Jefferson's War
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
CAST OF CHARACTERS
SHIPS OF THE UNITED STATES MEDITERRANEAN SQUADRON, 1801—1806, AND THEIR COMMANDERS
GLOSSARY
AUTHOR’S NOTE
PROLOGUE
I - THE “PACIFIST” PRESIDENT
II - THE DREADFUL CORSAIRS
III - THE NEW NATION AND BARBARY
IV - “A GOOD OCCASION TO BUILD A NAVY”
V - “WILL NOTHING ROUSE MY COUNTRY?”
VI - WAR AND EARLY TRIUMPH
VII - THE WAR THAT WASN’T
VIII - FRUSTRATION
IX - THE PHILADELPHIA DISASTER
X - A DARING COUNTERSTROKE
XI - PREBLE’S FIGHTING SQUADRON
XII - A DESTRUCTIVE SCHEME
XIII - PLOTTING A REGIME CHANGE
XIV - AMERICA’S LAWRENCE
XV - DERNA AND PEACE
XVI - AFTERMATH
XVII - FULL CIRCLE
XVIII - EPILOGUE
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Copyright Page
For my wife, Pat, and our daughters, Sarah and Ann.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Americans
John Adams: Minister to England, Vice President, President
William Bainbridge: Captain of Philadelphia, United States
Joseph Bainbridge: Naval officer, William’s younger brother
Samuel Barron: Fourth Mediterranean squadron commodore, 1804—5
James Barron: Naval officer, Samuel’s brother
James Cathcart: Consul to Tripoli
Jonathan Cowdery: Philadelphia ship’s surgeon, diarist
Richard Dale: First Mediterranean squadron commodore, 1801-2
George Davis: Chargé d‘Affaires in Tunis, succeeding William Eaton; Consul to Tripoli after Cathcart
Stephen Decatur, Jr.: Naval officer
James Decatur: Naval officer, Stephen’s younger brother
William Eaton: Consul to Tunis, naval agent
Albert Gallatin: Jefferson administration Treasury Secretary
John Jay: Confederation Foreign Secretary
Thomas Jefferson: Minister to France, Vice President, President
Henry Knox: Washington administration War Secretary
Tobias Lear: Consul General for Barbary, Consul to Algiers, succeeding Richard O‘Brien
James Madison: Virginia congressman, Jefferson administration Secretary of State
Richard Valentine Morris: Second Mediterranean squadron commodore, 1802—3
Presley O‘Bannon: Marine lieutenant
Richard O‘Brien: Consul General for Barbary, Consul to Algiers
Edward Preble: Third Mediterranean squadron commodore, 1803-4
William Ray: Philadelphia Marine, diarist
John Rodgers: Naval officer and Fifth Mediterranean Squadron commodore, 1805—6
James Simpson: Consul to Morocco
Samuel Smith: Jefferson administration Navy Secretary
Robert Smith: Jefferson administration Navy Secretary, succeeding his brother Samuel
Barbary
Hadji Ali: Algerian Dey
Hassan Bey: Tripolitan general
Mustifa Bey: Governor of Derna
Sidi Mahomet Dghies: Tripolitan Foreign Secretary
Reis Hammida: Algerian admiral
Hamet Karamanli: Exiled Bashaw of Tripoli
Yusuf Karamanli: Bashaw of Tripoli, Hamet’s younger brother
Ahmed Pasha Khorshid: Ottoman viceroy of Egypt
Soliman Ben Mahomet: Moroccan Emperor after Maulay Sulaiman
Sidi Soliman Melli Melli: Tunisian ambassador to United States
Sidi Muhammad ibn Abd Allah: Moroccan Emperor
Bobba Mustapha: Algerian Dey
Hamouda Pacha: Tunisian Bey
Hassan Pasha: Algerian Dey
Murad Reis (Peter Lisle): Grand Admiral of Tripoli, named after a 17th-century Algerian pirate
Maulay Muhammed: Moroccan Emperor, succeeding Sidi Muhammed
Hadgi Unis Ben Unis: Tunisian Bey’s Sapitapa, or commercial agent
Europeans
Sir Alexander Ball: British governor of Malta
Citizen Beaussier: French Charge d‘Affaires in Tripoli
Lord Horatio Nelson: British admiral, Mediterranean fleet
Nicholas Nissen: Danish Consul in Tripoli
Mathurins: Catholic friar order that redeemed Barbary captives
SHIPS OF THE UNITED STATES MEDITERRANEAN SQUADRON, 1801—1806, AND THEIR COMMANDERS
Squadron 1, 1801—2
