ility, but from exigencies of the
service, which forbade the Government sending out an officer junior to
him in the relief squadron which reinforced his own. Upon his return
to the United States he was presented with a gold medal, and the
thanks of Congress were tendered him, his officers, and men, for
gallant and faithful services.

The blockade was maintained vigorously, and in 1805 an attack was made
upon the Tripolitan town of Derna, by a combined land and naval force;
the former being under command of Consul-General Eaton, who had been a
captain in the American army, and of Lieutenant O'Bannon of the
Marines. The enemy made a spirited though disorganized defence, but
the shells of the war-ships drove them from point to point, and
finally their principal work was carried by the force under O'Bannon
and Midshipman Mann. Eaton was eager to press forward, but he was
denied reinforcements and military stores, and much of his advantage
was lost. All further operations were, however, discontinued in June,
1805, when, after the usual intrigues, delays, and prevarications, a
treaty was signed by the Pasha, which provided that no further tribute
should be exacted, and that American vessels should be for ever free
of his rovers. Satisfactory as was this conclusion, the uncomfortable
fact remains that tribute entered into the settlement. After all the
prisoners had been exchanged man for man, the Tripolitan Government
demanded, and the United States paid, the handsome sum of sixty
thousand dollars to close the contract.

This treaty, however, awakened the conscience of Europe, and from the
day it was signed the power of the Barbary Corsairs began to wane. The
older countries saw their duty more clearly, and ceased to legalize
robbery on the high seas. To America the success gave an immediate
position which could not easily have been gained in any other way,
and, apart from its moral results, the contest with Tripoli was the
most potent factor in consolidating the navy of the United States.

XXI.

THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS.

1816.

Nelson was in the Mediterranean at the beginning of the nineteenth
century, as every one knows, but the suppression of the Barbary
Corsairs formed no part of his instructions. Twice, indeed, he sent a
ship of war to inquire into the complaints of the consuls, but without
effect; and then on the glorious Twenty-First of October, 1805, the
great admiral fell in the supreme hour of victory.