Rogers was forced to flee. After this incident, Roberts would be extremely cruel to any ship he captured that was from Barbados.
The man then made his way towards Newfoundland. He arrived in June 1720 and found 22 ships anchored. When the crew of the ships and the people of the town saw the black flag, they all fled . Roberts took everything of worth, destroyed 21 ships and the town itself. The one he did not destroy, Roberts kept. The captain continued to sail towards the banks, where he encountered another few french ships. Again, Bart destroyed all but one. This one was a 26 gun ship, that he re-christianed: The Fortune. The fortune would become his flagship in a fleet of pirate ships. The rest of the summer, the pirate captain spend taking more treasure.
Roberts and his men returned to the Caribbean, where they captured dozens of vessels. When he found a good vessel, Black Bart outfitted it for piracy. The best one became his flagship and was named Royal Fortune. At that time, Roberts had fleets of four ships working for him and the captain started referring to himself as the Admiral of the Leeuward Islands. Also when two ships full of would be pirates arrived for some pointers, Roberts took a liking to the men and gave them advice, ammunition and weapons.
Not all was good and Roberts did occasionally have problems with his crew. After killing one of his crew in a brawl, he had to fight off the friends of the man This caused a rift in the crew and the disgruntled men convinced one of his lesser captains to leave with a ship. This Thomas Anstis had a very short and unsuccessful life as a pirate on his own. Roberts himself traveled to Africa, as the Caribbean became too dangerous.
In Africa, Black Bart was able to raid ships along the coast and without any danger, he became very rich and even managed to get a 40 cannon ship as his Flagship. Black Bart was at the height of his strength during this time and could attack anyone without fear.
It was also during this time, that Roberts showed once again, how ruthless he could be. Capturing a slave ship named the Porcupine. Roberts demanded that the captain payed a ransom for the ship. The captain declined, as he did not deal with pirates and Black Bart set the ship on fire. He did not bother to have the slaves escape and they burned with the ship. Those who managed to escape got killed by the sharks in the water.
One of his ships, the Great Ranger, got send to capture a vessel that Roberts spotted. He was unable to go himself because his own ship was getting repairs. The vessel turned out to be a pirate hunter under leadership of Captain Challoner Ogle named the Swallow. A big Man of war that had been looking for Roberts. After a battle that took 2 hours, the Great Ranger got destroyed and its crew arrested. Ogle made some quick repairs to the Great Ranger and send it away as the man himself went back for Roberts.
A crew member named Armstrong had worked on the Swallow and recognized the ship. He informed the Captain, who chose to fight, rather then flee.
The Swallow fired a grapeshot and Roberts got hit in the throat. The captain died in 1722. His crew hoisted the body overboard in the water, per wishes of Black Bart. After an hour however, the pirates lost courage without their captain and they surrendered.
Although Roberts pirate career lasted only three years, he took around 400 ships and was the most successful pirate of his generation.
First of all, I am going to use a slightly other system then with my last match considering weapons. There are a lot of pirate weapons, but only two are known to be used by Black Bart. The issue with Dick Turpin is the same yet different. There are only a few weapons known to be used by highwaymen. Luckily, Dick Turpin was known to two of these weapons himself.
So both warriors were known to use only two weapons, a long range and close range weapon. Therefore I will compare these for each warrior and I will select a long range and a close range weapon to compare, that was most likely used by their respective crew. For Black Bart, these will be two weapons, known to be used by pirates of that era but with Dick Turpin I will chose weapons that were most likely used during that time by that types of people.
The Weapons
Flintlock Pistols:
The weapons of a pirate, flintlock pistols were close range fire weapons. Superior to the earlier wheel lock pistol, the flintlock ignited itself. There were different types of flintlock pistols used in combination with each other and therefore there is no definite length, weight or range. The length of these weapons could differ from five inches to eighteen inches. With the smaller sizes, a pirate could wear more of them but the bigger inches gave more range. Overall. these were small and lightweight weapons. They did tend to misfire and each pistol could only shoot one bullet before it needed to be reloaded. Black Bart was known to use flintlock pistols himself and he always carried four of them in a sash on his chest. Note that if a flintlock pistol misfired, Bart could always use them as melee weapons by hitting opponents in the head with it. Not classy but it did happen.
