“to the shores of Tripoli”

Barbary Wars, 1801–1805 and then 1815–1816

Just an over view of history 1802 - when the North African Islamic's who were just pirates attacking all the European and and then the US shipping in the Mediterranean. President Jefferson declined to pay the scum bags and sent several war ships - then they ended up capturing the US Frigate " Philadelphia ' Commodore Edward Preble had assumed command of the U.S. Mediterranean Squadron in 1803. By October of that year Preble had begun a blockade of Tripoli harbor. The first significant action of the blockade came on 31 October when USS Philadelphia had ran aground on an uncharted coral reef and the Tripolitan Navy was able to capture the ship along with its crew and Captain William Bainbridge. Philadelphia was turned against the Americans and anchored in the harbor as a gun battery.

On the night of 16 February 1804, a small contingent of U.S. Marines in a captured Tripolitan ketch rechristened USS Intrepid and led by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr. were able to deceive the guards on board Philadelphia and float close enough to board the captured ship. Decatur's men stormed the vessel and decimated the Tripolitan sailors standing guard.

 To complete the daring raid, Decatur's party set fire to Philadelphia, denying her use to the enemy. Decatur's bravery in action made him one of the first American military heroes since the Revolutionary War. The British Admiral Horatio Nelson, himself known as a man of action and bravery, is said to have called this "the most bold and daring act of the age. "The United States, though in their infancy, have done more to humble the anti-Christian barbarians on the African coast than all the European states had done...

 In 1805 Marines stormed the Barbary pirates’ harbor fortress stronghold of Derna (Tripoli), commemorated in the Marine Corp Hymn invocation “To the Shores of Tripoli.” First Lieutenant O’Bannon is remembered for heroism in the battle for Derna.
 O’Bannon’s Marines were the first U.S. forces to hoist the flag over territory in the Old World. The “Mameluke” sword, carried by Marines officers today, was presented to O’Bannon in 1805.