WE ARE BOUND ACROSS THIS GLOOMY DESERT
"WE ARE BOUND ACROSS THIS GLOOMY DESERT TO LIBERATETHREE HUNDRED AMERICANS FROM THE CHAINS OFBARBARISM."—General Eaton.
On the next morning we found that General Eaton's firm stand had had its effect, for fifty camels were reassembled by the sheiks and the march was resumed. After traveling twenty-five miles we came to a high, green place by the sea where three tribes of Arabs, numbering four thousand, lived. Around them were vast herds of camels, horses, cattle, and countless flocks of sheep and goats.
We were the first Christians these wild people had ever seen. They laughed at our dress, but showed great respect towards our officers. Our polished arms filled them with amazement, and the gold lace on the General's hat, and his epaulettes, buttons and spurs awed them. They thought that the ornaments were gold and silver, and expressed astonishment that God should permit people, who followed what they called the religion of the devil, to possess such riches. They offered us for sale whatever food or articles they possessed, including such rarities as young gazelles and ostriches. They offered us also dates that had been brought in a five days' journey from the interior of Africa. We desired to buy all that was offered, but, we had only our rice to trade for their products, which greatly restricted our purchasing power.Here we found water in plenty, the rain having been caught and preserved in natural caverns of rock.
These Arab tribes had never seen bread. When we offered them hard biscuit, they broke it with their shepherds' clubs or their hatchets and tasted it gingerly, but then, liking the taste, they begged us for more.
Attracted by the sound of a drum, beating rhythmically and unceasingly, we strolled after sunset to the entrance of an Arab tent. Old women, with straggling hair and wizened faces, and with eyes ablaze with excitement, were pounding the drum. The tent was thronged with young men and women, who watched tensely and eagerly the dancers in their center. Only young women were dancing. The dance was in honor of a holy man, and was called thedjdib.
Women, urged on by the drum and by the cries of the spectators, whirled and swayed. Their heads rocked from side to side like tree-tops in a tempest. The spirit of the dance had taken possession of them and urged them on until there was no more strength left in their lithe bodies.
They danced until they became exhausted, then others threw aside their scarves and renewed the dance.
I saw a golden-haired girl of about fifteen standing among the tawny Arab girls. The contrast between her quiet beauty and the bold charms of her companions drew the attention of all of the members of our party. I pointed her out to General Eaton. He began to wonder aloud as to whether she was one of the Circassian race, brought down from the mountains by Arabian bandits in some raid, or whether she was of Anglo-Saxon stock.
"Shemustbe a Circassian," he concluded, "it isunbelievable that an English or American girl should be owned by this desert tribe!"
An old woman poked her hatchet-shaped face into that of the young girl.
"Go and dance! All these years you have been under the protection of Allah. Who is this Nazarene—that you place him above Mohammed and his saints? Go and dance. Give your spirit to the djinn! May Allah wither your budding beauty if you refuse to worship his saint in the dance!"
She seized the young girl by her thick sash and pulled her into the center. The band of ribbon that had bound her golden hair became loose; her hair poured like a flood of gold over her shoulders. She stood trembling amidst the wild dancers, some of whom, in their frenzy, were digging her with their sharp elbows.
The drum beat insistently, but the girl did not obey its urge to dance. She stood trembling, and now she raised her eyes towards us with a pleading that roused us to interfere.
General Eaton motioned to a sheik.
"We would not interrupt the dance, or offend the hospitality of this tent in any way. But that girl seems to be of our blood, and the dance is strange to her. Would it not offend the marabout in whose honor you dance to have a Nazarene take part? What is worship of the hands and feet if the heart is not submissive too? I pray you, permit the girl to withdraw."
The young Arabs cast hostile glances at us, but the sheik was good-natured and was expecting rich gifts from the general. He called the girl to him. She came quickly. He spoke to her in Arabic, and she withdrew to an alcove.
"She is an adopted daughter of our tribe," he explained.
The famine lay heavily upon this people. Perhaps it was due to the biscuits we offered this tribe that our interference with their ceremony was not hotly resented. Perhaps, indeed, the famine was responsible for their next move.
