1. For the letter to GW of 5 May 1796 from the dey of Algiers, see Pickering to GW, 12 Aug. 1796, n.4.

GW’s allusion to “peace” refers to the U.S. treaty with Algiers of 5 Sept. 1795. For that treaty, see James Simpson to GW, 24 Sept. 1795, and n.4 to that document.

2. GW’s letter to the dey of 13 June 1796 had expressed disappointment over delays involving the U.S. payment of the tribute that was required by the 1795 treaty. For more on this matter, see GW to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 9 Jan. 1797, and n.1 to that document; and Pickering to GW, 23 Jan. 1797, and n.1 to that document.

Barlow had met with the dey in the spring of 1796 to offer consular presents and the gift of a frigate as means to avoid war and ship captures, which the dey threatened as a result of the delayed payments (see Pickering to GW, 27 July 1796; see also Buel, Barlow description begins Richard Buel, Jr. Joel Barlow: American Citizen in a Revolutionary World. Baltimore, 2011. description ends , 196–214).

3. Capt. James Leander Cathcart, the dey’s former chief Christian secretary, had left Algiers between 8 and 10 May 1796 and arrived in Philadelphia aboard the polacre Independent on 12 Sept. (see Philadelphia Gazette & Universal Daily Advertiser, 13 Sept. 1796; see also Gazette of the United States, & Philadelphia Daily Advertiser, 13 Sept.). Prior to Cathcart’s departure from Algiers, Barlow had written him from that place on 8 May, reporting that the dey planned to dispatch him (Cathcart) to Philadelphia in order “to give such details of facts as may be useful to our Government in expediting the collection and transportation of the peace presents & Annual tribute” (DNA: RG 59, Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Algiers). The dey directed Cathcart to assist in transporting from the United States to Algiers the stores and other presents promised in the 1795 treaty (see Barlow to Pickering, 4 May 1796, in DNA: RG 59, Consular Despatches, Algiers).

4. In a letter of this date to Barlow, Pickering wrote that Cathcart’s “Barque, in which he came from Algiers, is now loaded and ready to sail, with naval Stores for that place.” Pickering anticipated the dispatch the following spring of additional ships loaded with “the stores necessary to fulfil our engagements to the Dey” (DNA: RG 59, Diplomatic and Consular Instructions). Cathcart’s “Barque,” the polacre Independent, left Philadelphia for Algiers on 9 Dec. (see Pickering to GW, 4 Dec., and n.1 to that document; see also Knox, Naval Documents, Barbary Wars description begins Dudley W. Knox., ed. Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers. 6 vols. Washington, D.C., 1939–44. description ends , 1:209).

Pickering again wrote Barlow on 5 Dec. that he was enclosing a “bill of lading of the cargo destined for the Dey. … It is a mixed cargo, consisting partly of the articles stipulated by the agreement of Mr Donaldson at the making of peace, and partly of those required for the annual tribute” (DNA: RG 59, Diplomatic and Consular Instructions).

Difficulties arose with the ship and cargo bound for Algiers. On 18 July 1797, Pickering wrote David Humphreys: “I hope the Polacre Independence with Stores for Algiers has been released, and that she is safely arrived there: her capture and detention, with the Dey’s own passport on board, the passport of the late President Washington … in which also the President certified the vessel to belong to American Citizens, and the cargo wholly to the United States—are very extraordinary” (DNA: RG 59, Diplomatic and Consular Instructions). Moreover, a portion of the cargo of “peace Presents” and “annual Tribute,” which arrived in Algiers in the fall of 1797 aboard the Independent and another vessel, had been damaged or judged to be of inferior quality (Knox, Naval Documents, Barbary Wars description begins Dudley W. Knox., ed. Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers. 6 vols. Washington, D.C., 1939–44. description ends , 1:216).

The cargo, consisting mostly of military stores and supplies, was sent as partial payment of the tribute required under the 1795 treaty with Algiers. Earlier in 1796, Barlow and Humphreys already had secured loans to liberate American prisoners in Algiers. Despite these efforts, as well as the congressional laws passed on 6 May 1796 and 3 March 1797 that appropriated funds to pay the annuity to the dey, the full tribute and presents owed him were not assembled for delivery until late 1797 (see GW to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 9 Jan. 1797, and n.1 to that document; see also 1 Stat. description begins Richard Peters, ed. The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845 . . .. 8 vols. Boston, 1845-67. description ends 460, 505–6; and Lambert, Barbary Wars description begins Frank Lambert. The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World. New York, 2005. description ends , 86–88).

5. For the promised frigate, see GW to the Dey of Algiers, 13 June, and n.4 to that document; see also GW to James McHenry, 13 July 1796. The frigate, named the Crescent, was constructed at Portsmouth, N.H., and was launched in late June 1797. In a letter of 18 July 1797 to Humphreys, Pickering wrote in part: “The frigate building at Portsmouth for the Dey was launched the last of June; and is pronounced an excellent piece of work: She will be equipped as speedily as possible” (DNA: RG 59, Diplomatic and Consular Instructions, 1791–1801). The frigate was nearly complete by early August 1797 (see Knox, Naval Documents, Barbary Wars description begins Dudley W. Knox., ed. Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers. 6 vols. Washington, D.C., 1939–44. description ends , 1:205–6). The Oracle of the Day (Portsmouth, N.H.) for 16 Sept. 1797 announced that the “Crescent Frigate … for the Dey of Algiers” was “completely rigged and equipped (all but her guns) and ready to sail.” In a letter of 4 Dec. 1797, written from Philadelphia, Richard O’Bryen advised the dey of Algiers about a delay in the frigate’s delivery: “The accident happening to the guns destined for the frigate … which this government gives to Algiers, has retarded her sailing. Please God said frigate will sail for Algiers in december” (Knox, Naval Documents, Barbary Wars description begins Dudley W. Knox., ed. Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers. 6 vols. Washington, D.C., 1939–44. description ends , 1:223). For more on the frigate and its eventual arrival in Algiers in February 1798, see Pickering to GW, 4 Dec. 1796, n.2; and Lambert, Barbary Wars description begins Frank Lambert. The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World. New York, 2005. description ends , 87–88.