Henry Johnson (pirate)

Henry Johnson

Nationality| Ireland
Occupation| Pirate
Years active| 1730
Known for| An autobiography written by a sailor he captured and marooned
Piratical career
Nickname| Henriques the Englishman
Base of operations| Caribbean
Commands| Two Brothers

John Cockburn, marooned by pirates Johnson and Poleas, swims to shore with the pirates' gunner.

Henry Johnson (fl. 1730) was an Irish pirate active in the Caribbean. He shared captaincy with a Spaniard, Pedro Poleas.[1] Johnson was best known thanks to an autobiography written by a sailor he captured and marooned.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 See also
* 3 Further reading
* 4 Notes
* 5 References

## History[edit]

Johnson and Poleas jointly commanded the Rhode Island-built 18-gun, 90-man sloop Two Brothers.[2] He was known as a ruthless and bloodthirsty pirate, said to be an excellent shot despite missing a hand:[3] “though he has but one hand, he fires a piece very dexterously, laying the barrel upon his stump, and drawing the trigger with his right hand.”[4] He was also said to keep loaded pistols with him, even when he slept, in case of surprise attack or to take his own life if capture was imminent.[4] Johnson was Irish but was called “Henriques the Englishman”[a] by his majority-Spanish crew.[5]

In early 1730 he attacked the 18-gun, 25-man John and Anne[b] near Jamaica. The two vessels fought a five-hour running battle before the John and Anne surrendered.[6] Johnson's pirates boarded and looted the John and Anne, threatening to hang its crew for daring to resist.[4] Johnson forced his crew to stand down, and they agreed to maroon several of the prisoners instead. Johnson also intervened when Poleas tried to rape the pregnant wife of the ship's doctor, who had been killed in the fighting.[4] Despite his fearsome reputation, he gave her back her clothes and belongings and promised her protection.[1]

The incident was recorded by John Cockburn, a passenger on the John and Anne who was marooned by Johnson's pirates. The pirates’ gunner was marooned along with them for arguing over spoils; together he and Cockburn swam to a pirate camp on the mainland to ask for help. Cockburn did not know what became of Johnson, Poleas, the John and Anne, the woman, or the rest of the crew,[4] though he records that Johnson was a wanted man throughout the American colonies.[1] Cockburn's autobiography "The Unfortunate Englishmen" told the story of his marooning, escape, and two-year-long overland journey starting with his capture by Johnson.[4]

## See also[edit]

* Richard Noland and Don Benito – another English and Spanish pair who co-captained a pirate vessel.
* Richard Hancock and Augustin Blanco – another English and Spanish pair who co-captained a pirate vessel.

## Further reading[edit]

* Full text of John Cockburn's "The Unfortunate Englishmen" at the Internet Archive.

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Sometimes spelled Henrique or Henricus instead of Henriques; his co-captain is sometimes spelled Polias instead of Poleas.
2. ^ Often referred to as John and Jane, though the eyewitness account records it as John and Anne.

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Gosse, Philip (1924). The Pirates' Who's Who by Philip Gosse. New York: Burt Franklin. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
2. ^ "Pirate Ships". brethrencoast.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
3. ^ Selinger, Gail; Jr, W. Thomas Smith (2006). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pirates. New York: Penguin. p. 98\. ISBN 9781440696503. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
4. ^ a b c d e f Cockburn, John (1804). The unfortunate englishmen or a faithful narrative of the distresses and adventures of John Cockburn. London: Chalmers, Ray, & Co. pp. 1–11. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
5. ^ Ossian, Rob. "Henry Johnson". www.thepirateking.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
6. ^ Romano, Heidi Bosch. "Pirate History: Famous Pirates, Privateers, Buccaneers, and Corsairs G-I". www.privateerdragons.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.