An old woman came out of the alcove that had hidden the girl and came directly to General Eaton. "The fair-haired one is a trouble to me," she said. "We have given her food and shelter for many years, yet when we speak to her of marriage, she weeps. When we tell her that we will sell her to become a dancing-girl in the bazaars and cafes if she will not wed one of our young men, she threatens to kill herself! Lovelier damsels than she have gone into the harem, happy to have a lord who will keep them from want. And there are worse lives than to dance at thefantasiasof rich men, and to win the approval of the cafes. The girl is ungrateful and a burden to us. Our own children are starving. Give us money to buy food and take the unthankful girl!"
"Let the girl be summoned," said the general. She came forth, glancing from the Sheik Abdullah to General Eaton with fear in her eyes.
"My girl," said the general through an interpreter, "these people have offered you for sale. My purpose in buying you would be to find you a good home, where you will be brought up in the way of people of your color and race. Do you consent?" She looked at him as if she could not believe her ears, then sobbed, then nodded earnestly.
"Done!" thundered the general, "I call on Sheik Abdullah to witness that the offer has been made andaccepted. I shall be liberal, too! Tell me what price such girls bring at the slave-market in Murzuk and it shall be paid."
The money was poured into the old hag's outstretched palms. The members of her family gathered round to gloat over it. The young Arabs laughed at the prospect of food. The departure of the girl in our company did not cause them the slightest concern. Maidens are held cheaply in the Sahara. A swift camel is worth more than a girl. What value has a Nazarene maiden compared with food for one's own famished children?
The general, to shield the girl as much as possible from the curious soldiers, gave her a tent where she dwelt alone, watched over by an old Nubian woman who had become attached to our party in Egypt and had been taken along for her value as a cook.
The general told a group of us briefly that the girl remembered little of her early life. There was a vague remembrance of a mother who had lived among these dark people. There came a day when she went out of her life and a scolding Arab woman took her place.
The girl and her black servant traveled on donkeys. A young sheik, a friend of the sheik, who had sold the girl to our party, joined Hamet's forces at this village. I wondered if he had planned to add the maiden to his circle of wives.
A courier from Derne met us here with news that Joseph's army was approaching Derne. This caused a panic among our Arabs, and even Hamet seemed to be in doubt as to whether it were wise to proceed. I wasforming a rather low opinion of his bravery, but tried to lose such thoughts by thinking that if he were a hundred times less a man he would be better than his brother. Some of the camel drivers fled. We heard, too, that many of Hamet's followers were planning to turn back. General Eaton again stopped their rations and ordered that no food be served them until they marched forward. The general had a lion's heart and was a born leader. Obstacles like these only served to bring out his firm qualities.
The Sheik il Taiib was again the center of the revolt, since he had resolved to go no farther until news arrived that our vessels were awaiting us at Bomba. When General Eaton reproached him for his want of courage and fidelity, he flew into a rage and put himself at the head of such Arabs as would follow him, which was about half of our force, and started back to Egypt. Hamet begged General Eaton to send an officer to pacify him and persuade him to return, but the General refused.
"We have paid him for his services," he declared, "and we have a right to expect that he be faithful to his pledge; I will not permit him to dictate measures to us!"
"But he may take part against us," pleaded frightened Hamet.
"Let him do it," the general answered, "I like an open enemy better than a treacherous friend!"
We continued our march. Messengers then arrived from the rebellious sheik, assuring us that he was really on his way back to Egypt.
The general sent word back to him: "I will take vigorous steps for the recovery of the cash and property you have drawn from me by fraud!"
In a few hours a new messenger arrived with theinformation that the Sheik il Taiib would join us if we halted to await his coming.
At last his caravan hove in sight.
"You see," he said to the general, to mask his defeat, "what influence I have among these people!"
"Yes," returned the general, "and I see also the disgraceful use you make of it!"
On the next day, the sheik having been quieted for a time, Hamet himself again showed signs of turning back. Separating his Moslem party from us, he took from our officers the horses he had loaned us for the passage through the desert. When General Eaton reproached him for his indecision and lack of perseverance, high words followed. We marched on; Hamet turned back, but after two hours had passed he rejoined us, complimented the general on his firmness, and said that he had been forced to pretend that he was falling in with the wishes of his people, so that he might in the end manage them.
The next day brought the same daily measure of trouble. Several sheiks quarreled with Sheik il Taiib over the distribution of the money that Hamet had paid them, and had quitted camp. We could not proceed without them because they exercised a powerful influence over the Arab tribes near Derne, whose support we were counting on. Hamet rode after them to persuade them to be loyal to us, and in his absence Sheik il Taiib took the stage again, demanding that the general issue more rations.
