DECATUR AND THE BARBARY PIRATES
SUPPOSING THE BRITISH WOULD SWEEP THE AMERICAN NAVY FROM THE SEAS
DURING THE WAR OF 1812, THE DEY OF ALGIERS WENT CRUISING FOR YANKEE
SHIPS, AND GOT ONE, WHILE TUNIS AND TRIPOLI GAVE UP TO THE BRITISH
THE PRIZES THAT A YANKEE PRIVATEER HAD MADE--THE ALGERIAN WAS
HUMBLED AFTER HE HAD LOST TWO WARSHIPS, AND THE OTHERS MADE PEACE
ON THE YANKEES’ TERMS WITHOUT THE FIRING OF A GUN--BRAVERY OF THE
PIRATE ADMIRAL AND HIS CREW.
It is a remarkable fact that before the American sloop-of-war _Peacock_
reached home from her cruise to the Straits of Sunda, the United States
had waged and concluded with honor another war. This was the second
war with the African pirates in the Mediterranean. As the reader will
remember, the treaties concluded with these powers by the American
naval officers after the war of 1802–1805 were more favorable to the
United States than any treaty that had ever been concluded with them
by any other power. Nevertheless, there were stipulations by which the
United States still agreed to pay a blackmail tribute for the sake of
peace.
And the reader will further recall the fact that this condition of
affairs was due to the attitude of the British Government toward the
pirates. England was entirely able to suppress the pirates, but instead
of doing so she encouraged them, for the reason that in so doing she
obtained almost a monopoly of the Mediterranean carrying trade for
her merchant ships. She paid a small tribute to the pirates herself,
and thus recognized the right of the pirates to prey on commerce in
general. The tribute protected her ships, and the pirates were careful
to see, as far as possible, that the ships of no other nation traded in
that sea.
By the treaties at the end of the first war with the pirates, the
United States merchants obtained the right to trade in these waters,
and with Yankee enterprise they secured a share of the trade, which was
extremely annoying to the British merchants, to whom the War of 1812
came as a very great relief. Just how the British Government operated
against the United States through the pirates will appear farther on.
When war was declared to exist between the United States and Great
Britain, Mr. Tobias Lear, who had been the private secretary of
Washington, was the United States Consul-general located at Algiers.
No sooner did the Dey of this nation hear of the new trouble of the
American nation than he called upon Consul Lear for the sum of $27,000,
which he claimed was due on the annual tribute. The United States had
paid tribute by the Christian calendar, but the Dey demanded that it be
paid by the Mohammedan, which threw the United States in arrears. Mr.
Lear, in view of the trouble with England, yielded.
At about this time an old American whaler, the _Alleghany_, arrived at
Algiers with certain supplies which the United States had sent by way
of tribute. The Dey promptly declared these stores were of inferior
quality, and said:
“The consul must depart, for I will not have a consul in my regency who
does not cause everything to come exactly as he has ordered.”
And Mr. Lear had to go in the _Alleghany_. The _Alleghany_ sailed to
Gibraltar, where she was taken by the British and her crew imprisoned.
But before Mr. Lear left Algiers he saw two large British ships come
into the port loaded with powder, shot, and other naval supplies to the
value of $160,000, as a present to the Dey from the British Government.
Fitting out his fleet, that consisted of five frigates, three
corvettes, and a lot of smaller vessels, the Dey made haste to go in
search of Yankee merchantmen. Luckily only the brig _Edwin_ of Salem,
with nine men on board, was found, but in his anxiety to enslave
American citizens, the pirate commander took a citizen of Virginia,
whom he found on a Spanish vessel, and sold him, although the vessel
went free.
[Illustration: A Typical Barbary Corsair.
_From an engraving by Newton after a drawing by J. Charnock._]
Thereafter, in the course of the war with England, a daring Yankee
privateer, the _Abellino_, Captain Wyer, of Boston, sailed into the
Mediterranean and took four prizes, which were sent into Tripoli and
Tunis. The rulers of these states promptly delivered the prizes to
British cruisers.
The war with England having ended, the Yankee navy was in prime
condition for attending to these pirates, and just five days after the
ratification of the treaty of peace with Great Britain, the United
States declared war against them. Two squadrons were fitted out, one
at Boston under Commodore William Bainbridge, and the other at New
York under Commodore Stephen Decatur. The two were to unite in the
Mediterranean, where Bainbridge was to assume command, because he was
senior by right of the date of his commission.
