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Authors: Joseph Wheelan

Jefferson's War

BOOK: Jefferson's War
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Table of Contents
 
 
 
For my wife, Pat, and our daughters, Sarah and Ann.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Americans
John Adams: Minister to England, Vice President, President
William Bainbridge: Captain of
Philadelphia, United States
Joseph Bainbridge: Naval officer, William's younger brother
Samuel Barron: Fourth Mediterranean squadron commodore, 1804—5
James Barron: Naval officer, Samuel's brother
James Cathcart: Consul to Tripoli
Jonathan Cowdery:
Philadelphia
ship's surgeon, diarist
Richard Dale: First Mediterranean squadron commodore, 1801-2
George Davis: Chargé d‘Affaires in Tunis, succeeding William Eaton; Consul to Tripoli after Cathcart
Stephen Decatur, Jr.: Naval officer
James Decatur: Naval officer, Stephen's younger brother
William Eaton: Consul to Tunis, naval agent
Albert Gallatin: Jefferson administration Treasury Secretary
John Jay: Confederation Foreign Secretary
Thomas Jefferson: Minister to France, Vice President, President
Henry Knox: Washington administration War Secretary
Tobias Lear: Consul General for Barbary, Consul to Algiers, succeeding Richard O‘Brien
James Madison: Virginia congressman, Jefferson administration Secretary of State
Richard Valentine Morris: Second Mediterranean squadron commodore, 1802—3
Presley O‘Bannon: Marine lieutenant
Richard O‘Brien: Consul General for Barbary, Consul to Algiers
Edward Preble: Third Mediterranean squadron commodore, 1803-4
William Ray:
Philadelphia
Marine, diarist
John Rodgers: Naval officer and Fifth Mediterranean Squadron commodore, 1805—6
James Simpson: Consul to Morocco
Samuel Smith: Jefferson administration Navy Secretary
Robert Smith: Jefferson administration Navy Secretary, succeeding his brother Samuel
Barbary
Hadji Ali: Algerian Dey
Hassan Bey: Tripolitan general
Mustifa Bey: Governor of Derna
Sidi Mahomet Dghies: Tripolitan Foreign Secretary
Reis Hammida: Algerian admiral
Hamet Karamanli: Exiled Bashaw of Tripoli
Yusuf Karamanli: Bashaw of Tripoli, Hamet's younger brother
Ahmed Pasha Khorshid: Ottoman viceroy of Egypt
Soliman Ben Mahomet: Moroccan Emperor after Maulay Sulaiman
Sidi Soliman Melli Melli: Tunisian ambassador to United States
Sidi Muhammad ibn Abd Allah: Moroccan Emperor
Bobba Mustapha: Algerian Dey
Hamouda Pacha: Tunisian Bey
Hassan Pasha: Algerian Dey
Murad Reis (Peter Lisle): Grand Admiral of Tripoli, named after a 17th-century Algerian pirate
Maulay Muhammed: Moroccan Emperor, succeeding Sidi Muhammed
Hadgi Unis Ben Unis: Tunisian Bey's Sapitapa, or commercial agent
Europeans
Sir Alexander Ball: British governor of Malta
Citizen Beaussier: French Charge d‘Affaires in Tripoli
Lord Horatio Nelson: British admiral, Mediterranean fleet
Nicholas Nissen: Danish Consul in Tripoli
 
