Stephen Decatur did assume command of Constitution shortly after the period of this story as Reliance Wakefield predicted, but in jest, to Judd and Oliver. He subsequently relinquished her to John Rodgers, his senior, but then in 1805, took command of the frigate Congress (36) which he held for some time. Of course, to his further glory, he was in command of United States (44) when she took HMS Macedonian in single ship combat in the fall of 1812 and sent her in to Newport as a prize, as Ann Baldwin mentioned to her grandchildren.
The ruling Bashaw of Tripoli, one Yusuf Karamanli, was, in the opinion of the United States, not the legal ruler of the country; that was his brother Hamet, whom Yusuf had forced out of the country in order to take the throne himself. But Hamet had exiled himself to Alexandria, Egypt, over one thousand miles distant. In an effort to end the hostilities, a small force headed by William Eaton, ex-U.S. consul to Tunis, was dispatched to Egypt to find Hamet, gather an army of Arabs and, after being transported to Derne by navy ships, march overland to Tripoli and storm the city in concert with a naval bombardment. Marine Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon, two naval officers, and some eighteen enlisted marines and soldiers made up the nucleus of the force which left Malta in the brig Argus on November 17, 1804, and arrived in Alexandria ten days later.
Eaton, after a lengthy search and dealings with both sides in a local civil war, found Hamet, and the party returned to the coast, only to be denied permission to board Argus by the Turkish admiral and governor of Alexandria. French interests there had convinced the Turk that the returning Americans were, in fact, British spies. Eaton and O’Bannon determined to make it overland to Derne, a distance of over five hundred miles. After enormous hardship and trial, the party, now swelled with the addition of Hamet’s Arab troops, successfully attacked and carried that city on April 27, 1805. The Argus, still under Isaac Hull, and the schooner Nautilus were waiting there as arranged and supported the land attack with a naval bombardment of the city. Marine Lieutenant O’Bannon commanded a detachment of marines, twenty-four cannon-iers, and thirty-six Greek mercenaries. Hamet Karamanli commanded an Arabian cavalry. During the battle, one Marine was killed and two wounded, one mortally; eleven Americans, including Eaton, were wounded. It was from this action that the Marine Hymn includes the words, “. . . to the shores of Tripoli . . . .” Of course, there also were Marines on almost all of the ships that participated in the blockade and bombardment of the harbor at Tripoli.
Yusuf Karamanli, having been told of the fall of Derne, sent his army with orders to retake the city. They attacked several times and, each time, were repulsed by the combined Christian and Arab forces. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, and all for naught, as during the fighting, Eaton received dispatches indicating that treaty negotiations were well underway and, in all likelihood, the Americans would have to evacuate the city. On June 11, 1805, the American frigate Constellation arrived with orders to that effect, and Bashaw Yusuf Kara-manli’s troops seized the opportunity to eliminate all the remaining local residents of the city for their disloyalty to the ruling Bashaw. While the action had little direct impact on the outcome of the war, most historians feel that the threat of an overland attack combined with the naval bombardment provided further inducement to the Bashaw to treat for peace.
Both Wakefield and Edward Baldwin make reference to the yellow fever outbreaks in Philadelphia. For nearly ten years, that often fatal disease did appear in Philadelphia during the summer. Of course, it would not be discovered that it was borne by mosquitoes until the construction of the Panama Canal many years later. Thousands, including many notables as mentioned in Edward Baldwin’s letter (like the mayor of Philadelphia and the two newspaper editors, Bache [The Aurora] and Fenno [The Gazette of the United States]), fell victim to the dread fevers in Philadelphia and elsewhere.
Finally, there is no more information now than existed in 1855, when Oliver Baldwin tells his grandchildren the story of the fireship Intrepid, about what occurred that caused her to explode before reaching her target. Theories abound, including that the ketch had been discovered and was under attack; when Somers realized escape was impossible, he fired the ship. Others hold that a hot shot fired by a Tripolitan gunboat touched off the explosion. Whatever the cause, the outcome remained that all thirteen aboard perished with no discernable effect on the enemy. Bainbridge was taken to the shoreline the day following the unsuccessful attack to identify several bodies which had washed ashore; they were too badly burned to recognize even their nationality, let alone their individual identities. The other bodies were recovered by the Tripolitans within two days, and the floating remains of the ketch were found in the rocks several days after that. A memorial to Richard Somers and his crew, as well as to James Decatur and the other officers killed during the campaign, was established at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, by their fellow officers.
All in all, Preble’s squadron lost thirty killed and twenty-four wounded, two of whom subsequently died of their wounds. Edward Preble himself died of illness just three years after relinquishing his command to Samuel Barron, on August 25th, 1807, at the age of forty-six.
William H. White
Rumson, NJ
2002
The War of 1812 Trilogy
By William H.White
Illustrated by Paul Garnett
A PRESS OF CANVAS, Volume One Softcover, 5½”x8½”, 256 pages
A Press of Canvas, W. H. While’s action-packed novel, introduces a new character in American sea fiction: Isaac Biggs of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Sailing from Boston as captain of the foretop in the bark Anne, his ship is outward bound with a cargo for the Swedish colony of St. Barts in the West Indies in the fall of 1810. When the Anne is stopped by a British Royal Navy frigate. Isaac and several of his shipmates are forcibly pressed into service on the Orpheus, actively engaged in England’s long-running war with France. The young Isaac, naive and inexperienced, faces the harsh life of a Royal Navy seaman and a harrowing war at sea. His new life is hard, with strange rules, floggings, and new dangers. Then the United States declares war on England and Isaac finds himself in an untenable position, facing the possibility of fighting his own countrymen. A chance meeting with American privateers operating in the West Indies offers him a solution to his dilemma and a reunion with an old friend.
