condemnation." The removal of Truxtun and Morris, with the resignation of Dale, and the death of Barry, reduced the number of captains to nine, the number named in the law for the reduction of the navy. Carried on as it had been, this Tripolitan war promised to be indefinitely protracted; accordingly, a fresh squadron was dispatched, vessel by vessel, as they were ready for sea, under Commodore Preble. It consisted of the Constitution, a forty-four gun ship, the old Philadelphia, which was rated as a thirty-eight, two sixteen-gun brigs, and three twelve-gun schooners, including the gallant little Enterprise. At the At the outset of this new stage of the affair, some trouble and detention arose from the capture of a vessel belonging to Morocco; but it was happily and promptly adjusted by Preble, before he entered the Mediterranean, in October, 1803. 1803. 55 1804. at an early day, that the Philadelphia should not be suffered to remain in the enemy's hands. Accordingly, Decatur having offered his services, they were accepted for the gallant enterprise of boarding and destroying the ship as she lay in the harbor of Tripoli. The Philadelphia had forty guns mounted, double-shotted, and ready for firing, and the whole force by land and sea, belonging to the enemy, was in readiness for efficient service; and yet Decatur, with a little ketch of sixty tons, mounting four small guns, and having a crew of seventy-five souls, undertook the capture and destruction of the frigate. After one unsuccessful effort to enter the harbor, in consequence of a severe gale, on the evening of the 9th of February, Decatur was enabled, on the 15th, in his ketch, the Intrepid, to test his own and his countrymen's ability to carry out the gallant undertaking on which they had perilled their lives. The cool deliberation, the steady nerve, the unflinching gallantry, the entire success of Decatur and his men, are fully narrated by Mr. Cooper, in his "Naval History," and by Mr. Mackenzie, in his "Life of Decatur." The Philadelphia was set on fire; the brave band of assailants, without loss or injury, abandoned the burning ship; and slowly but exultingly, by the aid of their the aid of their sweeps, withdrew from the scene of danger and of triumph. "Hull, spars, and rigging, were now enveloped in flames. As the metal of the Philadelphia's guns became heated, they were discharged in succession from both sides, serving as a brilliant salvo Preble and his coadjutors determined, in honor of the victory, and not harm Signalized by some of the most daring and brilliant exploits with which the records of the American navy are adorned, this period of the war was, nevertheless, on the whole, very disastrous. Chasing a Tripolitan vessel within the shoal-waters that protect the harbor of Tripoli, on the 31st of October, the Philadelphia struck upon a reef, and Bainbridge and his whole crew, amounting to three hundred and fifteen souls, were captured. The vessel thus lost to the United States, was subsequently got off the rocks by the enemy, and was moored off Tripoli, about a quarter of a mile from the pasha's castle. less for the Tripolitans, as her starboard battery was fired directly into the town. The town itself, the castles, the minarets of the mosques, and the shipping in the harbor, were all brought into distinct view by the splendor of the conflagration. It served also to reveal to the enemy the cause of their disaster in the little Intrepid, as she slowly withdrew from the harbor. The shot of the shipping and castle fell thickly around her, throwing up columns of spray, which the brilliant light converted into a new ornament of the scene. Only one shot took effect, and that passed through her topgallant sail. Three hearty American cheers were now given, in mingled triumph and derision. The cables of the Philadelphia having burned off, she drifted on the rocks, near the western entrance of the harbor; and then the whole spectacle, so full of moral sublimity, considering the means by which it had been effected, and of material grandeur, had its appropriate termination in the final catastrophe of her explosion." Preble, in his official report, did full justice to the gallantry and ability of Decatur, and by general consent, he was rewarded with immediate elevation to the rank of a captain in the navy, and was presented with a splendid sword, as a national testimony to his merit, and as an incentive to noble deeds in others. The administration seems to have become sensible of the importance of increasing the force in the Mediterranean, and it was accordingly determined * Mackenzie's “Life of Stephen Decatur,” p. 79. During 1804. to send out reinforcements. the latter part of the summer of 1804, Preble, five successive times, with the help of some gunboats and bomb vessels, belonging to the king of Naples, attempted the bombardment of the town of Tripoli. The fact that they, as well as some attacks in boats upon the gunboats and shipping in the harbor, and the blockade, failed to secure the end contemplated, seems sufficient to show that the naval armament of the United States was not yet put on such a footing as was proper for a nation, that must of necessity be largely a commercial one.