The Second Barbary War, also known as the Algerine or Algerian War, was the
second of two wars fought between the United States and the Ottoman Empire's
North African regencies of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algeria, known collectively
as the Barbary states. The war between the Barbary states and the U.S. ended in
1815; the international dispute would effectively be ended the following year
by Great Britain and the Netherlands. After the end of the war, the United
States and European nations stopped their practice of paying tribute to the
pirate states to forestall attacks on their shipping. It helped mark the
beginning of the end of piracy in that region, which had been rampant in the
days of Ottoman domination. Within decades, European powers built ever more
sophisticated and expensive ships which the Barbary pirates could not match in
numbers or technology. Background
After the First Barbary War, the U.S. found its attention diverted to its
worsening relationship with Great Britain over trade with France, which
culminated in the War of 1812. The Barbary pirate states took this
opportunity to return to their practice of attacking American and European
merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea and holding their crews and officers
for ransom. At the same time, the major European
powers were still involved in the Napoleonic Wars, which did not fully end
until 1815. United States' response
At the conclusion of the War of 1812, however, the United States returned to
the problem of Barbary piracy. On 3 March 1815, the U.S. Congress authorized
deployment of naval power against Algiers, and two squadrons were
assembled and readied for war. The squadron under the command of Commodore
William Bainbridge was ported in Boston, Massachusetts while Commodore Stephen
Decatur's squadron was at New York. Decatur's squadron was ready to set sail
first and departed 20 May 1815. It comprised the frigates USS Guerriere,
the flagship with 44 guns, commanded by Captain William Lewis; Constellation
with 36 guns, commanded by Captain Charles Gordon; and Macedonia with 38
guns, under the command of Captain Jacob Jones; the sloops-of-war HMS Epervier,
commanded by Captain John Downes, and Ontario with 16 guns, commanded by
Captain Jesse D. Elliott; the brigs Firefly, Spark and Flambeau, each with
14 guns, commanded by Lieutenants George W. Kodgers, Thomas Gamble, and John B.
Nicholson; and the schooners Torch and Spitfire, both with 12 guns, commanded
by Lieutenants Wolcott Chauncey and Alexander J. Dallas. Mr. William Shaler.
Bainbridge's command was still assembling, and did not depart until 1
July, missing the actions. Negotiations
Shortly after departing Gibraltar en route to Algiers, Decatur's squadron
encountered the Algerian flagship Meshuda, and, in the Battle off Cape
Gata, captured it. Not long afterward, the American squadron likewise captured
the Algerian brig Estedio off Cape Palos. By the final week of June, the
squadron had reached Algiers and had initiated negotiations with the Dey.
After the United States made persistent demands for compensation, mingled with
threats of destruction, the Dey capitulated. By terms of the treaty
signed aboard the Guerriere in the Bay of Algiers, 3 July 1815, Decatur agreed
to return the captured Meshuda and Estedio. The Algerians returned all
American captives, estimated to be about 10, and a significant number of European
captives were exchanged for about 500 subjects of the Dey. Algeria also paid
$10,000 for seized shipping. The treaty guaranteed no further tributes by the
United States and granted the United States full shipping rights in the
Mediterranean Sea. Aftermath
In early 1816, Britain undertook a diplomatic mission, backed by a small
squadron of ships of the line, to Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers to convince the
Deys to stop their piracy and free enslaved European Christians. The Beys
of Tunis and Tripoli agreed without any resistance, but the Dey of Algiers was
more recalcitrant, and the negotiations were stormy. The leader of the
diplomatic mission, Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, believed that he had
negotiated a treaty to stop the slavery of Christians and returned to England.
However, due to confused orders, just after the treaty was signed, Algerian
troops massacred 200 Corsican, Sicilian and Sardinian fishermen who had been
classified as under British protection. This caused outrage in Britain and
Europe, and Exmouth's negotiations were seen as a failure.
As a result, Exmouth was ordered to sea again to complete the job and punish the
Algerians. He gathered a squadron of five ships of the line, reinforced by a
number of frigates, later reinforced by a flotilla of six Dutch ships. On 27
August 1816, following a round of failed negotiations, the fleet delivered a
punishing nine-hour bombardment of Algiers. The attack immobilized many of
the Dey's corsairs and shore batteries, forcing him to accept a peace offer of
the same terms as he had rejected the day before. Exmouth warned that if these
terms were not accepted, he would continue the action. The Dey accepted
the terms, but Exmouth had been bluffing; his fleet had already spent
all its ammunition. A treaty was signed on 24 September
1816. The British Consul and 1,083 other Christian slaves were freed, and the
U.S. ransom money repaid. After the First Barbary War, the
European nations had been engaged in warfare with one another. However, in
the years immediately following the Second Barbary War, there was no general
European war. This allowed the Europeans to build up their resources and
challenge Barbary power in the Mediterranean without distraction. Over
the following century, Algiers and Tunis were colonized by France in 1830 and
1881, respectively. In 1835, Tripoli returned to the control of the Ottoman
Empire. In 1911, taking advantage of the power
vacuum left by the fading Ottoman Empire, Italy assumed control of
Tripoli. Europeans remained in control of colonial governments in eastern North
Africa until the mid-20th century. By then the iron-clad warships of the late
19th century and dreadnoughts of the early 20th century ensured European
dominance of the Mediterranean sea. See also
Bombardment of Algiers Military history of the United States
Barbary treaties US President James Madison
2011 military intervention in Libya, termed "Third Barbary War" by media
First Barbary War Further reading
Toll, Ian W.. Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S.
Navy. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393330328.
References Sources
Adams, Henry. History of the United States of America During the
Administrations of Thomas Jefferson. Originally published 1891; Library of
America edition 1986. ISBN 0-940450-34-8 Lambert, Frank The Barbary Wars:
American Independence in the Atlantic World New York: Hill and Wang, 2005
London, Joshua E.Victory in Tripoli: How America's War with the Barbary Pirates
Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., 2005 Oren, Michael B. Power, Faith, and
Fantasy: The United States in the Middle East, 1776 to 2006. New York: W.W.
Norton & Co, 2007. ISBN 978-0-393-33030-4
External links Barbary Warfare
Treaties with The Barbary Powers: 1786–1836
Text of the treaty signed in Algiers 30 June And 3 July 1815
The Barbary Wars at the Clements Library: An online exhibit on the
Barbary Wars with images and transcriptions of primary documents from
the period. Victory in Tripoli: Lessons for the War
on Terrorism Tripoli: The United States’ First War on
Terror Victory In Tripoli
When Europeans Were Slaves