e with the purpose of sending her into the harbor,
and exploding her in the midst of the Tripolitan shipping. It was an
enterprise likely to be attended by the destruction of all engaged in it,
but volunteers were not lacking. Master-Commandant Richard Somers,
Decatur's bosom friend, was in charge and Midshipman Henry Wadsworth,
uncle of the poet Longfellow, was second in command. Midshipman Joseph
Israel also managed to get on the ketch unobserved, and was permitted to
remain. The crew consisted of ten seamen from the Nautilus and the
Constitution, all volunteers. The fate of these gallant men was never
known, except that it is certain that they all perished upon the
explosion of the Intrepid. Bodies found mangled beyond recognition were
unquestionably the remains of these heroes, and were buried on the beach
outside the town of Tripoli.

The attack was conducted with unceasing vigor, not only on sea, but on
land, the Americans literally carrying the war into Africa by inciting
Hamet, the deposed Bashaw of Tripoli, to attack the brother who had
usurped his throne. William Eaton, the American consul at Tunis, led
Hamet's army, and with the cooperation of the fleet, made a successful
attack upon Derne, the capital of the richest province of Tripoli. The
loss of this important fortress brought the reigning Bashaw to terms, and
he signed a treaty giving up all claims to tribute, and releasing the
American prisoners on payment of sixty thousand dollars. A most
advantageous peace was likewise dictated to the Bey of Tunis, who had
also been induced by English influences to assume a menacing attitude
toward the Americans, and the schemes of Great Britain to prevent,
through the agency of Barbary pirates, the growth of American commerce,
were disappointed.

CHAPTER XXIV.

French Decrees and British Orders in Council--Damage to American
Commerce--The Embargo--Causes of the War of 1812--The Chesapeake and the
Leopard--President and Little Belt--War Declared--Mr. Astor's Messenger
--The Two Navies Compared--American Frigate Victories--Constitution and
Guerriere--United States and Macedonian--Constitution and Java--American
Sloop Victories--The Shannon and Chesapeake--"Don't Give Up the Ship."

The Barbary pirates had been brought to terms, but American commerce was
being severely handled between French decrees and British orders in
council. England had declared a blockade of all the coasts of Europe
under the control