Ahmad Qaramanli to Thomas Jefferson, 5 August 1805
From Ahmad Qaramanli
Syracuse 5th. August 1805
Excellence
for nearly eleven years, I have been labouring under the weight of misfortune, but notwithstanding which, my Distress, was never equal to that which the actual combination of circumstances, has made it—
My Residence was near Cairo, when there arrived in Alexandria, a Brig commanded by Capt. Hull in company with General Eaton, who came recommended to Mr. Briggs, H:B:M: Consul, and enquired of him where I could be found—My place of abode being made known, a Courier, was dispatched for Cairo, by order of the General; and on his arrival at Razid a second one, which came to Cairo, directed to the house of Tursuf Bashaw, an officer of the Ottoman Porte, who received a letter, in which he was requested, to suffer me to pass without interruption, in order that I might cooperate with the Americains to take Tripoli—these things being communicated to me, caused me to reflect seriously, whether they could be true or not—all doubts were dissipated by General Eaton, meeting in Cairo, my Secretary named Mahumed Mezaluna, to whom he consigned another paper, & in company with two Maltese arrived at Said, my place of residence, and delivered to me a dispatch, urging me to leave that place immediately, in order that we might have a meeting (as really happened) in the City of Damintur; where the General was made known to me, as one who had been sent thither by your Excellency for the conquest of the Kingdom of Tripoli—
I engaged to go with him to Syracuse, & also to keep myself secret, from which circumstance, I was necessarily compelld, to abandon all I posessed, and thus loose, my horses, Camels, &c—previous to my leaving Damintur, General Eaton assured me the peace would never be made, unless I was placed in my own Seat, (Throne) and often swore by himself that he would never, take me from where I was for the sole purpose of making the conquest—
I did not however fail to suggest to the General, that in case Jussuph Bashaw, should actually remain Conqueror, what party he would take in my favour, as I should not be able to remain, any longer in the Turkish Dominions—
I was answered, if the combinations of War should prove favourable to Jussuph Bashaw that a pension would be granted me, sufficient to mantain my family and suite—the people and money demanded by me, to effect this object (for such a movement) were ready; and that I had better expedite my Secretary to Capt. Hull, to inform him, that the General had come to conduct me from upper Egypt to Syracuse, but that I could not trust myself at Sea, in the manner he had—
My Envoy having executed his Commission arrived first in Syracuse, and Afterwards in Malta, in consequence of the absence of Capt Hull from the first (place) and whom he afterwards found in the second place (Malta) and executed his embassy—he was answered by the same (Hull) that every thing I could possibly want was ready—and in fact, there was sent me, a Vessel laden’d with supplies, and provisions, accompanied by the Brig commanded, by Capt. Hull, which arrived at Bomba delivering to the General (and myself) a dispatch (to him directed) from the Comodore; in which he renders Hull responsible for everything I might want—I then asked for Canon, powder and other war like supplies; and was answered that a Frigate was hourly expected, and that they would be sent me—I afterwards left Bomba in company with General Eaton, and we pursued our route towards Derna, (arriving near it) in twelve hours; such a voyage made me extremely happy as well as all my people, while the manner in which we were treated by the General excited universal admiration—his dignified Soul (conduct) merits applause—we were scarcely, on the twelfth hour of our voyage, when we saw a Schooner which brought us two peices of Canon, and nothing more—After an attack of two hours, in which, all the troops, applaud and Admire, the courage of General Eaton Derna was taken, (as the people of that country were much in my favour) and in which attack the General was wounded in the hand—
after the Capture of the City, we received from the Chiefs of the Brigands, letters, offering to join us. After ten days a troop of Cavallry and Infantry (of the Enemy) advanced; they were twice broken, and put to flight by us—we now asked from the Schooner, which had been sent us people & Arms; while their remained a respite of peace, and were waiting an answer respecting our demand for people & Arms, in order that we might go and take Bengaza & Tripoli—in the mean time there arrived a Frigate, which we supposed had brought us people; but She landed a Turkish Ambassador from Jussuph Bashaw, who informed the General of the Alliance of Jussuph Bashaw with your Excellency—Saying that the said Bashaw, would restore my family; and that your Excellency would give me in the name of the U: States, a pension—the same evening of the arrival of the Frigate, the General informed me, that I must embark, with all my people; and thus was again compelld to abandon all I posessed, (the General having prevented the Turkish Ambassador from landing) and thus we parted for Syracuse, where we found the whole Squadron—
I daily expected my family, when finally I was told that he, (the Bashaw) would not let them go—having thus broken his word, I demanded of the General to be replaced in my own Country, which was also denied me, saying that he had no orders to that effect from your Excellency—and it is thus I find myself in this country, with the small pension of two hundred dollars per month, and on which sum I am to support myself with a number of people—
Such a State of things makes me feel, that the weight of misfortune has only increased; and for the first time am completely abandonned—(and by a great nation) I therefore fling myself on the Mercy of your Excellency; who (under the influence of just laws) will not fail to render me that justice which oppression, and misfortune entitles me to—
with the hope of an early reply from your Excellency, I remain with the most perfect esteem, and respect Your devoted & very humble Sert
Tr (DNA: RG 46, EPFR, 9th Cong., 1st sess.); at foot of text: “To His Excellency The President of the United States of America”; with facsimile seal below signature; endorsed by a Senate clerk. Tr (DNA: RG 233, PM, 9th Cong., 1st sess.); endorsed by a House clerk. RC (DNA: RG 59, CD, Tripoli); in Italian, with Ahmad’s seal. RC (same); in Arabic; mutilated, with significant differences from the Italian version (see below); endorsed by TJ as received 21 Nov. Trs enclosed in TJ to Samuel A. Otis and John Beckley, 19 Jan. 1806.
