Battle of Derne - Background

Background

In 1804, the former Consul to Tunis, William Eaton, returned to the Mediterranean with the title of Naval Agent to the Barbary States. Eaton had been granted permission from the United States government to back the claim of Hamet Karamanli. Hamet Karamanli was the rightful heir to the throne of Tripoli and had been deposed by his brother Yussif Karamanli. Upon his return to the area, Eaton sought out Hamet Karamanli who was in exile in Egypt. Upon locating him, Eaton made a proposal to reinstate him on the throne. The exile agreed to Eaton's plan.

Commodore Samuel Barron, the new naval commander in the Mediterranean, provided Eaton with naval support from the USS Nautilus, the USS Hornet and the USS Argus. The three vessels were to provide offshore bombardment support. The Nautilus was commanded by Oliver Hazard Perry, the Hornet was commanded by Samuel Evans, and the Argus was commanded by Isaac Hull.

A detachment of U.S. Marines was given to Eaton under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon. Eaton and Hull made their base of operations at Alexandria, Egypt. There, with the help of Hamet Karamanli, they recruited about 500 Arab and Greek mercenaries. Eaton named himself general and commander-in-chief of the combined force.

General Eaton now led his army on a 500 miles (800 km) trek across the Libyan desert. Their objective was the port city of Derne, the capital of the province of Cyrenaica. Supplies and money were promised to the largely mercenary force when they reached the city. During the 50-day trek Eaton became concerned with the relationship between the Christians and the roughly 200 or 300 Muslim mercenaries in his force. On several occasions mutiny threatened the success of the expedition. The force finally reached the port city of Bomba in late April, up the coast from Derne, where the Argus, the Nautilus and the Hornet along with Captain Hull were waiting. There Eaton and his force received supplies and money to pay the mercenaries.