Combat
Second Barbary War
The short, decisive campaign that ended American tribute to the Barbary states.
With the War of 1812 over, Congress authorized force against Algiers on 3 March 1815, and Commodore Stephen Decatur sailed for the Mediterranean with a powerful squadron carrying roughly 215 Marines under Major John Hall aboard the flagship Guerriere. The combat phase lasted only two days: on 17 June the squadron captured the Algerian flagship Mashuda, killing the famed corsair admiral Reis Hammida, and on 19 June took the brig Estedio. Decatur then sailed into Algiers and dictated terms at the cannon's mouth, followed by treaties with Tunis and Tripoli over the summer. The war ended decades of humiliating tribute payments, freed American captives, and established the United States as a naval power to be respected in the Mediterranean. It also led to the founding of the permanent American Mediterranean Squadron.
Engagements in this conflict (4) Podcast episodes on Second Barbary War
Record no. 256