Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates
2015 · book
From the authors of the New York Timesbestseller George Washington's Secret Six, the little-known story of Thomas Jefferson's battle to defend America against Islamic pirates. Brian Kilmeade - cohost of "Fox & Friends" on Fox News and the national radio show "Kilmeade & Friends" - returns with another fascinating historical narrative, co-written with Don Yaeger. Like their acclaimed bestseller George Washington's Secret Six, Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Piratessheds new light on a vitally important episode that has been forgotten by most Americans. Only weeks after President Jefferson's inauguration in 1801, he decided to confront the Tripoli pirates who had been kidnapping American ships and sailors, among other outrageous acts. Though inclined toward diplomacy, Jefferson sent warships to blockade Tripoli and protect American shipping, and then escalated to all-out war against the Barbary states. The tiny American flotilla--with three frigates representing half of the U.S. Navy's top-of-the-line ships--had some success in blockading the Barbary coast. But that success came to an end when the USS Philadelphiaran aground in Tripoli harbor and was captured. Kilmeade and Yaeger recount the dramatic story of a young American sailor, Stephen Decatur, who snuck into the harbor, boarded the Philadelphia,and set her on fire before escaping amid a torrent of enemy gunfire. Another amazing story is that of William Eaton's daring attack on the port city of Derna. He led a detachment