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The Tripolitan War, 1801 - 1805
Bringing the war to a close.
 More of this Feature
• Part 1: Declaration of war
• Part 2: Attack on Derna
 

Yusuf Karamanli was aware of the expected attack on Derna and had sent out reinforcements. Unfortunately they were a day late in arriving. The Pasha's troops dug in and began preparations to retake the town. On the 13th of May, and under barrage from both the naval guns and the captured cannon, the Tripolitan army attacked the town and was only just beaten back. During their retreat, they were heavily bombarded by the Argus. Several more unsuccessful attempts were made during the following month. Eaton, meanwhile, made preparations to take the battle to Tripoli.

During Eaton's trek across the desert, and without his knowledge, a new treaty was being worked out with Yusuf Karamanli. Colonel Tobias Lear, Consul General to the Regency of Algiers, listened to the "overtures of peace" being made by the Pasha. The treaty, signed on June 4 1805, provided Yusuf Karamanli with $60,000 for the release of Captain Bainbridge and the crew of the Philadelphia, but Yusuf's reduced circumstances were reflected in the lack of any treaty payment or any agreement to pay further tributes. The treaty was signed by both parties in the main cabin of the Constitution.


Aware of the situation in Derna, Lear got Yusuf to agree to Hamet's evacuation, with the promise that his family would be sent out to join him (this was later ignored by Yusuf and not enforced by the Americans). The US frigate Constellation was dispatched with instructions the next day.

Eaton was informed of the 'sell-out' by Lear and the US Congress on June 11. He was instructed to remove his troops from the area and to take Hamet back to Egypt. Unfortunately Eaton had still not received enough money to pay the mercenaries, and he departed as instructed, taking as many of the European mercenaries as he could - the rest, including all the Muslims mercenaries, were left behind, unpaid, to face the wrath of the Pasha.

The problem of Barbary pirates was forgotten about during the next decade, as Napoleon once again went on the offensive in Europe, and America went to war (all be it briefly) with Britain. After the war of 1812 American ships were once again under attack in the Mediterranean. Two naval squadrons, under the joint command of Commodores Decatur and Bainbridge were sent out. Under threat of heavy bombardment, the Bey of Algiers agreed to a new treaty which protected the US from future predation by Barbary corsairs. America was finally free from the treat of piracy in the Mediterranean.

On his celebrated return to the US Commodore Stephen Decatur made his famous toast:

"Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country right or wrong!"

The Barbary pirates were not defeated, they still attacked ships of other nations. In 1816 a combined British and Dutch offensive destroyed the Algerian fleet, and the Tunisian fleet was destroyed at the battle of Navarino in 1827 when the British, French and Russian alliance defeated the entire Ottoman navy. The final death knell was sounded when France began its conquest of Algeria in 1830.

Previous page > Part II: Attack on Derna > Page 1, 2, 3

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