The Barbary Pirates

C. S. Forester

Description

C.S. Forester, creator of the beloved Horatio Hornblower series, takes readers on an exciting adventure to the shores of Tripoli in North Africa. That's where, more than 200 years ago, the United States was threatened by pirates who snatched American merchant ships and imprisoned sailors - and the country's young, untested navy took on the task of fighting the pirates in their home waters. This true tale features thrilling ocean battles, hand-to-hand combat, and the first landing on foreign soil by the US Marines, and it's as fresh and relevant today as when it was first published.

Sujets

• History
• Naval
• Military
• Histoire

Informations

• Publié par: Rare Treasure Editions
• Date de parution: 10 novembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781774644201
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Barbary Pirates
by C. S. Forester

First published in 1953
This edition published by Rare Treasures
Victoria, BC Canada with branch offices in the Czech Republic and Germany
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except in the case of excerpts by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

The Barbary Pirates




by C. S. FORESTER

CHAPTER ONE
For centuries the Barbary pirates had plagued theworld. Long before any settler had set foot in theNew World they had begun their raids on merchantvessels.
Cervantes, who later was to write the story of DonQuixote, was a prisoner of the Barbary pirates ageneration before Raleigh’s colonists landed atRoanoke in 1587. More than a century later Defoe,writing about a popular hero of fiction, RobinsonCrusoe, told about his capture by, and escape from,the rovers of Sallee in Morocco.
How did this nuisance begin? Why did the civilizedworld put up with it for so long?
It should be understood that the Barbary pirateswere not pirates in the real sense of the word. Theywere the citizens of countries which were at war withother countries. They captured prizes and took prisonersjust as any warring nation did. At first the Barbarypirates had a religious reason for their wars:they were Mohammedans and they considered ittheir duty to make war on the Christians. Whenthe Mohammedans enslaved their prisoners theywere not behaving any worse than their enemiesdid, for in those days there were no internationaltreaties regarding the treatment of captives.
Later on, when other countries began to observecertain rules in these matters, the Barbary States followedtheir example to a certain extent. They solemnlydeclared war and made peace. They kept theirprisoners at hard labor and sold them for ransom,but in that hard world of long ago, prisoners couldnowhere expect kind treatment. The ransoms thatthe pirates demanded were like the war indemnitiesand tribute money demanded in treaties of peace byother countries.
The name Barbary States came from a term originallyused by the Greeks. Two thousand years before,they had called all those who did not speak Greek“Barbarians”. This name was used in an effort toimitate the strange speech of foreigners, and it cameto be permanently applied to the people of NorthAfrica, the Berbers.
The homelands of these people—the four NorthAfrican countries of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, andTripoli—were known as the Barbary States. Theywere parts of the vast Mohammedan Empire whichat one time had threatened to conquer the wholeworld. Later, this empire fell to pieces of its ownweight, largely because it had never been able tobuild any system of government except a simpletyranny.
The Arab Mohammedan conquest of NorthAfrica had not been very successful. Local generals,and governors, and religious leaders managed to setthemselves up as independent. At the same time theyposed as dutiful subjects of the central governmentat Constantinople. But their rulers did not have aneasy life, even if they lived in the midst of greatwealth and enjoyed unlimited power.
The Dey or Bey, Pasha or Emperor, whatever thelocal ruler called himself, lived only as long as hecould remain more powerful than his rivals andenemies. The moment his grasp weakened he couldexpect to be strangled and to be succeeded by someoneelse eager to take his place. The truth was that alarge part of the people were no more loyal to theirrulers than their rulers were to Constantinople. Theypaid taxes only when the ruler was strong enough tocompel them; and they were often hostile and independentunder their own chiefs.
It was only in the walled towns, and along thecoastal strip, and in the accessible valleys, that theMohammedan rulers could enforce their will. Thepirate cities were often shut off, with the sea on oneside and an enemy countryside on the other. So therulers living in these seaboard towns came to be dependentfor their luxuries, and even for their necessaries,on what they could steal from the outsideworld. The sea was far more open to them than themountains and deserts that hemmed them in at theirbacks. With the loot they could win at sea they couldbuy their food from neighboring tribes. The slavesthey captured could build palaces and fortificationsfor them, and they were thereby saved from anynecessity to do honest work.
