197 years ago: Lt. O’Bannon defeats the Barbary Pirates

By Edward T. O’Donnell

One hundred ninety-seven years ago this week, on April 27, 1805, a force of U.S. Marines and Arab mercenaries under the command of Lt. Presley O’Bannon seized the fortress at Derne in Tripoli, North Africa. The attack was part of the U.S. campaign against the so-called Barbary Pirates then feasting on American merchant ships. The victory made O’Bannon an early U.S. military hero and established several of the U.S. Marine Corps’ most revered traditions.