Victory in Tripoli

Joshua London

Description

At the dawn of a new century, a newly elected U.S. president was forced to confront an escalating series of unprovoked attacks on Americans by Muslim terrorists sworn to carry out jihad against all Western powers. As timely and familiar as these events may seem, they occurred more than two centuries ago. The president was Thomas Jefferson, and the terrorists were the Barbary pirates. Victory in Tripoli recounts the untold story of one of the defining challenges overcome by the young U.S. republic. This fast-moving and dramatic tale examines the events that gave birth to the Navy and the Marines and re-creates the startling political, diplomatic, and military battles that were central to the conflict. This highly interesting and informative history offers deep insight into issues that remain fundamental to U.S. foreign policy decisions to this day.
Acknowledgments.

Introduction: 'Will Nothing Rouse My Country!"

1. Barbary Piracy.

2. Ensnared in Barbary.

3. Eaton Enters Barbary.

4. The Trials and Tribulations of a U.S. Consul.

5. American Declares War.

6. American Might, Frustrated.

7. Slouching toward Failure.

8. The Philadelphia Disaster.

9. American Gunboat Diplomacy.

10. General Eaton's Advance.

11. To the Shores of Tripoli.

12. American Peace.

13. The Lessons of War.

Bibliography.

Photo Credits.

Index.

Sujets

• U.S. Marines
• 19th Century
• Histoire
• Armada de los Estados Unidos
• Trípoli (Libia)
• Military history of the United States
• History of the United States
• United States
• History
• Tripoli
• United States Navy
• Thomas Jefferson

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 07 janvier 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781118039847
• Langue: English

Extrait

Table of Contents
 
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Acknowledgments
Introduction
 
Chapter 1 - Barbary Piracy
Chapter 2 - Ensnared in Barbary
Chapter 3 - Eaton Enters Barbary
Chapter 4 - The Trials and Tribulations of a U.S. Consul
Chapter 5 - America Declares War
Chapter 6 - American Might, Frustrated
Chapter 7 - Slouching toward Failure
Chapter 8 - The Philadelphia Disaster
Chapter 9 - American Gunboat Diplomacy
Chapter 10 - General Eaton’s Advance
Chapter 11 - To the Shores of Tripoli
Chapter 12 - American Peace
Chapter 13 - The Lessons of War
 
Bibliography
Photo Credits
Index

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

  Copyright © 2005 by Joshua E. London. All rights reserved
 
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada
 
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
 
London, Joshua E.
Victory in Tripoli : how America’s war with the Barbary pirates established the U.S. navy and built a nation
p. cm. / Joshua E. London.
ISBN-13 978-0-471-44415-2 (cloth: alk. paper) ISBN-10 0-471-44415-4 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. United States—History—Tripolitan War, 1801-1805—Naval operations. 2. Eaton, William, 1764-1811. 3. Generals—United States—Biography. 4. Marines—United States—Biography. 5. Pirates—Africa, North—History—19th century. I. Title.
E335.L66 2005
973.4′7—dc22 2005003025
 

 
To my wife, Anna Sarah, in recognition of the cheerful patience and fortitude of spirit with which she endured the terror of the Barbary pirates
To the United States, they believe they can dictate terms. Why should they not? Or why should they believe it will ever be otherwise? They have seen nothing in America to controvert the opinion. And all our talk of resistance and reprisal, they view as the swaggering of a braggadocio. . . . But whatever stratagem may be used to aid our measures, it is certain, that there is not access to the permanent frienship of these states, without paving the way with gold or cannon balls; and the proper question is, which method is preferable.
—William Eaton, U.S. consul to the Regency of Tunis, 1799-1803
Acknowledgments