* v
* t
* e

Piracy

Periods|

* Ancient Mediterranean
* Golden Age
* 21st century

Types of pirate|

* Albanian piracy
* Anglo-Turkish piracy
* Baltic Slavic pirates
* Barbary pirates (corsairs)
* Brethren of the Coast
* Buccaneers
* Cilician pirates
* Cossack pirates
* Fillibusters
* French corsairs
* Jewish pirates
* Moro pirates
* Narentines
* Privateers
* Confederate privateer
* River pirate
* Sea Beggars
* Sea Dogs
* Sindhi corsairs
* Timber pirate
* Ushkuyniks
* Uskoks
* Vikings
* Victual Brothers
* Wokou

Areas|

| Atlantic World|

* Caribbean
* British Virgin Islands
* Spanish Main
* Lake Nicaragua
* Venezuela
* Gulf of Guinea

|

Indian Ocean|

* Horn of Africa
* Somali Coast
* Indonesia
* Persian Gulf
* Strait of Malacca

Other waters|

* Barbary Coast
* Falcon Lake
* South China Coast
* Sulu Sea

Pirate havens
and bases|

* Barataria Bay
* Île Sainte-Marie
* Lundy
* Mamora
* Port Royal
* Republic of Pirates
* Republic of Salé
* Saint Augustin
* Saint-Malo
* Tortuga

Major figures|

| Pirates|

* Mansel Alcantra
* Louis-Michel Aury
* Joseph Baker
* Hayreddin Barbarossa
* Joseph Barss
* Samuel Bellamy
* Black Caesar
* Blackbeard
* Eli Boggs
* Stede Bonnet
* Anne Bonny
* Hippolyte Bouchard
* Abshir Boyah
* Roche Braziliano
* Henri Caesar
* Cai Qian
* Thomas Cavendish
* Cheung Po Tsai
* Chui A-poo
* Roberto Cofresí
* William Dampier
* Diabolito
* Francis Drake
* Peter Easton
* Edward England
* Henry Every
* Alexandre Exquemelin
* Martin Frobisher
* Flying Gang
* Fūma Kotarō
* Vincenzo Gambi
* Gan Ning
* Charles Gibbs
* Pedro Gilbert
* Nathaniel Gordon
* Laurens de Graaf
* Michel de Grammont
* Calico Jack
* Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalhami
* Jørgen Jørgensen
* Shirahama Kenki
* William Kidd
* Jean Lafitte
* Lai Choi San
* François Le Clerc
* Liang Daoming
* Limahong
* Samuel Hall Lord
* John Hawkins
* Bully Hayes
* Piet Pieterszoon Hein
* Moses Cohen Henriques
* Albert W. Hicks
* Nicholas van Hoorn
* Benjamin Hornigold
* Pierre Lafitte
* Olivier Levasseur
* Edward Low
* Hendrick Lucifer
* John Newland Maffitt
* Samuel Mason
* Henry Morgan
* Shap-ng-tsai
* François l'Olonnais
* Samuel Pallache
* Lawrence Prince
* Mary Read
* Redbeard
* Bartholomew Roberts
* Dan Seavey
* Benito de Soto
* Klaus Störtebeker
* Henry Strangways
* Wang Zhi
* Dominique You
* Zheng Jing
* Zheng Qi
* Zheng Yi
* Zheng Yi Sao
* Zheng Zhilong

|

Pirate
hunters|

* Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
* Luis Fajardo
* Angelo Emo
* Richard Avery Hornsby
* Jose Campuzano-Polanco
* Robert Maynard
* Chaloner Ogle
* Pompey
* Woodes Rogers
* David Porter
* James Brooke
* Miguel Enríquez
* Thomas Warren

Pirate ships|

* Adventure Galley
* Fancy
* Flying Dutchman
* Ganj-i-Sawai
* Queen Anne's Revenge
* Quedagh Merchant
* Saladin
* Whydah Gally
* Marquis of Havana
* Ambrose Light
* York

