Portuguesa
35-576: Second Barbary War Hamidou ben Ali , known as Raïs Hamidou ( Arabic : الرايس حميدو ), or Amidon in American literature, born around 1770, and died on June 17, 1815, near Cape Gata off the coast of southern Spain , was an Algerian corsair . He captured up to 200 ships during his career. Hamidou ensured the prosperity of the Deylik of Algiers , and gave it its last glory before the French invasion . His biography
70-548: A 10-ship squadron led by Commodore Stephen Decatur —a veteran of the First Barbary War—sailed from New York for Algiers; an even larger force, led by Commodore William Bainbridge , another Barbary War veteran, was close behind. Following a decisive U.S. victory off the coast of Cape Gata in June 1815, and by threat of seizing Algiers itself, Commodore Decatur successfully pressed Dey Omar Agha of Algeria to sue for peace;
105-565: A Portuguese warship of 44 guns. Aware of the military superiority of the Portuguese frigate, he hoisted an English flag. The Portuguese let themselves be approached by the Algerians, and realized far too late that they were facing pirates. The Algerians boarded and devastated the ship. 282 Portuguese were taken prisoner. The corsairs captured the ship. The frigate became part of the Algerian fleet under
140-424: A peace treaty with the Algerians in 1810, paying heavy compensation. In 1811, a war broke out between the deylik of Algiers and the beylik of Tunis . On 10 October 1811, Hamidou captured an English ship containing Tunisian goods. On May 22, with a fleet of six warships and four gunboats, he captured a Tunisian frigate, which he brought back to Algiers after a tough fight against a fleet of twelve Tunisian warships in
175-507: Is relatively well known because the French archivist Albert Devoulx found documents that told of this charismatic character. He was the son of a man named Ali. According to some sources, his father was an artisan tailor in Algiers . According to documents discovered by the archivist Albert Devoulx , Hamidou "belonged to a class of Arabs settled in the cities for a more or less long time, which
210-588: The Action of 22 May 1811 . Following this naval battle, Hamidou received an ovation after the dey complimented him in open court. Hamidou recorded a number of other successes between 1812 and 1815. He took part in attacks against ships from Greece , Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Sweden, Holland , Denmark, and Spain. According to some sources, during his career, he seized a total of more than 200 sailboats. He died in 1815 after being ambushed by an American fleet during
245-601: The French conquest of Algeria in 1830 fully ended any vestige of piracy in the region. The First Barbary War (1801–1805) had led to an uneasy truce between the US and the Barbary states, but American attention turned to Britain and the War of 1812 . The Barbary pirates returned to their practice of attacking American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea and ransoming their crews to
280-769: The US-Algerian war . Second Barbary War The Second Barbary War, also known as the U.S.–Algerian War and the Algerine War, was a brief military conflict between the United States and the North African state of Algiers in 1815. Piracy had been rampant along the North African "Barbary" coast of the Mediterranean Sea since the 16th century. Algerian pirates and privateers intermittently preyed on American ships, with Algiers extracting annual tribute from
315-481: The Dey's corsairs and shore batteries, forcing him to accept a peace offer of the same terms that he had rejected the day before. Pellew warned that if the terms were not accepted, he would continue the action. The Dey accepted the terms, but Pellew had been bluffing since his fleet had already spent all its ammunition. A treaty was signed on 24 September 1816. The British Consul and 1,083 other Christian slaves were freed, and
350-575: The Dey. Algeria also paid $ 10,000 for seized shipping. The treaty guaranteed no further tributes by the United States and granted the United States full shipping rights in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite having successfully negotiated for their freedom, all 10 US captives perished when the ship returning them to the US, Epervier , sank in the Atlantic ocean on 9 August 1815. Although the conflict
385-505: The Europeans called Moors ". Despite this, after the battle off Cape Gata , his captured officers and crew said that he was Kabyle during an interview with their American captors. He is also described as a “native Algerian” by European sources. At age 10 he started working aboard a pirate ship commanded by Raïs Memmou as a cabin boy . There he learned many different things, and he gained much experience from it. There are no documents on
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#1732845664455420-494: The U.S. since 1795 ; the First Barbary War in the early 19th century, fought primarily against Algiers' neighbors, failed to fully stem the problem. In February 1815, after the end of the War of 1812 , U.S. President James Madison requested that Congress declare war against Algiers; legislation was passed on 3 March 1815 authorizing the use of the U.S. Navy to protect American interests and seize Algerian assets. In May,
