When the Bradford arrived back at Tripoli, the crew learned that Naples had provided some bomb ketches and gunboats to Commodore Preble, and he was beginning to attack the harbor once more. While frigates could not get into the harbor safely, the smaller boats could. They went into the harbor to fire into the city and destroy some of the Tripolitan ships anchored there. Meanwhile, with his big guns, Preble bombarded the fort guarding the harbor. Throughout August and September 1804, the attacks did some damage but not as much to the city as he had hoped.
Preble decided to try another ploy using the small Intrepid. He planned to send it into the harbor again at night, up close to the pasha’s castle. This time it would be loaded with gunpowder and shells. It would be a floating bomb. There would be 15-minute fuses leading to the explosives. Two ship’s boats were provided for the men to escape once the fuses had been lit.
Again, volunteers were sought and organized under a Lieutenant Richard Somers, who vowed that he would not be taken alive if the plan failed.
Under cover of darkness, the Intrepid made its way towards the harbor entrance. An hour passed. Then another hour. The crews of the ships outside the harbor lined the rails to watch the effect.
Suddenly, a bright flash followed by a huge explosion lit the city and the sky. As the light it created was fading, the men on the ship could see the castle still standing, apparently untouched. It was clear that for some reason, the bomb had gone off prematurely. No Americans in either the ship’s boats or the Intrepid survived.
Zachary and the other powder monkeys who had witnessed the disaster were shocked by the deaths of the men. Even though they were in a war and they’d all seen men killed before, these sailors, their shipmates, were now dead, and the suddenness and totality of this disaster hit them hard. Zachary’s spirits were quite low the next time he met Midshipman Stanley at 4 bells. They discussed the event and Caleb pointed out that the dead crew members had all volunteered and knew the dangers. “Just one more reason to hate the navy and the fighting,” he said.
Zachary couldn’t really argue with that. While he had entered the navy willingly, eagerly in fact, he had not at the time anticipated warfare or the dangers of being where they were. He now knew that at any time it was possible the Bradford could get into a situation where men died, where he could die, and he tended to agree with Caleb.
Soon after, more American frigates arrived, one carrying Commodore Barron, who was to relieve Preble of his command, not because of the recent failure for nobody in America had yet received news of it. It was simply his time to step down and return home.
A diplomat, William Eaton, arrived in the spring of 1805. He was to try to raise a force in Cairo to capture the Tripolitan fort at Derna, a small town on the northern coast of Africa many miles east of Tripoli and nearly 500 miles west of Cairo. From there he was to continue to Tripoli.
At the time, Hamet, the older brother of the Pasha Yusuf Karamanli, was living in exile in Cairo, having been deposed by his brother. Hamet Karamanli had been allowed to leave Tripoli when his brother took the throne, an interesting gesture by his brother, since among the tribes of North Africa, deposed rulers were often executed on the spot.
Eaton was supposed to be carried by ship to Cairo, accompanied by some American marines. There, he was to convince Hamet to mount an attack on Derna and then move on to Tripoli, conquer the city, and reclaim his throne.
A small fleet of ships, including the Bradford, departed Tripoli and sailed east to Alexandria, Egypt. There, they waited while Eaton went in search of Hamet in Cairo.
Hamet was able to raise a force in addition to the American marines which included mercenaries and fewer than 300 Arabs. They loaded up camels and began to walk west across the northern edge of the Sahara Desert towards Derna on the coast.
Long before they reached Derna, the little army ran low on supplies, particularly fresh water, and some of the men threatened to desert. However, the captain of the brig USS Argus met the force at the Gulf of Bomba and resupplied the army.
The plan was for the American ships to converge with the army again at Derna. The ships would bombard the fort from the sea while the army attacked on land.
The ships began their bombardment on August 27, while the army attacked the fort from two sides, managing to overrun it and capture Yusuf Karamanli’s small garrison. Hamet declared that he was the rightful Pasha of Tripoli. His brother, however, refused to recognize him and continued to claim to be the pasha. He twice sent armies to Derna to retake the city but failed both times.
Another American diplomat, Tobias Lear, arrived in Tripoli in May. With the American ships still threatening Tripoli, Lear negotiated with Yusuf to end the war. In time, an agreement was signed which maintained Yusuf as ruler. Hamet’s claim was denied. He was given a little money for his efforts and returned to Cairo. All the prisoners Yusuf had taken were released, and, for a sizeable fee, he agreed to the end of tributes and the capture of merchant ships from America and Europe.
“Poor Hamet,” said Zachary to Caleb one night. “He organized an army, walked all the way across the desert, defeated Derna, and then got next to nothing for his troubles.”
“He was rather betrayed by the Americans, wasn’t he?” replied the midshipman. “Even though my father’s a senator in Congress, I’m not sure I’d trust politicians very far.”
With the agreement in Tripoli, the conflict was almost over. Tunis was the last holdout. Once the American ships all gathered around the harbor at Tunis, it did not take long for the ruler of Tunis to agree to terms. That ended the conflict, and most of the ships returned to the United States.
As they sailed west past Gibraltar, Zachary and Caleb breathed a sigh of relief. Little did they know how harrowing the voyage home would be. The Bradford seemed to sail from one storm to another, being constantly buffeted by strong winds that always seemed to come from the wrong direction.
The brave men of the crew scrambled up ratlines to furl or unfurl sails. Zachary wondered how they could do that in such strong, gusty winds. He was very glad that powder monkeys were not expected to do that. However, midshipmen were.