Pirate battles and incidents|

* 1582 Cagayan battles
* Jiajing wokou raids
* Turkish Abductions
* Slave raid of Suðuroy
* Chepo Expedition
* Battle of Mandab Strait
* Battle of Pianosa
* Blockade of Charleston (Blackbeard)
* Blockade of Charleston (Vane)
* Battle of Cape Fear River
* Battle of Ocracoke Inlet
* Capture of John "Calico Jack" Rackham
* Sack of Campeche
* Attack on Veracruz
* Raid on Cartagena
* Battle of Cape Lopez
* Capture of the schooner Fancy
* Persian Gulf Campaign
* Battle of New Orleans
* Anti-piracy in the Aegean
* Anti-piracy in the West Indies
* Capture of the schooner Bravo
* Action of 9 November 1822
* Capture of the sloop Anne
* Battle of Doro Passage
* Falklands Expedition
* Great Lakes Patrol
* Pirate attacks in Borneo
* Balanguingui Expedition
* Battle of Tysami
* Battle of Tonkin River
* Battle of Nam Quan
* Battle of Ty-ho Bay
* Battle of the Leotung
* Antelope incident
* North Star affair
* Battle off Mukah
* Salvador Pirates
* Battle of Boca Teacapan
* Capture of the Ambrose Light
* Irene incident
* 1985 Lahad Datu ambush
* Operation Enduring Freedom – HOA
* Action of 28 October 2007
* Dai Hong Dan incident
* Operation Atalanta
* Carré d'As IV incident
* Action of 11 November 2008
* Action of 9 April 2009
* Maersk Alabama hijacking
* Operation Ocean Shield
* Action of 23 March 2010
* Action of 1 April 2010
* Action of 5 April 2010
* MV Moscow University hijacking
* Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden
* Operation Dawn 8: Gulf of Aden
* Beluga Nomination incident
* Battle off Minicoy Island
* Quest incident
* MT Zafirah hijacking
* MT Orkim Harmony hijacking

Piracy law|

* Acts of grace (1717–1718 Acts of Grace)
* International piracy law
* Letter of marque
* Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law
* Piracy Act (1536, 1698, 1717, 1721, 1837, 1850)
* Piracy Law of 1820

Slave trade|

* African slave trade
* Atlantic slave trade
* Barbary slave trade
* Blockade of Africa
* Indian Ocean slave trade
* Trans-Saharan slave trade
* African Slave Trade Patrol
* Capture of the Providentia
* Capture of the Presidente
* Capture of the El Almirante
* Capture of the Marinerito
* Capture of the Veloz Passagera
* Capture of the brig Brillante
* Amistad Incident
* Capture of the Emanuela

Pirates in
popular
culture|

| Fictional pirates|

* Tom Ayrton
* Barbe Rouge
* Hector Barbossa
* Charlotte de Berry
* Captain Blood
* Captain Crook
* Jacquotte Delahaye
* Captain Flint
* José Gaspar
* Joshamee Gibbs
* Captain Hook
* Davy Jones
* Edward Kenway
* LeChuck
* Monkey D. Luffy
* Elaine Marley
* Nami
* Captain Nemo
* Nico Robin
* Captain Pugwash
* Roronoa Zoro
* Captain Sabertooth
* Sandokan
* Sanji
* Long John Silver
* Mr. Smee
* Jack Sparrow
* Captain Stingaree
* Guybrush Threepwood
* Tony Tony Chopper
* Usopp

|

Novels|

* The Pirate
* The Pilot: A Tale of the Sea
* Treasure Island
* Facing the Flag
* On Stranger Tides
* Jim Hawkins and the Curse of Treasure Island
* Castaways of the Flying Dutchman
* The Angel's Command
* Voyage of Slaves
* Long John Silver
* Pirate Latitudes
* Silver: Return to Treasure Island

Tropes|

* Treasure map
* Buried treasure
* Pegleg
* Eyepatch

Miscellaneous|

* Air pirate
* Space pirate
* Libertatia

Miscellaneous|

* A General History of the Pyrates
* Captain Charles Johnson
* Truce of Ratisbon
* Child pirate
* Jolly Roger
* skull and crossbones
* Walking the plank
* No purchase, no pay
* Marooning
* Pirate code
* Pirate utopia
* Victual Brothers
* Pirate Round
* Sack of Baltimore
* Mutiny
* Davy Jones' Locker
* Matelotage

Meta|

| Lists|

* Pirates
* Privateers
* Timeline of piracy
* Pirate films
* Women in piracy
* Fictional pirates
* List of ships attacked by Somali pirates

|

Categories|

* Piracy
* Pirates
* By nationality
* Barbary pirates
* Female pirates
* Piracy by year
* Fictional pirates

* Piracy portal
* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template