1811
Finland-Russia War: continues, minor engagements.
Russo-Ottoman War: The Ottomans are defeated at Kutais; the Russian fortress at Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (or Akkerman) is taken by the Ottomans; Russian forces implement a strategic retreat from Bender; the three day battle of Jassy is fought and won by the Russians; the Second Battle of Bender is fought and won by the Russians.
The Napoleonic War: continues, treaty negotiations continue.
Chilean Revolt: continues.
Ottoman-Egyptian War: a sea invasion by the Ottomans is defeated at Matruh; Cairo is put under siege for 3 months before the Ottomans were pushed back by a joint Egyptian-Ethiopian force; Mahmud II seeks an end to the war with Egypt and Ethiopia.
Lundanese Wars: renewed conflict with England and the Dutch; Adriaan van der Rheede continues to harass the Lundanese warriors at every turn.
January – February 1811:
Several minor domestic issues:
Admiral Bonny reopens the Bonny School.
Admiral Bonny is asked to listen to arguments between two parties (1 ); he enjoyed the process so much that he began to regularly hear arguments – first time a sitting admiral had actively sat in judgment for nearly ten years (2).
The arrival of Hayreddin Hizir to the island – arriving in Kaominina in early January, and in Port Mission in early February (3).
Kora Black and Jolie VanNelson (wife of the famous artist Aldric VanNelson) have built in New Arradon its first tavern/inn – Painter’s Shack.
The Kellys will discover that they aren’t the only ones with crops of coffee, chocolate, tobacco – several farms outside of their control begin planting these crops.
Vicar Segal begins distributing his Lussan codex and bible to smaller villages and towns.
March 1811:
Even though Samuel Bonny had raided and burned New Mission in 1807 the village had remained sparsely populated after his withdraw. New Mission’s actual reestablishment dates to this time with the completion of a church by Portuguese missionaries.
Admiral Bonny is contacted by Adriaan Rheede through a French trader. It seems the resistance against Lunda was in need of weapons and munitions. Bonny agreed to a limited deal, at first, as he wasn’t sure of Rheede’s ability to keep up with the payments. The fact that Bonny had his pirates trading with the Lundanese as well didn’t seem to matter.
Edward Kelly (son of Brigit and George Kelly, grandson of John Kelly, great grandson of Henry Kelly) marries in a grand ceremony, with Vicar Segal presiding, to a local woman by the name of Maeghan Dara (daughter of retired pirate Michael Dara, he now owned a mill, a tavern, and a large farm in Forecastle). Thomas considered this a great loss to the family; Edward had great a ability to lead and his skill with firearms was nearly legendary, but it seems this Kelly had forsaken the sea and sailors for fields and farmhands. Still, Thomas liked the boy, and was still in love with his mother, so he gave as a wedding gift to the newlyweds all title to the Kelly farms (both food and livestock) on Madagascar (4).
Not to be outdone; the Bonny’s add a member to their family – Christopher Bonny (son of Oliver Bonny, grandson of Anne (II) and Archibald, great grandson of Jack and Faranna, great-great grandson of Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny) father’s a child, Adam, with Ambra Orso (the daughter of captain Orso, and all of 16 at the birth – Orso was not at all happy about his and had to be paid off) (5). Oliver notes in his journal the similarities between his son’s philandering and his own and hopes that Christopher doesn’t fall into the same problems as he had – issues which had soured him to women and commitment, and other than a very occasional prostitute, Oliver had not taken any serious interest in another woman since the McAdams/Shaw incident (1795).
April 1811:
Little of interest – although Hizir returns to Port Mission, something, it is sure, which Bonny did not want. There was every indication that Bonny did not trust Hizir; the Ottoman was loud, free with his money and stories, hot tempered, and his reputation was built on sacking ports. The two men also differed on personal habits. Bonny was certainly ruthless, but quiet about his bloodlust, he was also unkempt, not very educated (although he could read and write), but understood how to work a man and a crowd, and probably most well known for his many women (and his Mission House orgies). Hayreddin Hizir was intelligent, openly hostile, yet boisterous and witty, he was keen about hygiene, impatient, and would kill a man with very little provocation – yet he did not partake of the drink.
