Israel Hands | |
|---|---|
| Born | Israel Hand c. 1701 |
| Died | unknown, possibly 1724 possiblyLondon |
| Piratical career | |
| Nickname | Basilica Hands |
| Rank | Captain |
| Base of operations | |
Israel Hands, also known asBasilica Hands,[1] was an 18th-centurypirate best known for being second in command toEdward Teach (c. 1680 – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard. His name serves as the basis for the name of the villainous sidekick inRobert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novelTreasure Island.
Hands' first historical mention was in 1718, whenBlackbeard gave him command ofDavid Herriot's shipAdventure after Herriot was captured by Teach in March 1718.[2] During the winter of 1717–1718, Blackbeard harassed shipping to and from the port ofVera Cruz, Mexico and traversing theBay of Honduras.[3] On 4 or 5 April 1718, atTurneffe Atoll, Blackbeard captured the ten-gun log-cutting sloopAdventure and forced captain Herriot to join him. Also on board was Edward Robinson, the ship's gunner, who would later be involved in theBattle of Cape Fear River. Blackbeard made Israel Hands captain of theAdventure and began sailing forNorth Carolina.[4][5] In June 1718, Teach ran his flagship, theQueen Anne's Revenge, aground at Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. He requested assistance from Hands with theAdventure in an effort tokedge theQueen Anne's Revenge off the bar. However, theAdventure also grounded and was abandoned. Teach, Hands andStede Bonnet took approximately half the pirates, marooning the rest, and set sail forOcracoke.[6][7]
Captain Charles Johnson wrote that Hands was shot in the knee when Teach fired at another of his crew, missing him but striking Hands. Hands asked Teach for his reasons, whereupon Teach remarked that, "if he did not now and then kill one of them, they would forget who he was."[2]
On 22 November 1718 Teach was killed by troops dispatched from Virginia and led byRoyal Navy lieutenantRobert Maynard. At the time Hands was inBath, North Carolina, recuperating from his permanently disabling pistol wound. However, he was unable to escape the roundup of pirates in Bath that followed Blackbeard's death. Following his capture, he and fifteen others were taken toWilliamsburg, Virginia, to stand trial.[8] In exchange for apardon, Hands testified against corruptNorth Carolina officials with whom Teach had consorted.
The minutes of the North Carolina Governor's Council for 27 May 1719, state:
Hesikia Hands[,] master of Capt Thaches Sloop Adventure[,] seems to sweare possitively in his Depossition that the sd [said] Thache went from Ocacoch Inlet at his returne into this Country from his last voyage with a present to the sd [said] Tobias Knights house [,] when by the same deposition [Hands] acknowledgth that to be out of the reach of his knoledge[,] he being all the time at the sd [said] Inlet which lyes at above thirty leagues distance from [Knight's] house and further the [said] Tobias Knight doth pray your Honours to observe that the aforsd Hesikias Hands was ... for some time before the giving of the [said] Evidence kept in prison under the Terrors of Death a most severe prosecution....[9]
What happened to Hands after this is not known for certain. However, in Captain Charles Johnson's 1724A General History of the Pyrates, Hands is said to have died impoverished in London.[2] It's also been suggested that Hands changed his name to "Israel Hynde" and joinedBartholomew Roberts' crew. Johnson writes that Hynde, 30, from Bristol, was hanged onApril 3–20, 1722, atCape Coast Castle.[2]
Israel Hands appears as a character inRobert Louis Stevenson's novelTreasure Island and media based on it, in which he is theHispaniola's coxswain and one ofLong John Silver's pirates. He is described as the lateCaptain Flint's gunner and no mention is made of Blackbeard. Hands engages in a prolonged battle withJim Hawkins before being shot by the boy.[10]
Hands features in the children's adventure bookKintana and the Captain's Curse by Susan Brownrigg.[citation needed]
Hands appears very briefly in the 2013 video gameAssassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, showing a crate of medicine needed for the population of Nassau to Blackbeard, leading him to hold hostages at Charleston.
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