The Bomb Ketch--A Terrible Missile--Frightful Catastrophe--Diplomacy in
Place of War--Peace.
Whenever a war is under way a number of persons on each side are certain
to come forward with ingenious schemes for injuring their opponents,
through improvements upon the accepted methods of conducting
hostilities. So it came about, after the slight success attained in
bombarding Tripoli, that a plan was formulated for creating
consternation in the blockaded city and bringing the defiant Bashaw to
his senses.
The new scheme was to fix up the _Intrepid_ as a bomb ketch, send her
into the harbor at night and there explode her. While a few had no faith
in the plan, others believed it would cause great destruction and spread
dismay among the Tripolitans.
In the forward hold were stowed one hundred barrels of gunpowder, and on
the deck above were piled one hundred and fifty shells and a lot of shot
and scrap iron. The plan was to give this floating volcano the
appearance of a blockade-runner. Two small boats were taken along, to be
used by the crews after setting off the fuse that was to blow the ketch
into a million atoms. It will be seen that the task was of the most
dangerous nature conceivable, and yet when Captain Preble called for
volunteers it seemed as if every one was eager to go.
The command was given to Master-Commandant Richard Somers, who was of
the same age as Decatur and Stewart, and had established a reputation
for coolness and intrepidity in the operations of the fleet. Midshipman
Henry Wadsworth, an uncle of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the poet, was
the second in command. They were accompanied by another midshipman named
Israel, who begged so hard to be allowed to go that he could not be
refused, and ten of the best seamen.
After waiting for several days, the night of September 4 was found to be
just what was desired. A fog lay like a blanket on the sea, but it was
so clear overhead that the stars shone with brilliant splendor. Before
the start was made, Decatur, Stewart and Somers, all the most intimate
of friends, had a long talk in the cabin of the ketch, no one else being
present. Each felt the gravity of the situation. Somers, though cool and
composed, seemed to feel a presentiment that he would not return. He
took a ring off his finger, and breaking it apart, gave one portion to
Decatur, one to Stewart, and kept the other for himself. He told his
friends what he wished done in case of his death, and they assured him
that every wish should be respected.
During that last impressive interview Stewart asked Somers what he would
do if discovered and attacked by the enemy.
"Blow us all up together!" was the instant response; "I shall never be
taken prisoner."
I may remark here that no writer has recorded this expression of the
gallant Somers, and I give it because Admiral Stewart assured me of its
truth. His recollection of the incident, more than sixty years
afterward, was as vivid as on the succeeding day. Indeed, Stewart, as is
often the case with aged persons, remarked that his memory of
occurrences a half century old was unerring, while of quite recent
incidents it was unreliable.
It was comparatively early in the evening when the ketch got under way
with a favoring breeze. Stewart, with the _Siren_, by order of Preble,
stood toward the northern passage, through which the ketch was to pass.
His purpose was to remain in as close as was safe, and hold himself
ready to pick up the men as they returned in their boats. Stewart turned
his night glass toward the _Intrepid_ and watched her slowly fading
from sight, until she melted into the gloom and not the slightest trace
of her outlines was discernible.
Nothing could be more trying than the waiting of the craft outside, for
Somers' own vessel and two small ones were near at hand. The stillness
was so profound that men heard the suppressed breathing of their
comrades. If one moved, he did so on tiptoe. Few words were spoken, and
all in guarded undertones. The rippling of the water against the prows
and cables was an annoyance, and on more than one forehead great drops
of cold perspiration gathered.
Slowly and painfully the long minutes wore away, until it seemed as if
several hours had passed, when in reality the interval was but a small
part of that period. Every nerve was in this tense state, when suddenly
the boom of a cannon came rolling through the fog from the direction of
the city, followed soon by the rapid firing of artillery. The approach
of the _Intrepid_ had been discovered, and it seemed as if all the
enemy's batteries were blazing away at her. But what of the ketch
itself?
