Pirates, Privateers, and Rebel Raiders of the Carolina Coast

May 29, 2000
Covering the period from the early 1700s to the end of the Civil War, Butler, history professor emeritus at North Carolina's Rockingham Community College, paints eight compelling sketches of the rogues and Confederate ship captains who operated in the state's coastal waters. Blackbeard springs to life in the book's first biography--he had retired from pirating when he was killed by a naval expedition hired by the Virginia provincial government. Following an equally interesting portrait of pirate Stede Bonney, Butler examines two War of 1812 commerce raiders. Otway Burns captained the Snap Dragon, which ranged from the Caribbean to Canada, seizing several British merchantmen and fighting a few sea battles with armed vessels. Johnston Blakeley piloted the sloop Wasp into the English Channel, panicking English businessmen and driving insurance rates upward with every ship he seized as a prize. During the Civil War, John N. Maffitt, John Taylor Wood and James I. Waddell all commanded Southern commerce raiders that operated at one time or another from Wilmington, Del. Butler vividly recounts the deeds of this group of men, chronicles their lives and ultimate fates and, in general, provides an eminently readable and accurate tale of the region's rascals. Photos and maps.

June 1, 2000
Pirates and their exploits have long been romanticized and have earned an ambiguous niche in our consciousness, for their lawlessness and brutality repel but their supposed freedom from society's restraints attracts. Butler is professor emeritus of history at Rockingham Community College in North Carolina. In this compact and breezy survey, he examines the lives of eight pirates and sea raiders who operated along the Carolina coast between the early eighteenth century and the end of the Civil War. His subjects include such diverse characters as the pirate Blackbeard and Confederate raiders James Cooke and James Waddell. Butler deftly illustrates how each of them mastered the tricky marine environment of the Carolina coast, which can be both friendly and fatal for covert operations. He treats his characters with objectivity, although a bemused affection frequently shines through. This is an informative and enjoyable work of regional history. ((Reviewed June 1 & 15, 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)