1814 – Congressional report regarding the threat to enslave an American ship’s crew by the dey of Algiers and the vessel’s subsequent seizure by the British at Gibraltar during the War of 1812
Roger C. Weightman, 1814. Report of the Committee on the Petition of Bowie and Kurtz and Others, Owners of the Ship Allegany. Printed by order of the Senate of the United States in Washington City by Roger C. Weightman. 1814. Never bound and untrimmed. Seven pages. Measures approximately 6” x 9¼”. Minor dampstain and soiling.
This Senate report approved the reimbursement of Georgetown, D. C. merchants, Bowie and Kurtz for losses after their ship, the Allegany, was seized by the British following a threat to enslave its captain and crew by the Dey of Algiers, an ally of Great Britain. It reads in part:
“On the twentieth of January, in the year eighteen hundred and twelve, Richard Forrest . . . chartered the ship Allegany (Captain Ebenezer Evelith) . . . for the purpose of conveying a cargo of naval and military stores to the dey of Algiers, in pursuance of an existing treaty. [They] were permitted by the President of the United States, to put on board . . . a small adventure of their own, adapted to the markets of the Mediterranean. . .. That the dey of Algiers being displeased at some part of the cargo, reused to receive it [as witnessed by] Colonel Tobias [the U. S. Consul General to the North African Coast.] The next day, [the dey] informed him [that] the consul general and family, together with all American citizens at Algiers, and the ship Allegany, cargo, and crew should depart . . . the port of Algiers, in three days, under penalty of slavery . . . and confiscation of the ship and cargo. . .. [At the direction of Colonel Lear] the Allegany arrived at Gibraltar [and] the ship and cargo were seized, in consequence of arrival of intelligence of the declaration of war by the Unites States against Great Britain . . . and the crew imprisoned. . ..”
. Very good. Item #010562It was later discovered that British diplomats had instructed the dey to time his action to coincide with the start of the War of 1812. The war prevented the United States from confronting the dey or ransoming the U. S. citizens left in Algiers at the time the Allegany departed for Gibraltar. Immediately after the Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812, President James Madison, requested that Congress declare War on Algiers, and it did so on 3 March 1815.
Later that July, Commodore Stephen Decatur commanded a U. S. Squadron that destroyed the Algerian fleet, forced the dey to release his American prisoners, ended the payment of protective tributes, and agreed to the free navigation of U.S. ships in the Mediterranean.
At the time of listing, no other examples are for sale in the trade, the Rare Book Hub reports that none have ever appeared at auction, and OCLC identifies 25 held by institutions.
.Price: $200.00