Great Events in the History of North and South America

by Charles A. Goodrich

In 1800, a secret treaty was signed at Paris, by the plenipotentiaries of France and Spain, by which Louisiana was guarantied to France, and, in 1801, the cession was actually made. At the same time, the Spanish intendant of Louisiana was instructed to make arrangements to deliver the country to the French commissioners. Upon receiving intelligence of this intended transfer, great sensibility prevailed in congress, and a proposition was made to occupy the place by force; but, after an animated discussion, the project was relinquished, and negotiations with France were commenced by Mr. Jefferson, for the purchase of the whole country of Louisiana, which ended in an agreement to that effect, signed at Paris, April 30th, 1803, by which the United States were to pay to France fifteen millions of dollars. Early in December, 1803, the commissioners of Spain delivered possession to France; and, on the 20th of the same month, the authorities of France duly transferred the country to the United States.

War with Tripoli.—In his message to Congress, in 1801, Mr. Jefferson spoke of the relations of the United States with all nations as pacific, except with Tripoli, the least considerable of the Barbary states. This power had made demands, the most unjust, upon the American government, and had threatened war, because that government had failed to comply with those demands before a given day. Thus threatened, the president had sent out Commodore Dale with a squadron of two ships and a sloop-of-war, to blockade the harbor of Tripoli, by which piratical cruisers should be prevented from making depredations upon American commerce.

In 1803, it became necessary to add to this Mediterranean force. Accordingly, a squadron of seven sail was ordered, of which Commodore Preble was put in command. In October, the frigate Philadelphia, forty-four, Captain Bainbridge, while in eager pursuit of a small vessel, grounded in the harbor of Tripoli, and, in this situation, was compelled to surrender. The officers became prisoners, and the crew slaves. In this emergency, Stephen Decatur, then a lieutenant under Commodore Preble, proposed a plan for rëcapturing or destroying the Philadelphia. The American squadron was at that time lying at Syracuse. Agreeably to the plan proposed, Lieutenant Decatur, in the ketch Intrepid, four guns and seventy-five men, proceeded, under the escort of the Syren, Captain Stewart, to the harbor of Tripoli. The Philadelphia lay within half gun-shot of the bashaw's castle, and was guarded by several cruisers and gun-boats. The Intrepid entered the harbor alone, about eight o'clock in the evening, and succeeded in getting near the Philadelphia, between ten and eleven o'clock, without having awakened suspicion of her hostile designs. This vessel had been captured from the Tripolitans, and, assuming on this occasion her former national appearance, was permitted to warp alongside. The moment the vessel came in contact, Decatur and his followers leaped on board, and soon overwhelmed the crew. Twenty Tripolitans were killed. All the surrounding batteries being opened upon the Philadelphia, she was immediately set on fire; when, a favoring breeze springing up, the Intrepid extricated herself from her prey, and sailed triumphantly out of the harbor.

In July, 1804, Commodore Preble having concentrated his forces before Tripoli, opened a tremendous fire of shot and shells, which was as promptly returned by the Tripolitan batteries and shipping. At the same time, two divisions of gun-boats—the first under the command of Captain Somers, the second under Lieutenant Stephen Decatur—advanced against those of the enemy.

Lieutenant Decatur, bearing down upon one of superior force, soon carried her by boarding; when, taking his prize in tow, he grappled with another, and, in like manner, transferred the fight to the enemy's deck. In the fierce encounter which followed this second attack, Lieutenant Decatur, having broken his sword, closed with the Turkish commander, and, both falling in the struggle, gave him a mortal wound with a pistol-shot, just as the Turk was raising his dirk to plunge it into his breast. Lieutenant Trippe, of Lieutenant Decatur's squadron, had boarded a third large gun-boat, with only one midshipman and nine men, when his boat fell off, and left him to wage the unequal fight of eleven against thirty-six. Courage and resolution, however, obliged the numerous foe to yield, with the loss of fourteen killed and seven wounded. Lieutenant Trippe received eleven sabre wounds, and had three of his party wounded, but none killed.