So to sea they went, capturing poorly armed ships,and often raiding the Christian coasts to loot the villages.The shores of Italy and France, sometimeseven Ireland and once or twice Denmark, saw theBarbary pirates landing to carry off plunder andslaves. They exercised a certain amount of care notto anger powerful nations who might fight back.Often the pirates were glad to accept money insteadof plunder, and ransom for the slaves. Up to a pointmoney was more useful to them than either. But onlyup to a point.
The pirates must have war. Otherwise, the worldwould soon cease to fear them. Furthermore, amongArab pirates it was considered the mark of a gentlemanto go out fighting now and then. So the Deysand the Beys went on raiding peaceful commerce.They knew perfectly well that if they stopped, therewould be shortages of necessary goods among theirsubjects. These people would quickly find a rulerwho would promise to manage things better.
Naturally the civilized world did not accept all thislooting and piracy without protest. Over and overagain European countries sent armed forces to NorthAfrica. Spain and Sicily and France all sent theirfleets and sometimes their armies. One of Britain’sbest admirals, Blake, was sent by Cromwell in theseventeenth century with a fleet that bombardedTunis and for a short time brought order to theMediterranean. Repeatedly, the European powersseized portions of North Africa and held them for atime. This was one of the best ways to control theBarbary States, for any Christian foothold in NorthAfrica broke the chain of coastwise navigation thatwas important to a country of few roads.
Portugal provides another example of the struggleagainst the Barbary States. Before Columbus discoveredAmerica, Portugal conquered Tangier andheld the city for two hundred years. But the furtherhistory of the occupation is unfortunately typical.Tangier had to be occupied by Portuguese soldiers todefend it from the attacks of the Moors. Danger wasconstant and fighting frequent, and the occupationwas expensive in money and men, while the returnsin terms of trade were poor. The Portuguese couldnot make the place pay any more than the Moorscould without piracy.
In 1662 Portugal was glad to rid herself of theburden by giving Tangier to England as part of thedowry when Charles II married a Portuguese princess.England raised a regiment or two and tookover the occupation—the remains of York Castlestill stand in Tangier as a reminder of the presenceof the duke who later became James II. But twentyyears of continuous warfare and siege wore out Englishpatience, and the Dutch wars sapped herstrength. In 1684 the garrison was withdrawn and theplace reverted to the Moors.
The constant wars in Europe played an importantpart in allowing the Barbary pirates to continue solong as an expensive nuisance. Countries fightingfor their existences could never afford to waste anyof their strength on expeditions to Africa. Theperiods of time between wars were too short to permitlong-term action against the pirates, althoughnumerous attempts were made.
These attempts nearly all ended in a bargain beingstruck, after long haggling. The more powerful thecountry that was bargaining, the better the terms thatwere obtained. If the pirates pushed their demandstoo high the other power would fight sooner thanpay. In time the pirates became really skilful inadapting their demands to the situation. They knewjust the right sum to ask so that peace would be alittle more profitable than war for both sides.
There were certain countries with whom the BarbaryStates never made peace. At that time, Italy wasbroken up into numerous tiny states—the Pope ruledCentral Italy; Tuscany, Sardinia, Sicily, and Venicewere independent, but their governments weremostly feeble and corrupt. As their fleets and theirarmies were weak, the Barbary States had no fear ofthem, and preyed on their shipping for centuries.
The pirates also raided their Italian coasts, to givethe pirate fleets and their crews practice in looting.This proved to be an important bargaining factorwhen it came to haggling with the other powers.Moreover, such activities gave the pirates with a tastefor fighting a chance to take part in their favoritepastimes without much danger. The raids also gavethe pirates a supply of slave labor more convenientthan that from across the Sahara desert.
One other factor must be taken into consideration.This state of affairs had lasted for centuries. Britishmerchant ships had been exposed to capture by thepirates ever since the first ones had ventured intothe Mediterranean. When the kingdom of France extendedits rule to the Mediterranean, the pirates werealready there. When Spain and Portugal freed themselvesfrom the Moorish yoke, the new Christiankingdoms found themselves at war with Barbary.
The European shipping owner was inclined tothink of losses he suffered at the hands of pirates assomething that must be endured, for he had neverknown anything else. The attacks by the piratesadded to working expenses, but so did storms andcontrary winds. It seemed useless to hope that anyof these evils would come to an end.
Finally, the problem was not an easy one to solve.It was possible for the European powers to bring atemporary halt