We now come to the other and vastly more honorable phase of our
relations with the Barbary powers and to a series of actions which
form one of the most dramatic chapters of American naval history.
The _Philadelphia_ and schooner _Vixen_ were the only two vessels
blockading Tripoli. It was October, with much rough weather. Carried
by the gales well to the eastward of Tripoli, the _Philadelphia_ on
October 31st was returning, with the wind now shifted into the east,
to her station. Sighting a vessel inshore, she gave chase and pursued
until the soundings decreased to a danger point and the ship was hauled
off shore. The coast was practically uncharted. The depth increased and
then again suddenly decreased and the ship drove on to a reef which
was one of several to the eastward of the port, and between which, as
in most coral formations, was deep water. The chase, knowing well the
water, reached the harbor in safety. The firing had brought out nine
gunboats and no time was to be lost if the ship were to be saved. She
had driven up the smooth eastern slope of the reef her entire length.
Guns were thrown overboard, a few only being reserved for defence,
anchors cut from the bows, the foremast cut away, and every means taken
to lighten the ship without avail. The hostile gunboats took positions
from which they could safely fire; night was at hand; the _Vixen_
was unfortunately absent in search of a Tripolitan cruiser, and the
situation became such that it was imperative to surrender to save the
lives of the ship’s company. The magazine was “drowned,” holes bored
in the ship’s bottom, and all done which it was thought would insure
the loss of the ship. The colors were then lowered. The Tripolitan
crews acted in their usual manner, stripping the men of their clothing
and seizing everything valuable, snatching even from Bainbridge his
epaulets, gloves, watch, and money when in the boat of his captors.
It was ten at night when the 307 prisoners were landed at the town.
The officers were very civilly received in state by the Pacha, given
supper, and at one o’clock of the morning taken to the former American
consulate, a house good enough in itself but almost destitute of
furniture and other comforts. But for the kindness then shown by Mr.
Nicholas C. Nissen, the Danish consul, then as ever an unswerving
friend of American prisoners, their condition would have been greatly
more trying. His name should be held in grateful remembrance. He did
indeed receive the thanks of Congress and had the lasting gratitude of
the officers of the _Philadelphia_, who, after their release, presented
him in grateful recognition of his kindness with a handsome testimonial
of silver.
The men were confined in a warehouse much too small but were later
transferred to a larger. They were set to various kinds of work, even
to the building, as mentioned, of a fort which came to be known as the
American fort and received much maltreatment, particularly after the
burning of the _Philadelphia_ in the harbor, which soon came to pass.
The ship had been floated largely through the influence of a northerly
gale which had raised the water-level on the coast and had on November
5th been brought into the harbor. Her guns and anchors were weighed,
the former mounted, and work begun to put the ship in order. It is
seldom that the soul of man is more sorely tried than was that of her
gallant captain when he became conscious of this success of the enemy.
It was not until November 27th that Preble on his arrival at Malta
received news confirming rumors of the _Philadelphia’s_ loss in letters
from Bainbridge. In one of December 5, 1803, Bainbridge had suggested
the destruction of the _Philadelphia_, an idea which naturally had
already occurred to Preble. On December 17th the latter sailed for
Tripoli, taking with him the _Enterprise_, commanded by Decatur, who
captured on the way a ketch (or topsail schooner) named the _Mastico_,
with a crew of seventy. It was this captured vessel, renamed the
_Intrepid_, which was finally used in the coming adventure and has thus
come down through more than a century in the list of famous ships.
There was no trouble in finding officers or men for the duty, but the
whole was finally turned over to the commander of the _Enterprise_
to arrange, and her crew only was to be employed except that five
midshipmen of the _Constitution_ were detailed to assist. Sixty-two men
of the _Enterprise_ were taken. The officers were Decatur, commanding;
Lieutenants Lawrence, Bainbridge, and Thorn, and Midshipman
Macdonough, all of the _Enterprise_; Midshipmen Izard, Morris, Laws,
Davis, and Rowe of the _Constitution_, and Salvador Catalano as pilot.
Nearly two months from the inception had been spent in maturing the
plans, and on the evening of February 3d the _Intrepid_ and _Siren_
sailed together from Syracuse and were off Tripoli on the 7th. A gale
of wind drove them to sea, and it was not until the 16th that they
were again off Tripoli. At dark the _Intrepid_ was two miles from the
entrance, and here Midshipman T. O. Anderson, with a boat and nine men
from the _Siren_ (which was disguised as a merchantman), was taken on
board. This made a total of eighty-four in the _Intrepid_. A careful
division of duties had been made. Decatur, two midshipmen, and fifteen
men were to hold the spar (or upper) deck; the others were to look
after the lower decks except a midshipman and his boat’s crew who were
to secure the _Philadelphia’s_ boats and prevent the escape ashore of
the Tripolitan crew. The watchword was “Philadelphia.”