Ahmad (Hamet) Qaramanli was the second son of Ali Qaramanli and elder brother of Yusuf, the reigning pasha of Tripoli. Ahmad served as bey during a period of conflict between Yusuf and their father, surviving an assassination attempt at one point and subsequently organizing defenses in the city of Tripoli. A stalemate between the opposing forces was broken when the Ottoman sultan gave permission to a Georgian janissary named Ali Borghul to seize Tripoli with a small fleet and some mercenaries. Ali Borghul exiled the Qaramanlis and declared himself pasha of a Tripoli now flying Ottoman banners. The Qaramanlis reunited, with Ali and Ahmad seeking aid in Tunis and Yusuf leading efforts to reassert control over the city of Tripoli. Backed by Tunisian forces, Yusuf and Ahmad captured the city in 1795, and Ahmad was declared pasha. Yusuf, however, soon forced his elder brother into exile, retained Ahmad’s wife and children as hostages, and took over as pasha. While residing in Tunis in 1801, Ahmad was convinced by U.S. consul William Eaton to reject Yusuf’s offer to serve as governor of the Tripolitan city of Derna and instead cooperate in a plan to overthrow Yusuf and reinstate Ahmad as pasha. TJ’s administration, although skeptical of Ahmad and the plan’s likelihood of success, authorized Eaton in May 1804 to engage the “cooperation” of Ahmad, who after serving briefly as governor at Derna was once again in exile and now cooperating with Egyptian Mamluks under Muhammad Bey Al-Alfi. Ahmad abandoned his Mamluk allies, and he and Eaton subsequently assembled a mixed force of U.S. marines, foreign mercenaries, and North Africans. In early March 1805, with Eaton in command, they executed Ahmad’s plan of marching their force overland for Derna, which they captured in late April and successfully defended against Tripolitan counterattacks over the ensuing weeks. News of the peace treaty between Yusuf and the United States in June brought an abrupt end to the alliance, however, and with it an end to Ahmad’s dream of regaining the Tripolitan throne. Taken to Syracuse by a U.S. naval vessel, Ahmad repeatedly sought financial relief from his American allies and the release of his family, the latter finally occurring in 1807. Two years later, Yusuf again appointed his brother governor of Derna, but eventually forced him to flee for Egypt, where he later died in poverty and forgotten (Kola Folayan, Tripoli during the Reign of Yusuf Pasha Qaramanli [Ile-Ife, Nigeria, 1979], 10-21; Kola Folayan, “Tripoli and the War with the U.S.A., 1801-5,” Journal of African History, 13 [1972], 262-5; Seton Dearden, A Nest of Corsairs: The Fighting Karamanlis of Tripoli [London, 1976], 90, 101, 137-8, 173-206; Chipp Reid, To the Walls of Derne: William Eaton, the Tripoli Coup and the End of the First Barbary War [Annapolis, 2017], 23-4, 281-2; , Foreign Relations, 2:695-725; George Davis to Madison, 15 Oct. 1807 and 31 Jan. 1809, both in DNA: RG 59, CD, Tripoli; Vol. 38:347n; Vol. 39:494–5n; Vol. 40:93n, 647; Vol. 42:384–92, 429; Vol. 43:46–8, 80, 494; TJ to the Senate and the House of Representatives, 13 Jan. 1806).
My Residence was near Cairo: although the Arabic version of Ahmad’s communication recounts many of the same events and makes a similar request for support, it is far less detailed and polished than the Italian version and the contemporary English translation generated by the State Department. Many of the names and places that fill the latter two versions are missing from the Arabic, and the chronology unfolds differently. Regarding the Italian version, see TJ to Madison, 22 Nov.
Tursuf Bashaw: probably a reference to Hurshid Pasha, the Ottoman-appointed governor of Egypt, who was deposed during the summer of 1805 (Khaled Fahmy, Mehmed Ali: From Ottoman Governor to Ruler of Egypt [Oxford, 2009], 23-6).
The second article of the convention struck between Ahmad and Eaton on 23 Feb. pledged the United States to “use their utmost exertions” to restore Ahmad to the Tripolitan Throne (, Foreign Relations, 2:706; , 9:101).
Alliance of Jussuph Bashaw with your Excellency: having heard that Yusuf Qaramanli was receptive to renewed negotiations and having always been dubious of Eaton’s mission, Tobias Lear sailed to Tripoli from Algiers in late May to end the conflict. The subsequent treaty declaring peace, dated 4 June, provided for an exchange of prisoners and, as part of that exchange, the payment of $60,000 to Tripoli. The treaty’s third article mandated the withdrawal of Americans from Derna and the cessation of aid to Ahmad. Americans were to try to convince Ahmad to leave Tripolitan territory, and in exchange Yusuf would release his brother’s family. Yusuf’s reluctance to fulfill that object, however, had almost thwarted the negotiations, and on 5 June Lear signed an amendment giving Yusuf four years to deliver Ahmad’s family to him, a clause that he did not make known to the Jefferson administration (, 2:529-56; , 6:22-3; , 10:14-22).
same evening: that is, 12 June, when Eaton, having learned of the peace on the previous day, executed a midnight evacuation from Derna of Americans, Christian mercenaries, and Ahmad and his suite (, 6:116-17).