Posted on 08/27/2019 11:22:32 AM PDT by Perseverando
Among the many U.S. Navy and Marine heroes confronting Tripoli's Muslim Barbary pirates was Captain James Lawrence.
In 1804, Captain Lawrence was second-in-command, under Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, of an expedition to destroy the captured 36-gun frigate USS Philadelphia held in Tripoli's harbor.
It had run aground on an uncharted sandbar. Muslim pirates captured it and were preparing to use it for piracy.
James Lawrence also commanded the USS Enterprise which fought battles with the Tripolitan Corsairs along the coast of North Africa.
Victory over the Tripoli's Barbary pirates is memorialized in the Marine Anthem: "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli."
Later, during the War of 1812, Captain James Lawrence commanded the USS Hornet.
He won fame by capturing the British packet brig Resolution, which was carrying $20,000 in gold and silver.
Captain Lawrence and the USS Hornet then captured the British privateer HMS Dolphin, blockaded the British sloop HMS Bonne Citoyenne at Bahia, Brazil, and sank the British HMS Peacock.
President James Madison wrote May 25, 1813:
"The brilliant achievements of our infant Navy, a signal triumph has been gained by Captain Lawrence ... in the Hornet sloop of war ...
The contest in which the United States are engaged appeals ... to the sacred obligation of transmitting...to future generations that ... which is held...by the present from the goodness of Divine Providence."
On June 1, 1813, 31-year-old Captain James Lawrence sailed his 38-gun frigate USS Chesapeake out of Boston's Harbor.
His ship was suddenly attacked by the British ship HMS Shannon.
For over an hour, the 38-gun USS Chesapeake fired away, hitting the Shannon
(Excerpt) Read more at myemail.constantcontact.com ...
What happened to the crew of the Philadelphia?
The first American military tussle with Muslim terrorists ended in victory for the United States. The Tripoli pirates were never again a threat to the world after the US Navy and Marines were finished with them.
Each time I hear CPT Perry’s quotation, I remember another quotation from the “Sage of the Funny Papers”, POGO POSSUM:
“We have met the enemy & he is US.”
Yours, TMN78247
Great they'll be suing to get that back, now.
The ones who were still alive were returned when the treaty was signed in 1805.
Ohhh Ahhh!
Lawrence made a bad decision when he took his untrained crew out to fight SHANNON. Captain Brooke was one of the RN’s gunnery experts.
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