Spadroon:
Before I start explaining about the spadroon. I found a lot of texts and pictures that indicated that Black Bart did use a sword but I never found specified what sword it was. After looking at the most occurring picture I found of him with sword (see top picture of Black Bart) and comparing them with swords of that era. The spadroon resembles the picture the most and the spadroon is a sword used by naval officers. As a captain of his own fleet and one with a very rich taste, It is okay to assume that Bart did use a spadroon as his personal sword.As I explained, the spadroon is an officers sword and was commonly seen in the British navy. It had a stiff blade which could both cut and thrust. There is little to find about the spadroon but I did find that the quality of these weapon differ a lot. Some were made rather weak wile others were stronger build. It all depended on the maker and the country of origin. I will assume for this battle, that Black Bart had the best quality weapons.
A simple and light sword, this blade was a decent sword and could defend the officer up close if the man was in trouble. The sword of Bart had a small circular cross guard. There is little else to say because there is little information about the personal sword of Black Bart and little information about spadroons in general.
Blunderbuss:
One of the most famous weapons of the pirates is the blunderbuss. The predecessor of the modern day shotgun, the blunderbuss is a muzzle loading firearm. It was used from the 17e century up until the 18e century in both military use and civilian use. As a close range weapon, the blunderbuss was ideal on a ship and pirates quickly found use in the weapon. Being able to shoot multiple pellets at the same time, it could take out multiple opponents in one shot. This was rather useful as the weapon needed to be reloaded after a single shot. It also gets less accurate at longer ranges.
However, the blunderbuss could be loaded with all kinds of stuff. It was not uncommon for pirates to load the blunderbuss with nails, pieces of wood or other junk.
Also take a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCs2RIyeUwc
Boarding axe:
The final pirate weapon we are going to discuss here is the boarding axe. The axe started as a tool on the ships, to cut rope or wood. However sailors soon found out that they could be used in battle and pirates especially found it particular useful. This led to the Boarding axe. Now both a tool and a weapon for the pirates, who used them frequently. The axe was an great way to cut someone down. The axe itself could sometimes be curved, although this did not happen a lot in america and England (the type of axes most logical in possession of Black Bart's crew) These would have more of a flared form. The axe was sharp enough to cut though thick rope in one hit. The spike was slightly curved, making it useful as hook. With it, axe could hook ropes but also climb aboard ships with more ease. It also makes for one nasty weapon.
The handle was around 22 to 28 inches tall and had a ball shape at the end so it would not slip out of the hands of the user easily. It was lighter then a normal axe and could be used one handed or two handed for a stronger blow.
X-factors
Motivation:
Training and experience:
There is little known about Bartholomew Roberts early life, as he only appeared in history when the young man was at sea. It seems unlikely that Bart had any formal training as soldier. Having said that, it was not uncommon for pirates to start in the navy but switch over to a life of piracy when the pay was disappointing. Therefore it is rather possible for Black Bart to have had men on his crew with the training. As I cannot give clear examples, this is pure speculation.
What I can talk about is the experience. What Black Bart lacked in training, he got on the job. The man showed himself to be a very good captain, as shown by the fact that he became the most successful western pirate captain.
The opponents that Black Bart and his pirates faced were commercial ships, the navy and other pirates. On sea. there it was not that easy to escape your opponent. This was of course in favor of pirates but could also work against them when they were being hunted. This meant that there was a lot of fighting on the high seas. Also let us not forget that, half the times, ships would not surrender that easily when attacked. It depended on what kind of load it had and the captain. This meant that pirates had to fight against sailors who were not only defending the load but also their lives.
This gave the pirates a lot of experience fighting professional soldiers and men defending their lives.
Tactics:
There were several tactics that pirates used to capture their prize. and Black Bart knew how to use them. However most of them were centered around surprise. The pirates would use a flag that the target ship would see as friendly and only show the pirate flag when it was too late. Or the pirates would show a white flag, which was an s.o.s flag. Nearby ships were bound by code to come to the aid, right in the pirate trap.