President, 44-gun frigate, Commodore Richard Dale
Philadelphia, 36-gun frigate, Captain Samuel Barron
Essex, 32-gun frigate, Captain William Bainbridge
Boston, 28-gun frigate, Captain Daniel McNeill
Enterprise, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Andrew Sterett
Squadron 2, 1802—3
Chesapeake, 36-gun frigate, Commodore Richard Valentine Morris
Constellation, 36-gun frigate, Captain Alexander Murray
New York, 36-gun frigate, Captain James Barron, Captain Isaac Chauncey
John Adams, 28-gun frigate, Captain John Rodgers
Boston, 28-gun frigate, Captain Daniel McNeill
Adams, 28-gun frigate, Captain Hugh Campbell
Enterprise, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, Lieutenant Isaac Hull
Squadron 3, 1803—4
Constitution, 44-gun frigate, Commodore Edward Preble
Philadelphia, 36-gun frigate, Captain William Bainbridge
John Adams, 28-gun frigate, Captain Isaac Chauncey
Siren, 16-gun brig, Lieutenant Charles Stewart
Scvurge, 16-gun brig, Lieutenant John Dent, Midshipman Ralph Izard
Argus, 16-gun brig, Lieutenant Isaac Hull
Vixen, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant John Smith
Nautilus, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Richard Somers
Enterprise, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr.
Intrepid, 4-gun ketch, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr., Lieutenant Richard Somers
Squadron 4, 1804—5
President, 44-gun frigate, Commodore Samuel Barron
Constitution, 44-gun frigate, Captain Stephen Decatur, Jr., Captain John Rodgers
Congress, 36-gun frigate, Captain John Rodgers, Captain Stephen Decatur, Jr.
Essex, 32-gun frigate, Captain James Barron
John Adams, 28-gun frigate, Captain Isaac Chauncey
Siren, 16-gun brig, Lieutenant Charles Stewart
Argus, 16-gun brig, Lieutenant Isaac Hull
Vixen, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant John Smith
Nautilus, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant John Dent
Enterprise, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Thomas Robinson, Jr.
Hornet, 10-gun sloop, Lieutenant Samuel Evans
Squadron 5, 1805—6
Constitution, 44-gun frigate, Commodore John Rodgers
President, 44-gun frigate, Captain James Barron
Constellation, 36-gun frigate, Captain Hugh Campbell
Congress, 36-gun frigate, Captain Stephen Decatur, Jr.
Essex, 32-gun frigate, Lieutenant John Cox
John Adams, 28-gun frigate, Lieutenant John Shaw
Siren, 16-gun brig, Lieutenant Charles Stewart
Argus, 16-gun brig, Lieutenant Isaac Hull
Vixen, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant John Smith
Nautilus, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant John Dent
Enterprise, 12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Thomas Robinson, Jr., Lieutenant David Porter
Hornet, 10-gun sloop, Lieutenant Samuel Evans
F
ranklin, 8-gun sloop, Lieutenant Thomas Robinson, Jr.
The Super Frigates
United States, 44 guns, built in Philadelphia, launched July 1797
Constellation, 36 guns, built in Baltimore, launched September 1797
Constitution, 44 guns, built in Boston, launched July 1798
Congress, 36 guns, built in Portsmouth, N.H., launched August 1799
Chesapeake, 36 guns, built in Norfolk, launched December 1799
President, 44 guns, built in New York, launched April 1800
GLOSSARY
Aground—Resting on the bottom.
Aloft—Anywhere above deck, such as in the upper yards, rigging or masts.
Becalmed—Motionless because of lack of wind.
Blockade—Incoming and outgoing traffic barred from a port by a patrolling enemy squadron.
Board—Taking possession of an enemy ship by climbing onto her deck.
Bomb Vessel—Two-masted vessel armed with one or two mortars for bombardment.