"Remember," he said threateningly, "You are in a desert, and a country not your own! I am a greater man here than you or the Bashaw!"
The general retorted: "I have found you at the headof every commotion which has happened since we left Alexandria. You are the cause of the present trouble among the chiefs. Leave my tent! But mark: if I find a mutiny in the camp I will put you to death as the man who produced it."
The sheik left the tent and rode away with other chiefs. A few hours later, however, he returned and swore that he was devoted to the general; that some secret enemy had told lies about him; that he would even abandon the Bashaw to follow us; and hoped that at Derne he would have the opportunity to show that he was aman.
Our next halt came when some of the Arab chiefs insisted on riding off to an oasis called Seewauk for a supply of dates. They promised to rejoin our party at Bomba. We halted to discuss the matter.
While this matter was being debated we visited an Arab camp nearby. We found that the young men and women, although copper-colored, were handsome and well-formed. The women did not veil, and were modest and bashful in their deportment. The general complimented the wife of the chief on her beauty. She smiled and said there were more beautiful women in camp than herself and brought in a group of girls to prove it. But the general gallantly held to his first opinion.
Our soldiers were fond of dates, and to secure them from the girls they gave as payment the buttons on their uniforms, which the women strung as ornaments about their necks.
We were fortunate enough to see a marriage in the Arab camp. Two camels bearing canopies resembling wagon tops covered with Smyrna carpeting, passed along, to the noise of volleys of muskets. The bride and groomrode separately in these canopies, attended by elderly women, adult unmarried girls, and by mounted Arabs.
The women chanted a savage kind of song; the men performed daring feats of horsemanship, and young men and girls danced between the camels. In this manner they circled their tents and our encampment. Then the camel carrying the bride was driven seven times around a tent that had been assigned to her. The animal was then made to kneel, the door of the canopy was opened, and the bride was pitched headfirst into the tent, where her women companions were reciting a benediction.
We were told that presents were expected. We gave a little money to an old Arab woman who had taken the leading part in the celebration, supposing her to be the mother of the bride. The general also invited an Arab of about fifty-five years to his tent to receive an extra present of provisions. Upon questioning the Arab as to the ages of the bride and groom, we learned that he himself was the groom; that the bride was a girl of thirteen years; and that the woman we had supposed to be her mother was another wife of the groom.
Now arose a crisis that threatened more than any of the previous ones the success of our movement. Indeed, even the lives of all of the Christian members of the expedition were at stake. When we had reached a spot about ninety miles from Bomba, we found ourselves facing a famine. We had only six days' rations of rice, no bread nor meat, nor other ration. General Eaton was therefore anxious that we move forward to Bomba as swiftly as possible, but Hamet, while the general was out of camp, ordered the expedition to halt and announcedthat the troops needed a day's rest. The reason for his act, we learned, was that he might send a courier to see if our ships were indeed awaiting us at Bomba.
The general stopped the rations when he found that his army had halted, and Hamet, influenced by his Arab hosts, prepared again to march in a direction away from Derne. The Arabs tried to seize the weapons of the Christians, and General Eaton promptly called us to arms. We stood in a row before the magazine tent, guarding our guns from those who would use them to slaughter us. When the crowd had fallen back, the general ordered us to proceed with our daily drill. Seeing this, an Arab chief shouted:
"The Christians are preparing to fire on us!"
Hamet put himself at their head, with drawn sword, as if he feared that such was our intention.
General Eaton stood firmly facing the threatening host of Turks and Arabs. Around him clustered a little group: O'Bannon, Peck, Farquhar, Leitensdorfer, Selem Aga, the Greek officers, and myself. I tried my best to keep the gun in my hand from shivering, but the more I tried the more my hand trembled. Two hundred mounted Turks and Arabs advanced in full charge against us. The end was in sight. We leveled our muskets. I thought of Alexander and the Rector and said a prayer.
"Do not shoot until all hope of peace is gone—then sell your lives dearly!" General Eaton said.
The charging Arabs swerved and withdrew, but when we began to breathe more freely, they came closer, and this time we could see them selecting us as their targets. It did not seem that any of us Christians could survive five minutes longer. An Arab youth snapped a pistol atmy breast. Providentially it missed fire. If one bullet had been fired, war to the death between the two sides would have resulted. A moment later we heard the command of "fire!" ring out from among the Arabs.
