Alexander Spotswood,
Governor of the
Colony of Virginia, gave Maynard the command of two
sloops,
Ranger and
Jane. They departed the docks of
Hampton, Virginia on 19 November 1718. Maynard caught up with
Blackbeard at
Ocracoke Inlet off the coast of
North Carolina on 22 November 1718. Most of Blackbeard's men were ashore. While Maynard's party out-numbered the pirates three to one,
Jane had no cannons and only small-arms to Blackbeard's ship's up to eight cannons. Initially, Blackbeard maneuvered into shallower water. Maynard's heavier ship hit a sand-bar and was stuck. Blackbeard then leashed a
broadside at
Jane. Meanwhile, Maynard ordered everything inessential to combat to be thrown overboard to make the ship lighter, and eventually freed his keel. Blackbeard's ship fired at least two more broadsides at
Jane, killing several of Maynard's men. After the last attack it appeared only Maynard and another crew member were left alive. When Blackbeard and some of his men boarded
Jane they were ambushed by a force much larger than he had expected. During the battle, Maynard and Blackbeard ended up in hand-to-hand combat. In a point blank exchange of pistol fire, Maynard hit Blackbeard and Blackbeard missed. However the shot barely slowed Blackbeard down. Both men drew their
cutlasses and a melee ensued, with Blackbeard managing to break Maynard's weapon. When Blackbeard was about to deliver a killing blow, another sailor, a
Highlander, jumped on his back and inflicted a deep wound. Blackbeard's cutlass landed on Maynard's knuckles. Maynard and his crew were then able to kill Blackbeard. Lieutenant Maynard remained at Ocracoke for several days, making repairs and burying the dead. He examined Teach's body, noting that it had been shot no fewer than five times and cut about twenty. He also found several items of correspondence, including a letter to Teach from Tobias Knight, the Royal Secretary for the
Colony of North Carolina. Blackbeard was
decapitated and his head was tied to the bowsprit of his ship for the trip back to the
Colony of Virginia. Upon returning to
Janes home port of
Hampton, Virginia, the head was displayed
on a spike near the mouth of the
Hampton River as a warning to other pirates. Teach's loot – sugar, cocoa,
indigo and cotton – found "in pirate sloops and ashore in a tent where the sloops lay", was sold at auction along with sugar and cotton found in Tobias Knight's barn, for £2,238. Governor Spotswood used a portion of this to pay for the entire operation. The prize money for capturing Teach was to have been about £400, but it was split between the crews of HMS
Lyme and HMS
Pearl. As Captain Brand and his troops had not been the ones fighting for their lives, Maynard thought this extremely unfair. It was later discovered that he and his crew had helped themselves to about £90 of Teach's bounty. The two companies did not receive their prize money for another four years, and despite his bravery, Maynard was not promoted, rather, he faded into obscurity. ==Legacy==