The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, The First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805

After Tripoli declared war on the United States in 1801, Barbary pirates captured 300 U.S.

sailors and marines.

President Jefferson sent navy squadrons to the Mediterranean, but he also authorized a secret mission to overthrow the government of Tripoli.

He chose an unlikely diplomat, William Eaton, to lead the mission, but before Eaton departed, Jefferson grew wary of the affair and withdrew his support.

Astoundingly, Eaton persevered, gathering a ragtag army, including eight U.S.

Marines, and leading them on a brutal march across 500 miles of desert.