3/4/23
Newsletter #265
The Crack of Dawn
Another of my toxically masculine stories is my unpublished novel, The Duelist and the Pirates: The Story of Stephen Decatur, America’s Greatest Naval Hero. This is a great story, and a book that I have not yet done justice. Sometimes stories have to ferment in my head for years before I find the correct approach, if indeed I ever do.
In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. This voyage was underwritten by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela of Spain. That was the same year that the royal couple decided to clean house and banish all of the undesirables from Spain, meaning the Muslim Moors and the Jews. Most of the Moors fled south across the Straits of Gibraltar to northern Africa, settling in Morocco, Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli, known as the Barbary Coast. All four countries turned to piracy as their main industry. If a ship cared to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, it first had to pay Morocco for the privilege, then as it passed Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli, it had to pay them, too. If you didn’t pay, the Barbary pirates would swarm all over your ship, kill many of the crew and passengers, then abduct the rest and sell them into slavery. Once they were sold into slavery they were never seen again. The only answer was to pay the four countries an annual, exorbitantly high, extortion fee, which the Pashas and Bashaws of Barbary considered tribute. And that’s exactly what every European country that wanted to do business in the Mediterranean did for 300 years.
In 1776 America declared independence from Britain. An unexpected consequence of this was that America, who had previously been protected by Britain’s annual extortion fee to the Barbary countries, was now not covered. The pirates immediately began picking on American ships, and all four of the countries demanded a million dollars each for safe passage. Well, the brand-new U.S.A. not only didn’t have four million dollars to spare, it had sixty-million dollars in war debt.
In the course of the next twenty-five years the pirates seized fourteen American ships and enslaved over a hundred Americans, lost forever. In 1794 George Washington created the Navy, in 1798 John Adams created the Marine Corps, and in 1801 Thomas Jefferson sent the navy to the Barbary Coast to kick ass. America’s new, powerful warships bombarded the living crap out of the city of Tripoli – which was undoubtedly impressive, but not completely ineffective – thus beginning the first of the two Barbary Wars. The first Barbary War lasted for five years, from 1801 to 1805. The second Barbary War in 1815 lasted for only three days.
And since I’m just now introducing the main character, you can plainly see that this is a tough story to tell, with a lot of set-up.
In 1800 when Naval Lieutenant Stephen Decatur was twenty he got into his first duel. Duels of honor were all the rage at that time. Although dueling was illegal, duels were fought constantly for the most trivial reasons. Decatur wounded his opponent in the thigh, and became known as a notorious “Duelist.”
Meanwhile, on the Barbary Coast, where the initial bombardment had had little effect, the Americans now sent in their newest, most powerful ship, the Philadelphia. Commanding was one of the most fascinating, strange, unlikeable characters in U.S. military history, Commodore William Bainbridge. If the U.S. Navy wasn’t completely corrupt at the time, Bainbridge should have been court martialed twice before this. He had already surrendered and lost two American ships — the only captain to ever do that — and he was only twenty-seven years old. Instead of being scuttled, however, the navy gave Bainbridge a promotion and command of their best ship. They then sent him to Tripoli to show off the ship and “harass” the enemy.
The Pasha of Tripoli, “Bloody” Yusef Karamanli, was so angry that this new, upstart country, America, would not pay him his “tribute,” he personally went to the U.S. embassy, chopped down the American flag, and declared war on the U.S.A.
Tripoli harbor, which was commonly understood to be shallow, was covered by hundreds of cannons. Not known for his smart decisions, Commodore Bainbridge decided to impress the Tripolitans by sailing the enormous Philadelphia into Tripoli harbor, promptly getting stuck on a sandbar. It was Pasha Karamanli’s dream come true. He had his guns open fire, blew the crap out of the Philadelphia, and sent out flat boats loaded with soldiers. Bainbridge and his crew of three hundred were all captured and made slaves.
Pasha Karamanli and the Tripolitans didn’t actually have the know-how to sail a ship the size or complexity of the Philadelphia, so they fixed it up and docked it in the harbor as a prize of war. Here was America’s best warship, taken away from them like foolish children.
Well, to the American Mediterranean Naval Commander, Commodore Edward Prebble — another great character — a sickly, dyspeptic, terrifically bold, old man of forty-four, decided that the present situation was entirely unacceptable, and initiated the Second Battle of Tripoli Harbor.
To start things off he sent Lt. Stephen Decatur on a secret mission to “fire the Philadelphia,” meaning set it ablaze. But this would have to be done right under the Tripolitan’s noses because the ship was anchored in the highly fortified harbor.
So, Decatur and few men quickly put together a plan and went on a secret mission to fire the Philadelphia.
Don’t miss tomorrow’s episode of The Duelist and the Pirates, which is really strange. It’s honestly too weird to make up.
It’s 6:00 AM and I’m opening the shade. Black. I haven’t the slightest doubt, however, that the dawn will rise momentarily. Then this will be the first day of the rest of our lives, I think. I could be wrong.