Qualla: Battle of Derna (1805) https://qualla.com/battle-of-derna-1805 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:30 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/t/b/4/battle-of-derna-1805-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Derna (1805) https://qualla.com/battle-of-derna-1805 Battle of Derna (1805): Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-derna-1805/ Photo credit Daderot, Public domain. "My head or yours." That was the reply from the governor of Derna when offered peace terms in April 1805. The man who received that message, William Eaton -- a brash American diplomat who had appointed himself general of a ragtag army -- was standing outside the walls of a city defended by 800 soldiers, having just marched 500 miles across the Libyan Desert with seven United States Marines, a deposed prince, and roughly 400 Arab and Greek mercenaries who had tried to mutiny at least four times along the way. He attacked anyway.

Read more: Battle of Derna (1805) on Qualla

Image: Daderot | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/t/b/4/battle-of-derna-1805-wp/stb4-battle-of-derna-1805-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Derna (1805): A Scheme Born of Piracy https://qualla.com/battle-of-derna-1805/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The First Barbary War began because the young United States refused to keep paying tribute to North African states that seized American merchant ships and enslaved their crews. By 1804, the situation had reached a humiliating low: the frigate USS Philadelphia sat captured in Trip...

Read more: Battle of Derna (1805) on Qualla

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/t/b/4/battle-of-derna-1805-wp/stb4-battle-of-derna-1805-a-scheme-born-of-piracy.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Derna (1805): Fifty Days Across the Desert https://qualla.com/battle-of-derna-1805/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. On 8 March 1805, Eaton led his motley force westward from Alexandria into the Libyan Desert. The objective was Derna, capital of the Ottoman province of Cyrenaica, 500 miles away across waterless wasteland. The army he had assembled was a volatile mixture: Christian Greek mercena...

Read more: Battle of Derna (1805) on Qualla

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/t/b/4/battle-of-derna-1805-wp/stb4-battle-of-derna-1805-fifty-days-across-the-desert.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Derna (1805): The Assault on Derna https://qualla.com/battle-of-derna-1805/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. In late April, the force reached the port of Bomba, where the warships Argus, Nautilus, and Hornet waited with fresh supplies and pay for the mercenaries. On 26 April, they arrived before Derna and found 800 defenders behind its walls with a Tripolitan army nearby. Eaton offered ...

Read more: Battle of Derna (1805) on Qualla

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/t/b/4/battle-of-derna-1805-wp/stb4-battle-of-derna-1805-the-assault-on-derna.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Derna (1805): Holding and Losing https://qualla.com/battle-of-derna-1805/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Victory brought new dangers. On 8 May, 1,200 Tripolitan reinforcements arrived under Hassan Bey. On 13 May, they drove through Hamet's outposts and pushed into the city as far as the palace before a shot from one of the warships killed two attackers and broke the assault. A large...

Read more: Battle of Derna (1805) on Qualla

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/t/b/4/battle-of-derna-1805-wp/stb4-battle-of-derna-1805-holding-and-losing.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Derna (1805): To the Shores of Tripoli https://qualla.com/battle-of-derna-1805/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The Battle of Derna was the first American land battle on foreign soil after the Revolutionary War and the nation's first foreign military intervention. The peace treaty, signed between Yusuf Karamanli and Tobias Lear, traded Derna's hard-won gains for the release of the Philadel...

Read more: Battle of Derna (1805) on Qualla

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/t/b/4/battle-of-derna-1805-wp/stb4-battle-of-derna-1805-to-the-shores-of-tripoli.mp3 0:06 6 full