"At the first shot, give them a volley!" General Eaton ordered.
At this critical instant, one of Hamet's officers ran out towards the mutineers and cried: "For God's sake, do not fire! The Christians are our friends!"
Then the general, although a column of muskets was aimed at his breast, approached Hamet and demanded of him how he could support such desperate acts. The Bashaw wavered. A chorus of furious whoops from the Arabs drowned the general's voice. He waved his hand as a signal for attention. In response, some of the more kindly disposed chiefs rode before the Arabs with drawn sabres and ordered the infuriated tribesmen to fall back.
The general again reproached Hamet for his weakness, and even Hamet's chief officer asked the Bashaw if he had lost his senses. The latter, in a fury, struck his officer with his drawn sabre. The fracas began again and had nearly reached its former heat when General Eaton seized Hamet by the arm and drew him away from his people.
"Can it be," the general exclaimed, "that you have forgotten who your true friends are, and where your interests lie?"
Hamet melted. He called the general his protector and friend; lamented that he lost his temper so easily, and ordered the Arabs to disperse.
General Eaton agreed to issue a ration of rice if the Bashaw promised march would be resumed early the next morning. This pledge was made and peacereturned. Then we saw a sorry sight. At least two of the white men had acted like cowards and had hidden themselves among the tents. They now came slinking forth to stammer excuses that, you may be sure, were received stonily by us. We again went forward, but after we had marched twenty-five miles our rice became exhausted, and we were now without rations.
With starvation threatening us, Hamet killed a camel, and also gave one in exchange for sheep, that were also slaughtered. The meat, however, had to be eaten without bread or salt. As we went on the hunger increased, and we saw the Arabs searching the plain for roots and vegetable substances on which they might subsist. A water famine was almost always with us. At one time we were obliged to drink from a cistern in which we had found the bodies of two murdered Arabs.
For the first time in my life I realized the meaning of such passages of Scripture as:
"The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;He leadeth me beside the still waters."
"The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;He leadeth me beside the still waters."
"The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;He leadeth me beside the still waters."
"The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters."
While facing yet another insurrection, this time of the gunners, a courier arrived from Bomba with the news that our ships were off both that place and Derne. This gave us new strength and courage and ended the mutiny, and so at last we came to Bomba.
There, however, we found that the vessel that had been seen had departed. The fat was in the fire again, with the Arabs abusing us as impostors and infidels and threatening to leave us, if they did nothing worse.
But oh, the resourcefulness of our general! Withdrawing with the Christians to a high hill nearby, he ordered that a huge fire be kept burning on its crest allnight; the next morning as the Turks and Arabs were scattering, to go to their homes, when the end of the expedition seemed indeed to be in sight, we saw from the top of the hill a sail. The United States' shipArgus, with Captain Hull in command was approaching. The next day the sloopHornetarrived, laden with provisions. We then refreshed ourselves and our famished army, and unloaded from theHornetthe provisions necessary to feed us on the march to Derne.
The worst of the journey was over. We were approaching cultivated land. To keep the inhabitants from becoming hostile to us the Bashaw sent a herald through the camp to cry:
"He who fears God and feels attachment to Hamet Bashaw will be careful to destroy nothing. Let no one touch the growing harvest. He who transgresses shall lose his right hand!"
I now heard shrieks from the tent that sheltered the girl we had rescued by purchase from the Arabs. I saw two camels standing beside the tent, held by a young Arab who looked towards us furtively. It flashed across my mind that the young sheik whom I had suspected of an intention to add the girl to his household had seized upon the moment when we were engaged in putting down a rebellion to kidnap the girl. I rushed to the tent, followed by an Arab lad Mustapha, who also came from the girl's village, and who had shown an humble devotion to her by daily giving to the negress for the maiden a share of his ration of dates.
As we reached the door of the tent the sheik emerged with the girl in his arms. I jabbed the point of my pistol into his face while Mustapha plunged earthward in an effort to stay his strides toward the camels. The lad'sattack was so vigorous that the sheik sprawled face downward into the sand, while the girl, released by his stumble, fell into my arms for support.
She was pale with terror and leaned against me like a broken lily. General Eaton, having pacified Hamet and his supporters, came dashing between me and the kidnapper, who had seized his knife and risen to his feet. I still menaced him with my pistol, but the general forbade me to fire.
