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2 The day pirates attacked the Morning Star

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Atlantic Piracy in the Early Nineteenth Century
This chapter is in the book Atlantic Piracy in the Early Nineteenth Century
2The day pirates attacked the Morning StarIn this age of peace, when merchant vessels should cross the seas with-out fear of molestation, none dare venture to foreign parts without being armed, and manned accordingly. (Andrew Beyerman, A Narrative of Atrocities, 1830)Just after dawn on 19 February 1828, the Morning Star arrived within twenty four kilometres of Ascension Island.1 The remoteness of the little windswept island cannot be overstated. Its nearest neighbour in the South Atlantic Ocean is St Helena, over a thousand kilometres away. The coasts of South America and Africa lie across over 2,000 kilometres of ocean either side. It would be a stretch to say Ascension enjoyed a constant flow of ocean-going traffic. How-ever, given the dearth of alternative fixed points for measuring the time for the chronometer and the island’s 859-metre high peak that rose majestically into the clouds, it did attract a surprising number of passing ships.2The Morning Star had missed sighting St Helena, so Captain Thomas Gibbs decided it would be prudent to ascertain the ship’s longitude on the chronometer at Ascension. The Morning Star had already made excellent time on its voyage from Ceylon so it was a worthwhile diversion. The ship had departed Colombo on 13 December 1827 with a cargo of ebony, pepper, cinnamon and coffee; and a mixed selection of fifty-two crew, passengers, 1 A. B., A Narrative of the Atrocities Committed by the Crew of the Piratical Brig ‘El Defensor De Pedro’ with a Brief Account of the Trial and Execution of the Pirates to Which Is Prefixed, the Confession of the Crew (London: Effingham Wilson, 1830), 18.2 According to the Ascension Island government, in the early nineteenth century the island was exceptionally barren. In the 1840s, a huge venture in ecological ter-raforming began that involved mass planting of organised forests, shrublands and pasture to increase the island’s rainfall and create a more liveable environment for the garrisons stationed there. As a result of this effort, the mountain is now called Green Mountain.
© 2022, Boydell and Brewer

2The day pirates attacked the Morning StarIn this age of peace, when merchant vessels should cross the seas with-out fear of molestation, none dare venture to foreign parts without being armed, and manned accordingly. (Andrew Beyerman, A Narrative of Atrocities, 1830)Just after dawn on 19 February 1828, the Morning Star arrived within twenty four kilometres of Ascension Island.1 The remoteness of the little windswept island cannot be overstated. Its nearest neighbour in the South Atlantic Ocean is St Helena, over a thousand kilometres away. The coasts of South America and Africa lie across over 2,000 kilometres of ocean either side. It would be a stretch to say Ascension enjoyed a constant flow of ocean-going traffic. How-ever, given the dearth of alternative fixed points for measuring the time for the chronometer and the island’s 859-metre high peak that rose majestically into the clouds, it did attract a surprising number of passing ships.2The Morning Star had missed sighting St Helena, so Captain Thomas Gibbs decided it would be prudent to ascertain the ship’s longitude on the chronometer at Ascension. The Morning Star had already made excellent time on its voyage from Ceylon so it was a worthwhile diversion. The ship had departed Colombo on 13 December 1827 with a cargo of ebony, pepper, cinnamon and coffee; and a mixed selection of fifty-two crew, passengers, 1 A. B., A Narrative of the Atrocities Committed by the Crew of the Piratical Brig ‘El Defensor De Pedro’ with a Brief Account of the Trial and Execution of the Pirates to Which Is Prefixed, the Confession of the Crew (London: Effingham Wilson, 1830), 18.2 According to the Ascension Island government, in the early nineteenth century the island was exceptionally barren. In the 1840s, a huge venture in ecological ter-raforming began that involved mass planting of organised forests, shrublands and pasture to increase the island’s rainfall and create a more liveable environment for the garrisons stationed there. As a result of this effort, the mountain is now called Green Mountain.
© 2022, Boydell and Brewer

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. Illustrations viii
  4. Preface ix
  5. Acknowledgements xi
  6. 1 Captain Johnson sparks a media storm 1
  7. 2 The day pirates attacked the Morning Star 22
  8. 3 A pirate bargain – women and sexual violence at sea 38
  9. 4 Pirates of the 1820s 58
  10. 5 On the Defensor de Pedro 86
  11. 6 Cashing in 108
  12. 7 The pirates on trial 127
  13. 8 The pirates who came next 149
  14. Epilogue 174
  15. Select bibliography 177
  16. Index 195
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781800104365-005

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. Illustrations viii
  4. Preface ix
  5. Acknowledgements xi
  6. 1 Captain Johnson sparks a media storm 1
  7. 2 The day pirates attacked the Morning Star 22
  8. 3 A pirate bargain – women and sexual violence at sea 38
  9. 4 Pirates of the 1820s 58
  10. 5 On the Defensor de Pedro 86
  11. 6 Cashing in 108
  12. 7 The pirates on trial 127
  13. 8 The pirates who came next 149
  14. Epilogue 174
  15. Select bibliography 177
  16. Index 195
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