Bow—The front of the ship.
Brig—Shorthand for “brigantine,” a two-masted vessel. U.S. Navy brigs often were armed with 16 guns.
Broadside—Simultaneous firing of all guns on one side of a ship.
Cannon—Guns of medium and long range. They were denoted by the weight of shot fired: 9-pound, 12-pound, etc.
Careen—Turning a ship onto its side to make repairs to the other side, or to remove barnacles.
Carronade—A large-bore carriage gun, usually on the top deck, used at short range, sometimes to fire a shrapnel charge to kill enemy sailors.
Cat-O‘-Nine-Tails—A device for flogging sailors, comprised of nine knotted lengths of rope.
Corsair—A Barbary Coast ship licensed by the government to conduct raids on enemy shipping.
Corvette—A fast, three-masted ship with one gun deck.
Cutlass—A saber with a curved blade used in naval hand-to-hand combat.
Dry-Dock—A basin whose water level can be raised and lowered at will so that vessels can be guided onto blocks, the water then drained, and the ships examined and repaired.
Felucca—A small Mediterranean coastal trading vessel, narrow-decked with one or two masts.
Fireship—Any vessel filled with combustibles and explosives and sailed among enemy shipping, where crewmen would light a long fuse giving them time to evacuate before the vessel exploded.
Frigate—A three-masted ship with 24 to 44 guns mounted on one or two gun decks. Swifter than the larger “ships of the line,” yet with enough firepower to hold their own against ships up to 64 guns, frigates were the mainstay of the U.S. Navy during its early years.
Galley—Oar—powered warship of the pre-sail era, often crewed by slave rowers.
Grog—Water-diluted rum.
Gunboat—Small, lightly armed naval vessel suited for shallow-water operations.
Halyard—Rope for raising and lowering sails.
Handspike—Wooden tool for maneuvering ship guns.
Hold—Large, below-decks storage chamber for provisions and cargo.
Impressment—Forcible draft into naval service during wartime. British impressment of U.S. merchant seamen led to the War of 1812.
Ketch—Two-masted sailing vessel used for coastal trading or fishing.
Lateen—A four-sided sail of Arabic origin seen almost exclusively on Mediterranean vessels.
Merchantman—A merchant ship.
Midshipman—The bottom officer rating, followed in ascending rank by lieutenant, captain and commodore in the early U.S. Navy.
Mole—Breakwater that protects a harbor from the sea.
Muster Book—Shipboard book listing the names of everyone aboard.
Passport—A pass issued by the Barbary States to merchantmen from friendly nations, protecting them against capture by corsairs. During the U.S.-Tripolitan war, U.S. consuls issued passes to Barbary traders as a guaranty against capture by U.S. naval vessels.
Polacre—A two- or three-masted, lateen-sail Barbary vessel comparable in size to a Navy brig or small frigate, often employed as a corsair.
Port—Left side of a vessel, viewed from the rear.
Privateer—Privately owned ship authorized by a government to capture enemy shipping in time of war. Privateers were granted government “letters of marque” permitting them to take possession of enemy prizes. If the captured vessel were condemned in a “prize court,” the captor crew was entitled to share in the value of the spoils.
Prize Court—Place where captured ships, or “prizes,” were adjudicated and shares of condemned prizes awarded to captor crews.
Quarantine—A restriction placed on ships arriving from ports notorious for disease. A quarantined crew could not land until local health officials cleared them. Quarantines normally lasted no more than 40 days.
Quay—A manmade strip of land in a harbor where ships can load or unload cargo or passengers.
Schooner—A two-masted vessel typically carrying eight to 12 guns and slightly smaller than a brig.
Shoal—Shallows in an area of deeper water.
Ship Log—Offrcial ship record book, updated daily with observations on navigation, weather, and occurrences.
Ships of the Line—Ships of 64 to 130 guns that carried sufficient firepower to take positions in the “line of battle,” a formation from which an admiral could bring the utmost firepower to bear at one time.
Sloop—A small sailing vessel, often one-masted, usually with fewer than eight guns. The term sometimes is used generically to refer to small warships.
Spar Deck—The upper deck behind the main mast from which the captain commanded his ship.
Speaking Trumpet—A crude megaphone used by officers to shout orders and communicate with other ships.
