QUARANTINE BLOG # 600

November 20, 2021

Another milestone QB.  Number 600.  And if anyone is counting – besides me – it has now been 613 days since the Bride of My Youth and I have been on a cruise ship!

But today is Saturday, and it is time for Part 3 of “The Barbary Pirates” (they were at sea – a lot).

Let’s finish our story of the Barbary Pirates.

On May 10, 1801, after four peaceful years, Yusuf Karamanli, Pasha of Tripoli, declared war on the U.S. by cutting down the flag at the American embassy.  When word reached the recently inaugurated President Thomas Jefferson, he sent the navy to North Africa on patrol to enforce the treaty and punish infractions.  Only after the fleet was too far away to recall did Jefferson tell Congress.

Yusuf Karamanli

The U.S. Navy, under Commodore Richard Dale, set up a blockade of Tripoli Harbor.  Heavy bombardment kept Karamanli’s forces out of the sailing lanes and inflicted heavy damage.  

Commodore Richard Dale

The Americans had a naval base on Malta.  With supplies running low, Dale sent the USS Enterprise, under the command of Andrew Sterett to Malta for reprovisioning. 

Close to Malta, the Enterprise encountered the pirate vessel Tripoli and a fierce, but one-sided battle ensued.  Twice the Tripoli lowered her colors in apparent surrender, only to attack again when the Americans came close. Finally, Sterett subjected the enemy ship to the most intense fire yet – cannon and rifles – killing many of the crew and opening gaping holes in the waterline. Finally the Tripoli’s commander threw his flag overboard and Sterett, who was under order not to take prizes, let the defeated ship sail for its home harbor.  

The victory was a great encouragement for the American population back home, and recruitment for Barbary sailors dropped off sharply after their defeat.

Things did not always go that well for the American fleet.  On October 31, 1804, the USS Philadelphia ran aground in Tripoli Harbor and was captured by the harbor’s defenders. It’s captain, William Bainbridge, and all of his crew were made slaves.

Captain William Bainbridge

Four months later, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, and a contingent of U.S. Marines captured a Tripolitan ship, stormed the Philadelphia – which was being used as a gun emplacement against the American fleet – and set it on fire, destroying it.

In spite of the treaty Joel Barlow helped put in place which released 115 Americans from Algerian slavery, in spite of the victory of the Enterprise, and the attacks on Tripoli, the Barbary Pirates were not defeated.

William Eaton was the American consul in Tunis, and he was increasingly frustrated by the inability of America to free itself of the Barbary Pirates.  He devised a plan to replace Yusuf Karamanli with his exiled brother, Hamid.  He convinced President Jefferson to give him money and Marines and the command to raise an army.  Jefferson told the American commander in the area, Commodore Samuel Baron to assist in the plan.

William Eaton

Baron reluctantly gave Eaton $20,000 for the operation, but instead of releasing 200 Marines to serve with Eaton – who although he did not have the rank, insisted on being called “General” – instead giving him only 8 men.  He did direct Lt. Presley O’Bannon to command the Marines in the operation – and that choice was vital for the success of the operation. 

Lt. Presley O’Bannon

Eaton recruited 500 Arab and Greek mercenaries, and they sat out from Alexandria for Derne.  Along the way there were at least two attempts at desertion by the mercenaries who were encouraged to stay with the force by O’Bannon and the Marines.  Hamid Karamanli attempted to sneak out one night and return to Alexandria, but Eaton convinced him their plan would work.

After a 50 day march, Eaton’s forces reached Derne.  Coordinating with American ships in the harbor, Lt. O’Bannon and the Marines, together with the mercenaries, attacked the fort. Within 75 minutes, Derne had fallen to the Americans.  Some two dozen of the mercenaries were killed.  Not a single Marine was lost.

Yusuf Karamanli tried to rally his troops and retake the city, but on June 10, 1805, he signed a treaty with the United States, ending the hostilities.

Francis Scott Key composed a patriotic song to mark the occasion.  You will immediately recognize the tune, but it is not the song that will come to your mind when you hear the music.

That song has been all but lost to history. But brushed up and revised a little for the War of 1812, and set to the same music, it has enjoyed considerable success since. 

So has the Marine Corps anthem, which begins: “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.” 

The Tripoli Monument, the oldest military monument in the U.S., honors the heroes of the First Barbary War. Originally known as the Naval Monument, it was carved in Italy in 1806 and brought to the U.S. on board the USS Constitution. From its original location in the Washington Navy Yard, it was moved to the west terrace of the national Capitol and finally, in 1860, to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

The Tripoli Monument

In 1812, the United States and Great Britain went to war again and the Dey of Algiers took advantage of the situation, seizing several ships.  

In 1815, when the Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812, President James Madison deployed men and warships against Algiers, beginning the Second Barbary War.

When the American squadron, commanded by Stephen Decatur arrived at Algiers, having taken two of Algiers’ prize ships, and 500 sailors prisoner, the Dey asked for terms.  A second squadron under William Bainbridge was further proof to the Barbary States that they had chosen a wise course.

The era of the Barbary Pirates finally ended in 1830 when France occupied Algiers and took control of the Barbary Coast.

👉  Today’s close is from the Smithsonian Magazine:

On a rainy September 13, 1814, British warships sent a downpour of shells and rockets onto Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor, relentlessly pounding the American fort for 25 hours. The bombardment, known as the Battle of Baltimore, came only weeks after the British had attacked Washington, D.C., burning the Capitol, the Treasury, and the President’s house. It was another chapter in the ongoing War of 1812.

A week earlier, Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old American lawyer, had boarded the flagship of the British fleet on the Chesapeake Bay in hopes of persuading the British to release a friend who had recently been arrested. Key’s tactics were successful, but because he and his companions had gained knowledge of the impending attack on Baltimore, the British did not let them go. They allowed the Americans to return to their own vessel but continued guarding them. Under their scrutiny, Key watched on September 13 as the barrage of Fort McHenry began eight miles away.

“It seemed as though mother earth had opened and was vomiting shot and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone,” Key wrote later. When darkness arrived, Key saw only red erupting in the night sky. Given the scale of the attack, he was certain the British would win. The hours passed slowly, but in the clearing smoke of “the dawn’s early light” on September 14, he saw the American flag – not the British Union Jack – flying over the fort, announcing an American victory.

Key put his thoughts on paper while still on board the ship, setting his words to the tune of a popular English song. His brother-in-law, commander of a militia at Fort McHenry, read Key’s work and had it distributed under the name “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” The Baltimore Patriot newspaper soon printed it, and within weeks, Key’s poem, now called “The Star-Spangled Banner,” appeared in print across the country, immortalizing his words – and forever naming the flag it celebrated.

Nearly two centuries later, the flag that inspired Key still survives, though fragile and worn by the years. To preserve this American icon, experts at the National Museum of American History recently completed an eight-year conservation treatment with funds from Polo Ralph Lauren, The Pew Charitable Trusts and the U.S. Congress. 

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