by Ian W. Toll
“I have a reputation”: Captain Thomas Truxtun to Secretary of the Navy, March 3, 1802, BW II:76.
“I cannot but consider”: Ferguson, Truxtun of the Constellation, p. 224.
“I never was at sea”: Whipple, To the Shores of Tripoli, p. 86.
to “place all our naval”: Secretary of the Navy, Instructions to Captain Richard D. Morris, April 20, 1802, BW II:130.
“I have for some time”: TJ to Albert Gallatin, March 28, 1803, TJP.
“though a fly”: William Eaton, U.S. Consul, Tripoli, to James Leander Cathcart, April 26, 1802, BW II:134.
“Our operations of the last”: William Eaton to Secretary of State, August 23, 1802, BW II:248.
“I sincerely wish”: Albert Gallatin to TJ, August 16, 1802, quoted in Adams, The Life of Albert Gallatin, p. 307.
“Shall we buy peace”: Cabinet Meeting Notes, May 8, 1803, in Cunningham, The Process of Government Under Jefferson, pp. 49–50.
“a steady course”: TJ to JM, March 22, 1803, TJP.
On the morning of: Logbook of Sailing Master Nathaniel Haraden, May 21, 1803, BW II:413.
but in 1781 she was a blackened and rotting: Thomas Dring account, Recollections of the Jersey Prison-Ship (1829), p. 7.
“The hardest battle”: Niles’ Register, vol. 1, p. 350.
“ragged and full of small holes”: Logbook of Sailing Master Nathaniel Haraden, May 22, 1803, BW II:416.
“good, and of proper thickness”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, May 22, 1803, BW II:414.
Revere was respected: Triber, A True Republican: The Life of Paul Revere, pp. 180–86.
“Stripped off Ships”: Revere to Smith quoted in ibid.
“The mast did not complain”: Logbook of Sailing Master Nathaniel Haraden, June 25, 1803, BW II:462.
that he could not recruit: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, June 26, 1803, BW II:463.
“We are lumbered”: Logbook of Sailing Master Nathaniel Haraden, August 4, 1803, BW II:506.
“The ship sails well”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, August 19, 1803, BW II:515.
Preble wrote out 107 standing orders: “Internal Rules and Regulations for the U.S. Frigate Constitution, 1803 to 1804, by Captain Edward Preble,” September 6, 1803, BW III:6.
“The crew were immediately”…and the quotes that follow: Charles Morris, Autobiography, quoted in Magoun, The Frigate Constitution and Other Historic Ships, pp. 68–69.
“I find it hard”: Captain Edward Preble to James Simpson, U.S. Consul, Tangier, September 22, 1803, BW III:71.
“on Goat Skins”: James Simpson to Captain Edward Preble, October 2, 1803, BW III:97.
“after this they messed”: Logbook of Sailing Master Nathaniel Haraden, October 3, 1803, BW III:101.
“invites me (after the War)”: Midshipman Henry Wadsworth to Nancy Doane, September 24, 1803, BW III:75.
“were trembling in their shoes”: Midshipman Ralph Izard to Mrs. Ralph Izard, Sr., October 11, 1803, BW III:126.
As a gesture of goodwill: James Simpson to Captain Edward Preble, October 7, 1803, BW III:110.
The morning of October 10: Tobias Lear, U.S. Consul General, Algiers, to Secretary of State, October 18, 1803, BW III:146.
“I had connected”: Midshipman Ralph Izard to Mrs. Ralph Izard, Sr., October 11, 1803, BW III:126.
Moroccan governors and ship captains: Declaration of peace between United States and the Emperor of Morocco, October 9, 1803; Captain Edward Preble to James Simpson, October 8, 1803, BW III:118–19.
“such a miserable piece”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, October 1, 1803, BW III:95.
wrote a formal protest: Lieutenant Charles Stewart to Captain John Gore, Royal Navy, October 7, 1803, BW III:112.
“subjects of his Britannic Majesty”: Captain John Gore to Lieutenant Charles Stewart, October 8, 1803, BW III:113.
“having again placed themselves”: Letters between John Gore and Charles Stewart dated October 9, 1803, BW III:120–21.
“you will perceive”: Lieutenant Charles Stewart to Captain Edward Preble, October 9, 1803, BW III:121.
“The Officers of our Navy”: Captain Edward Preble to Captain John Gore, October 17, 1803, BW III:143.
“many of our men”: Lieutenant Charles Stewart to Captain Edward Preble, October 9, 1803, BW III:121.