On the 4th of September, Commodore Preble determined to send a fire-ship into the enemy's harbor. For this service, the Intrepid was fitted out, being filled with powder, shells, and other combustible materials. Captain Somers conducted the enterprise, having for his associates Lieutenants Wadsworth and Israel, all volunteers. At eight o'clock in the evening, she stood into the harbor, with a moderate breeze. Several shots were fired at her from the batteries. She had nearly gained her place of destination, when she exploded, without having made any of the signals, previously concerted, to show that the crew was safe. Night hung over the dreadful catastrophe, and left the whole squadron a prey to the most dreadful anxiety.

Doubt, however, was at length turned into certainty. She had prematurely blown up, destroying one of the enemy's gun-boats, and shattering several others. Commodore Preble, in his account, says, that he was led to believe that those boats were detached from the enemy's flotilla to intercept the ketch, and, without suspecting her character, had suddenly boarded her, when the gallant Somers and the heroes of his party, observing the other three boats surrounding them, and no prospect of escape, determined to put a match to the train leading directly to the magazine; and, he adds, that his "conjectures respecting this affair are founded on a resolution which Captain Somers and Lieutenants Wadsworth and Israel had formed, never to be taken by the enemy, and never to suffer him to get possession of the powder on board the Intrepid."

The reigning bashaw of Tripoli, at this time, was an usurper, while the lawful one and an older brother, Hamet Caramelli, was at Tunis in exile. At the commencement of the war, William Eaton, then American consul at Tunis, becoming acquainted with Hamet, concerted an expedition to expel the usurper, and restore the rightful heir to the throne. To such an enterprise, the sanction of the American government being necessary, General Eaton repaired to the United States, and laid his plan before our government; but they, thinking the scheme altogether too romantic, yet not wishing wholly to discourage it, made him agent for the government; he sailed with the fleet for the Mediterranean, and proceeding to Alexandria, prevailed on the viceroy of Egypt to suffer him to have an interview with the exiled bey. They met near Grand Cairo, and entered into a convention for the purpose of attacking Tripoli. Eaton was to be commander-in-chief of the land forces. Their army consisted of a few American sailors, a small company of artillery, a few straggling Greeks, the servants of Hamet Bashaw, and some camel-drivers. With this motley band, Eaton dashed across the desert in the most noble style, fearless of all difficulties. Here he was joined by a few Arabian cavalry, and, after suffering every hardship, arising from hunger and a scorching sun, the party reached Bomba, where they found the Argus and Hornet, under the command of Captain Hull. The army, of nearly four hundred, continued their march to Derne. On the 25th of April, 1804, they encamped on an eminence which commanded the place, and forthwith demanded a surrender. The inhabitants of Derne treated the summons with contempt. A furious assault was the consequence, and the place was carried after a short but desperate action.

Unfortunately for Eaton's projects, at this time he received intelligence that the American commissioners in the fleet had made peace with the bashaw then in power. It was stipulated, that Eaton should evacuate Derne, and repair to the fleet; and that a mutual delivery of prisoners should take place, among whom was Captain Bainbridge, with the officers and crew of the Philadelphia; and, as the bashaw had a balance of more than two hundred prisoners in his favor, he was to receive sixty thousand dollars. Hamet Bashaw accompanied Eaton to the United States, with a few of his followers, while the remainder of the army fled to the mountains. The commissioners acknowledged that Eaton's success prepared the way for the treaty of peace. Moreover, the president of the United States, in a message to congress, spoke highly of his services; and the citizens every where hailed him as worthy of a place in the lists of chivalry; but, during his after-life, he ever felt that injustice was done him by his countrymen, although Massachusetts made him a grant of ten thousand acres of land as a reward for his services.

Murder of Hamilton.—On the 12th of July, 1804, General Alexander Hamilton died in the city of New York, in consequence of a wound received the day previous, in a duel fought by him with Aaron Burr.