May 1811:
There is a great gathering in Port Mission for the opening of Admiral Bonny’s Great Games on May first.
The first event, and the longest, was the beginning of The Race. Twenty-seven ships signed the registry (a far cry from the 45 ships which began the race in 1799, but still, a good showing). Among the racers was the Gumus Kol, as well as the Repulse (with a new captain, Tristan La’Mark), and the Crone (Kora Black’s former ship).
The prize was one hundred doubloons. Although that didn’t come close to the money exchanging hands on side bets – and by far, the largest provider of stakes was Thomas Kelly working out of Mission Tavern (he had Foremen out all over Port Mission taking bets and names).
On the morning of May second the Port Mission cannons were fired, signifying the start of The Race. The course was simple; just one rounding of Madagascar, the first ship to dock back in Port Mission would be named the victor. Although the course lacked the precautions previous admirals had used to maintain a basic level of order, Oliver Bonny was providing several steam ships (almost his whole fleet, he had eight, and six were being used) to bring news back to Port Mission (6).
In the meantime, the Admiral hosted the ongoing festivities, as well as the Broadside and Lacrosse games. He was very pleased that 8 teams of Broadsiders had been fielded, and 7 teams of Lacrosse – to make an even number for the lacrosse matchups an impromptu team was pulled together from the laborers.
Not counting some arguing brought about by the matchups the Council of Captains put together, the start of the games on the fourth of May began very smoothly. Two fields were being used, one outside the northern limit of the town and the field at the Bonny school. Over the course of a week the Broadsiders played out with the team from Fort Dauphin and Jamestown facing off in the finals. Ultimately it was the Fort Dauphin team who was named victor (7).
The Lacrosse games were next – and there was much anticipation to see what the laborers, with only a week’s worth of practice, would accomplish. The laborers were matched up with Iharana in their first game (a town not known for its kindness to the indentured slaves of Madagascar). Play was brutal, with the Admiral refereeing the match – he was apparently very lenient with the rules. Four laborers had to be pulled from the field due to injury and three of the Iharanas. It was, however, the laborers who would win the day. So impressed by the showing the the laborers gave that Admiral Bonny made it known that he would grant them pirate status, name one of them captain, and give them a ship if they were to win the finals.
The laborers next faced the team from Manakara. There was only one injury during this match and it apparently happened when a player from the Manakara team tossed the ball (a rounded rock about the size of a fist) to a teammate, who missed catching it and took the shot right to the forehead – he was knocked cold. The laborers would win this match as well.
As the day of the lacrosse finals dawned there was much excitement over the battle between the laborers and the team from Morondava. It would not be an easy game. Two Morondavans were pulled because of injury, and six laborers had to be replaced - one of them would later die of his injuries. In the end the score was 13 to 8, a victory for Morondava.
During the last game of lacrosse news came in from the race. All of the ships were now passed the halfway point (about Morondava), with the number of ships having been reduced to 18 (six ships pulled out because of damage – two of those ships due to broadsides from the Gumus Kol – and three others because of falling too far behind).
On the 20th of May three ships sailed into Port Mission (another half dozen would make landfall in other ports around Madagascar). It turns out that they were from the pirate stronghold of St. George. When the Admiral found out about this he had the crews arrested – this caused nearly two days of chaos. The fall of St. George to the English became known at this time – a renewed sense of celebration was taken up by the revelers of Port Mission. Of the three hundred or so arrested, only 10 were sent to Nova Island – the rest, not originally among the Taylors, were released.
On the 25th the leading ships in the race were spotted nearing Port Mission. By the time the final loop of the southern tip of Mission Island was made there were five ships fighting for first. At the mouth of the harbor three of these ships collided. The remaining two ships made for the docks. The Pesci Scuri hit the docks hard, cracking beam and plank – the Sang Sans Fin eased into a berth and tied off just minutes ahead of Pesci Scuri. Captain Remi de Lar was named victor, but it was not a peaceful awarding – captain and crew of the Pesci Scuri clashed with the crew of the Sang Sans Fin as well as Foremen and other pirates from Port Mission. Once calm had been restored Admiral Bonny granted a round of drink and women to the crew of the Pesci Scuri.