"He richly deserves death," he whispered, taking in at a glance the situation, "but to fire a shot would cause a general battle and the defeat of our plans." He then turned to the scowling chief.
"Mount your camel and go," he said. "Hamet Bashaw wants no one in his ranks who, under pretense of loyalty to a cause, comes to steal a girl who despises him."
The Arab, without replying, mounted his camel and rode away with his attendant. We saw a small group detach themselves from the main body and follow him.
"A good riddance!" the general muttered. Then, seeing Mustapha, he delighted the youth by saying, "You, my boy, are worth a hundred such fellows!"
The Nubian woman, who had been choked into insensibility, now staggered out of the tent and relieved me of my burden—one that I was none too glad to surrender.
The girl murmured something to me in Arabic as she re-entered the tent, including Mustapha in her glance. I looked at him questioningly.
"She said," the lad explained, "that her heart is overflowing with gratitude to you and myself for rescuing her."
General Eaton ordered that the maiden's tent be continually guarded after that. I managed to be selected forsentinel duty more often than anyone else. Mustapha also stood guard with me. The girl sat in the door of her tent looking up to the stars. With Mustapha interpreting, we chatted. I told her about America and Baltimore and assured her that once she was out of the desert, a happy life would open for her. She asked shy questions about the girls of the United States—what they wore; how they occupied themselves. I heard her and the Nubian woman laughing when I said, rather abruptly, that I had not paid attention to the looks and habits of girls at home. I taught her a few words of English—"America," "ship," "friend," "good morning," and "good night."
When we reached Derne, a few days after the encounter I have described took place, the girl went aboard one of the American warships. The last I saw of her was when she stepped timidly into a cutter, assisted by General Eaton. I stood on the shore watching. I saw her glancing back at the shore and I am sure I saw a motion of her hand in response to my furious waving. From that hour I began thinking of home more than I had ever thought of it before. And Mustapha and I, when we walked back to our tents, never spoke a word to each other the whole way.
The fleet had not been idle while we fought our way across the desert. Letters awaited us at Bomba, brought us by one of the naval vessels. A long epistle, with a thrill in every paragraph, was the combined work of Samuel Childs and Reuben James. It gave an account of the gallant way in which Reuben saved his idol Stephen Decatur's life in a hand-to-hand conflict between the crews of our gunboats and those of the corsairs. The part describing Reuben's part was written by Samuel, and bore in the margin a sentence of protest scrawled by the modest Reuben. Here is the story as I gleaned it:
The gunboats were sent in to attack the enemy's fleet in two divisions, one led by Stephen Decatur and the other by Richard Somers. The Moslems were past masters of this art of boarding. Decatur and Somers were therefore leading their men to do battle with these ferocious fighters under severe handicaps.
Our habit of boarding dismayed Joseph. He had thought that his men were invincible in a fight on a ship's deck.
The mode of attack used by the corsairs was always by boarding. Their vessels were so made that it was easy for them to go on board an enemy. Their lateen yards were so long that they projected over the deck of the vessel approached. The infidels used these as apassageway from their vessel to the prize. Then, from all points of their riggings and from all quarters of their decks, the pirates would leap on board the attacked ship. That they might have free use of their hands in climbing the gunwales of the vessel, they carried their sabres grasped between their teeth, and had loaded pistols in their belts. As they swarmed aboard, thus armed, they were a terrifying sight. They were taught by their religion that if they died in battle with Christians their salvation was assured, so they fought desperately. But Joseph, scornful of America, without knowing what fighters her sons were, now found his fiercest warriors slain by men who could board ship and give battle on deck with even more strength and bravery than his own captains.
Decatur, who had charge of the foremost three boats, had to bear the brunt of the fighting. Opposed to his three boats were nine Tripolitan boats, well armed and crowded with men.
Reuben James was in Decatur's boat. The first gun Decatur fired was loaded with a thousand musket balls in a bag. The shot wrought terrific damage on board the vessel selected for the attack. The captain fell dead with fourteen of the musket balls lodged in his body. Thus far Captain Decatur had had easy work.
Lieutenant James Decatur, Stephen's brother, had commanded the second boat. He had been treacherously slain. The Moor in charge of the boat he attacked hauled down its flag at the first fire. James Decatur then directed his men to board, but as his boat approached the Tripolitan craft, the cunning captain shot Decatur dead, and while the dismayed Americans gathered around their leader, the Moor hauled off his boat.
