Captain Samuel Henry and the Queen Charlotte

In eighteen twenty two Lord Cochrane fought the Spanish fleets Seeking independence for Peru and Chile states But Captain Henry Goode, then became a pirate bold hen he took the Brig called Prudence, for to capture !ewels and gold CH"#$S

ith grape and ball the Pirates planned to take us as a pri%e "ur Captain though so &ery young, was also &ery wise 'lthough we were outnumbered, he decided we would fight 'nd, with gleaming sword and a(e, we boarded her that night
)he Prudence was a man of war with twenty cannons bright )hree hundred ton of bla%ing force with manpower for to fight He sailed away for )ahiti with a murdering band of men Intending for to kill and maim and ne&er return again 'rri&ing at )ahiti the *ueen Charlotte he spied ' smaller brig which he thought was a better ship for flight He made his mind up there and then to, take her that &ery day 'nd said he+d take her from the crew where she anchored in the bay Captain Henry sailed the *ueen Charlotte out for )ubuai But he was shocked when Prudence tried to ha&e him as her pri%e '&oiding an encounter for his port he sailed away But the Pirate ship out sailed him and was first in the bay Chief mate )homas ,brill heard of the Pirates plan He told our Captain and they decided to fight down to a man e waited -til we had the Pirate Captain locked away 'nd when the pirate crew was sleeping a mile across the bay ell we captured the mighty Prudence without the loss of life "ur bra&e Captain sa&ed the day and sa&ed all our sailors li&es e got the Prudence back again though in a dreadful state But we left her there to rot and sink. !ust left her to her fate

NOTES June 1822, a tiny 40 ton brig captured a 300 ton brig of war armed with twenty cannons captured brig was formerly part of ord Cochrane!s s"uadron of patriots fighting the Spanish for the independence of Chile and #eru$ Captain% Henry &ood% was long experienced in war before he turned to piracy. The victorious captain, Samuel Henry% was only '' years old, totally inexperienced in war, and the son of ev. !illia" #enry, an $rish %&' "issionary at Tahiti. 'a"uel #enry(s enor"ous act of courage and herois" earned hi" no official recognition. $ndeed this titanic victory of )avid against *oliath, of

good against evil, was not even "entioned in the chronicle of the Tahitian &ission, apparently because the writer, (ohn )a*ies, was so deeply engrossed in petty s+uabbles with 'a"uel(s father. The volatile $rish first "ate, Thomas Ebrill, wrongly clai"ed all the credit for hi"self. Two unpublished letters in the 'tate ,rchives of -ew 'outh !ales now redress the balance so"ewhat by showing that in fact it was young 'a"uel #enry who led the capture of the pirate brig, and that .brill was not the leader. $n )ece"ber 1818 the +ritish lord% Thomas Cochrane% became ,dmiral of the Chilean -avy. %ate in 181/ 0ochrane began a naval bloc1ade of 0allao, the port of %i"a, which was then the 'panish capital of 'outh ,"erica. 0ochrane(s fleet consisted of only seven vessels, all old, lea1ing and in poor repair 2Tho"as, 1/384 24/5. #is crews were very "ixed with a few politically "otivated patriots, so"e 0hilean $ndians, but predo"inantly a core of .uropean "ercenaries intent upon sei6ing the fabled riches of the 'panish gold and silver "ines. ,s the bloc1ade of %i"a dragged on for "any "onths, two vessels which had sustained da"ages were detached to raid 'panish settle"ents to procure whatever food they could find. These were the corvette Independencia with 44 guns under 0aptain !il1inson and the Araucano with 28 guns under 0aptain obert !. 'i"pson. 7oth captains were experienced in contraband trading along the 8acific coasts. -ow 0hile was in revolt, the .nglish captains acted as if they were privateers, licensed by 0hile to prey upon the 'panish ene"y wherever they chose, and to sei6e any 'panish "erchant ships trading along the coast. $n )ece"ber -.'- Captain Simpson had ta1en the Araucano to ,capulco see1ing food for the patriots attac1ing %i"a, but the *overnor of &exico declined to per"it any trade, detained 'i"pson for several days and then as1ed hi" to leave. $n 9ebruary 1822, trying again, both 0aptain !il1inson and 0aptain 'i"pson sailed north, across the .+uator to 7a:a 0alifornia where they 1new there were several s"all towns without any "ilitary presence. 0aptain !il1inson sei6ed a local "erchant ship, and attac1ed the southern"ost town of 'an Jose del 0abo, where his "en stole everything they could including every ite" of any value in the church. 0aptain 'i"pson too1 the Araucano further up the &ulf of /e0ico to the town of oreto , arriving on -1 2ebruary -.''. There his trading began peacefully, but when he found %oreto could not produce sufficient dried beef and flour, he too1 the ship(s boat to visit *uya"as and other s"all towns nearby to see what food they "ight spare. /3T4N54 )uring his absence, thirty of his crew "utinied, sac1ed %oreto, and occupied the looted church as their head+uarters. %ater on local &exicans drove the" out fiercely, capturing so"e. The re"aining pirates retreated to their ship, where the first officer :oined the "utineers and sailed off to 8eru and Tahiti. ,fter further altercations and desertions, and unloading two boat(s crews of unwanted 0hileans and $ndians on the coast of 8eru, the Araucano reached Tahiti with barely enough crew to navigate, and lea1ing badly. ,t Tahiti they found many dissolute beachcombers ready to 6oin a pirate ship$ ,lso% there laying at anchor was a replacement *essel% the small colonial brig Queen Charlotte under Captain Samuel Henry$ !hat followed when the pirates arri*ed at Tahiti in (une -.'' is well covered by &oerenhout4 The captain of the Araucano, or at least the "an who called hi"self such, al"ost i""ediately after his arrival, repaired to the small ship, where he said that he was going to coast of -ew ;ealand to fish for seals, offered Captain Henry so"e flour in exchange for several ob:ects which he needed, and 2a singular thing5 finally succeeded after several days in dispelling any suspicion about who" he "ight be. 4t was only at the last moment that the insubordination of his crew ga*e rise to the thought that the pretended fisherman was a pirate. 27orden, 1//<4 4==5

