And Present Condition of Tripoli, with some account of the other
Barbary States.
No. VII.
Events of great importance had also occurred in Algiers, by which this
ancient stronghold of piracy was stripped of its terrors, and its
impotence fully demonstrated.
The resources of this state were even more severely affected by the
wars of Europe, than those of Tunis and Tripoli, as it depended less
than either of them upon native industry for support. A Pasha of
Algiers, who wished to retain his throne and consequently his life,
was forced to keep his troops engaged in wars from which they might
individually derive profit; to increase their pay at the expense of
the public treasury was ineffectual, and he who attempted thus to win
their favor was soon despised and overthrown. They required the
excitement of contests and plunder, and bread not won at the dagger's
point seems to have had no relish with them. In 1805, these
desperadoes murdered their Dey Mustapha, only because he was of too
peaceable a disposition. Under Achmet his successor, they had a war
with Tunis, but it was conducted in a very languid manner, for no
plunder could be expected.
The United States continued to pay the enormous annual tribute which
had been stipulated in the treaty of 1796, but not punctually. The
little respect which was paid to neutral rights at that period by
France and England, rendered the transmission of the naval stores
composing the tribute difficult and unsafe, and this was the reason
always alleged by the American Consul in accounting for the delay; but
it was also in a great measure intentional, from the idea on which the
other nations tributary to Algiers acted, that by thus remaining
always in arrears, the fear of losing the whole sum due, would render
the Dey less inclined to make any sudden depredations on their
commerce. A strict adherence to engagements voluntarily entered into,
would have been perhaps the better, and certainly much the more
dignified course, as the Dey would have found it to his interest to
conciliate those who paid so regularly.
Whilst the American squadron remained in the Mediterranean, these
excuses were listened to without many signs of impatience, but on its
departure Achmet raised his tone, and after threatening for some time,
he at length in the latter part of 1807 sent out his cruisers with
orders to seize American vessels, informing Mr. Lear at the same time,
that this was not to be considered as a hostile proceeding, and should
not disturb the peace between the two countries.
The Algerine cruisers took three American vessels, of which two were
brought into port and condemned; the crew of the third the schooner
Mary Anne, rose upon their captors, killed four of them, and having
set the remaining four adrift in a boat, carried the vessel safe into
Naples. As soon as the Dey received the news of this, he ordered the
American Consul instantly to pay sixteen thousand dollars as
satisfaction for the lives of his eight subjects. Mr. Lear endeavored
to obtain a delay until he could receive the orders of his government;
but he was threatened with imprisonment, and a number of ships of war
were ready to sail for the purpose of plundering American vessels; he
therefore, after a formal protest, paid the sixteen thousand dollars
for the Algerines killed, as well as the whole amount of the tribute
then due.
Shortly after this occurrence, on the 7th of November, 1808, the
Turkish soldiery revolted, and having killed Achmet, placed in his
stead Ali the keeper of a small mosque. What were their reasons for
such a choice cannot be stated, but the expectations of the Turks seem
not to have been fulfilled; for on the 4th of March, 1809, they
quietly took their sovereign to the common house of correction, and
there strangled him. They then raised to the throne a decrepid old man
named Hadji Ali, whose character was much more conformable with their
wishes, for he proved to be one of the most energetic, as well as most
ferocious tyrants ever known even in Algiers. He determined to revive
the old glory of his state, and again to offer to all Christian
nations the alternative of war or tribute.
Great Britain and France were at that time the only commercial nations
at peace with Algiers and paying no fixed tribute, yet they vied with
each other in the richness of their presents, which were made with
great regularity on all public occasions. Great Britain too, passively
encouraged the piratical propensity of the Algerines, by allowing them
to plunder and carry off the miserable inhabitants of the territories
which were occupied by her troops and at least nominally under her
protection, while France and the countries subject to or in alliance
with her, were secure from such depredations. The British did more;
for in 1810,--when neutral commerce had been extinguished, and the
resources of Algiers were in consequence almost cut off, as neither
could tribute be sent nor compensation be obtained for it by
piracy--at this conjuncture two large ships and a brig entered the
harbor, laden with warlike munitions, the whole sent as a present to
the Dey from the government of Great Britain. Seventy thousand dollars
were soon after received through the agency of the same government
from Spain, in satisfaction for a pretended injury committed by a
Spanish vessel.