News soon reached Stephen of the loss of his brother and away he went in vengeful pursuit of the slayer of James. He overhauled the boat and led his men aboard in a fierce charge. Reuben was at his heels. The Moorish captain was a powerful brute; he had all the weapons a man could carry, and he was as desperate as a treed wildcat.
Stephen Decatur, however, went at his huge foe in a way that meant death either to the Moor or himself. The infidel met Decatur's rush with his pike, while Decatur depended on his sword. Reuben James was busy disposing of an infidel. Before he tackled another, he looked to see what headway the captain was making. Imagine how taken aback he was to see Decatur staggering back from a pike stab in the breast. He slashed his way towards his leader, but, as luck would have it, a shot lodged in his right hand and a moment later a jab from a spear disabled his left arm.
Meanwhile Decatur, nothing daunted by his wound, had brought his sword into play. The blade, meeting a savage blow from the pike, broke off at the hilt. Reuben saw Decatur dart in past the Moor's weapon, and grapple with him. An Arab sneaked up in the captain's rear and aimed a blow at his head. Reuben then threw his own disabled body between Decatur and his second foe. The blow landed on his head, and he sank to the deck crippled and half senseless. He could see Decatur and the Moorish captain fall to the deck, with the infidel on top. The Moor had one arm free and with it he drew a knife. Reuben closed his eyes. Then he heard a shot and opened them again. In Decatur's hand was a smoking pistol, and the slayer of his brother lay dead at the captain's feet.
From the rest of the letter I gathered facts that gave me a fair idea of the progress of the campaign.
The third boat in Decatur's division was commanded by John Trippe, sailing master. Trippe killed a Moorish captain in much the same manner as Decatur slew his adversary. As he led his men across the side of a Tripolitan vessel, his own boat was swept away from the side before all of his party could board. Thus Trippe, with another officer and nine men, was left to face thirty-six infidels. Trippe determined, as his one hope of victory, to kill the captain, a man of great height and strength. He came as near to death as did Decatur, receiving eleven wounds. At last, when the Moor had forced him down so that he was fighting with one knee on deck, he caught his foe off guard and stabbed him to death with a pike. Fourteen of the infidels had been slain by the Americans and the remaining twenty-two now surrendered. None of the Americans were killed. Richard Somers, who commanded the other three boats, was prevented from following Decatur along the inside route he took, yet he found means to capture three Moorish gunboats and to sink three others.
Reuben James passes out of my story here, but it is due him that I skip several years and tell how when doctors were about to amputate, because an old wound had diseased a bone in his leg, he exclaimed: "Doctor, you are the captain, Sir. Fire away; but I don't think it is shipshape to put me under jury masts when I have just come into harbor."
From other correspondence we learned how Commodore Preble, while his gunboats were thus engaged, sailed into the harbor on board theConstitution, with Captain Chauncey in command, and bombarded the forts. Theship was excellently handled. Her crew tacked and made sail under the guns of the enemy with as much coolness and skill as if there were no guns trained on them. Several times theConstitutionpassed within three cables' length of the batteries on shore, and silenced them. But the moment the frigate passed on, the silenced batteries were manned again. The monarch had thousands of soldiers at his command and continued to drive fresh gunners to the batteries.
On another day a Tripolitan fleet of five gunboats and two galleys came out to attempt to capture or destroy certain gunboats of the American fleet lying near the harbor. Commodore Preble signaled to the brigs and schooners under his command to meet the raiders, and these ships poured such a hot fire upon the Moslem flotilla that they were forced to turn back.
The grape-shot fired by the Americans during these engagements swept the enemy's decks of men, and worried the gunmen on shore so badly that it spoiled their aim, so that theConstitutionwas but slightly damaged, and had none killed and only one man wounded.
Now, came news of the tragedy of the campaign. It was decided to use the ketchIntrepidas a fireship to destroy the enemy's shipping. Captain Somers volunteered to take command of her, and Lieutenant Wadsworth volunteered to go with him. Ten men went with them—six volunteers from theConstitutionand four volunteers from theNautilus. Two small boats were taken, so that the party could escape from the floating mine after they had lighted the fuses. TheIntrepidstarted upon her perilous duty on September 4th.Lieutenant Joseph Israel of theConstitutionarrived at the moment of getting under way and asked permission to go along. Somers consented.
The night was dark, and the other American ships soon lost sight of the ketch. She was discovered, however, by the Tripolitans as she was entering the harbor, and their batteries opened fire.