June 1811:
Although the Portuguese missionaries can be credited with reestablishing New Mission and trying to bring some safety and stability to an area which was seeing an increase in conflict this did not help them from being ousted from their own church. New Mission was settled by pirates and laborers from Madagascar, and most of them had grown up with and or followed the tenets of Lussan. It seems that the rather strict teachings of Catholicism were not sitting well with the laborers or the natives. In a minor revolt, mimicking the revolt which threw off the yoke of the pirates, the Missionaries were barred from preaching – although they were not forced to leave the village. Word is sent to Vicar Segal requesting a priest or an acolyte (which he does in secret for fear of what Admiral Bonny would do if he found out New Mission was still active).
A poor showing at the Race, as well as a poor hunt afterwards, brings about a mutiny on the Repulse. Captain La'Mark was killed. Justified by their actions La'Mark's head was presented to Rebecca Tibbs, and in deference to her they asked she pick a new captain - she named the man who lead the revolt against La'Mark, Peter Davis.
July – December 1811:
Little of interest.
Notes:
1) Two brothers: Lars and Frank Jonsson were fishermen. Frank was by far the more successful and wealthy of the two brothers, but there doesn’t seem to have been any long standing hatred or jealousy among the two. And yet, after a year of poor fishing Lars attacked his brother and killed him, and then attempted to claim Frank’s ship, crew, home, family, and fortune by right of combat. Foremen arrived to take stock of the fighting that had ensued. When Lars could present no evidence of a long standing argument between he and his brother, or any other acceptable reason for the attack, he and his crew were arrested. Admiral Bonny would rule Lars as guilty, and with no way to bribe his way out of the sentence, was handed over to the Foremen to be made a laborer. The crew was set free.
2) Keep the peace: the job of the admiral was to maintain order among the chaos. Part of that was hearing issues between pirates and factions which could not be settled privately. In time all but the most volatile cases became the purview of the Council of Captains. Further lack of interest in the petty squabbling from all over the island helped create the city councils which now ran most of the larger villages and towns of Madagascar – and where there wasn’t a city council, or easy access to the Council of Captains or the Admiral, it was common practice for an impromptu court to be assembled (part of the stay-at-home Council members job was now to watch over these impromptu courts, making sure the general rule of Lussan was followed and if there were bribes, that they got a cut of the profits).
3) Hayreddin Hizir: an Ottoman pirate sailing the Gumus Kol (a 74-gun galleon). For a society which mostly sailed smaller, faster ships the Gumus Kol was a monster. Added to this fear was Hizir’s reputation as a port sacker – a reputation gained through his constant harassment of the Ethiopian coastline (it is said that he, almost single-handedly, was the reason why the Ethiopians had not been able to commit as much to the war with the Ottomans as they could have).
4) Kelly holdings: James Kelly (the first) had split up his families holdings among his children; in general Sara’s family was responsible for the farms and the taverns on Mission Island, while Henry and Mary handled the ships (with Henry taking over more of the legitimate side of the shipping). As the family grew the holdings were further distributed among it’s members, but Margret Tibbs (1748-1794) was the last to control a subsidiary of the Kelly holdings. Since her passing Jamestown had been the center of the Kelly Empire in all regards (at this time, with Thomas at the head – not counting Nova Island which is run by the Tibbs’). The wedding gift of the farms to Edward and Maeghan marks a renewed interest in sharing the family responsibilities.
5) Orso: a pirate sailing out of Fort Dauphin for nearly ten years. It is said that he loved his daughter so much that he killed her mother when she tried to runaway with Ambra when she was 3 years old. Although his honor had been paid off his anger was too much to remain in Fort Dauphin and soon after the baby was born he sailed for Jamestown with his daughter and never set foot in Fort Dauphin ever again.
6) Runners: Admiral Bonny also had runners and horsemen ready to distribute the news to the rest of the main-island (all instructed to say, “Hail from Admiral Bonny, I bring you news…”
7) Broadside and Lacrosse: both games routinely injured players, but neither game was taken particularly seriously. It was all fun and games now, but years to come losses and accusation of cheating would bring about riots.
