The Seizure of Fort Nassau occurred when Charles Vane led his new crew of approximately 40 Baymen in attacking the fort and taking it from Benjamin Hornigold and successfully negotiated with Eleanor Guthrie to have him installed as Steward of the Fort.
History[]
Background[]
After Eleanor Guthrie discovered that the crew of the Ranger was raping Max, she declared that if the crew did not vote to join the crew of Captain Flint with their ship to hunt the Urca de Lima, or they would be banned from buying or selling anything on the island. Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny and eight others were the only ones to remain with Vane, who descended into drink and opium.
After repeated visions of Albinus, for whom Vane had been a child slave, he travelled to Albinus' Island, and took control of the Baymen by killing Albinus. The Baymen had been a pirate crew under Albinus' leadership, but he retired and started a timber business. The Baymen served as lumberjacks and foremen and used slave labor.
The Battle[]
Vane led his men in approaching the fort from the interior, and then surprised the garrison. Hornigold's men were quickly overwhelmed, and Vane's men took control of the cannons and began firing them at the Royal Lion in the harbor, sinking it.
Benjamin Hornigold, Eleanor Guthrie and the rest of the Consortium scrambled to plan an assault to retake the fort. Hornigold had his lieutenants call in favors from the crews of the Medusa and the Colonial Dawn and assembled 250 men to surprise Vane using the network of tunnels that ran below the fort.
Parley at the Tavern[]
While Hornigold was preparing to make an assault, Vane travelled to the Tavern with a small escort of men to meet with Eleanor. In her office, he threatened to sink as many ships as he could before Eleanor and Hornigold's forces could retake the fort. Vane got her to acquiesce by threatening to hold out and sink the Walrus when/if Flint returns with the Spanish gold. Vane promises to leave everything alone as long as he gets Hornigold's seat in the Consortium and remain as Steward of the Fort.
Aftermath[]
Vane remained in control of the fort, but was not a very active member of the Consortium, preferring to focus on protecting the bay then Eleanor's ineffective partners. When Flint returned to Nassau, he did not trust that Vane would try and extort the gold from him and combined his crew with Hornigold's to assault Fort Nassau.