Suddenly, the night was lit by terrifying flashes. A series of explosions shook land and water. A shower of sparks arose. The powder on board theIntrepidhad prematurely exploded, and left nothing on the face of the harbor but scorched fragments. All of her officers and men were killed. Their mangled bodies floated ashore and were found by the people of Tripoli.
What caused the explosion remains a mystery. Commodore Preble thought that theIntrepidhad been attacked and boarded by a Tripolitan gun-boat, and that Captain Somers, rather than be taken captive, himself exploded the powder; or else that the fire from the batteries caused so much damage that Somers saw that escape was impossible and chose death to surrender. This reasoning was partly based on the fact that Somers and his men had boasted that they would die rather than be captured. The squadron was greatly affected by this tragedy. Decatur had special reason to grieve, because Somers had been his schoolmate, and had given Decatur, before sailing, tokens to remember him by if he did not return.
I learned with amazement that Commodore Preble had been recalled. Although he had conducted a fight that had won for the American navy lasting glory, the navy department had thought it best to call him home and to put Commodore Samuel Barron, who was his senior, inhis place. Commodore Preble was notified of this with much praise and apology. No wonder was it that his going was lamented. His fifty-three officers joined in a letter of regret. English officers praised his work. The Pope said that "the American commander, with a small force and in a short space of time, had done more for the cause of Christianity than the most powerful nations of Christendom had done for ages."
The Commodore had labored under great handicaps. Congress had not supported his requests for ships and supplies, and those that came were long delayed. The food sent him was poor. He was forced to depend largely on foreign seamen.
Commodore Preble was deeply regretful at not being able to carry the campaign against Tripoli through to final victory, and also mortified that, with success in sight, he should be recalled. He went home an almost heartbroken man, although his record must stand out as one of the most brilliant in our naval history.
If the bold Preble had continued in command of the squadron, there is little doubt that when he saw what Eaton was doing at Derne he would have begun an attack on Tripoli that would have brought Joseph Bashaw to his knees.
The one good reason advanced as to why General Eaton's expedition should have ended at Derne was that if it approached Tripoli, the Americans held prisoners there might have been killed by Joseph Bashaw when his city was attacked. He threatened that, in an extremity, he would slay the prisoners. Several of the officers who were in captivity held this fear. Yet Commodore Rodgers wrote afterwards to the Secretary of the Navy:
"I never thought myself that the lives of the American prisoners were in any danger." Lieutenant Wormely, a midshipman held in captivity, also testified before a Senate committee that: "I do not believe that there was any danger to be apprehended for our lives."
"An army, composed in part of Americans, but chiefly of the descendants of the ancient Grecians, Egyptians and Arabians; in other words, an army collected from the four quarters of the globe, and led by an American commander to conquest and glory, is a phenomenon in military history calculated to attract the attention of the world, not only by its novelty, but by its real influence and consequence. It ought to be considered, too, that this army, notwithstanding the singularity of its organization and character, and the smallness of its number and its means, acted in a cause that might be thought to affect, at least in some remote degree, the general interest of mankind. Since the destruction of Cato, and his little senate at Utica, the banner of freedom had never waved in that desert and barbarous quarter of the globe; and he who carried it so nobly, in the language of the resolution, through the desert of Libya, and placed it so triumphantly upon the African shore of the Mediterranean deserves to be honorably distinguished by that country and that government, to which the enterprise has added lustre."—Speech made by James Elliott, Representative from Vermont, before the House of Representatives.
"An army, composed in part of Americans, but chiefly of the descendants of the ancient Grecians, Egyptians and Arabians; in other words, an army collected from the four quarters of the globe, and led by an American commander to conquest and glory, is a phenomenon in military history calculated to attract the attention of the world, not only by its novelty, but by its real influence and consequence. It ought to be considered, too, that this army, notwithstanding the singularity of its organization and character, and the smallness of its number and its means, acted in a cause that might be thought to affect, at least in some remote degree, the general interest of mankind. Since the destruction of Cato, and his little senate at Utica, the banner of freedom had never waved in that desert and barbarous quarter of the globe; and he who carried it so nobly, in the language of the resolution, through the desert of Libya, and placed it so triumphantly upon the African shore of the Mediterranean deserves to be honorably distinguished by that country and that government, to which the enterprise has added lustre."—Speech made by James Elliott, Representative from Vermont, before the House of Representatives.