Decatur got under way first, sailing on May 20, 1815. He carried with
him Mr. William Shaler as Consul-general to the pirate states; and
Shaler, Bainbridge, and Decatur were fully empowered to negotiate new
treaties.
The squadron under Decatur included the new frigate _Guerrière_
(rated a forty-four); the _Macedonian_ (captured from the British),
Captain Jacob Jones; the _Constellation_, Captain Charles Gordon; the
sloop-of-war _Epervier_ (captured from the British), Captain John
Downes; the _Ontario_, Captain Jesse D. Elliott; the brig _Firefly_,
Captain George W. Rodgers; the brig _Flambeau_, Captain John B.
Nicholson; the brig _Spark_, Captain Thomas Gamble; the schooner
_Spitfire_, Captain A. J. Dallas; and the schooner _Torch_, Captain
Wolcott Chauncey--in all, ten vessels and two hundred and ten guns.
The squadron at Boston was headed by the new Yankee seventy-four-gun
line-of-battle ship _Independence_, and included the frigates
_United States_ and _Congress_, the sloop _Erie_, the brigs _Boxer_,
_Chippewa_, _Saranac_, and _Enterprise_, and the sloop (one-masted)
_Lynx_. The _Boxer_ was the vessel captured by the Yankee brig
_Enterprise_, and the _Enterprise_ was the old favorite. But these
vessels arrived in the Mediterranean too late to have any part in
negotiating a treaty. Decatur had already done the work, and this is
the more remarkable when one considers the force of the Algerian navy.
As estimated by Maclay, the Algerian force afloat was a half stronger
than Decatur’s. It included five frigates armed with eighteens and
twelves, six sloops-of-war armed with twelves, nines, and sixes, and
a schooner--in all twelve vessels carrying three hundred and sixty
guns. Moreover, these vessels were fully manned with able seamen, and
their admiral, “Rais Hammida, was the terror of the Mediterranean.” He
“had risen from the lowest to the highest place in the Algerian navy”
(something that cannot be done in the navy of the American republic),
and he had proved his prowess and valor over and again.
Moreover the harbor of Algiers, “formed by an artificial mole, was
defended by double and triple rows of heavy batteries, so that over
five hundred pieces of ordnance bore upon the maritime approaches of
the place.” In fact, when England in the year 1816 made war on the Dey,
“five ships of the line, five frigates, four bomb ketches and five
gun-brigs were deemed by the Lords of the Admiralty too small a force.”
On June 15, 1815, Decatur’s squadron arrived off Tangiers at the mouth
of the Strait of Gibraltar, and learned that the pirate admiral, Rais
Hammida, in his forty-six-gun frigate _Mashouda_, had sailed up the
Mediterranean two days before, intending to call at Carthagena.
At this the entire American squadron sailed into the Mediterranean
and after a brief call at Gibraltar came in sight of the _Mashouda_
at daylight on the morning of June 17. The enemy when first seen was
lying-to under top-sails off Cape Gata, but heading toward the African
shore. The pirate admiral was wholly unsuspicious of the character
of the approaching Yankee squadron until the _Constellation_, the
nearest of the squadron, was but a mile away. At that time the American
flag was set on the _Constellation_ by a mistake. Decatur ordered the
British flag set on all the other ships, but Hammida had taken alarm,
and spreading his wings like a flushed partridge--making sail with a
rapidity that excited the admiration of the Yankees--he headed for
Algiers, not far away.
There was an easterly wind, but the Algerian soon found that the
_Constellation_ was heading him off, and when the Yankee opened fire on
him he tacked about and headed for a neutral port on the north shore.
At this the squadron tacked in pursuit, and the flagship _Guerrière_
soon overhauled the enemy.
Pirate though he was, it is impossible not to feel some admiration for
the Algerian admiral and his crew in the fight that followed. It was
one ship against a squadron and small guns against large, but Rais
Hammida never thought of surrender. On the contrary, the pirates opened
with muskets as the brig _Guerrière_ ranged up. A man was shot from the
_Guerrière’s_ wheel and others were injured, but Decatur waited until
he was yard-arm to yard-arm and then fired a broadside that made the
enemy shiver. The pirate admiral had been wounded by a shot from the
_Constellation_ and was unable to stand, but he had bravely remained
on deck, lying on a couch. Now a forty-two-pounder shot struck him at
the first broadside of the _Guerrière_, cutting him entirely in two.