Sprung Mast—Mast that has broken free of its fastenings and must either be repaired or replaced.
Squadron—A small number of warships under one commander.
Starboard—Right side of a vessel, viewed from the rear.
Stern—The rear of a ship.
Struck his Flag—Lowered the flag in surrender.
Tack—An oblique ship’s maneuver enabling it to sail into the wind.
Watch—On shipboard, the 24 hours of the day were divided into five four-hour and two two-hour watches, with the crewmen assigned to a watch responsible for the ship’s operation during that period.
Xebec—A three-masted Mediterranean vessel, similar to a polacre. Xebecs were often used as corsairs.
(Source: The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, Peter Kemp, editor, Oxford University Press, 1976.)
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The spelling and syntactical irregularities that recur in the correspondence, diaries, and ships’ logs cited in this book reflect the era preceding uniform U.S. educational standards. Eighteenthcentury men with scant formal schooling often became naval officers, diplomats, and government officials, whose public and private utterances subsequently became part of history.
PROLOGUE
August 2, 1802
Lieutenant Andrew Sterett surveyed the horizon from the Enterprise quarterdeck. Curly-haired and fair, with a powerful, curved nose, his sideburns nearly reaching his chin, the fire-eating young U.S. Navy skipper was especially watching for the square sails and long prow of a Barbary corsair. But for the moment, he had to curb his eagerness for combat because the sparkling Mediterranean lay empty. Canvas rustled above him, where the Enterprise‘s crew worked the topsails to catch the faint breeze. From the bow and aloft, Sterett’s lookouts continued to scan for signs of sail.
The Barbary War was only two months old, and the U.S. squadron—Commodore Richard Dale’s 44-gun President, two smaller frigates, and Sterett’s lightly armed, fast schooner—had been in the Mediterranean scarcely a month. The U.S. warships had not yet seen action against the Tripolitan navy. But that would change on this day.
The Enterprise was sailing to Malta to fill its water casks and the President’s, depleted dur
ing Commodore Dale’s initial diplomatic visits to all four Barbary States and a week of cruising off Tripoli. Above the Enterprise’s stern fluttered the British ensign; Sterett was following Navy Secretary Samuel Smith’s orders to fly false colors, knowing the Tripolitan policy of avoiding enemy warships. With England and Tripoli at peace, the corsair captains wouldn’t shy away from British ships; they might even draw near for a piece of news, and thus be lured into a fight the Americans would welcome.
The Enterprise was the third American ship by that name, and she would not be the last. Her two predecessors had served without distinction during the Revolutionary War. Not until World War II would there be another Enterprise whose colorful history would rival that of Sterett’s 12-gun schooner. During the Quasi-War that had ended in 1800, she had captured nine French ships in the West Indies in just half a year, including Le Flambeau, which had nine 14-pounders and a crew of more than 100. Later, after she was reconfigured as a brig in 1811, the Enterprise would claim more glory during the War of 1812, followed by action against the pirate Jean Lafitte in the Gulf of Mexico. By then, she would have picked up the nickname “Lucky.”
Cries from Sterett’s lookouts announced they had sighted a ship. Poking over the horizon was a square-sail brig with a long, pointed bow—unmistakably a Barbary corsair. The Enterprise’s gun crews and Marines raced to battle quarters.
Before the Enterprise had departed for Malta, Dale instructed Sterett to engage the enemy only if he thought he could win—a broad mandate for an aggressive young naval officer thirsty for glory. If he encountered and defeated a Tripolitan corsair while en route to Malta, “you will heave all his guns overboard, cut away his masts, and leave him in a situation that he can just make out to get into some port.” If he met a corsair on the return trip, the prize was to be brought to the squadron. In other words, fresh water took priority.
When they drew within hailing distance of the new ship, Sterett and his officers saw that she was indeed a Tripolitan corsair, aptly named the Tripoli. The American officers counted fourteen open gun ports—two more guns than the Enterprise. The Tripoli‘s captain, Rais Mahomet Rous, exchanged greetings with Sterett. Thinking he was speaking to a British officer because of the ensign swinging above the stern in the light breeze, Mahomet Rous revealed he was hunting American merchantmen.