By the aid of this timely supply, Hadji Ali was enabled to fit out a
respectable naval force, which under the command of the Rais Hamida a
daring and skilful corsair, sailed for the coast of Portugal, and for
some time continued to insult and plunder the vessels of that wretched
kingdom; this too, at a period when its fortresses were held by
British troops, and its harbors filled with British ships of war.
At the commencement of 1812, it was almost certain that war would soon
take place between the United States and Great Britain; in expectation
of this, it was important to the latter power to raise up as many
enemies as possible to the Americans, and to deprive them of places of
refuge for their vessels. It was principally with this object, that an
Envoy was sent to the Barbary States; and he was made the bearer of a
letter from the Prince Regent to the Dey, containing an offer of
alliance, with the obligation on the part of Great Britain to protect
Algiers against all its enemies, on condition of the observance of
existing treaties between the two nations. The Envoy, Mr. A'Court,[1]
was a man well calculated for carrying into effect the objects for
which he was chosen, and he here first gave proofs of those talents
which have since raised him to exalted stations in his country. He
soon acquired great influence over the savage Turk; he demonstrated to
him the designs and advances of Napoleon towards universal dominion,
and made him tremble for the safety of his own Regency. On the other
hand, he exhibited the mighty naval power of Great Britain, and
endeavored to convince the Dey, that he could only escape the fate of
the greater part of the European sovereigns, by seconding her efforts
in resisting the insatiable conqueror. The United States were
represented as the allies of France, possessing an extensive commerce,
but having no naval force to protect it.
[Footnote 1: Now Lord Haytesbury.]
These views were confirmed by the assurances of the Jewish merchants,
who conducted nearly all the outward trade of Algiers, and who were
generally consulted on points of foreign policy. A truce was in
consequence obtained for Sicily, the captives from that island being
however retained in slavery. A peace was also negotiated between
Algiers and Portugal, the latter agreeing to pay a large sum
immediately, and a heavy annual tribute in future. However, the Dey
could not be led to declare war against the dreaded Emperor of France,
although he had no objection to a quarrel with the United States,
conceiving that it might be made very profitable, either by
depredations on their commerce, or by obtaining an increase of their
tribute. He gave the first hint of his intentions to the American
Consul, by sending him the Prince Regent's letter, under pretence of
requesting a translation of it into Italian, but really for the
purpose of inducing him to bid higher for the friendship of Algiers.
No notice being taken of this, he became more insolent in his demands
and threats.
At length, on the 17th of July, 1812, the ship Alleghany arrived at
Algiers, laden with naval and military stores, which were sent to the
Dey and Regency by the United States, according to the terms of the
treaty of 1796. The Dey at first expressed his entire satisfaction
with what was sent, and a part of the cargo was landed; a few days
after, the Minister of Marine informed the American Consul, that his
master had been much astonished on examining the lists of the
articles, to find that several of them were not in such quantities as
he had required, and also that some cases containing arms had been
landed at Gibraltar, for the Emperor of Morocco; that he considered
the latter circumstance as an insult to himself, and he would not,
therefore, receive any part of the cargo of the ship. Mr. Lear
endeavored to show that the value of the articles sent, was more than
equal to the amount due by the United States, and that if this were
true, the Dey should not complain if a part of the cargo originally
shipped were destined for another purpose.
In reply to this a new demand was made. By the treaty of 1796 the
United States engaged to pay, "annually to the Dey the value of twelve
thousand Algerine sequins (21,000 dollars) in maritime stores," and
payment to this amount had been made for each year since 1796. The Dey
now contended that the time should have been counted by the Mahometan
calendar which gives only 354 days to the year, and that consequently
the United States owed him arrears of tribute for six months, to which
the differences between the Mahometan and Christian years since 1796,
when added together would amount. Against this novel demand, the
Consul remonstrated and protested in vain; he was ordered to pay the
whole sum due immediately in cash, the stores offered as tribute not
being receivable, otherwise he would be sent in chains to prison, the
Americans in Algiers be made slaves, the Alleghany with her cargo be
confiscated, and war be declared against the United States. With such
a prospect before him, the Consul could only pay the money, which was
effected through the agency of the Jewish mercantile house of Bacri.
As soon as this was done, the Consul and all the Americans were
commanded to quit Algiers immediately; they accordingly embarked in
the Alleghany for Gibraltar, where they arrived on the 4th of August.