A second broadside from the _Guerrière_ followed and then she ranged
ahead of the _Mashouda’s_ bow. At that the pirates up helm and
strove to run for it. This brought the brig _Epervier_ fairly under
the pirate’s bows. Captain Downes commanded the _Epervier_, and
Downes was a seaman fit to be associated with Captain Stewart of the
_Constitution_, for by backing and filling his sails he was able to
give the pirate no less than nine broadsides in twenty-five minutes,
at the end of which time the _Mashouda’s_ commander yielded to the
inevitable and hauled down his flag.
Decatur said he had never seen a ship handled more skilfully than the
_Epervier_ was, or a battery worked better than hers, but of course,
the pirate was “completely mobbed,” and surrendered to the squadron,
not to one ship. The _Macedonian_ was in at the surrender and not six
hours’ sail away.
The fire of the Yankees seem to have been ill-directed, when the
results are considered, for only thirty were killed and wounded out of
the four hundred and thirty-six in the pirate crew. Master Commandant
William Lewis and Midshipmen Howell and Hoffman took charge of the
prize, and she was escorted to Carthagena by the _Macedonian_.
On June 19th, near Cape Palos, a brig was chased ashore by a small
vessel of the American squadron. She proved to be the _Estido_, a
twenty-two-gun brig of the Algerian navy. Eighty prisoners were taken
from her, and twenty-three dead were found on her decks. Her crew had
numbered one hundred and eighty, but many escaped ashore in her boats.
Having been taken within the three-mile limit she was eventually given
up to the Spanish Government.
Decatur was now ready to treat with the Dey. Arriving off Algiers on
June 28th, he summoned the Swedish consul, Mr. Norderling, on board,
by means of signals. The Algerian captain of the port came with Mr.
Norderling, arriving at noon. It was found that Mr. Norderling could
not act for the Algerian Government, so the demand of the President of
the United States was sent to the Dey by the hands of the Captain of
the Port. Meantime, Decatur asked the Algerian where the Algerian Navy
could be found.
“By this time it is safe in some neutral port,” replied the Algerian.
[Illustration: Decatur’s Squadron at Anchor off the City of Algiers,
June 30, 1815.
_From an engraving by Munger and Jocelin._]
“Not all of it,” replied Decatur. “The frigate _Mashouda_ and a
twenty-two-gun brig are already captured, and your Admiral Hammida is
killed.”
In language not too polite the Algerian expressed his doubts about
this assertion, when Decatur produced the first lieutenant of the
_Mashouda_, who confirmed the news. The Captain of the Port at once
changed his bearing entirely and begged that hostilities might cease
until a treaty could be negotiated on shore. To this Decatur replied:
“Hostilities will not cease until a treaty is made; and a treaty will
not be made anywhere but on board the _Guerrière_.”
Next day the Captain of the Port came out with full powers to
negotiate. The Americans presented their draft of a treaty. The
Algerian objected to returning the property taken from the Americans
enslaved by the pirates, saying that it had been distributed among many
hands. Decatur replied:
“As it was unjustly taken, it must be restored or paid for.”
That settled this point, but when it came to relinquishing all tribute,
the Algerian hesitated. Nor did he like to pay $10,000 to the owners
of the Salem brig _Edwin_ that had been captured. He pleaded that the
brig was taken under a previous dynasty, and told what a great man the
present ruler, Omar the Terrible, was. But Decatur refused to concede
a truce of even three hours, saying:
[Illustration: Decatur and the Algerian.]
“Not a minute! If your squadron appears before the treaty is actually
signed by the Dey, and before the American prisoners are on board, I
shall capture it.”
In fact the only concession that Decatur would make was to agree to
return the _Mashouda_. But this was not to appear in the treaty; it was
to be as an act of grace on the part of the Americans.
The Algerian hastened ashore with the treaty, after arranging that a
white flag should be displayed in his boat on returning, in case the
treaty was signed and the prisoners on board.
