From Thomas Jefferson to the Senate and the House of Representatives, 5 December 1803
To the Senate and the House of Representatives
To the Senate and
House of Representatives of the US.
I have the satisfaction to inform you that the act of hostility, mentioned in my message of the 4th. of November to have been committed by a cruiser of the Emperor of Marocco on a vessel of the United States, has been disavowed by the Emperor. all differences in consequence thereof have been amicably adjusted, and the treaty of 1786. between this country and that has been recognised and confirmed by the emperor, each party restoring to the other what had been detained or taken. I inclose the emperor’s orders given on this occasion.
The conduct of our officers generally, who have had a part in these transactions, has merited entire approbation. the temperate & correct course pursued by our Consul, mr Simpson, the promptitude & energy of Commodore Preble, the efficacious cooperation of Captains Rodgers and Campbell of the returning squadron, the proper decision of Capt. Bainbridge that a vessel which had committed an open hostility was of right to be detained for enquiry and consideration, & the general zeal of the other officers & men, are honourable facts, which I make known with pleasure. And to these I add, what was indeed transacted in another quarter, the gallant enterprize of Capt. Rodgers in destroying, on the coast of Tripoli, a Corvette of that power of 22. guns.
I recommend to the consideration of Congress a just indemnification for the interests of the Captors1 of the Mishouda & Mirboha, yielded by them for the public accomodation.
Th: Jefferson
Dec. 5. 1803.
RC (DNA: RG 233, PM, 8th Cong., 1st sess.); endorsed by a House clerk. PrC (DLC). RC (DNA: RG 46, LPPM, 8th Cong., 1st sess.); endorsed by a Senate clerk. Recorded in SJL with notation “peace with Marocco.” Enclosures: (1) English translation of decree of Mawlay Sulayman, 9 Oct. 1803, proclaiming peace between Morocco and the United States; see Mawlay Sulayman, Sultan of Morocco, to TJ, 11 Oct. (Tr in DNA: RG 46, LPPM, in a clerk’s hand; PrC in DNA: RG 233, PM). (2) Mawlay Sulayman, order to the governor and all officers at Mogador, 11 Oct., informing them of the restoration of peace and warning them to “Take care—Take care that none of you do any thing against” American vessels or merchants, “for they are as they were in friendship and in Peace”; attested by James Simpson at Tangier, 17 Oct., as translated from Arabic into Spanish by Manuel de Baccas, and from Spanish into English by Simpson (Tr in DNA: RG 46, LPPM, in a clerk’s hand; PrC in DNA: RG 233, PM).
act of hostility: the capture of the American brig Celia by the Moroccan cruiser Mirboka. The cruiser was subsequently captured, and the brig liberated, by William Bainbridge and the frigate Philadelphia (Vol. 41:490, 491n, 672-3).
each party restoring to the other: as part of the reaffirmation of peace, Sulayman ordered the release of the American brig Hannah with its cargo and crew, which had been detained at Mogador since early September 1803. In return, the United States gave up possession of the Moroccan cruisers Mirboka and Meshouda (, 3:21, 63, 117, 140; Vol. 41:282-3, 508-10).
temperate & correct course: in framing this passage, TJ drew on the suggestions sent by Robert Smith on 4 Dec.
returning squadron: in October, Commodore Edward Preble ordered home the frigates New York and John Adams from the Mediterranean. The vessels arrived at Washington on 2 and 3 Dec., respectively (National Intelligencer, 5 Dec. 1803; , 3:154, 160).
gallant enterprize of capt. rodgers: see Smith to TJ, [4 Dec.].
a just indemnification: after Lewis Harvie delivered TJ’s message on 5 Dec., the Senate took no action, but the House of Representatives referred it to a special committee, which offered a pair of resolutions that were approved by the full House on 22 Dec. The first declared further hostilities against Morocco to be inexpedient, unless made necessary “by future aggressions.” The second recommended that the captors of the Moroccan cruisers be indemnified for the prize money to which they were entitled. An act passed later in the session awarded $8,594.50 in prize money and $738.25 in expenses to the captors of the Meshouda, and $5,000 in prize money to the captors of the Mirboka (, 3:320; , 4:467, 490, 497; , 6:54).
1. RC in RG 46: “interests acquired by the Captors.”