Where can I find details about the actual battle
during which Blackbeard the pirate was killed,
and especially how the pirates were armed (cutlasses),
the Royal Navy led contingent armed with foils, and 
why the latter was a wise choice that won the battle.

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Request for Question Clarification by techtor-ga on 21 Jun 2004 03:21 PDT

Hello Nobleicer,
The most easily found records of Blackbeard's last battle and death
talk about his many wounds and the trick used by British officer
Maynard, and not about the cutlass versus the foil. However, there are
other sites about swordfighting in general that can compare a foil to
a cutlass. Are you interested in these? By the way, did you read about
that cutlass/foil factor in Blackbeard's defeat somewhere before? If
you have, do you recall anything about where you may have seen that
article? Any clue may help.

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Clarification of Question by nobleicer-ga on 21 Jun 2004 07:38 PDT

A friend mentioned that the English/American strategy
had been to use foils. That the pirates with cutlasses
got the upper hand in the first 15 minutes' fighting,
but then because of the heavier weight of the cutlass,
the English tired less, and that that was all according
to plan!  Maybe next time I get to talk to him I'll ask
him where he read or heard it. Yes, comparisons between
those weapons (technical details not!) and the situations
where one would prevail over the other would be nice.