455-559: The U.S. ransom money repaid. Yatagan The yatagan , yataghan , or ataghan (from Turkish yatağan ), also called varsak , is a type of Ottoman knife or short sabre used from the mid-16th to late 19th century. The yatagan was extensively used in Ottoman Turkey and in areas under immediate Ottoman influence, such as the Balkans, Caucasus, and North Africa. Although weapons with features similar to yatagan were in use from
490-726: The United States government. At the same time, the major European powers were still involved in the Napoleonic Wars , which did not fully end until 1815. At the conclusion of the War of 1812, however, the United States returned to the problem of Barbary piracy. On 3 March 1815, Congress authorized deployment of naval power against Algiers, and the squadron under the command of Commodore Stephen Decatur set sail on 20 May. It consisted of USS Guerriere (flagship), Constellation , Macedonia , Epervier , Ontario , Firefly , Spark , Flambeau , Torch , and Spitfire . Following
525-576: The War of 1812, Algiers sided with the British (although the British Atlantic blockade had limited US trade in the Mediterranean region). President Madison recommended that Congress declare the "existence of a state of war between the United States and the Dey and Regency of Algiers." While Congress did not formally declare a state of war, they did pass legislation, enacted on 3 March 1815, that authorized
560-528: The activity of Raïs Hamidou during his early years as a pirate captain in Algiers, but we can assume that he was under the tutelage of an older privateer, and that he was doing his apprenticeship. After passing the exam set by the taifa des raïs [ fr ] (a council of pirate captains of Algiers), he was allowed to become a raïs himself. His first success came shortly after his appointment, when he successfully guided his ship from seemingly certain defeat at
595-406: The ancient times, its relation to them and its place of origin remains unknown. R. Elgood suggests that the yatagan is not a weapon native to Central Asia or Persia and it was adopted by Ottomans through their conquests, probably in the Balkans. The yatagan consists of a single-edged blade with a marked forward curve and a hilt formed of two grip plaques attached through the tang , the end of
630-533: The anger of the dey and soon, he had a frigate built by the Spanish Maestro Antonio, a renegade carpenter in Algiers. In 1797 a corvette of the dey of Algiers returned to the port without displaying the Algerian flag or saluting the mosque of Sidi Abderrahman , patron of the city of Algiers. This symbolic act meant the loss of its captain either in battle, or desertion. In fact the latter, having many misdeeds and serious navigation errors to be forgiven,
665-451: The captain had preferred to desert, and took refuge in Morocco . The dey, wishing to reward Hamidou for his recent successes, appointed him to the command of the vessel. Hamidou is mentioned regularly in the register of catches, especially involving Genoese , Venetian , Neapolitan and Greek vessels. On March 8, 1802, after a few days of cruising, Hamidou, commanding a xebec of 40 guns, met
700-591: The command of a division of four ships, a 44-gun frigate he commanded himself, a 44-gun frigate commanded by Raïs Ali Gharnaout, The Portuguese , the aforementioned 44-gun frigate commanded by the Raïs Ahmad Zmirli, and a brig of 20 guns, commanded by Raïs Mustapha, a Maltese renegade. The dey authorized him to cross into the Atlantic Ocean, which Raïs Hamidou did under the cover of night . The Algerian squadron captured three Portuguese ships. The Portuguese signed
735-573: The grips to the shoulder of the blade. The grip plaques are typically made from bone, ivory, horn, or silver, and spread out in two "wings" or "ears" to either side at the pommel (a feature which prevents the hilt slipping out of the hand when used for cutting). Regional variations in the hilts have been noted: Balkan yatagans tend to have larger ears, often made of bone or ivory, whilst Anatolian yatagans characteristically have smaller ears, more often made of horn or silver, while Ionian-coast Zeibeks carried T-Hilt Yataghans. Sophisticated artwork on both
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#1732845664455770-509: The hands of a much larger Spanish foe. After Oran was recaptured in 1792, the then- bey of Oran Mohammed el Kebir appointed Hamidou as chief of the Oranese navy, both a defense and a privateer fleet. At the time the navy of Oran consisted of three xebecs , and several feluccas . Dey Sidi Hassan also granted him another three-masted xebec. In 1795 or 1796, after returning from a raid in Italy he
805-447: The hilt and the blade can be seen on many yatagans displayed today, indicating considerable symbolic value. Having no guard, the yatagan fitted closely into the top of the scabbard; this was customarily worn thrust into a waist sash, retained by a hook. The blade may have the Seal of Solomon motif pressed into the blade. Other popular imprints include the maker's signature symbol or a text from
