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
William Read (pirate) captured grab. Thomas White remained aboard until leaving to sail with Nathaniel North. William Read of the "Alexander" should not be confused with William Read of the "Ranger", a pirate who served under Captain Charles Harris until Harris was abandoned by Edward Low and captured by the "HMS Greyhound" in 1723. William Read (pirate) William Read (died 1701, last name occasionally Reed) was a pirate active in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar. He is best known for rescuing fellow pirate captains John Bowen and Thomas White. Read was captain of the "Alexander", a 60-ton brigantine based out of Madagascar. Around