Mathurins: Catholic friar order that redeemed Barbary captives
SHIPS OF THE UNITED STATES MEDITERRANEAN SQUADRON, 1801—1806, AND THEIR COMMANDERS
Squadron 1, 1801—2
President,
44-gun frigate, Commodore Richard Dale
Philadelphia,
36-gun frigate, Captain Samuel Barron
Essex,
32-gun frigate, Captain William Bainbridge
Boston,
28-gun frigate, Captain Daniel McNeill
Enterprise,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Andrew Sterett
Squadron 2, 1802—3
Chesapeake,
36-gun frigate, Commodore Richard Valentine Morris
Constellation,
36-gun frigate, Captain Alexander Murray
New York,
36-gun frigate, Captain James Barron, Captain Isaac Chauncey
John
Adams, 28-gun frigate, Captain John Rodgers
Boston,
28-gun frigate, Captain Daniel McNeill
Adams,
28-gun frigate, Captain Hugh Campbell
Enterprise,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, Lieutenant Isaac Hull
Squadron 3, 1803—4
Constitution,
44-gun frigate, Commodore Edward Preble
Philadelphia,
36-gun frigate, Captain William Bainbridge
John Adams
, 28-gun frigate, Captain Isaac Chauncey
Siren,
16-gun brig, Lieutenant Charles Stewart
Scvurge,
16-gun brig, Lieutenant John Dent, Midshipman Ralph Izard
Argus,
16-gun brig, Lieutenant Isaac Hull
Vixen,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant John Smith
Nautilus,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Richard Somers
Enterprise,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr.
Intrepid,
4-gun ketch, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr., Lieutenant Richard Somers
Squadron 4, 1804—5
President,
44-gun frigate, Commodore Samuel Barron
Constitution,
44-gun frigate, Captain Stephen Decatur, Jr., Captain John Rodgers
Congress,
36-gun frigate, Captain John Rodgers, Captain Stephen Decatur, Jr.
Essex,
32-gun frigate, Captain James Barron
John Adams,
28-gun frigate, Captain Isaac Chauncey
Siren,
16-gun brig, Lieutenant Charles Stewart
Argus,
16-gun brig, Lieutenant Isaac Hull
Vixen,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant John Smith
Nautilus,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant John Dent
Enterprise,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Thomas Robinson, Jr.
Hornet,
10-gun sloop, Lieutenant Samuel Evans
Squadron 5, 1805—6
Constitution,
44-gun frigate, Commodore John Rodgers
President,
44-gun frigate, Captain James Barron
Constellation,
36-gun frigate, Captain Hugh Campbell
Congress,
36-gun frigate, Captain Stephen Decatur, Jr.
Essex,
32-gun frigate, Lieutenant John Cox
John Adams,
28-gun frigate, Lieutenant John Shaw
Siren,
16-gun brig, Lieutenant Charles Stewart
Argus,
16-gun brig, Lieutenant Isaac Hull
Vixen,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant John Smith
Nautilus,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant John Dent
Enterprise,
12-gun schooner, Lieutenant Thomas Robinson, Jr., Lieutenant David Porter
Hornet,
10-gun sloop, Lieutenant Samuel Evans
Franklin,
8-gun sloop, Lieutenant Thomas Robinson, Jr.
The Super Frigates
United States,
44 guns, built in Philadelphia, launched July 1797
Constellation,
36 guns, built in Baltimore, launched September 1797
Constitution,
44 guns, built in Boston, launched July 1798
Congress,
36 guns, built in Portsmouth, N.H., launched August 1799
Chesapeake,
36 guns, built in Norfolk, launched December 1799
President,
44 guns, built in New York, launched April 1800
GLOSSARY
Aground—Resting on the bottom.
Aloft—Anywhere above deck, such as in the upper yards, rigging or masts.
Becalmed—Motionless because of lack of wind.
Blockade—Incoming and outgoing traffic barred from a port by a patrolling enemy squadron.
Board—Taking possession of an enemy ship by climbing onto her deck.
Bomb Vessel—Two-masted vessel armed with one or two mortars for bombardment.
Bow—The front of the ship.
Brig—Shorthand for “brigantine,” a two-masted vessel. U.S. Navy brigs often were armed with 16 guns.
Broadside—Simultaneous firing of all guns on one side of a ship.
Cannon—Guns of medium and long range. They were denoted by the weight of shot fired: 9-pound, 12-pound, etc.
Careen—Turning a ship onto its side to make repairs to the other side, or to remove barnacles.
Carronade—A large-bore carriage gun, usually on the top deck, used at short range, sometimes to fire a shrapnel charge to kill enemy sailors.
Cat-O‘-Nine-Tails—A device for flogging sailors, comprised of nine knotted lengths of rope.
Corsair—A Barbary Coast ship licensed by the government to conduct raids on enemy shipping.
Corvette—A fast, three-masted ship with one gun deck.
Cutlass—A saber with a curved blade used in naval hand-to-hand combat.
Dry-Dock—A basin whose water level can be raised and lowered at will so that vessels can be guided onto blocks, the water then drained, and the ships examined and repaired.
Felucca—A small Mediterranean coastal trading vessel, narrow-decked with one or two masts.
Fireship—Any vessel filled with combustibles and explosives and sailed among enemy shipping, where crewmen would light a long fuse giving them time to evacuate before the vessel exploded.
Frigate—A three-masted ship with 24 to 44 guns mounted on one or two gun decks. Swifter than the larger “ships of the line,” yet with enough firepower to hold their own against ships up to 64 guns, frigates were the mainstay of the U.S. Navy during its early years.
Galley—Oar—powered warship of the pre-sail era, often crewed by slave rowers.
Grog—Water-diluted rum.
Gunboat—Small, lightly armed naval vessel suited for shallow-water operations.
Halyard—Rope for raising and lowering sails.
Handspike—Wooden tool for maneuvering ship guns.
Hold—Large, below-decks storage chamber for provisions and cargo.
Impressment—Forcible draft into naval service during wartime. British impressment of U.S. merchant seamen led to the War of 1812.
Ketch—Two-masted sailing vessel used for coastal trading or fishing.
Lateen—A four-sided sail of Arabic origin seen almost exclusively on Mediterranean vessels.
Merchantman—A merchant ship.
Midshipman—The bottom officer rating, followed in ascending rank by lieutenant, captain and commodore in the early U.S. Navy.
BOOK: Jefferson's War
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