Every step we took, I could tell by the rector's map, which now I daily consulted, was taking me to that section of the coast where the treasure lay buried. We had hard fighting ahead of us, and all of my energies were needed to help our cause, yet I was determined tofind enough time to make the search. The problem of finding a trustworthy person who could read for me the Arabic inscription on the map had been solved through my friendship with Mustapha, who had acquired a fair education in Egypt. I planned to go to Tokra under his guidance. My plans worked out well, but in a different way from that which I proposed.
The first duty ahead of our army—a task that must be done before any treasure hunt could be thought of—was the capture of Derne. The city of Tokra lay beyond Derne. Our army, if it went on to Tripoli, must pass near it. The coast was clear—if Derne were captured by us. Little did I think that the ill fortunes of our soldiers should send me forth at last to fulfill my long-cherished aim.
Two days after leaving Bomba, we camped on a height that overlooks Derne, and reconnoitered. We had reached the climax of our march. We learned that the governor of the place had decided to defend the city against us. We learned also that the army Joseph Bashaw had sent from Tripoli was making a forced march to Derne and might arrive before the return of our vessels, which had been blown out to sea in a gale. This information alarmed the Turks and Arabs. Hamet, we observed, again seemed to be ready for flight. The Sheik il Taiib, who had promised to prove himself a valiant man at Derne, quitted the camp.
Several chiefs came out from Derne to assure Hamet of their faith. They told us that the city was divided into three departments; that two of these favored Hamet and one Joseph, but that the department that favored Joseph was strongest and had control of the guns.
General Eaton had sent a messenger to the governor under a flag of truce with this message:
"I want no territory. With me is advancing the real sovereign of your country—give us a passage through your city; and for the supplies of which we shall have need, you shall receive fair pay. Let no differences of religion induce us to shed the blood of harmless men who think little and know nothing. If you are a man of liberal mind you will not hesitate. Hamet Bashaw pledged himself to me that you shall be established in your government. I shall see you tomorrow in a way of your choice."Eaton."
"I want no territory. With me is advancing the real sovereign of your country—give us a passage through your city; and for the supplies of which we shall have need, you shall receive fair pay. Let no differences of religion induce us to shed the blood of harmless men who think little and know nothing. If you are a man of liberal mind you will not hesitate. Hamet Bashaw pledged himself to me that you shall be established in your government. I shall see you tomorrow in a way of your choice.
"Eaton."
The flag of truce was sent back to the general by the governor with this answer:
"My head or yours!"
"We shall see whose head it will be!" General Eaton declared.
Having learned that the army from Tripoli was only a four hours' march distant, the general determined to attack the city before it had time to arrive.
On the next morning theArgus,HornetandNautilusappeared off the coast, and on a signal sailed in toward the city. The general at once began the assault. The fleet sent a few guns ashore to assist us in the land attack, and then the three vessels opened fire on the city's batteries.
The Governor of Derne had mounted a battery of eight nine-pounders along the water-front; had thrown up breastworks along the unprotected parts of the city; and had mounted cannon on the terrace of his palace and on the roofs of certain buildings. We heard thathe possessed an army of eight hundred men, in addition to such citizens as would fight with him.
General Eaton, with a detachment actively commanded by Lieutenant O'Bannon, consisting of the six American marines, twenty-four gunners, twenty-six Greeks, and a few Arabs, attacked the temporary forts that had been thrown up in the southeast section of the town. Hamet Bashaw attacked and captured an old castle on the southwest, and drew up his cavalry on this site. I fought beside the general, and a stiff business it was. The enemy's musketry was so warm that our troops were thrown into confusion. To counteract this, the general ordered a charge. The enemy had flocked to the point where we advanced, so that we had to fight as ten to one. The infidels waged a guerrilla warfare, dashing out of their hiding-places and then, in retreat, firing from behind every palm tree and wall along their way.
The battery was at last silenced by the fire of our ships, and most of the gunners retired to join the forces opposed to us. Yet on we went, passing through a shower of bullets from the walls of houses. Soon we reached the battery, and wrested it from its defenders. I had the honor of planting, amidst cheers from my comrades, the American flag on the wall—an honor indeed, since this was the first time the American flag had been raised on a fort of the old world. Then we turned the guns on the infidels and drove them back into the houses, where they could only fire at us from behind walls.