#e told 0aptain 'a"uel #enry 2>ueen 0harlotte5 that he was next bound northwards to the &ar+uesas to get supplies before sailing. !hen Captain Henry too1 the Queen Charlotte out for .i"eo 2&oorea5 and Tubuai, he was startled that the Araucano 7alias Prudence5 followed, and tried to close with hi" near .i"eo. 'a"uel #enry evaded the", but was even "ore startled when he arrived at Tubuai only to find, to his great surprise and fear, that the Araucano was anchored there already, as if waiting to prey upon hi". The Queen Charlotte was only an eighth the si6e of the pirate, was totally outgunned and a sluggish sailor, and her crew of nineteen were greatly outnu"bered. There certainly see"ed no chance of an escape. Captain Henry wrote the following account4 'hortly after $ arrived, $ was infor"ed by an .nglish"an who had been on board the Prudence when $ hove in sight that i""ediately on perceiving us, all hands on board her left their wor1, and loaded their guns with round and grape shot. ?n the 22nd June, 0aptain 8atterson 2,lias #enry *oode5 ca"e on board and stated to "e that there was a "utiny on board his vessel, and re+uested "e to go on board as a protection to hi", whilst he could "a1e en+uiry into the particulars, to which $ acceded, ta1ing with "e 8aihia, a chief, and a party of natives. !e went on board where after so"e en+uiries, 0aptain 8. was obliged to relin+uish the business not being able to find out the ringleaders@ and a +uarrel then ensuing between the crew, several words were "ade use of which appeared to "e very suspicious, and caused "e to +uestion 0aptain 8. closely. #e appeared very "uch perplexed and alar"ed, and in a confused "anner hinted that things were not with hi" as they ought to be. ?n 2<rd "y chief "ate A.brillB who had been on board the Prudence, ca"e to "e and stated that she was sailing under a false na"e, and that in reality she was a #atriot brig of war Arocano, for"erly co""anded by 0aptain 'i"pson, that she was run away with by /r #atterson% who had been 2irst ieutenant on board of her% while Captain Simpson was on shore at Callao% with a great part of her crew% and that the person who called himself #atterson and now commanded her% was also under a false name% his proper name being Henry &ood$