Benjamin Hornigold seize other vessels with impunity. Hornigold's second-in-command during this period was Edward Teach, who would later be better known as the pirate Blackbeard. When Hornigold took command of the "Ranger", he delegated the captaincy of his earlier sloop to Teach. In the spring of 1717 the two pirate captains seized three merchant ships in quick succession, one carrying 120 barrels of flour bound for Havana, another a Bermudian sloop with a cargo of spirits and the third a Portuguese ship travelling from Madeira with a cargo of white wine. In March 1717, Hornigold attacked an armed merchant vessel sent to
Robert Lane (pirate) Robert Lane (pirate) Robert Lane (died 1719) was a pirate active in the Caribbean and off the coast of Africa. He is best known for sailing with Edward England. Edward England had taken the ship "Pearl" (renamed "Royal James") in late 1718, pirating between the Azores and Cape Verde. In spring 1719 he took a number of ships near Gambia. Several he burned or looted and let go, but he kept two. One of them was the 4-gun, 18-man "Mercury", commanded by Captain Maggot out of London, which he captured on May 29. A few of the "Mercury’s" crew joined