Word: derna
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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Eaton's Expedition Sirs: ". . . Captain William Eaton. Under his leadership and the Stars & Stripes, the capture of Derna was made by 10 U. S. Marines, 38 Greeks and 400 Arab mercenaries" (TIME March...
This writer is at present at work on an original motion picture story, "First to Fight," based in part on the U. S. war with Tripoli and the capture of Derna, and covering the period up to and including the participation of Marines, "picked men, to lead the storming of Chapultepec under Major Twiggs and Captain McDonald Reynolds," at Mexico City in 1847; i.e., "From the Halls of Montexuma to the Shores of Tripoli...
TIME was right in that he was commander-in-chief of the forces which captured Derna. In addition, these forces consisted of a Colonel Leitensdorfer, a Tyrolese colonel of engineers, a medical officer (probably Mendrici), Lieut. O'Bannon, U. S. Marines, Midshipman Pascal Peck, U. S. Navy, a Marine non-commissioned officer, six Marine privates, 25 cannoneers (including three officers), 38 Greeks (including two officers), Hamet, a friendly Arab, and 90 men, an Arabian cavalry detachment under Sheik El Tahik and about 200 footmen and camel drivers, 107 camels and a few asses...
...made U. S. consul at Tunis. In 1804 he became "Navy Agent to the Barbary States" and as such led his heterogeneous force from Alexandria, Egypt, through the Libyan Desert and attacked Derna from the landward side while U. S. gunboats under Commodore Samuel Barron bombarded the town from the sea. Hot of temper and loose of tongue...
...President Thomas Jefferson 132 years ago decided to uphold the doctrine of "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute!" with reference to the Barbary Pirates, one of whose chief bases was Derna. These pirates made but a modest living out of Mediterranean shipping. The British & Continentals considered it cheaper to pay moderate tribute than to go to the expense of routing such reasonable pirates. Not so President Jefferson. While the importance of landing the U. S. Marines in 1805 at Derna should not be overemphasized, it was a bold stroke and gave Europe a foretaste of the kind...