“I know of no such person”: Captain Edward Preble to Captain John Gore, October 17, 1803, BW III:143 (emphasis in the original).
with “a like number”: Captain George Hart, Royal Navy, to Captain Edward Preble, October 21, 1803, BW III:156.
“The British make a practice”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, November 9, 1803, BW III:209.
to “afford protection”: Captain Edward Preble to Captain George Hart, October 22, 1803, BW III:158.
“Some misunderstanding” occurred: Surgeon Samuel Marshall to Lieutenant Charles Stewart, October 21, 1803, BW III:157.
“at Malta the Ships lay”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, October 23, 1803, BW III:160.
“I believe there never was”: Zacks, The Private Coast, p. 3.
“a man destitute of reason”: John Rea, A Letter to William Bainbridge…, quoted in McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession, pp. 262–63.
“as unexpected to me”: Captain William Bainbridge to Captain Edward Preble, November 12, 1803, BW III:174.
“one man tied to a stake”: Captain William Bainbridge to Tobias Lear, February 8, 1804, BW III:176.
“to an enemy whom chance”: Captain William Bainbridge to Secretary of the Navy, November 1, 1803, BW III:171.
by “turning the cock”: Court inquiring into the loss of U.S. frigate Philadelphia, June 29, 1805, BW III:189.
“cut off the hands”: Cowdery, American Captives in Tripoli; or, Dr. Cowdery’s Journal in Miniature. Kept during his late captivity in Tripoli, quoted in Baepler, ed., White Slaves, African Masters: An Anthology of American Barbary Captivity Narratives, pp. 161–62. Note that Ray disputes the claim of mutilation, but agrees that there was a melee between the Tripolitans.
“The treatment we received”: Recipient not indicated, presumably from Captain William Bainbridge, February 18, 1804, BW, III:432.
“amidst the shouts”: Ibid.
“lined with terrific janissaries”: William Ray, Horrors of Slavery, or the American Tars in Tripoli, in Baepler, ed., White Slaves, African Masters, p. 190.
“a gracious smile”: Recipient not indicated, presumably from Captain William Bainbridge, February 18, 1804, BW, III:432.
“set in the European style”: Cowdery, American Captives in Tripoli, in Baepler, ed., White Slaves, African Masters, p. 162.
“mats and blankets”: Ibid., pp. 162–63.
“everything but what we had”: Captain William Bainbridge to Secretary of the Navy, November 1, 1803, BW III:171.
He introduced Bainbridge: Captain William Bainbridge to Captain Edward Preble, December 13, 1803, BW III: 269.
“commanded a handsome prospect”: Cowdery in Baepler, ed., White Slaves, African Masters, p. 163.
“our full approbation”: Officers of Philadelphia to Captain William Bainbridge, October 31, 1803, BW, III:169.
“Misfortune necessitates”: Captain William Bainbridge to Secretary of the Navy, November 1, 1803, BW, III:171.
“Some Fanatics”: Captain William Bainbridge to Captain Edward Preble, November 12, 1803, BW III:174.
“We were not Gods”: Captain William Bainbridge to Captain Edward Preble, November 25, 1803, BW III:175.
“These are the mere reveries”: Captain William Bainbridge to Susan Bainbridge, November 1, 1803, BW III:178.
“Not a morsel of food”…and the account that follows: Ray, Horrors of Slavery, in Baepler, ed., White Slaves, African Masters, pp. 192–95.
grounds of “Interest and Humanity”: Captain William Bainbridge to Captain Edward Preble, December 5, 1803, BW III:253.
&n
bsp; “melancholy and distressing Intelligence”: Diary of Captain Edward Preble, November 24, 1803, BW III:175.
“I most sincerely pity”: Captain Edward Preble to Mary Preble, December 12, 1803, quoted in McKee, Edward Preble, 182.
“tremendous seas in the channel”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, December 10, 1803, BW III:256.
“and very excellent Magazines”: Ibid.
“Your men on shore”: Captain Edward Preble to Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr., December 1, 1803, BW III:245.
“distresses me”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, December 10, 1803, BW III:256.
“How glorious”: James Leander Cathcart to Secretary of State, December 15, 1803, BW III:272.
“one of our Finest Frigates”: Presumably from Midshipman Henry Wadsworth, January 10, 1804, BW III:322.
“I feel most sensibly”: Captain Edward Preble to Captain William Bainbridge, December 19, 1803, BW III:280.
“I shall not hazard”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, December 10, 1803, BW III:256.
“the People on board”: Logbook of Sailing Master Nathaniel Haraden, December 23, 1803, BW III:288.