Pirates also did not shy away from terror tactics. When pirates replaced their own flag with a red flag, it would only mean one thing. Either the target ship had to surrender or every single person on board would be killed.Lastly I would like to discuss the pirates attacking land. Pirates preferred to stay off land as it was easier to escape, however sometimes they would attack coastal towns. appearing at night and ransacking everything before heading away on the ships again. When soldiers came in, the pirates were long gone.
Black Bart used the same kind of tactics as all the other pirates.
Links:
http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-pirates/bartholomew-roberts/
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bartholomew-roberts
Dick Turpin
Backgroud:
Many stories have been told about Dick Turpin and his horse black Bess. He was a real life Robin Hood, who once rode at midnight to York. Too bad all those stories were just that. Stories. Who was the real Dick Turpin?
He was born as Richard Turpin in 21-09-1705 in Essex, England. He was the son of a bucher and therefore became an butcher apprentice. However instead of learning an honest trade and becoming a good citizen, Dick joined a gang in Essex called the Gregory gang (named after its leader, Gregory)
While in this gang, he started out with burglary and later on cattle theft and worse.
One particular time within the gang, he and Gregory broke into a farmhouse, where he pored boiling hot water on an old man and raped a woman. He soon also murdered a man called Tom Morris, because the man recognized him as a robber.
When one of his gang mates got captured and turned on them, telling the authorities their names. Although the group continued with their criminal activity, most of them were captured and executed. Dick managed to escape however.
Dick would not stop however and soon became known as a highway robber around the Epping forest. He would not work alone as he got a small crew with him. The group robbed several coaches around the forest but two of them got captured by the authorities and during a failed robbery, Dick shot his ally Tom King.
Alone again, Dick kept on his job as a highway men for some time before disappearing.
When he returned in 1737, Turpin had adopted the name John Palmer and had become a horse thief.
Things would turn for the worse when he shot a cock and threaten to shoot its owner on October 2 1738. He was soon arrested and was charged with stealing sheep and horses.
Turpin was moved to York castle, where he wrote Pompr Rivernall in Hempstead. This was the husband of his sister Dorothy.
His brother in law however refused to pay for the stamp-age as he had no connections in York. The letter was moved from the post office to the school, where his old school teacher recognized his handwriting.
Officials now knew that John Palmer and Dick Turpin were the same person.
John found himself hanging on the noose on April 7, 1739. It should be noted that he was very friendly and on his way to his execution and accepted his fate swiftly.
Although the man was buried in St. George Graveyard, body snatchers dug him up to sell his body. A mob found them and he got reburied at the same graveyard.
The weapons
Flintlock horse pistols:
Also known as the coach pistols, these were used during the English French war. Its a flintlock single shot pistol and has an effective range of 50 yards. Its like any other flintlock pistol but can be used on horseback, hence its name. Turpin tended to aim his pistol while sitting on horse horse as he was robbing his targets. Most of the woodcarvings and drawings of him show him in this situation. Its not known if he carried multiple but considering he was always shown with just one, its to be assumed he only carried one. If you wanted to reload this gun, you had to fill it with gunpowder and a round after every single shot. Considering reloading was rather slow, Dick had to careful with his shot and how he used it. Dick is known to have killed several people and because he managed to evade capture a lot, we can say that he was skilled with this weapon.
Rapier
Its not known if Dick actually carried a rapier in real life. However in most films and tv shows that were made about him, he carried and used one. If you think he should not have this weapon, I am sorry but i do feel that it fits him.
This weapon has a blade of around 41 inches and weights around a kilo. This long bladed weapon can be used to cut but it is mostly a thrusting weapon. With a guard that wraps around the handle, the hand is protected and as it is a single handed weapon, Turpin could hold his flintlock in the other hand. Its as swift as it is deadly. It should be noted that there have been written several historical manuscripts about using this weapon, its doubtful that Turpin studied them or had an intimate knowledge about using this weapon. Therefore i would not consider Turpin a master with the weapon and he would have only used the most basic fencing techniques.
