Captain John Smith is Saved by Pocahontas, 1608 Captain John
Smith was an adventurer. In 1596, at age 16, Smith left his home
in England to fight against Spain in support of Dutch
independence from the Spanish Crown. Two years later he signed
on as a crew member of a Mediterranean merchant ship. In 1600 he
joined Austrian forces fighting the Turks in Hungary. Captured
by the Turks, Smith was enslaved and transported to Istanbul. He
escaped by murdering his master, returned to Hungary and
rejoined the fighting. Released from military duty with a large
reward, Smith made his way back to England in 1604. twenty-five-
year-old Smith soon grew restless. The Virginia Company had
recently been granted a charter by King James I to colonize
Virginia and Smith eagerly joined the expedition which left
England in December 1606. The voyage lasted four months during
which the abrasive Smith so irritated his fellow colonists that
they placed him in irons. Arriving in Virginia in April 1607,
the expedition leaders opened a lo