The captured ship had her main and mizzen topmasts housed (partially
lowered), the foremast which had been cut away was not yet replaced;
the sails were unbent and her lower yards lying across the bulwarks.
Her forty guns were all loaded. She was lying in front of the castle
well inshore.
The night was almost calm with a smooth sea and a young moon, and the
_Intrepid_ crept slowly in, apparently exciting no distrust. The main
part of her crew was kept concealed, only some ten or twelve being
visible. She was steered straight for the _Philadelphia’s_ bow.
When still some distance off, a hail from the _Philadelphia_ was
answered by the pilot, who stated the vessel to be from Malta, and
that her anchors having been lost in a gale, permission was asked to
make fast to the ship. A sudden shift of wind brought the _Intrepid_
under the frigate’s broadside and she drifted slowly astern, exposed
to the _Philadelphia’s_ port broadside at a distance of about forty
yards. So completely were the Tripolitans deceived that they lowered a
boat and sent a line. Some of the _Intrepid’s_ men had meanwhile got
into her boat and taken one to the frigate’s fore chains (supports
to the shrouds). They then took the line from the frigate’s boat
which had been run from the after part of the ship and made it fast
aboard the _Intrepid_. Both lines were hauled upon by the men lying
down concealed on her deck. On getting near the _Philadelphia_ the
_Intrepid’s_ anchors were discovered. On this, the Tripolitans prepared
to cut the fasts, passing the cry of “Americanos.” A strong pull
brought the _Intrepid_ alongside, “where she was secured quick as
thought.”
The ship was immediately boarded. The Tripolitans crowded over to the
starboard side and forward, offering practically no resistance, and
large numbers jumped overboard. There was some struggle below, “but in
less than ten minutes Decatur was on the quarter deck in undisturbed
possession of his prize.”
The orders to destroy the ship and not attempt to get her away, which
in the circumstances of not a sail bent or a yard aloft would have been
almost impossible, were imperative. The arrangements for firing her
were so complete that the combustibles prepared were alight in a few
minutes, and in some twenty-five minutes from boarding the Americans
were hastening out of the ship to escape the flames. Their movements
were none too quick to escape; the fasts were cut and the _Intrepid_
shoved clear only just in time herself to escape burning. The sixteen
sweeps were manned, and, aided by a light breeze, the little vessel
with her brave crew intact swept out of the harbor under the fire of
the batteries and the thunder of the _Philadelphia’s_ own guns as they
heated and discharged themselves, one broadside toward the town, the
other toward the English fort. The only shot striking the _Intrepid_
was one passing through her topgallantsail. She was met outside the
harbor by the _Siren’s_ boats. The _Siren’s_ commander had seen the
rocket-signal, agreed upon, from the _Philadelphia_, and in the calm
had used his sweeps to close in and protect the _Intrepid_ should
she be attacked. Before the signal could be answered the flames were
running aloft in the _Philadelphia_. “Presently a boat was seen coming
alongside and a man in a sailor’s jacket sprang over the gangway of the
brig. It was Decatur to announce his victory!”[22] On the 19th both
vessels were again at Syracuse. This brilliant exploit made Decatur
a captain at the age of twenty-five and promoted most of those who
accompanied him. It remains as one of the most gallant and successful
adventures of the sea, remarkable particularly for the coolness of its
procedure and calm courage of execution. It was worthy of all the
praise given it at the time and which has continued undimmed.
* * * * *
The loss of the _Philadelphia_ and Decatur’s exploit gave an impetus
to naval affairs, which struggled then, as ever since, under
conditions of want of knowledge in our legislators and a poor system
of administration. There was, for example, not a drydock in the whole
country. “Facts,” as Fenimore Cooper expresses it, “were still leading
opinion, and the gallant men who were slowly fighting themselves into
favor were merely performing an office that would seem inseparable from
the advancement of every free people in civilization.”
Preble’s whole force before Tripoli in July, 1804, was the frigate
_Constitution_, six small vessels of from 12 to 16 guns each, six
gunboats, and two bomb-vessels; an excellent force for blockading and
for attacking the Tripolitan gunboats, which hugged the shores, but not
for bombarding the batteries in which were 115 guns.