Flintlock pistol:
For the third time this article, the weapon makes its entree. Besides a common pirate weapon, its also a known weapon of highwaymen. Therefore Turpin his crew will carry each one. While pirates carried multiple at a time, highwaymen usually only carried one at a time.
There is very little I can say that I have not mentioned before. A solid weapon that was used a lot before being replaced with other forms of firearms.
Large knife:
Sometimes the most simple weapons are the most effective. A common large knife can be found almost everywhere. This means that this weapon was easy to acquire, needed no skill to use and made for a great weapon for highwaymen. With a sharp edge, its a useful cutting tool. You can also stab with the weapon.
X-Factors
Motivation:
Money is the biggest motivation for highwaymen, How to you get a lot of money fast... robbing people. Part will also probably be sadism for some of the highwaymen and reading about some of the things that Dick Turpin has done, he might actually have enjoyed the pain and suffering he caused. However this is pure speculation and the main motivator that we can be certain on.. is money.
Training and experience:
Training is non existent. He was a butcher and would have skill with a knife but this skill would not help in combat. Furthermore he had no training at all with flintlock pistols. He did have a lot of experience due to all the robbing and killing that he did. That being said, there is a difference between killing someone who cannot defend himself against someone who can.
Tactics:
The famous stand and deliver. Highwaymen would ambush their targets. When robbing travelers, they would wait in ambush and surprise their targets. When robbing houses, they would enter at night. If your target is unprepared, you have the advantage.
Links:
https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/the-myth-of-highwayman-dick-turpin-outlives-the-facts/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Turpin
Comparing the fighters
Flintlock pistols vs flintlock horse pistol
How to compare these two flintlock pistols. Neither warrior wore any armour that could help against the weapon. Also both pistols could possible misfire and both could be used as a blunt weapon in that case.
Both had similar accurate ranges and neither fighter was a trained and perfect marksman with the weapon.
Having said that, there are a couple of small differences between the weapons. The horse pistol was a bit bigger with a longer barrel and could be used on horseback. These are small advantages that possible can help. However Black Bart has four advantages. He carried four of his pistols. If any of them misfired, he still had three others. Turpin only had one shot before reloading. Because of this, I will give a small advantage to Black Bart.
Small edge: Black Bart
Spadroon vs Rapier
Again two similar weapons to compare. Both are light one handed swords that can both trust and cut the opponent. Again, neither fighter wore any armor to protect against the blade of the other. We can only assume that both were skilled enough with the weapons.
The spadroon is slightly thicker but the rapier is a bit longer and the hilt actually protects the hand of the user. Because of these small differences, I will give it the egde. Longer weapons are slightly better but the hand protection is really important.
Small edge: Dick Turpin
Blunderbuss vs flintlock pistol
This time we do have two completely different weapons to compare. I have already talked about the flintlock pistol and you know its advantages and disadvantages. The bunderbuss has a shorter accurate range then the flintlock and just as the flintlock, it could misfire. Having said that, it will do much more damage. Due to the spread damage, it has a bigger chance to kill an opponent or even taking out two with one shot. It really is a nasty weapon.
Although the flintlock has a longer accurate range, the more damage that the blunderbuss can do gives it the edge. That shrapnel can be very nasty.
Small edge: Black Bart
Boarding axe vs large knife
For this comparison, we have two tools that got turned into weapons. The axe could be used to cut the opponent down or hook his leg or even his weapon away. The knife could be used to cut and trust at the opponent.
The knife has more ways to kill the opponent and could be hidden for a surprise attack. The boarding axe however can possible control the opponent and its cutting power is much greater then the knife. The biggest difference between the weapons is the defensive capabilities. The axe can be used to block attacks from the knife but the knife will have a hard time doing the same. Not only that but the axe can be used with two hands for a bigger impact.
Small edge: Black Bart
Motivation
Both warriors had the same motivation in money. Both wanted more and used force to get it. As for their men, we know that the pirates trusted Black Bart and we are not sure how loyal other highwaymen were to Dick Turpin. Considering he shot one, it might not have been the greatest. Having said that however we compare these two and both criminals wanted money.
Therefore there is no edge to either.
