USS Constitution Bombards Forts

Here she lay three quarters of an hour, pouring in a fierce fire with great effect, until, finding that all the small vessels were out of gunshot, she hauled off.

Continuing The Tripolitan War of 1804,
our selection from Naval History of the United States by James Fenimore Cooper published in 1839. The selection is presented in seven easy 5 minute installments. 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 weather proving very fine and the wind favorable, on the 28th Commodore Preble determined to make a more vigorous assault on the town and batteries than any which had preceded it, and his dispositions were taken accordingly. The gunboats and bombards requiring so many men to manage them, the Constitution and the small vessels had been compelled to go into action short of hands in the previous affairs. To obviate this difficulty, the John Adams had been kept before the town, and a portion of her officers and crew, and nearly all her boats, were now put in requisition. Captain Chauncey himself, with about seventy of his people, went on board the flagship, and all the boats of the squadron were hoisted out and manned. The bomb-vessels were crippled and could not be brought into service, a circum stance that probably was of no great consequence on account of the poor ammunition they were compelled to use. These two vessels, with the Scourge, transports, and John Adams, were anchored well off at sea, not being available in the contemplated cannonading.

Everything being prepared, a little after midnight the following gunboats proceeded to the stations, viz., Number One, Captain Somers; Number Two, Lieutenant Gordan; Number Three, Mr. Brooks, master of the Argus; Number Four, Captain Decatur; Number Five, Lieutenant Lawrence; Number Six, Lieutenant Wadsworth; Number Seven, Lieutenant Crane; Number Nine, Lieutenant Thorne. They were divided into two divisions as before, Captain Decatur having become a superior officer, however, by his recent promotion. About 3 a.m. the gunboats advanced close to the rocks at the entrance of the harbor, covered by the Siren, Captain Stewart; Argus, Captain Hull; Vixen, Captain Smith; Nautilus, Lieutenant-Commandant Robinson, and accompanied by all the boats of the squadron. Here they anchored, with springs on their cables, and commenced a cannonade on the enemy’s shipping, castle, and town. As soon as the day dawned the Constitution weighed anchor and stood in toward the rocks, under a fire from the batteries, Fort English, and the castle. At this time the enemy’s gunboats and galleys, thirteen in number, were closely and warmly engaged with the eight American boats; and the Constitution, ordering the latter to retire by signal, as their ammunition was mostly consumed, delivered a heavy fire of round and grapeshot on the former as she came up. One of the enemy’s boats was soon sunk, two were run ashore to prevent them from meeting a similar fate, and the rest retired.

The Constitution now continued to stand on until she had run in within musket-shot of the mole, when she brought up, and opened upon the town, batteries, and castle. Here she lay three quarters of an hour, pouring in a fierce fire with great effect, until, finding that all the small vessels were out of gunshot, she hauled off. About seven hundred heavy shot were thrown at the enemy in this attack, besides a good many from the chase-guns of the small vessels. The enemy sustained much damage and lost many men. The American brigs and schooners were a good deal injured aloft, as was the Constitution. Although the latter ship was so long within reach of grape, many of which shot struck her, she had not a man hurt. Several of her shrouds, backstays, trusses, springstays, chains, lifts, and a great deal of running rigging were shot away, and yet her hull escaped with very trifling injuries. A boat belonging to the John Adams, under the orders of John Orde Creighton, one of that shipmaster’s mates, was sunk by a double-headed shot which killed three men and badly wounded a fourth, but the officer and the rest of the boat’s crew were saved.

In this attack a heavy shot from the American gunboats struck the castle, passed through a wall, and rebounding from the opposite side of the room fell within six inches of Captain Bainbridge, who was in bed at the time, and covered him with stones and mortar, from under which he was taken, badly injured, by his officers. More harm was done the town in this attack than in either of the others, the shot appearing to have struck many of the houses. From this time to the close of the month preparations were made to use the bombards again and to renew the cannonading. Another transport arrived from Malta, but without bringing any intelligence of the vessels under the orders of Commodore Barron. On September 3rd, everything being ready, at half past two the signal was given for the small vessels to advance. The enemy had improved the time as well as the Americans; they had raised three of their own gunboats that had been sunk in the engagements of August 3d and 28th. These craft were now added to the rest of their flotilla.

The Tripolitans had also changed their mode of fighting. Hitherto, with the exception of the battle of August 3rd, their galleys and gunboats had lain either behind the rocks in position to fire over them, or at the openings between them, and they consequently found themselves to leeward of the frigate and small American cruisers, the latter invariably choosing easterly winds to advance with, as such would permit crippled vessels more quickly to retire. On August 3rd (the case above excepted), the Turks had been so roughly used when brought to a hand-to-hand struggle —- when they evidently expected nothing more than a cannonade — that they were not disposed to venture again outside of the harbor. On September 3rd, however, their plan of defense was more judiciously offered. No sooner was it perceived that the American squadron was in motion with the design to attack them than the gunboats and galleys got under way and worked up to windward until they gained a point on the weather side of the harbor, being directly under the fire of Fort English as well as of a new battery that had been erected a little to the westward of the latter.

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