Caleb had been up in the rigging several times since leaving Boston, but never under these conditions. He was scared to death and vomited on his way up, which did not endear him to the crewman below him. Somehow, he made it up to the main topgallant yard and worked his way out the starboard yardarm. There he held on for dear life. He and the crew with him had to furl the topgallant sail, which was blown forward as far as it could go. Inch by inch the men were able to bring the sail in and furl it on the yard. Just as they finished, a crew member near Caleb yelled, “Oh, God!” and fell. Caleb could hear him scream all the way down until he plunged into the water. The ship had no way to rescue him in the stormy conditions.
Horrified, Caleb whimpered and froze where he was.
“It’s okay, lad,” the man next to him said.
“But he’s dead,” Caleb protested.
“Yup, but it was quick and he didn’t suffer much,” replied the man.
Caleb remained , unable to move bent over the yardarm, quivering.
“C’mon lad,” the man said, “when we get down I’ll give you some of my grog.”
Very, very slowly, with the help of the man, Caleb worked his way down the ratlines, feeling carefully with his feet as he went.
On deck, the man said, “See, now you did it. You’re a true sailor.”
I don’t want to be a sailor, Caleb thought to himself.
The man offered him his grog. This was strictly against the rules, as the boy wasn’t supposed to have any. Caleb didn’t know what it was, but he swallowed it greedily. He felt as though his throat was burning but he didn’t care. He drank the man’s complete daily ration. The man patted him on the back and suggested that he get some drier clothes on.
The weather had been such that nobody on the ship, with the possible exception of Captain Whitmore, had any dry clothes. When the sun came out a few days later, there were clothes spread out all over the deck and draped over the carronades.
The sun didn’t remain long. It soon became stormy again. Since it was not cold, the men wore as little as they could under navy regulations.
The ship made landfall near Maryland and proceeded up the coast towards Boston.
As they passed through Boston Harbor, Zachary began to see familiar landmarks and his heart beat a little faster. He had no idea what he would do or how he could earn any money in Boston, but he was determined not to go to sea again.
On their last night before the ship dropped anchor in Boston Harbor, Zachary and Caleb stood side by side.
“Land!” exclaimed Caleb. “Blessed land.”
Zachary laughed and said, “You act like you’d never seen land before.”
“Well, when you’re out in the middle of the ocean and there’s no land about, you can feel as though no land exists.”
“True,” said Zachary. Then, changing the subject, he asked, “What will you do when we land?”
“I’ll resign from the navy and take the first carriage home. What about you?”
“I have no home to go to.”
“Why don’t you come with me?”
“Will your parents accept a street urchin in their home?”
“They don’t need to know all that. We’ll think of something while we ride north.”
Then, Caleb reached over and took Zachary’s hand. “I have a confession to make,” he said.
Zachary was silent but he could feel his heart pumping in his chest.
“I… I really like you ─ a lot,” Caleb whispered quietly.
Zachary felt a warm glow all over his body.
“And I like you a lot, too,” he replied.
When the ship anchored in the morning, the crew had to unload uneaten food, water casks, and even the unused ammunition and balls. That took the best part of the day.
Then the crew members lined up outside the navy’s office to receive their pay.
“You watch,” said Caleb, “I imagine many of them will drink most of it and buy a whore with the rest. In two days they’ll be broke and looking for work again.”
Zachary laughed. “Well, one thing I know I’ll do is stop in at the Pewter Tankard to thank the bartender there. It was he who rescued me after Max… did what he did.”
When Caleb received his pay, the clerk said, “I think there’s a letter here for you, Mr. Stanley.”
He rummaged around a bit and then handed Caleb an envelope on which someone had written, “Urgent”.
Caleb tore open the envelope, read a bit, and turned pale. Watching, Zachary found a chair and told him to sit.
When Caleb finished reading the letter twice, he said in a shaky voice, “My father’s dead.”
Zachary had no idea what to do, so he simply stood beside his friend placing a hand on his shoulder.
After a long silence, Zachary asked, “What happened?”
“Nobody knows. My mother went to look for him when dinner was ready. She found him in his favorite reading chair. He was dead.”
Although he tried to control himself, a few tears found their way down Caleb’s cheek. “I suppose we need to hurry home.”
“Are you sure you want me there at a time like this?” Zachary asked.
“Absolutely. You’re my friend… more than that… and I need you right now.”
Caleb asked the clerk where he could get a coach to Salem and the clerk gave him directions. Fortunately, Zachary was listening as Caleb wasn’t taking in what the man was saying.
After they stopped for a moment at the Pewter Tankard, the boys walked up into the town, searching for a particular tavern. Outside that building a notice was posted on the wall, giving the times of coach departures.
The coach they needed had departed several hours earlier, so they went into the tavern and told the publican at the bar that they needed to take the coach in the morning but needed a place to eat and sleep.
“I can put you in a room upstairs,” the man replied, “and you can eat here.”
Caleb agreed to the man’s price. The boys sat at a table where they were served pot roast, baked potatoes, and onions.
Zachary protested when Caleb paid for everything, but his friend assured him that he had plenty of money. It was a quiet meal. Neither boy felt like talking. When they finished eating, the publican took them up the steep stairs and showed them a small room. It had a bed, a washstand, and a cabinet for clothes.
They thanked the man, Caleb paid him, and he left.
The two boys stood, silently looking at each other.
At last Caleb asked, “Do you mind sharing the bed?”
Zachary shook his head. They stripped down to their drawers and climbed in. Although it was still light out, they were exhausted and both fell asleep almost instantly.