Orders were then given by the Dey to his cruisers to take American
vessels; but the apprehension of war with Great Britain had caused
most of them to leave the Mediterranean, and the only prize made by
the Algerines, was a small brig the Edwin of Salem.
Information of these outrageous acts was officially communicated to
Congress by President Madison on the 17th of November, 1812; but war
had been declared by the United States against Great Britain, and the
American flag was not seen in the Mediterranean until 1815, in which
year ample satisfaction was obtained for the indignities which it had
suffered from Algiers.
In 1814 Hadji Ali was murdered, and his Prime Minister was invested
with the sovereign authority; within a fortnight afterwards, the
latter underwent the fate of his predecessor, and Omar the Aga or
commander of the forces was made Pasha. Napoleon had by this time been
overcome, and a congress of European potentates and ministers was
assembled at Vienna, engaged in regulating the affairs of that portion
of the world, which circumstances had placed under their control. To
this congress a memorial was presented by the celebrated Sir Sidney
Smith, the object of which was the formation of a naval and military
force, by means of contingents furnished and supported by the nations
most interested, for the purpose of protecting commerce and abolishing
piracy in the Mediterranean. It was declared that the Ottoman Porte
would willingly contribute to the attainment of this end, and that
Tunis was also disposed to relinquish its unlawful attacks upon the
commerce of Christian nations, provided it were sure of protection
against the other two states of Barbary.
This romantic proposition seems to have engaged but little the
attention of the congress, and a petition of the Knights of Malta for
a restoration of their island was equally disregarded. Sir Sidney's
plan was impracticable, and the Knights of St. John could never have
seriously imagined that Great Britain would give up such a possession
as Malta on considerations of doubtful philanthropy; they probably
only hoped for some individual indemnification. No question concerning
the Barbary States indeed seems to have been debated at the Congress
of Vienna; the execution of any plan respecting them, must have
depended on the approval of Great Britain, the commerce of which being
secure from interruption, she had no interest in the suppression of
these pirates.
Attempts had been made on the part of the United States, to obtain the
liberation of the crew of the Edwin and of some other Americans who
were held captive in Algiers; but Hadji Ali refused to part with them
for any sum that would probably be offered, his object being to
increase the number of his captives, in order to compel a renewal of
the treaty on terms still more favorable to himself than those of the
convention of 1796. Omar, who was a much more rational being than
Hadji Ali, would probably have acceded to these offers, but they were
not again proposed; no sooner were the difficulties between the United
States and Great Britain arranged by the Treaty of Ghent, than the
former power made preparations to rescue its citizens from slavery by
force, and to punish the Algerines for the outrages committed in 1812.
A squadron consisting of three frigates, a sloop, a brig and three
schooners, was fitted out and sent under Commodore Stephen Decatur to
the Mediterranean, which sea it entered on the 14th of June, 1815. The
Dey had already been notified of its approach by a British frigate,
which appears to have been despatched for this purpose to Algiers; but
the warning was disregarded, for his ships were all sent out, and no
measures were taken by him to put the city in a state of defence.
On arriving at Gibraltar, the American Commodore received information
that several Algerine ships were in the vicinity, and he immediately
sailed in pursuit of them. On the 17th, the frigate Guerriere
Decatur's flag ship overtook near Cape de Gatte the Algerine frigate
Mazouda, commanded by the famous Rais Hamida; after a short action the
Mazouda was taken, Hamida and thirty of his crew being killed. On the
19th an Algerine brig of twenty-two guns was also captured and sent
into the port of Carthagena, in Spain; on the 28th the American
squadron appeared before Algiers, and proposed to the astounded Dey
the terms on which he might obtain peace with the United States.
Confounded at the loss of his ships and the death of his daring
Admiral, and dreading that the rest of his cruisers which were out,
might fall into the hands of the Americans, Omar at once assented to
the terms proposed, and a treaty was signed on the 30th of June, 1815.