A FINE TOPS’L BREEZE, Volume Two Softcover, 5½’x8½”, 288 pages
A Fine Tops’l Breeze, W. H. White’s action-packed novel, continues the adventures of the newest character in American sea fiction: Isaac Biggs of Marblehead, Massachusetts. In the second volume of the trilogy, Isaac ships as Third Mate on the Salem privateer General Washington in February 1813. At the same lime, his friends from the British frigate Orpheus and the Baltimore schooner Glory find berths on the American warship USS Constellation and, eventually, they wind up on the USS Chesapeake in Boston just in time for her disastrous meeting with HMS Shannon. Throughout the spring of 1813, Isaac and the General Washington roam the waters between Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, taking prizes and harassing the British. When the American survivors of the Chesapeake/Shannon battle are confined in Melville Island Prison in Halifax, the General Washington and Isaac play an important role in securing their freedom.
THE EVENING GUN, Volume Three Softcover, 5½”x8½”, 288 pages
The year is 1814, the final year of the War of 1812. With the Atlantic seaboard closed by the British blockade, Isaac Biggs, Jack Clements and Jake Tate, fresh from their harrowing adventures in Canada, find berths with Joshua Barney’s Gunboat Flotilla in the Chesapeake Bay. These swift and shallow-draft little vessels have become a thorn in the side of the British fleet and the British command is determined to destroy them. Barney’s Flotilla is eventually chased up the Patuxent River to find temporary refuge in Benedict, Maryland, where Isaac falls in love with the daughter of a militia colonel. After several exciting forays against the British fleet, the flotilla must be scuttled and burned. Its men are called ashore to fight at t
he Battle of Bladensburg in an futile effort to halt the invasion of Washington, then are sent to defend Baltimore against the British siege of the harbor. Isaac, lack and lake witness the historic and horrifying bombardment of Fort McHenry from the outer harbor, aboard a British warship in the company of Francis Scott Key.
Written from the aspect of the fo’c’sle rather than an officer’s view and through the eyes of an American, A Press of Canvas, A Fine Tops’l Breeze and The Evening Gun provide new perspectives and exciting stories of this oft-neglected period in American history. Tiller Publishing is proud to offer these carefully crafted tales as its very first fiction series.
By the publication of A Fine Tops’l Breeze, the second of his War of 1812 Trilogy, William H. White has taken his place in the charmed circle of writers of really good fiction about the days of fighting sail: Melville, Forester, O’Brian, Nelson, and Kent. Like them, his attention to the detail of ships and their hulls, spars, rigging and sails is meticulous.
And, like them, his characters are not only credible, but memorable. He is a thoroughly welcome writer to this genre, which has brought so much pleasure to so many.
Donald A. Petrie, author of the Prize Game:
Lawful Looting on the High Seas in the Dap of Fighting Sail (1999)
Through Bill White’s evocative prose, one smells the salt breeze and
feels the pulse of life at sea during the War of 1812.
John B. Hattendorf,
Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History, U.S. Naval War College
“Sailors everywhere will rejoice in the salt spray, slanting decks and high
adventure of this lively yarn of the young American republic battling for its rights at sea.”
Peter Stanford, President
National Maritime Historical Society
“A great read . . . a very engaging story with believable, honest characters . . .
taught me a lot about this period of history . . . just fabulous!”
John Wooldridge, Managing Editor
Motorboating and Sailing
The War of 1812 is a forgotten war. Few Americans recall much except there were some naval engagements and we won the Battle of New Orleans. Many don’t realize that Washington was burned, let alone know about the battles on the Patuxeni. Bill White has brought this neglected period of our history alive with all the drama, panic, and confusion that gripped Washington, Baltimore and the Chesapeake region as a whole in 1814. The description of the attack on Baltimore and the writing of the “Star Spangled Banner” humanize an event that we don’t think about when we sing our national anthem. The War of 1812 and the sacrifices that were made to preserve our liberty will be better understood after reading The Evening Gun. An enjoyable way to learn history.
C. Douglass Alves, Jr.,
Director, Calvert Marine Museum
About the Author
Photo by William II. White Jr.
Mr. White is a former United States Naval officer with combat service He is also an avid, lifelong sailor. As a maritime historian, he specializes in Age of Sail events in which the United States was a key player and lectures frequently on the impact of these events on our history. He authored three novels set during the War of 1812: A Press of Canvas, A Fine Tops’l Breeze and The Evening Gun, which make up the War of 1812 Trilogy. He lives in New Jersey with his wife of 36 years. More on William White and his books can be found at www.seafiction.net
About the Artist
Paul Garnett began drawing before he could write his name. He was a shipwright on the vessel Bounty, built for MGM’s 1962 remake of “Mutiny on the Bounty,” and his paintings have been published twice by the foundation which now owns the ship. His art has also been showcased on A&E’s television program “Sea Tales”; the History Channel’s “Histories Mysteries: What Really Happened on the ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’”; and by Nautical World magazine
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