The Second Barbary War
During the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 the Barbary States returned to their raiding on ships of any Christian nation, and the Americans and Europeans had few assets at hand with which to stop them. After the end of the War of 1812 the United States sent another squadron to the region. On May 20, 1815, after the action was sanctioned by Congress earlier that spring, a squadron including three heavy frigates (one of which was the former HMS Macedonian, captured by Stephen Decatur during the War of 1812) and supporting sloops and brigs sailed for the Mediterranean under Commodore Decatur. After entering the Mediterranean the squadron captured two Algerian ships.
Stopping first at Algiers, Decatur demanded the Bey enter into a new treaty with the United States, backed by the guns of the squadron. The Bey acquiesced to the Americans and was forced to pay damages of $10,000 for which he received his two ships and their crews which had been taken by the Americans. Decatur extracted similar agreements from the remaining Barbary States, and informed them that American naval presence would remain in the Mediterranean to enforce the agreements. Once Decatur’s force was out of sight, the Bey of Algiers once again ignored the treaty, which had been forwarded to the Congress of Vienna and ratified.
In response to the continuing piracy of Algiers a British squadron of ships of the line under Lord Exmouth (Edward Pellew) was dispatched to Tunis and Tripoli, both of which quickly endorsed the treaty and renounced the practice of seizing ships of Christian nations. The squadron then went to Algiers where the Bey was reluctant to accept it. After he did sign it the Algerians under his command massacred fishermen from Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily, killing more than 200. The islands from which the victims came were under the protection of the British, and Exmouth returned to Algiers with his squadron.
When Exmouth returned he brought with him a much larger squadron of British ships, supported by ships of the Dutch Navy. On August 27, 1816 the combined fleet unleashed a bombardment of the city of Algiers, its defenses, the harbor defenses, and the ships lying in the harbor. The bombardment was accurate and the heavy guns of the ships of the line wrought much destruction. For just under nine hours the fleet pounded the Algerians, who fought back, inflicting heavy casualties in some ships. The bombardment ceased only because the ships of the British fleet had expended all of their gunpowder, but Exmouth decided to bluff.
The following day the Bey was informed that he must accept the terms of the preceding agreement or the bombardment would resume, and continue until he did. Unaware that the British were out of ammunition the Bey agreed to the terms. He also freed the three thousand Christian slaves he was holding, and agreed to end the practice of enslaving Europeans. The bombardment of Algiers brought an end to the Barbary wars, and the Barbary States themselves were soon to become targets during the colonization of Africa. The depredations of the Barbary pirates were over.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“The Wars of the Barbary Pirates”, by Gregory Fremont-Barnes, 2006
“Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the US Navy”, by Ian Tolle, 2006
“Cathcart’s Travels’, by Liva Baker, American Heritage Magazine, June 1975
“Ready to Hazard: A Biography of Commodore William Bainbridge”, by David F. Long
“Bloodshed at Dawn”, by C. S. Forester, American Heritage Magazine, October 1964
“If By Sea”, by George C. Daugham, 2008
“Edward Pellew, Viscount Exmouth”, by C. Northcote Parkinson, 1934