No edge
Training and experience
Neither had any formal training in battle and both relied on experience. To decide this egde, I will look at the opponents of both men. Dick Turpin mostly fought, robbed and killed travelers or homeowners. People who had very little skill and most of the time no weapons to fight back. These were easy targets and Dick would have very little resistance. You can get good with your weapons this way but you miss fighting experience.
Black Bart however took other ships by force and had to defend himself against soldiers. His targets were all armed and ready to fight for their lives. This means that Bart actually got experience in fighting and defending himself.
Edge: Black Bart
Tactics
Both fighters preferred to surprise their opponents but in different ways. As a pirate, Black Bart used his ship to trick other ships or ambush small towns. These were large scale tactics. Highwaymen preferred a smaller form by ambushing a small group. Considering both will be working with four men, Turpin's tactic will be more effective in this situation. Having said that, there is one big issue with this tactic:
The highwaymen would aim their weapons and demand money instead of starting with killing. It is possible that the first attack actually comes from the pirates in this scenario.
Small edge: Dick Turpin
The fight!
The pirate captain Bartholomew Roberts slowly made his way through the forest. He had been forced to visit a city land inwards and now it was time to return to the ship. He was accompanied by four of his men. 'What is the plan?' a younger man named Will asked. 'We will head back to the Caribbean and if we find a ship on our way....' All the men laughed at this as they knew what would happen.
Because of their laughter, they never noticed the sounds from the brushes or the shadows of the men who were sneaking towards them.
'Stand and deliver.' Dick Turpin yelled as he jumped in front of the sailors and aimed his pistol at the captain. His friends followed and surrounded the other group, each aiming a weapon.
At first, Bart looked up with surprise, before looking at the man in front of him. Someone had the gall to rob him. 'Do you know who I am, boy?' He asked the person in front of him. 'I do no not and I do not care. Now give me all your money.' Was the answer.
It was one of the pirates who fired his blunderbuss first and the highwaymen stopped a second in surprise as they saw how one of their own fell on the ground, howling in pain.
A moment of silence before everyone moved. One of the robbers ran towards the pirate who just shot and planted his large knife in the neck of the pirate.
While this counterattack happened, Dick Turpin fired his flintlock at the pirate called Will, before the latter could shoot him. This allowed for Black Bart to draw his sword and attack Dick. Using his now useless pistol to create some space, he drew his own sword to engage the pirate. This was not going according to plan.
As the two dueled, a pirate fired his blunderbuss while a highwayman fired his flintlock. The bullet from the flintlock hit the shoulder of the pirate while the pellets from the blunderbuss caved in the chest of the highwayman, His friend with the bloodied knife meanwhile was trying to kill another pirate but the knife met the boarding axe of the the pirate and as he pushed the knife away, the axe found its way into the throat of the robber, who went down instantly.
As the others were fighting, Dick and Bart were still dueling. The blades hit each other as neither man managed to cut the opponent. Dick was however pushed back with every clash. As the two swords met again, Turpin finally managed to push through and cut the chin of the pirate before he had to step back and just barely avoided a slash from the sword of the other.
Stepping back for a moment, the free hand of Black Bart went to towards his belt and as Turpin lunged to attack, he blocked the attack to follow up with aiming his flintlock pistol. The weapon went off and the bullet hit Turpin in between his eyes. 'Oh' Was all Dick Turpin could say before he fell down, never to speak again.
Bart turned around, only to stand eye in eye with the last robber, who was about to kill him as he had killed their leader. The flintlock went off with a click and nothing happened.
Taking his chance, Bart cut the hand holding the pistol and in one quick move, beheaded the last man.
Only two of his four men were left, one with a wounded shoulder. 'Come let's go to the ship. You need to see the doctor.' He said to the man.
Winner: Black Bart
Conclusion:
The two criminals were pretty similar. Both attacked innocent people for financial gain. They also carried some of the same weapons. There were just a couple big difference between the two.
Where Dick Turpin mostly robbed and seldom killed. the pirates needed to kill a lot more and had more experience actually fighting opponents. This was a case of a robber fighting a killer. Had Turpin actually killed instantly instead of trying to rob his opponent, things would have looked different.
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