Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror 1801-1805

Military Review, March-April, 2005 by James B. Patrick

JEFFERSON'S WAR: America's First War on Terror 1801-1805, Joseph Whelan, Carroll & Graf, Publishers, New York, 2003, $15.00.

When, and against whom, did the United States fight its first war, and who was president at the time? I suspect many well-educated adults would readily respond, "the War of 1812 when James Madison was president." They would be wrong. In fact, the first war the United States fought occurred in 180l, the first year of Thomas Jefferson's presidency, when the Nation had existed barely 25 years.

A few modern historians have tried to portray Jefferson as sort of a hippie, born 200 years before his time, peace-loving, and impractical. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jefferson was a tough, hardboiled president who did not scruple to use either intrigue or brute force if he felt the national interest required it. But, what was this war in 1801? Who was the enemy? The answer is the same as today--rogue Muslims.

In 1800, the Mediterranean coast of North Africa was occupied by Islamic state--Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Egypt--that were quasi-independent but, formally, part of the Turkish Empire, which was centered in Istanbul (Constantinople). The various beys and pashas who ruled these states paid substantial sums annually to the Sultan. If they did not, they were removed, frequently by strangulation.

None of the regions produced much on their own, so the Muslim potentates readily turned to piracy in the Mediterranean as a source of income, but with a new twist; any nation could buy immunity for its ships. The price was stiff, but it was cheaper than losing the ships outright. The practice was also humane. Usually, captured Christian sailors were either sold into slavery in North Africa or allowed to rot in the pashas' dungeons on a starvation diet. After all, they were infidels, and Allah would not have wanted his faithful servants wasting perfectly good provisions on them.

Every state in Europe with commercial interests in the Mediterranean had knuckled under to the extortion. Even England, which considered itself "mistress of the seas" paid bribes, as did Denmark, France, Holland, the Papal States, Spain, and all the rest. The payments were high. The pashas exacted whatever the traffic would bear, but the European nations, figuring war would be even more costly, paid up. (The World War 11 generation called this "appeasement.")

And then a new nation, the United States of America, came on the scene, so the corsairs snapped up a few American ships, threw a bunch of their sailors into their dungeons, and awaited the customary negotiations to set the amount of the tribute. What happened afterward is the subject of Joseph Wheelan's "Jefferson's War," a splendid and exciting account of the American response that amazed the Europeans, stunned the Muslim gangsters, got the U.S. Navy off to a splendid start, created the U.S. Marine Corps, and put the "Shores of Tripoli" in the Marine hymn. It also created a surprisingly sophisticated system of combined operations.

Every U.S. officer should read this book. Not only is it a well-written thriller, it also provides a fascinating perspective on the Global War on Terrorism--the cowardly Europeans who would rather pay than fight; the almost unbelievably cruel and greedy Muslim authorities; the primitive dependence of Islamic societies on Western technology; and the remarkable adaptability of America's young men to unusual circumstances and unique challenges--all are relevant to our times. This true story has something significant to tell us all.

James B. Patrick, Staunton, Virginia