Eight U.S. Marines, 38 Greek Mercenaries, With a Ragtag Force of 400 Fight Barbary Pirates
Battle of Derna, 27 April 1805 Selected Naval Documents With the unsatisfactory result of the bombardments of Tripoli in 1804 the Tripolitan War had languished in a stalemate. In early 1805 the US Navy Agent for the Barbary Regencies, William Eaton, resolved to combine diplomacy with a land campaign to bring stronger pressure on the …