An hour after the Algerian left, an Algerian man-of-war appeared in
the east. The Americans cleared their ships for action, but before the
squadron got fairly under way the Captain of the Port was seen coming
with a white flag afloat. Everything had been conceded to the Americans.
It is said that when the ten liberated captives arrived on board the
_Guerrière_, some knelt down as soon as they reached the deck to give
thanks to God, while others hastened to kiss the American flag that
once more waved over them.
And it is further said that the British consul stood by in the Dey’s
palace while the Dey was signing the treaty with the United States,
and ordering the money and the prisoners delivered. When all was done,
the Dey’s prime-minister turned upon the British consul and said:
“You told us that the Americans would be swept from the seas in six
months by your navy, and now they make war upon us with some of your
own vessels which they have taken.”
The fate of the liberated captives was sad. They were placed on the
_Epervier_ with the treaty, and she was sent under Lieutenant John
Templer Shubrick to the United States. They sailed with happy hearts,
after their cruel life as slaves, but the _Epervier_ never reached port
nor ever was heard from after passing the Strait of Gibraltar.
With Shubrick “were Captain William Lewis and Lieutenant B. I.
Neale, who had married sisters on the eve of their departure for
the Mediterranean, and were now returning after the successful
termination of the war with Algiers. Lieutenant I. I. Yarnell (who had
distinguished himself in the battle of Lake Erie) and Lieutenant John
T. Drury also were on board. Midshipman Josiah Tattnall, afterward
commander of the celebrated _Merrimac_, was in the _Epervier_ just
before she sailed, but exchanged places with a brother officer in the
_Constellation_.”
Sailing from Algiers to Tunis, where he arrived on July 25th, Decatur
learned from the American consul, Mordecai M. Noah, that $46,000 would
square the account for the prizes to the Yankee privateer _Abellino_
which the Bey had turned over to the British cruiser _Lyra_. Mr. Noah
took the demand for indemnity to the Bey. As Maclay tells the story,
the Bey said, musingly:
“I know this admiral; he is the same one who in the war with Sidi
Jusef, of Trablis, burned the frigate. Hum! Why do they send wild young
men to treat for peace with old powers? Then you do not speak the
truth. You went to war with England, a nation with a great fleet, and
said you took her frigates in equal fight. Honest people always speak
the truth.”
Noah pointed out the _Guerrière_, the _Macedonian_, and another vessel
as ships taken from the British, which pretty nearly, if not literally,
confirmed the story of captured frigates, and the Bey submitted. And
when the award was paid, another British consul listened to a stinging
rebuke from a Tunis official who said:
“You see, sir, what Tunis is obliged to pay for your insolence. I ask
you whether you think it just, first to violate our neutrality and then
leave us to be destroyed, or pay for your aggressions?”
[Illustration: Return of Bainbridge’s Squadron from the Mediterranean
in 1815.
_From an engraving by Leney of a drawing by M. Corné._]
Tripoli was reached on August 5th, and the Bashaw, after some
grumbling, paid $25,000 and released two Danes and eight Neapolitans to
square the account for having delivered two of the _Abellino’s_ prizes
to the British, after which “the _Guerrière’s_ band was landed and
treated the natives to a purely American rendering of ‘Hail Columbia.’”
In October Decatur took his squadron back to Gibraltar, where it joined
the squadron under Bainbridge. The gathering of such a powerful fleet
of Yankee war-ships--especially of war-ships with such significant
names as most of the Yankee ships carried--had an exceedingly
disquieting effect upon the British officials, and for a time they
found themselves unable to treat the American officers with common
civility. After a number of the British had been killed in duels,
however, the Americans found themselves able to go ashore without
suffering insult.
Later, the Dey of Algiers succeeded in negotiating a treaty with the
British, represented by Lord Exmouth, under which the British, in
spite of an immense fleet to back them, agreed to pay $400,000 for the
release of certain captives. His success in this made the Dey feel
very badly about his treaty with Decatur. Consul Shaler was compelled
to haul down his flag and leave, but the timely arrival and prompt
action of an American squadron once more inclined the Dey to peace.
The appearance of the same squadron off Tunis and Tripoli soothed
the rulers there, also, after they had been made restive by European
consuls, and from that time to this there has been no war between the
United States and the Barbary pirates.