From now on many brilliant actions between the smaller craft took
place, in one of which was a famous incident of the general attack of
August 4, 1804, when Decatur, having already boarded and taken one
gunboat, boarded another. The captain of the second was a large and
powerful Turk who seized the pike with which Decatur attacked him and
used it against the latter, who parried with his sword which broke at
the hilt. The pike entered the fleshy part of Decatur’s breast. Decatur
succeeded in tearing it out and grappled with the Turk. Both fell, the
Turk uppermost. He felt for his poniard, but Decatur, grasping his
arm with one hand, was able to take a small pistol from his waistcoat
pocket and passing his arm around the Turk fired it into his back. The
ball passed entirely through his foe and lodged in Decatur’s clothes.
While this was going on, another raised a sabre to cleave Decatur,
but a young seaman, named Daniel Fraisher,[23] interposed his arm,
which was nearly severed at the wrist. Lieutenant Trippe of Gunboat
No. 6 had an equally desperate encounter. His own and the enemy’s
gunboat separated with the shock, leaving only nine Americans aboard
the Tripolitan. Trippe was attacked by a powerful young Turk, who
inflicted eight sabre wounds in the head and two in the breast. Trippe
was brought to his knees, but he was able to give his adversary a
final thrust with his short pike, which ended the struggle. When the
captain thus fell, the others surrendered. The desperate nature of the
struggle undertaken by the six gunboats in the action may be understood
when it is known that the two boats captured by Decatur carried about
eighty men; of these fifty-two were known to be killed and wounded,
many jumped overboard, and only eight unwounded prisoners were taken.
Stephen Decatur’s brother James had command of Gunboat No. 2. In
boarding, he was shot through the forehead and died that evening.
The details of the many sanguinary actions during Preble’s blockade
cannot be given. Three captured gunboats, numbered 7, 8, and 9, were
changed in rig and added to the fleet. On August 7th No. 7 blew up
in action and of her crew of twenty-eight, ten, including Lieutenant
Caldwell, her commander, and Midshipman Dorsey, were killed, and six
wounded.
The arrival of the _John Adams_ on August 8th brought the unwelcome
word to Preble of the coming of a new and more powerful force under
Commodore Samuel Barron, his senior. This, as it was arranged, was
an unfortunate necessity, as a new squadron could not be organized
without putting in command some of Preble’s seniors, and it was
deplored by the Secretary of the Navy in a letter to Preble. It is
not, however, readily seen why the crews with Preble, the times of
which had expired, could not have been replaced by new crews, and
only the two captains junior to him sent. It was an act which showed
feeble unaccustomedness to administration. Preble wrote in his private
journal: “How much my feelings are lacerated by this supersedure at
the moment of victory cannot be described and can be felt only by an
officer placed in my mortifying situation.” He kept up his attacks,
however, while awaiting his relief, and on the night of August 24th,
after being much delayed by heavy weather, a night attack was made
by bombardment with little reply. This was renewed on the 28th; one
Tripolitan gunboat was sunk, two ran ashore, and the rest retreated.
The town was subjected to a heavy bombardment during which a 24-pound
shot entered the quarters of the captive Americans, covering Bainbridge
in the débris.
On September 3d came Preble’s fifth and last attack by bombardment. The
next evening the _Intrepid_ was sent in with the intent of blowing
her up in the midst of the Tripolitan fleet. A compartment was built
in which was placed 15,000 pounds of powder connected with a slow
match expected to take fifteen minutes in burning. Over the powder was
placed one hundred 13-inch and fifty 9-inch shells, with a quantity of
solid shot and pig-iron ballast. She was commanded by Commander Richard
Somers, who volunteered for the work and took with him, as the only
other officer, Lieutenant Wadsworth of the _Constitution_. Ten men
were taken. At the last moment, before parting company with the three
vessels which accompanied the _Intrepid_ to a point near the entrance
and stood by to receive the boats when they should return, Lieutenant
Joseph Israel of the _Constitution_ went aboard the _Intrepid_ to carry
a message from the commodore and begged so to stay that Somers allowed
him to do so.
The night was dark and the _Intrepid_ was soon lost in the gloom,
when at 9:47, as marked in the log of the _Constitution_, there was a
terrific explosion, followed by cries of terror and beating of drums
in the town and then silence. The boats which were to return never
came. The bodies of the three officers and ten men were from time to
time recovered by the Tripolitans, but the explosion, which evidently
occurred before intended, has ever remained a mystery.
Among the six names which appear on the monument now at the Naval
Academy, erected by their brother officers to those killed at Tripoli,
are those of the three then lost, the three other names being Caldwell,
James Decatur, and Dorsey. The total loss in Preble’s squadron in these
eleven months at Tripoli was thirty-two killed and twenty-two wounded.