The American Navy

by French Ensor Chadwick

By the middle of 1803 a new squadron was formed of the Constitution, Philadelphia, and of five brigs and schooners, the Argus, Siren, Nautilus, Vixen, and Enterprise. Edward Preble was the commodore in command.

It is a habit with some to call Paul Jones or John Barry the “father of the navy” as race sentiment or particular inclination may rule, but neither has a claim of the sort. Jones never served in the newly established service or had anything to do with its organization. The ephemeral navy of the Revolution had entirely passed away; the navy of 1794 was not a reconstitution; it was a new birth, and with this Barry’s connection was without special distinction. Jones was a Scot by birth; Barry was an Irishman. Both are in the first rank as naval officers, but neither did anything to form the new navy. This was the work of Edward Preble, American by long descent, tradition, and training. Born in Portland, Maine, August 15, 1761, he ran away when seventeen to go to sea in a privateer; he was shortly made a midshipman in the Protector, the largest ship of the Massachusetts state navy; was in several actions, and when the Protector was captured became a prisoner in the prison ship Jersey, at New York. When released he was immediately again at sea, this time in the state privateer Winthrop, and was of the party which cut out an armed British brig from under the British fort in Penobscot Bay. When the United States navy came to life again he was commissioned one of the first five lieutenants. In 1799 he was promoted to captain and in command of the Essex convoyed fourteen valuable merchantmen to China. His high temper and strict discipline were, in the early part of his Mediterranean service, to make him somewhat unpopular, but his great qualities soon brought an admiration and regard which have come down as a cherished tradition of the service, as warm to-day as a hundred years since. It is to him should be given the credit of establishing the character of the little navy which fought the War of 1812, covering itself with fame, and bringing a new respect to our country which owes his memory every honor, and continues to owe it in much greater measure than ever paid.

The Philadelphia was one of the first of the new squadron to arrive abroad. Her haste brought good fortune. Hearing at Gibraltar of Tripolitan vessels off Cape de Gatt, the southeastern corner of Spain, Captain Bainbridge at once left, and, on the night of August 26th, came in contact not with Tripolitans but with a Moorish ship, the Meshboha, of twenty-two guns with a crew of 120 men, and a captured brig from Boston, the Celia. We were not at war with Morocco, but the Moorish captain said that he had made the capture anticipating war. The Philadelphia secured her prizes at Gibraltar and went to her station off Tripoli.

When the Constitution reached Gibraltar, Preble of course learned at once of the occurrence mentioned, and with his flagship and three other vessels, one of which was the John Adams, flying the broad-pennant of Commodore Rodgers, who, though the senior officer, cheerfully gave his services to the new commander-in-chief, went to Tangier and demanded satisfaction. The result was the complete disavowal by Morocco of the hostile action.

CHAPTER XII

We now come to the other and vastly more honorable phase of our relations with the Barbary powers and to a series of actions which form one of the most dramatic chapters of American naval history. The Philadelphia and schooner Vixen were the only two vessels blockading Tripoli. It was October, with much rough weather. Carried by the gales well to the eastward of Tripoli, the Philadelphia on October 31st was returning, with the wind now shifted into the east, to her station. Sighting a vessel inshore, she gave chase and pursued until the soundings decreased to a danger point and the ship was hauled off shore. The coast was practically uncharted. The depth increased and then again suddenly decreased and the ship drove on to a reef which was one of several to the eastward of the port, and between which, as in most coral formations, was deep water. The chase, knowing well the water, reached the harbor in safety. The firing had brought out nine gunboats and no time was to be lost if the ship were to be saved. She had driven up the smooth eastern slope of the reef her entire length. Guns were thrown overboard, a few only being reserved for defence, anchors cut from the bows, the foremast cut away, and every means taken to lighten the ship without avail. The hostile gunboats took positions from which they could safely fire; night was at hand; the Vixen was unfortunately absent in search of a Tripolitan cruiser, and the situation became such that it was imperative to surrender to save the lives of the ship’s company. The magazine was “drowned,” holes bored in the ship’s bottom, and all done which it was thought would insure the loss of the ship. The colors were then lowered. The Tripolitan crews acted in their usual manner, stripping the men of their clothing and seizing everything valuable, snatching even from Bainbridge his epaulets, gloves, watch, and money when in the boat of his captors. It was ten at night when the 307 prisoners were landed at the town. The officers were very civilly received in state by the Pacha, given supper, and at one o’clock of the morning taken to the former American consulate, a house good enough in itself but almost destitute of furniture and other comforts. But for the kindness then shown by Mr. Nicholas C. Nissen, the Danish consul, then as ever an unswerving friend of American prisoners, their condition would have been greatly more trying. His name should be held in grateful remembrance. He did indeed receive the thanks of Congress and had the lasting gratitude of the officers of the Philadelphia, who, after their release, presented him in grateful recognition of his kindness with a handsome testimonial of silver.

The men were confined in a warehouse much too small but were later transferred to a larger. They were set to various kinds of work, even to the building, as mentioned, of a fort which came to be known as the American fort and received much maltreatment, particularly after the burning of the Philadelphia in the harbor, which soon came to pass.

The ship had been floated largely through the influence of a northerly gale which had raised the water-level on the coast and had on November 5th been brought into the harbor. Her guns and anchors were weighed, the former mounted, and work begun to put the ship in order. It is seldom that the soul of man is more sorely tried than was that of her gallant captain when he became conscious of this success of the enemy.

It was not until November 27th that Preble on his arrival at Malta received news confirming rumors of the Philadelphia’s loss in letters from Bainbridge. In one of December 5, 1803, Bainbridge had suggested the destruction of the Philadelphia, an idea which naturally had already occurred to Preble. On December 17th the latter sailed for Tripoli, taking with him the Enterprise, commanded by Decatur, who captured on the way a ketch (or topsail schooner) named the Mastico, with a crew of seventy. It was this captured vessel, renamed the Intrepid, which was finally used in the coming adventure and has thus come down through more than a century in the list of famous ships.

There was no trouble in finding officers or men for the duty, but the whole was finally turned over to the commander of the Enterprise to arrange, and her crew only was to be employed except that five midshipmen of the Constitution were detailed to assist. Sixty-two men of the Enterprise were taken. The officers were Decatur, commanding; Lieutenants Lawrence, Bainbridge, and Thorn, and Midshipman Macdonough, all of the Enterprise; Midshipmen Izard, Morris, Laws, Davis, and Rowe of the Constitution, and Salvador Catalano as pilot. Nearly two months from the inception had been spent in maturing the plans, and on the evening of February 3d the Intrepid and Siren sailed together from Syracuse and were off Tripoli on the 7th. A gale of wind drove them to sea, and it was not until the 16th that they were again off Tripoli. At dark the Intrepid was two miles from the entrance, and here Midshipman T. O. Anderson, with a boat and nine men from the Siren (which was disguised as a merchantman), was taken on board. This made a total of eighty-four in the Intrepid. A careful division of duties had been made. Decatur, two midshipmen, and fifteen men were to hold the spar (or upper) deck; the others were to look after the lower decks except a midshipman and his boat’s crew who were to secure the Philadelphia’s boats and prevent the escape ashore of the Tripolitan crew. The watchword was “Philadelphia.”