“strong breezes from the north”: Ibid., III:295.
swearing “that one of them”: Diary of Captain Edward Preble, December 24, 1803, BW III:294, 371.
“If a Tripoline”: Captain Edward Preble to Tobias Lear, January 31, 1804, BW III:377.
“if government concludes”: James Leander Cathcart to Secretary of State, December 15, 1803, BW III:272.
Tobias Lear…weighed in: Tobias Lear to Secretary of State, December 24, 1803, BW III:291.
“A pretty good asking price”: Captain Edward Preble to James Leander Cathcart, January 4, 1804, BW III:311.
“how to rank us”: James Leander Cathcart to Captain Edward Preble, November 18, 1803, BW III:228.
“after they bowed”: Richard O’Brien to Captain Edward Preble, December 21, 1803, BW III:283–85.
“Nature has strongly”: Captain William Bainbridge to Tobias Lear, January 14, 1804, BW III:329.
“fire on the Town”: Richard O’Brien to Captain Edward Preble, December 21, 1803, BW III:283–85.
“I shall hazard much”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, December 10, 1803, BW III:256.
“could be easily effected”: Captain William Bainbridge to Captain Edward Preble, February 15, 1804, BW III:408.
“In Decatur I was struck”: MacKenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, p. 47.
“I was well informed”: Captain Edward Preble to the Secretary of the Navy, February 19, 1804, BW III:438–41.
“our frigates and schooners”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, February 3, 1804, BW III:384.
“Board the Frigate”: Captain Edward Preble to Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, January 31, 1804, BW III:376.
“were pleased to express”: Journal of Midshipman F. Cornelius DeKrafft, Siren, February 3, 1804, BW III:388.
every man on board: Affidavit of Midshipman Edmund P. Kennedy, BW III:420–21.
“dark & hazy”: DeKrafft, Journal, Siren, February 8, 1804, BW III:399.
“if we attempted to go”: Midshipman Ralph Izard to Mrs. Ralph Izard, Sr., February 20, 1804, BW III:416–17.
and “much injured”: Lieutenant Charles Stewart to Captain Edward Preble, February 19, 1804, BW III:415–16.
“an accidental supply”: Affidavit of Surgeon’s Mate Lewis Heermann, Given April 26, 1828, BW III:417–20.
“The effect was truly electric”: Lewis Heermann quoted in McKee, Edward Preble: A Naval Biography, p. 197.
“whooping and screaming”: Affidavit of Surgeon’s Mate Lewis Heermann, BW III:417–20.
“enveloped in a dense cloud”: Ibid.
“in volumes, as large”: Lewis Heermann quoted in McKee, Edward Preble: A Naval Biography, p. 197.
The enemy cannonade: Lieutenant Stephen Decatur to Captain Edward Preble, February 17, 1804, BW III:414–15.
“presented a column of fire”: Lewis Heermann quoted in McKee, Edward Preble: A Naval Biography, p. 197.
By six the next morning: Lieutenant Charles Stewart to Captain Edward Preble, February 19, 1804, BW III:415–16.
“the most hideous yelling”: Cowdery, American Captives in Tripoli, in Baepler, ed., White Slaves, African Masters, p. 168.
“an additional portion of labor”: Thomas Appleton, U.S. Consul, Leghorn, to Robert R. Livingston, U.S. Minister to Paris, March 16, 1804, BW, III:494.
“prevent the Commodore’s acting”: Captain William Bainbridge to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tripoli, February 20, 1804, BW III:445.
“very dark and smoky”: Cowdery in Baepler, ed., White Slaves, African Masters, p. 168.
“noxious reptiles”: Surgeon John Ridgely to Susan Decatur, November 10, 1826, BW III:425.
“our situation is not”: Captain William Bainbridge to Captain Edward Preble, March 5, 1804, BW III:474.
“Our cruisers should examine”: Captain William Bainbridge to Captain Edward Preble, February 17, 1804, BW III:431.
“How long has it been”: Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bashaw of Tripoli to Captain William Bainbridge, March 5, 1804, BW III:474.
“not merit the appellation”: Captain William Bainbridge to Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bashaw of Tripoli, March 5, 1804, BW III:475.
“in quick succession”: Affidavit of Surgeon’s Mate Lewis Heermann, BW III:417–20 (emphasis added).
“a right to expect”: Captain Edward Preble to Captain William Bainbridge, March 12, 1804, BW III:489.
“but from the kindness”: Captain Edward Preble to the Prime Minister to the Bashaw of Tripoli, March 27, 1804, BW III:535–36.