840-470: The hilt being shaped like large ears. The gap between the grips is covered by a metal strap, which is often decorated. The yatagans (also called varsaks , named after the Varsak Turkomans ) used by janissaries and other infantry soldiers were smaller and lighter than ordinary swords so as not to hinder them when carried at the waist on the march. The hilt has no guard ; "bolsters" of metal connect
875-656: The name of Al-Burtughāliyya ('The Portuguese'). Hamidou was given an honorary yatagan , and was received in solemn audience. The Portuguese frigate was not the only one that the Algerians or Hamidou captured. On 28 May the same year, Hamidou captured another Portuguese war frigate of 36 guns. These successes earned the Rais the title of the admiral of the Algerian fleet, and his own villa in El Biar from Hussein Khodja who later became Dey. For nearly two years, Hamidou's name ceased to appear on
910-465: The negotiations were stormy. The leader of the diplomatic mission, Admiral Edward Pellew , believed that he had negotiated a treaty to stop the slavery of Christians and returned to England. However, just after the treaty was signed, Algerian troops massacred 200 Corsican , Sicilian and Sardinian fishermen who had been under British protection thanks to the negotiations. This caused outrage in Britain and
945-452: The president to use the U.S. Navy, "as judged requisite by the President" to protect the "commerce and seamen" of the United States on the "Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and adjoining seas." Congress also authorized the president to grant the U.S. Navy the ability to seize all vessels and goods belonging to Algiers. The legislation also authorized the president to commission privateers for
980-526: The prize register because of internal problems and rivalry with the Odjak , and the jealousy of the new dey. In 1808, one of the first acts of the new dey, Ali III ar-Rasul , was to exile Hamidou, whose popularity he saw as a threat. Hamidou was sent into exile in Beirut , but Hadj Ali Dey , who came to power in 1809, invited him back and reappointed him to all of his previous positions. Back in Algiers, he received
1015-460: The rest of Europe, and Pellew's negotiations were seen as a failure. As a result, Pellew was ordered to sea again to complete the job and punish the Algerians. He gathered a squadron of five ships of the line, reinforced by a number of frigates, later reinforced by a flotilla of six Dutch ships. On 27 August 1816, following a round of failed negotiations, the fleet delivered a punishing nine-hour bombardment of Algiers . The attack immobilized many of
1050-435: The resulting agreement was formalized in a treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate on 5 December 1815. However, Agha later repudiated the treaty, as well as similar agreements with several European nations, until a combined English and Dutch force bombarded Algiers in 1816 ; the subsequent arrival of a U.S. squadron carrying U.S. commissioner William Shaler led to a new but substantially similar treaty on 23 December 1816, which
1085-465: The same purpose. On 20 May 1815, a 10-ship squadron left New York (to be followed by a larger fleet under command of William Bainbridge ). Shortly after departing Gibraltar en route to Algiers, Decatur's squadron encountered the Algerian flagship Meshouda and captured it in the Battle off Cape Gata . They also managed to capture the Algerian brig Estedio in the Battle off Cape Palos . On 29 June,
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1120-607: The squadron had reached Algiers and had initiated negotiations with the Bey . The United States made persistent demands for compensation, mingled with threats of destruction, and the Dey capitulated. He signed a treaty aboard the Guerriere in the Bay of Algiers on 3 July 1815, in which Decatur agreed to return the captured Meshuda and Estedio. The Algerians returned all American captives, estimated to be about 10, in exchange for about 500 subjects of
1155-458: Was brief and small-scale, it showed US resolve and was a victory for free trade. In early 1816, Britain undertook a diplomatic mission, backed by a small squadron of ships of the line , to Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers to convince the Deys to stop their piracy and free European Christian slaves. The Deys of Tunis and Tripoli agreed without any resistance, but the Dey of Algiers was less cooperative, and
1190-407: Was caught in a storm and anchored at La Calle , a French outpost in nominally Algerian territory. His anchors broke and his ship was smashed against the rocks of the shore. This event nearly ruined Hamidou's career. The loss of a ship entrusted to a raïs was most often very severely punished. He decided not to make his report, and was caught and brought back by force to Algiers. But he was able to calm
1225-461: Was ratified on 11 February 1822. The Algerian War resulted in the United States and Europe ceasing tribute to Algiers and marked the beginning of the end of piracy in the Mediterranean. It also further elevated U.S. military prestige and power projection capabilities that had been demonstrated in the prior Barbary War. Western nations built ever more sophisticated and expensive ships that the Barbary pirates could not match in numbers or technology, and
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