By its terms all the American prisoners were instantly to be
surrendered without ransom, indemnification being made for their
injuries and losses, and for all the seizures of American property in
1812; the Americans on their part, surrendering without ransom all
their prisoners. No demands for tribute, under any name or form, were
ever after to be made by Algiers on the United States; all American
citizens taken on board the vessels of any other country, were to be
set at liberty and their property to be restored as soon as their
citizenship should be proved; vessels of either party were to be
protected in the ports, or within cannon shot of the forts of the
other, and no enemy's vessel was to be allowed to leave a port of one
country in pursuit of a vessel of the other, until twenty-four hours
after the sailing of the latter; with many other provisions highly
favorable to the United States. The American commander promised to
restore to the Dey, the frigate and brig which he had taken, and the
frigate was in consequence immediately given up; the brig was for some
time detained by the authorities at Carthagena, on the pretence that
it had been captured within the jurisdiction of Spain.
The peace being thus made, and the stipulations of the treaty complied
with as far as possible, Mr. William Shaler was installed as Consul
General of the United States for the Barbary Regencies, and the
squadron sailed on the eighth of July for Tunis, where its presence
was required by circumstances which it will be necessary to detail.
During the great European war, the armed ships of France and England
were in the habit of conducting their prizes into the Barbary ports
and there selling them; a number of American vessels were indeed thus
disposed of by the French, under the infamous Decrees of Berlin and
Milan. The British Government, not content with this species of
neutrality, sent Admiral Freemantle with a squadron to Tunis and
Tripoli, and thus obtained from each of these powers, an engagement
not to suffer any of the belligerents on the other side, to bring
British vessels as prizes into its ports. After the declaration of war
by the United States against Great Britain, no American armed vessel
had ventured to pass the Streights of Gibraltar, until December 1814,
when the privateer brig Abællino, from Boston, commanded by W. F.
Wyer, entered the Mediterranean and took a number of prizes, some of
which were sent into Tunis and Tripoli.
On the arrival of the first of these prizes at Tunis, Mr. Noah, the
American Consul, at the request of the master, applied to the Bey for
permission to sell her and her cargo. Mahmoud in reply showed him the
engagement with Great Britain, which forbade his granting such a
license; and the British Consul threatened, in case it were allowed,
to send to Sicily for a squadron, in order to avenge this infraction
of the treaty with his country. License to sell the vessel was however
obtained by Mr. Noah, and she was accordingly disposed of with her
cargo, Prince Mustapha the Bey's youngest son, contriving by fraud and
by force, to become the purchaser of the greater part of the cargo, at
very reduced prices.
Information of this having been conveyed to Admiral Penrose, who
commanded the British naval forces on the Sicily Station, he sent a
ship of the line and two brigs of war to Tunis, with a letter to the
Bey, enjoining him to arrest the sale of the prize, and to forbid
admission to others in future. With the latter requisition Mahmoud
declared his readiness to comply; and two other prizes having soon
after been sent in by Captain Wyer, he permitted the British to take
possession of them, although they were at the time actually at anchor
under the guns of the Goletta fortress. The vessels were immediately
carried to Malta, where they were restored to their original owners,
the prize crews being retained as prisoners.[2]
[Footnote 2: It may be proper here to observe, that although the
treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, had been
signed at Ghent on the 24th December 1814, and ratified at Washington
on the 17th of February 1815, yet a space of forty days after the
ratification was allowed by the terms of that treaty, during which all
prizes taken by either party in the Mediterranean, were to be
retained; and hostilities were in fact continued in that sea until the
29th of March.]
Mr. Noah protested against these proceedings, as being contrary not
only to the general principles of national law, but also expressly to
the terms of the tenth article of the treaty between the United States
and Tunis, which stipulates that "the vessels of either party if
attacked by an enemy under the cannon of the forts of the other party,
shall be defended as much as possible;" he at the same time gave
notice to the Bey, that he would be required to make indemnification
for the prizes which he had thus suffered to be carried off. Mahmoud,
who had not had so much experience with regard to the customs and
institutions of the Franks as had been acquired by Hamouda, could not
comprehend this; he offered to intercede for the restoration of the
vessels, and plainly told the Consul that if the captain of the
Abællino chose to cut out two British merchant vessels which were then
lying in the harbor, no attempt would be made to obstruct him.
Things were in this state on the 20th of July, when the American
squadron arrived at Tunis from Algiers. The Bey was instantly required
to pay forty-six thousand dollars, at which the two prizes which had
been carried off were estimated; he of course refused, endeavored to
evade the demand, and finally threatened resistance. But he had by
this time been fully informed of what had taken place at Algiers, and
the martial appearance and determined bearing of Decatur, who treated
with him personally, not a little contributed to intimidate him; under
these circumstances he thought it expedient to yield, and paid the
money on the 31st, making some remarks on the occasion, which clearly
showed that he had been encouraged by the British Consul to persevere
in resisting the demand.
