Peace Treaty Ends US-Tripolitan War

Today’s installment concludes The Tripolitan War of 1804,
our selection from Naval History of the United States by James Fenimore Cooper published in 1839.

If you have journeyed through all of the installments of this series, just one more to go and you will have completed a selection from the great works of seven thousand words. Congratulations! For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Previously in The Tripolitan War of 1804.

Time: 1804
Place: Waters off Tripoli

The period between the time when the Intrepid was last seen and that when most of those who watched without the rocks learned her fate, was not long. This was an interval of intense, almost of breathless expectation; and it was interrupted only by the flashes and the roar of the enemy’s guns. Various reports exist of what those who gazed into the gloom beheld or fancied they beheld; but one melancholy fact alone would seem to be beyond contradiction. A fierce and sudden light illuminated the scene; a torrent of fire streamed upward, and a concussion followed that made the cruisers in the offing tremble from their trucks to their keels. This sudden blaze of light was followed by a darkness of twofold intensity, and the guns of the battery became mute as if annihilated. Numerous shells were seen in the air, and some of them descended on the rocks where they were heard to fall. The fuses were burning and a few exploded, but much the greater part were extinguished in the water. The mast, too, had risen perpendicularly with its rigging and canvas blazing, but the descent was veiled in the blackness that followed.

So sudden and tremendous was the eruption, and so intense the darkness which succeeded, that it was not possible to ascertain the precise position of the ketch at the moment. In the glaring but fleeting light no person could say that he had noted more than the material circumstance that the Intrepid had not reached the point at which she aimed. The shells had not spread far, and those which fell on the rocks were so many proofs of this important fact. There was nothing else to indicate the precise spot where the ketch exploded. A few cries arose from the town, but the deep silence that followed was more eloquent than any clamor. The whole of Tripoli was like a city of tombs.

If every eye had been watchful previous to the explosion, every eye now became doubly vigilant to discover the retreating boats. Men got over the sides of the vessel, holding lights and placing their ears near the water in the hope of detecting the sounds of even muffled oars; and often it was fancied that the gallant adventurers were near. They never reappeared. Hour after hour went by until hope became exhausted. Occasionally a rocket gleamed in the darkness, or a sullen gun was heard from the frigate as a signal to the boats; but the eyes that should have seen the first were sightless, and the sound of the last fell on the ears of the dead.

The three vessels assigned to that service hovered around the harbor until the sun rose; but few traces of the Intrepid, and nothing of her devoted crew, could be discovered. The wreck of the mast lay on the rocks near the western entrance, and here and there a fragment was visible near it. One of the largest of the enemy’s gunboats was missing, and it was observed that two others which appeared to be shattered were being hauled upon the shore. The three that had lain across the entrance had disappeared. It was erroneously thought that the castle had sustained some injury from the concussion, but on the whole, the Americans were left with the melancholy certainty of having met with a serious loss without obtaining any commensurate advantage.

A sad and solemn mystery, after all our conjectures, must for ever veil the fate of those fearless officers and their hardy followers. In whatever light we view the affair they were the victims of that self-devotion which causes the seaman and soldier to hold his life in his hand when the honor or interest of his country demands the sacrifice. The name of Somers has passed into a battle-cry in the American marine, while those of Wadsworth and Israel are associated with all that can ennoble intrepidity, coolness, and daring.

The war, in one sense, terminated with this scene of sublime destruction. Commodore Preble had consumed so much of his powder in the previous attacks that it was no longer in his power to cannonade; and the season was fast getting to be dangerous to remain on that exposed coast. The country fully appreciated the services of Commodore Preble. He had united caution and daring in a way to denote the highest military qualities; and his success in general had been in proportion. The attack of the Intrepid, the only material failure in any of his enterprises, was well arranged, and had it succeeded it would probably have brought peace in twenty-four hours. As it was, the pacha was well enough disposed to treat, though he seems to have entered into some calculations in the way of money that induced him to hope that the Americans would yet reduce their policy to the level of his own, and prefer paying ransom to maintaining cruisers so far from home. Commodore Preble, and all the officers and men under his orders, received the thanks of Congress, and a gold medal was bestowed on him. By the same resolution Congress expressed the sympathy of the nation in behalf of the relatives of Captain Richard Somers, Lieutenants Henry Wadsworth, James Decatur, James R. Caldwell, Joseph Israel, and John Sword Dorsey, midshipman, the officers killed off Tripoli.

Negotiations for peace now commenced in earnest, Mr. Lear having arrived off Tripoli for that purpose in the Essex, Captain Barron. After the usual intrigues, delays, and prevarications, a treaty was signed on June 3, 1805. By this treaty, no tribute was to be paid in future, but the sum of sixty thousand dollars was given by America for the ransom of the remaining prisoners after exchanging the Tripolitans in her power man for man.

Thus terminated the war with Tripoli after a duration of four years. It is probable that the United States would have retained in service some officers and would have kept up a small force had not this contest occurred; but its influence on the fortunes and character of the navy was incalculable. It saved the first, in a degree at least, and it may be said to have formed the last.

This ends our series of passages on The Tripolitan War of 1804 by James Fenimore Cooper from his book Naval History of the United States published in 1839. This blog features short and lengthy pieces on all aspects of our shared past. Here are selections from the great historians who may be forgotten (and whose work have fallen into public domain) as well as links to the most up-to-date developments in the field of history and of course, original material from yours truly, Jack Le Moine. – A little bit of everything historical is here.

More information on The Tripolitan War of 1804 here and here and below.

We want to take this site to the next level but we need money to do that. Please contribute directly by signing up at https://www.patreon.com/history