Stewart, like all the rest, was peering into the black mist, when he saw
a star-like point of light, moving with an up and down motion, in a
horizontal line, showing that it was a lantern carried by a man running
along the deck of a ship. Then it dropped out of sight, as if the bearer
had leaped down a hatchway. For a moment all was profound darkness, and
then an immense fan-like expanse of flame shot far up into the sky, as
if from the crater of a volcano, and was crossed by the curving streaks
of fire made by shells in their eccentric flight. Across the water came
the crashing roar of the prodigious explosion, followed a few moments
later by the sounds of wreckage and bodies as they dropped into the sea.
Then again impenetrable gloom and profound stillness succeeded. The
batteries on shore were awed into silence by the awful sight, and the
waiting friends on the ships held their breath.
The hope was that Lieutenant Somers and his companions had fired the
fuse and then rowed away in their boats, but as minute followed minute
without the sound of muffled oars from the hollow night reaching the
straining ears, suspense gave way to sickening dread. The vessels moved
to and fro about the entrance, as if the inanimate things shared in the
anxiety that would not allow them to remain still. At intervals a gun
was fired or a rocket sent up to guide the missing ones, but none
appeared. Every man had been killed by the explosion of the ketch.
Investigations made afterward seemed to establish that Somers was
attacked by three gunboats, and, finding escape impossible, it was he
who ran along the deck, lighted lantern in hand, and deliberately blew
up the _Intrepid_, destroying not only himself and companions, but many
of the enemy. The mangled remains of several bodies were found some days
later and given burial on shore, but not one could be recognized.
Captain Bainbridge and some of his brother officers, who were prisoners
in Tripoli, were allowed to view them. He said: "From the whole of them
being so disfigured, it was impossible to recognize any feature known to
us, or even to distinguish an officer from a seaman."
In November, Commodore Samuel Barron arrived, and succeeded Captain
Preble in command of the American squadron. He brought with him the
_President_ and _Constellation_, thereby increasing the force to ten
vessels, carrying two hundred and sixty-four guns.
Having failed to bring the Bashaw to terms by force of arms, the
Americans now resorted to what may be termed diplomacy. The reigning
Bashaw of Tripoli was a usurper, having displaced his elder brother, who
had fled to Upper Egypt. He had a good many friends, who, if they dared,
would have been glad to replace him on his throne. The American consul,
who understood all the particulars, proposed to our government to use
the deposed ruler as an instrument to compel the usurper to make terms.
The Government authorized the consul to go ahead.
Accordingly, he made his way to Alexandria, sought out the banished
ruler, proposed his plan, and it was eagerly accepted. He furnished the
consul with a cavalry escort, enlisted a number of Greek soldiers, the
party marched a thousand miles across the flaming Barcan desert, and in
April appeared before Derne, one of the seaports of the reigning
monarch, who was also advancing upon the place. With the help of the
American fleet, the town was captured, and, for the first time in its
history, the Stars and Stripes were given to the breeze above a
fortification on the eastern side of the Atlantic.
By the enlistment of the mongrel population of the neighborhood, the
American consul gathered a formidable force, with which the enemy were
again defeated. Then they boldly set out for Tripoli.
Meanwhile the usurper was shivering with fear, and was more than ready
to make a treaty of peace with the terrible barbarians from the other
side of the ocean. The treaty was signed on June 2, 1805. The Bashaw,
who had demanded a princely sum for the release of his American
prisoners, was now glad to set them free for $60,000. It was agreed,
furthermore, that no more tribute should be paid, and thus ended all our
troubles with Tripoli.
These proceedings left the rightful ruler in the lurch. He had been
promised that he should be restored to his throne on condition of
helping the Americans, and he had given the most valuable sort of aid,
but the treaty declared that no assistance should be given him. It was a
gross injustice on the part of our Government, which did no special
credit to itself, when, after the deposed ruler had made a pitiful
appeal to Congress, that body presented him with a beggarly pittance of
$2,400.
THE WAR OF 1812.