The First Americans in North Africa: William Eaton's Struggle for a Vigorous Policy Against the Barbary Pirates, 1799-1805 PDF
Preview The First Americans in North Africa: William Eaton's Struggle for a Vigorous Policy Against the Barbary Pirates, 1799-1805
THE FIRST AMERICANS IN NORTH AFRICA THE FIRST AMERICANS IN NORTH AFRICA WILLIAM EATON’S STRUGGLE FOR A VIGOROUS POLICY AGAINST THE BARBARY PIRATES, 1799-1805 BY LOUIS B. WRIGHT AND JULIA H. MACLEOD PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS ■ PRINCETON 1945 COPYRIGHT. >945, BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY FRESS PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY LONDON, HUMPHREY MILFORD: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS PREFACE The first adventure of American forces on North African soil occurred in 1805. The expedition was led by William Eaton, a brilliant and erratic New Englander, who con ceived the idea of removing the menace of the Barbary pirates by setting up a puppet government in Tripoli favor able to the United States. Eaton had been United States consul at Tunis and was wise in the ways of the corsairs who from time immemorial had preyed on Mediterranean commerce and exacted tribute from all nations. His inde pendent spirit rebelled at the notion of buying off the sea going gangsters in accordance with European practice, If he had his way, the United States would set an example to the rest of the world and establish its prestige in the Medi terranean. To that end Eaton directed his energies. The American navy had been waging a desultory war with the Tripolitan corsairs since 1801 when Eaton, in 1803, persuaded President Jefferson to let him lead an overland expedition against Tripoli. His object was to place Hamet Karamanli on the throne of Tripoli from which he had been removed by a usurping brother. In spite of almost insuperable difficulties, Eaton organized a rabble army in Egypt, marched across the desert along the route later followed by Montgomery, and captured Dema. The heroic action of Lieutenant Presley N. O’Bannon and his seven Marines—the only organized group of Americans in Eaton’s “army”—made possible this victory and gave the United States Marine Corps the phrase, “to the shores of Tripoli,” in their official song. So frightened was the ruling Pasha of Tripoli that he hastily negotiated a treaty very favorable to the United States before Eaton could carry out his original plan. Although Eaton did not succeed in setting up his puppet ruler, this expedition had an important influence in estab lishing American prestige in Barbary, and the fall of Derna marks a turning point in American relations with all of the Barbary States. Within ten years, the menace of the Barbary pirates was forever ended. v PREFACE An extraordinary collection of manuscripts describing with infinite detail American relations with Barbary in the first years of the nineteenth century is preserved in the Huntington Library. The documents consist of records kept by William Eaton while consul at Tunis and later as naval agent in the Mediterranean. Because the consul gen eral at Algiers, Richard O’Brien, and the consul at Tripoli, James Leander Cathcart, were bitter enemies, Eaton was the intermediary through whom much of the official busi ness in Barbary was transacted. He kept minute records, made copies of all letters sent and received, and wrote down his personal views in a journal. These manuscripts are the basis of the present book. Not since Charles Prentiss pre pared a biography immediately after Eaton’s death in 1811 has anyone made any significant use of these documents. The authors have tried to give a succinct account of American relations with the pirate rulers of North Africa as seen through the eyes of one of the most active partici pants. Eaton often speaks with the disdain which Amer icans of his age sometimes felt toward other races and nations. Where his prejudices or lack of information re sult in a distorted picture of conditions, we have tried to correct the description in the light of other documentary sources. One noteworthy fact, not strictly concerned with Eaton’s career, emerges from the study of the records, and that is the garbled and erroneous account that has been often given of Jefferson’s attitude toward the navy and his al leged timidity in waging the war against Tripoli. Actually Jefferson did the best he could with the pitiful navy that Congress allowed him. Previous writers on the Barbary wars have too often forgotten that President John Adams signed into law on his last day in office a bill which prac tically annihilated the navy, and that Congress during Jef ferson’s administrations was loath to reverse its earlier action. Upon the Congressional policy of “too little and too late” in dealing with the Barbary pirates, these manu scripts throw new light. We are indebted to the Trustees of the Huntington vi PREFACE Library for the opportunity to make this study. Various members of the Huntington Library staff have been help ful, particularly Mr. Herbert C. Schulz, curator of manu scripts. For criticism and suggestions, we are grateful to Dr. Dixon Wecter, a colleague on the permanent research staff of the Huntington Library. To Captain Dudley W. Knox, U.S.N., and the Office of Naval Records and Library we are under obligation for permission to reproduce maps and other material, as well as for help from the invaluable Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers now being published. For photographic reproductions of material in their custody we wish to thank the authorities of the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the New York Public Library, Boston Public Library, the American Antiquarian Society, the Massachu setts Historical Society, and the Library of Dartmouth Col lege. Mr. Datus C. Smith, Jr. and the staff of the Princeton University Press have been particularly helpful. For aid in the preparation of the manuscript, we have Mrs. Sadie Hales Whittemore to thank. L.B.W. J.H.M. The Huntington Library March 20,1945 vii CONTENTS PREFACE V THE BACKGROUND 1 I. AN OBSERVANT CONSUL AT TUNIS 16 IL REPORTS FROM BARBARY, 1799 38 III. GATHERING WAR CLOUDS, 1800 61 IV. OUTBREAK OF WAR WITH TRIPOLI, 1801 76 V. ERA OF FRUSTRATION, 1802-1803 104 VI. ACTION AT HOME AND AT SEA, 1803-1804 132 VII. DESERT MARCH TO VICTORY AT DERNA 151 VIII. THE BITTER DREGS OF DISAPPOINTMENT 176 IX. FINALE 199 NOTES 207 INDEX 215
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