As soon as this business was concluded, Decatur sailed with his whole
force for Tripoli, where he arrived on the 10th of August. Into this
port the Abællino had carried two prizes; shortly after their
entrance, the British armed brig Paulina with another vessel of war
entered the harbor, and retook the prizes, the commander of the
Paulina at the same time declaring his intention to pursue the
Abællino if she should leave the place. This was done immediately
under the castle walls, without any attempt at interference on the
part of the Pasha. The American Consul, Mr. Jones, instantly requested
Yusuf to cause the vessels to be restored, intimating that in case
they were not, the Pasha would be compelled to pay for them himself;
the Consul also demanded, that measures should be taken, in compliance
with the tenth article of the treaty, to retain the British ships of
war in the harbor, twenty-four hours after the sailing of the
Abællino, which was about to put to sea. To both these demands Yusuf
refused to yield assent; the prizes were in consequence sent to Malta,
and the Abællino was detained in Tripoli. The American Consul then
pulled down his flag, and sent information of the circumstances to the
other Mediterranean Consulates, in order that it might be communicated
to the commander of the squadron immediately on its arrival.
As soon as Decatur entered the harbor, he required the Pasha to pay
twenty-five thousand dollars for the two prizes which he had suffered
the British to carry off; it was paid in two days. In recompense for
the assistance which had been rendered to the Americans by the king of
Naples and the Danish Consul, the commodore also demanded the delivery
without ransom, of eight Neapolitans and two Danes, who were held in
slavery in Tripoli; they were immediately surrendered and restored to
their homes.
Thus, in a great measure, in consequence of the promptitude and energy
of the gallant officer who commanded the American squadron, within
fifty-four days after its arrival in the Mediterranean, were these
three piratical powers completely humbled by a force apparently
inadequate to make any impression on the weakest of them. The treaty
with Algiers was doubtless extorted by fear, and the Dey had no
intention to keep his engagements longer than he was obliged, as facts
afterwards showed; but important benefits were obtained at once, in
the liberation of the captives and the restoration of the property
taken in 1812. The moral effects produced in favor of the United
States, not only in Barbary but in Europe, were incalculable; since
that period, no Americans have been enslaved in either of those
countries, and not a cent of tribute has been paid by the United
States to any foreign power.
Scarcely had the Americans quitted Algiers, when a Dutch squadron
consisting of four frigates, a sloop and a brig, under the command of
an admiral, made its appearance. The object of this display was merely
to propose a renewal of the treaty made before the subjugation of the
United Netherlands by France, on conditions of annual tribute. Omar
however refused to renew the treaty, unless all arrearages of tribute,
which were for more than twenty years, were paid; negotiations on
these terms was impossible, and the admiral sailed away.
The Barbary cruisers, then undisturbed, renewed their depredations on
Sardinia and Naples; the vessels of these defenceless countries were
taken, and the inhabitants of the coasts were dragged away in great
numbers to the slave markets of Africa. Great Britain alone could put
a stop to these outrages; the French navy was disorganized, those of
the other European powers were inadequate. But the British government
was unwilling to give up the old system with respect to the
Mediterranean pirates, and a relation of its proceedings will suffice
to show, that they were by no means to be ascribed to a more liberal
policy, and that their results were not proportioned to the means
employed.[3]
[Footnote 3: It may not be improper here to quote the observations
contained in the London Annual Register, [for 1816, page 97] a work
generally remarkable for its temperance and impartiality. "It has long
been a topic of reproach which foreigners have brought against the
boasted maritime supremacy of England, that the piratical states of
Barbary have been suffered to exercise their ferocious ravages upon
all the inferior powers navigating the Mediterranean sea, without any
attempt on the part of the mistress of the ocean to control them, and
reduce them within the limits prescribed by the laws of civilized
nations. The spirited exertions of the United States of America in the
last year, to enforce redress of the injuries they had sustained from
these pirates, were calculated to excite invidious comparisons with
respect to this country; and either a feeling of national glory, or
some other unexplained motives, at length inspired a resolution in the
British government, to engage in earnest in that task which the
general expectation seems to assign it."]
For the Southern Literary Messenger.