* Although keenly disappointed at the news of his recall before he had been allowed to finish the war with Tripoli, Preble lost none of his zealous activity while waiting for his successor. Early in September of this year, he tried a new mode of annoyance, which ended more fatally to the Americans than any other attempt in the war. He fitted up the ketch, Intrepid, by which Decatur had achieved his feat against the Philadelphia, as a huge “infernal machine." And manning it with volunteers, Captain Somers being at the head, after taking the best precautions for securing a safe retreat to the crew, sent it into the harbor on the night of the 4th of September. It was watched with the most intense concern; and before * On the 3d of August, in one of these attacks by gunboats, Decatur engaged hand to hand with a Tripolitan officer, and would have been slain but for the noble self-devotion of a young man named Reuben James, who saved Decatur from the fatal blow by interposing his own head at this most critical moment. See Mackenzie's "Life of Decatur," pp. 89-93. CH. III.] THE LOSS OF SOMERS AND HIS MEN. it had reached the point that was determined, the frightful explosion was beheld; but though signals were made, and boat parties sent out, no sign of the retreating crew was perceived; nor was one seen when daylight broke. Not only had the scheme failed in its direct object, it had wrought most lamentable harm for the projectors of it. It was afterwards found that the scorched and mangled corpses of Somers, Wadsworth, Israel, and their courageous followers had every one been picked up; Bainbridge (who was a prisoner all this time, and had once. been wounded by the rebound of a shot from the Americans in their bombardments) was allowed to see, but could not identify any of them. How the explosion occurred no one could certainly tell, but it seemed probable that the magazines were fired by the shot of the enemy, who seeing the strange vessel drifting along in silence and darkness, and suspecting every movement of the Americans, discharged their guns guns with both grape and round shot, in every direction that they thought it possible an attack might be made upon them. No dead Turks were seen, and therefore the ketch had not been boarded; and it was not likely that any of her crew, through terror or rashness, had applied the match.* 1804. On the 10th of September, Commodore Barron arrived, in the President, to take command of the Mediterranean * See Sabine's "Life of Edward Preble," pp. 99–103. Mr. Cooper also enters fully into the question respecting the fate of Somers and his companions. See his "Naval History," vol. i., pp. 252-59. VOL. III.-E 57 squadron; and Preble, now relieved from his harassing position, returned, early in 1805, to the United States, where he and the gallant officers and men under him, received the thanks of Congress and of the country, for their noble efforts to sustain the reputation and establish the rights of Americans. The squadron under Barron consisted of two forty-fours, two thirty-eights, one thirty-two, two sixteens, and three twelves. And with these vessels the blockade was continued, although it could not be said that any hope was entertained of forcing an accommodation by that means; for new uneasiness had been showed by the other despots of Barbary, and it was necessary to detach part of the squadron, to look out near Gibraltar for cruisers from Morocco. Nor would peace have been secured so early, had not a movement by land been carried forward which materially aided the course of operations on the sea. 1804. It will be remembered, that Yussuf Caramalli had obtained the throne by deposing his brother Hamet. "The latter," as Mr. Cooper states, "had escaped from the regency, and after passing a wandering life, had taken refuge among the Mamelukes of Egypt. It had often been suggested by the American agents, that the deposed prince might be made useful in carrying on the war against the usurper, and, at different times, several projects to that effect had been entertained, though never with any results. At length Mr. Eaton, the consul at Tunis, who had been a captain in the army, interested himself in the enterprise; and coming to America, so far prevailed on the government to lend itself to his views, as to obtain a species of indirect support. And Commodore Barron was directed to co-operate with Mr. Eaton, as far as he might deem it discreet." Returning with Barron's squadron, in 1804, Eaton ascertained where the expelled pasha was to be found; and proceeded, in November, to Egypt, in the Argus, where the viceroy received them with favor, and gave permission to the prince of Tripoli to leave the country unmolested, although he had been fighting with the discontented Mamelukes against the government. Early in 1805, Hamet "separated himself from the Mamelukes, and, attended by about forty followers, repaired to a point about twelve leagues to the westward of the old port of Alexandria. Here he was soon joined by Mr. Eaton, at the head of a small host of adventurers, whom he had obtained in Egypt. This party was composed of all nations, though Mr. Eaton expressed his belief, at the time, that had he possessed the means of subsistence, he might have marched a body of thirty thousand men