When I began this project, I had no idea just how much time and energy it would consume. Had I known in advance that the Barbary pirates would become a constant companion in my life for close to three years—permanently taking up several shelves of my library, engulfing my desk, overwhelming my filing cabinet, remaining an ever-present specter taunting and absorbing me for the first two and a half years of my marriage—I might not have bothered. Now that it is done, however, I am terribly pleased that I did.
I owe a very special and very deep debt of gratitude to Anna Sarah, my love, my friend, my wife, my researcher, my translator, my proofreader, and my best, and perhaps harshest, critic.
I have also been greatly encouraged by my parents: my mother, Bonne, who has never been critical of anything I have written, and my father, Martin, who has.
There are several people without whom this book would really never have been written. My friend and former boss, Josh Gilder, who got the ball rolling by passing my name along to the brilliant and indefatigable literary agent James C. Vines. Jimmy pushed and prodded me to come up with a good idea for a book. My initial efforts lacked inspiration, but within a couple of weeks my good friend and former colleague, the talented writer Mark Hemingway, suggested the idea that led to this book.
I would also like to thank my patient and focused editors at John Wiley & Sons, Thomas Miller and Teryn Johnson. It was Tom’s decision to run with my book, and it was Teryn’s task to make it readable. I hope Tom’s decision proves as wise for both of us as Teryn’s line editing proved for the manuscript. Thanks also to the many other hands on deck at Wiley, including senior production editor Devra K. Nelson.
My good friend the writer, author, speechwriter, and surfer Matthew Robinson gave me editorial and moral support from proposal writing to final draft. Without his wise counsel, fierce loyalty, and editorial brilliance, both I and this book would have suffered.
Throughout the course of this project I received assistance, guidance, and consultation from many different people around the world. While I couldn’t possibly remember, much less thank, all of them, I did want to make special mention of those whose efforts were especially helpful: Professor Marshall J. Breger of Catholic University; Moncef Fakhfakh, the director general of the Tunisian National Archives; scholar and translator Asma Moalla; John Rhodehamel and Lita Garcia of the Huntington Library and Art Collection; Ambassador Richard Parker of the Middle East Institute; Professor Robert Allison of Suffolk University; Dr. Meyrav Wurmser of the Hudson Institute; Dr. Robert Book; Elizabeth Book; Seth M. Kronemer of the Howard University School of Law; Harris Vederman; Marc Radasky; and the obliging staffs of the Library of Congress, the Navy Historical Center, and the National Archives at College Park.
Introduction:
“Will Nothing Rouse My Country!”

A FRIGATE OF twenty-four guns sailed toward the harbor of Algiers, flying the American flag, at four o’clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, September 17, 1800. The Algerine captain of the port made his way out of the harbor to the ship in the bay, accompanied by U.S. consul general Richard O’Brien. They hailed her, boarded her, and identified her. She was the USS George Washington , commanded by Captain William Bainbridge—the first U.S. warship ever to enter the Mediterranean Sea.
But rather than bringing war to a known pirates’ lair, Captain Bainbridge was delivering part of the long-overdue tribute promised to Dey Bobba Mustafa, the ruler of Algiers, as well as a consignment of commercial goods, including coffee, tea, sugar, and fish. Captain Bainbridge, like many in the nascent U.S. Navy, took a dim view of paying protection money to pirates; he considered the mission an avoidable blow to the honor of both his ship and his country. Nonetheless, he was pleased at the chance to strut American naval power in the region and eager to convey American vitality.
The diplomatic situation in North Africa at this time was complex and confused, and American prestige was running particularly low. To protect a vigorous maritime trade in the Mediterranean Sea, the United States had become ensnared in an established system of tribute and bribery to piratical Muslim overlords entrenched in their fortified seats thousands of miles from America’s shores. Lacking in funds, behind in contracted obligations, caught up in European as well as domestic politics, seemingly impoverished of resolve, and obviously devoid of the means to project force in the region, America’s diplomatic relations were uncertain. Longing for some exhibition of their nation’s strength, resolve, and dignity, the U.S. government hoped the sight of the George Washington would help raise America’s standing in Barbary and go some way toward persuading the various deys, beys, and pashas who ruled this region that the United States of America would not be mistreated with impunity.
The George Washington was a former merchantman that had been purchased by the U.S. government in 1798 and converted for war. This good, clean, powerful-looking warship had a well-trained, finely tuned, orderly complement under obviously capable command.
Captain William Bainbridge was a bright, six-foot-tall, dark-haired, twenty-six-year-old Princeton man, who had served with distinction in the merchant marine. He had been rewarded with responsibility very early in his seafaring career and had singlehandedly quelled two mutinies. Despite having been too young to serve in the Continental Navy, Bainbridge had an easy time moving from the merchant marine to the U.S. Navy, entering as a lieutenant in 1798