Notes on the Movements of the Mediterranean Squadron, on or before 16 June 1803
Notes on the Movements of
the Mediterranean Squadron
[on or before 16 June 1803]
1802,
| Nov. | 3. | sailed from Leghorn. took under convoy vessel bd. to Palermo | ||
| 11. | entered Palermo. | |||
| 15. | sailed for Malta. | |||
| 20. | arrived there. had to repair Bowsprit. | |||
| Dec. | 7. | bowsprit got in. but crew sickly with Influenza. | ||
| 25. | left Malta. | |||
| 26. | went into Syracuse to see if provns cheapr than Malta. dearer. | |||
| 1803. Jan. 1. | sailed for Malta. | |||
| 4. | arrived there. | found there the J. Adams & New York. | ||
| the John Adams leaky. repaired by 25th. & all the provns brot by Rogers from Gibr. distribd eqly amg ships1 sent Enterprize to take Imperial vessel with Tripoline cargo. | ||||
| on the 29th. sent the Enterprize to Tunis. | ||||
| 30. | sailed for coast of Tripoli, to offer peace, or burn cruizers in the bay | |||
| eleven days heavy gale. Chesapeake labored. provns short. | ||||
| Feb. | 10. | got into2 Malta, with the John Adams. | ||
| on the 11th. the New York came in also. | ||||
| 19. | sailed for Tunis. | |||
| 22. | arrived there. | if Murray hd. brot provns, cd have destroyed the cruizers of Tripoli. bt wd nt hve attemptd. it till Equinox. | ||
| Cathcart’s proposals to Tripoli were rejected. | ||||
| probability of the Bashaw’s bror making succesful attempt3 | ||||
| Mar. | 19. | arrived at Algiers | ||
| arrived at Gibraltar. | ||||
| 30. | writes to Secy. of navy. the John Adams & Adams shall convoy. | |||
| the New York shall proceed direct (whither?) if no Amer. vessel wants convoy | ||||
| the Enterprize shall be employed to best advge (how?) | ||||
| Apr. | 6. | writes a 2d lre by Chesapeak. | ||
MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 131:22651); undated; entirely in TJ’s hand.
TJ’s notes summarize Commodore Richard V. Morris’s 30 Mch. 1803 dispatch from the Mediterranean to the secretary of the navy. A report by Morris of 6 Apr. has not been found. The dispatches were carried to the United States by the frigate Chesapeake, under the command of James Barron. Departing Gibraltar on 6 Apr., the Chesapeake arrived at Norfolk around 18 May and was at the Washington Navy Yard by 3 June (Georgetown, D.C., Olio, 19 May 1803; Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser, 26 May 1803; National Intelligencer, 3 June 1803; Christopher McKee, Edward Preble: A Naval Biography, 1761–1807 [Annapolis, 1972], 112–14).
1. Remainder of entry interlined.
2. TJ here canceled “Tunis.”
3. TJ here canceled “while at Malta, sent Enterprise who took Imperl bott. wth Tripoline [gds].”