“I hope before the end”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, February 19, 1804, BW III:438.
“Streets gloomy and ill-built”: Irving quoted in McKee, Edward Preble: A Naval Biography, pp. 227–28.
“full of engravings”: Edward Preble to Mary Preble, December 12, 1803, quoted in ibid., pp. 182–83.
“It is truly melancholy”: Purser John Darby quoted in ibid., pp. 227, 229.
“a breach of the marriage vow”: Darby quoted in ibid., p. 229.
Officers frequented the opera…and the quotes that follow: Ibid., pp. 230–33.
thirty-six naval officers killed: See Stevens, Pistols at Ten Paces. The figure of eighteen deaths before 1815 is cited in McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession, p. 403.
the “Clonmel Code,” a set: See “Code Duello: The Rules of Dueling,” reprinted from American Duels and Hostile Encounters (New York: Chilton Books, 1963).
“the most barbarous”: TJ to T. M. Randolph, June 23, 1806, quoted in Malone, Jefferson the President: First Term, p. 427.
“strongly opposed to the practice”: Freeman, Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic, p. 159.
“one of those imperious cases”: Captain Arthur Sinclair quoted in McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession, p. 405.
Among the eighteen dueling fatalities: Ibid., p. 113.
“They are young men”: Captain Samuel Barron quoted in ibid.
“I can’t omit”: James Barron to Samuel Barron, January 28, 1803, quoted in ibid., p. 403.
“I at present am unable”: Quoted in ibid., p. 404.
“proved the famous duellist” and the paragraph that follows: Captain Daniel Carmick, U.S. Marine Corps, to Lieutenant Colonel Commandant William W. Burrows, October 15, 1802, BW II:293.
“The envy & jealousy”: Midshipman Henry Wadsworth to Nancy Doane, March 17, 1804, BW III:495.
“have given every assurance”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, January 17, 1804, BW III:339.
Midshipman Melancthon Woolsey recalled: Melancthon Woolsey Journal, quoted in McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession, p. 128.
“Those Yankees”: MacKenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, p. 56.
The stranger proved to be: In Mac
Kenzie’s 1846 biography of Decatur, Bainbridge’s antagonist was erroneously identified as a “Mr. Cochran,” private secretary to Governor Ball. The trouble may have started with Midshipman Wadsworth’s identification of the man as “Mr. Cochran,” though Wadsworth said only that he was “an Englishmen residing at Valletta.” Donald Sultana, with the help of Maltese records, corrected the error in 1993—Sultana, “Samuel Taylor Coleridge, An American Naval Hero and a Mysterious Duellist in Malta,” Melita Historica New Series 11 (1993).
Bainbridge chose Stephen Decatur: MacKenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, p. 58; and the eyewitness account of a Maltese sergeant named Salvatore Piott, cited in Sultana, “Samuel Taylor Coleridge, An American Naval Hero and a Mysterious Duellist in Malta.”
“this morning a duel”: Journal of Midshipman Henry Wadsworth, February 14, 1803, BW II:362.
“[T]his accident renders”: President Thomas Jefferson’s message to Congress, March 20, 1804, BW III:506.
“I have never been so mortified”: TJ to Robert Smith, April 27, 1804, TJP.
“thwarting the negotiations”: JM to Thomas Fitzsimons, April 13, 1804, BW IV:23.
It required: “An Act Further to protect the commerce and seamen of the United States against the Barbary Powers,” BW III:522.
A storeship, the John Adams: Secretary Smith to Lieutenant John Cassin, April 19, 1804, BW IV:39–40.
“all that a sound mind”: Secretary Smith to Samuel Barron, June 6, 1804, BW IV:152–54.
“the Frigates President and Congress”: Secretary of the Navy to Lieutenant John Cassin, March 21, 1804, BW III:509.
“a most awful sight”: William Couper, April 29, 1804, quoted in Wertenbaker, Norfolk: Historic Southern Port, p. 128.
“in the place of that Number”: Captain John Rodgers to Secretary Smith, June 8, 1804, BW IV:164.
missing “many Articles”: Captain John Rodgers to Benjamin King, June 15, 1804, BW IV:193.
“can be made ready”: Captain John Rodgers to Secretary Smith, June 8, 1804, BW IV:164.
“drummed on shore”: McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession, p. 256.
a “solid Peace”: Captain Edward Preble to Robert Livingston, March 18, 1804, BW III:498–99.
“If it was not for the situation”: Captain Edward Preble to Secretary of the Navy, February 3, 1804, BW III:384.