against Tripoli, the reigning pasha having forced so many of his subjects into banishment. Soon after the junction agreed upon, Mr. Eaton, who now assumed the title of general, marched in the direction of Derne, taking the route across the desert of Barca." | communications with the Argus, the Hornet, and the Nautilus, which had appeared on the coast, and obtained a field-piece, some stores and muskets, and the assistance of a few marines, the attack began, the vessels standing close in and assisting. The governor of Derne replied to Hamet's summons to surrender, in the terse but expressive oriental phrase, "Your head or mine!" He had a battery of eight or nine guns fronting the sea; and some eight hundred regular soldiers; with breastworks hastily run up, and loops cut for musketry in the houses, on the side he expected the attack. But more than one quarter of the town was in favor of the besiegers; and he had to repress mutiny within, as well as to resist assaults from without. It did not require a very long time to silence the battery, so well did the vessels station themselves; and as soon as that was accomplished, Eaton's force stormed it, and for the first time the star-spangled banner waved over a fortress in the old world, captured by the bravery of the sons of the new world. This was on the 27th of April, 1805. As for the enemy, they had fled with so much precipitation, that they left their guns loaded and even primed; and they were immediately turned against the town. On the opposite side, Hamet, with a small cavalry force, had effected a lodgment; and so, being put between two fires, after this sharp encounter of two hours, the place submitted. "In this affair, only fourteen of the assailants were kill With unflinching courage and dogged perseverance, Eaton and his allies pressed forward, and at the beginning of April, 1805, reached the coast in the vicinity of Derne. Having opened | ed and wounded, General Eaton being 1805. CH. III.] TREATIES WITH TRIPOLI AND TUNIS, among the latter. The attack was made by about twelve hundred men; while the place was supposed to be defended by three or four thousand. One or two attempts were made by the Tri- | politans to regain possession, but they were easily repulsed, and, on one occasion, with some loss. The deposed pasha remained in possession of the town, and his authority was partially recognized in the province." Commodore Barron declined assisting Eaton with further supplies and reinforcements, alleging that, as Hamet was in possession of the second province of the regency, "if he had the influence that he pretended to, he ought to be able to effect his object by means of the ordinary co-operation of the squadron." Next month, Barron, who was in very ill health, gave up the command to Commodore Rodgers; and negotiations for peace were commenced in earnest, Mr. Lear having arrived off Tripoli, for that purpose, in the Essex. After the usual intrigues, delays, and prevarications, a treaty was signed on the 3d of June. By it, no tribute was to be paid in future, but $60,000 were given by America, for the ransom of the prisoners remaining, after exchanging the Tripolitans in her power, man for man. In several weighty respects it is not easy to approve of the terms of this peace with Tripoli, and under all the circumstances, it seems almost certain that better terms might have been obtained. How far Mr. Lear was compelled by his instructions we are unable to state; but the treaty was approved and ratified. Hamet, who was cast off 59 with as little ceremony as he had been taken up, obtained only the liberation of his wife and children by Yussuf; and both he, and especially Mr. Eaton, considered themselves unhandsomely used and much injured by the treaty.* While, however, as Mr. Cooper says, "many condemned it as unwise, all rejoiced that it was the means of restoring so many brave men to their country. It is no more than liberal, moreover, to believe, that the situation of these unfortunate officers and men had a deep influence in inducing the government to forego abstract considerations, with a view to their relief."+ 1805. There being a prospect of speedy war with Tunis, which regency did not as yet understand the force and energy of the Americans, Commodore Rodgers, on the 1st of August, anchored in Tunis Bay, prepared to enforce, if necessary, the rights of his country. Literally, under the muzzles of his guns, Rodgers carried on a spirited negotiation, and his highness, the bey, soon found that the state of things was marvellously changed within a few years. His bravado now was ridicu lous and contemptible; and affairs were promptly settled to the satisfaction of one of the parties at least. The bey having expressed a wish to send an ambassador to the United States, Decatur, * Hamet afterwards came to the United States with a few of his followers, and applied to Congress for pecuniary relief. Some $2,400 were voted for this purpose, which only partially satisfied the exiled pasha. The legislature of Massachusetts granted to General Eaton ten thousand acres of land, as an expression of their high estimate of his heroism and patriotic ser vices in behalf of his country's interests. † Cooper's "Naval History," vol. i., pp. 261–66. |