History does not record why Edward Preble—seventh on the list of ten captains then in service—was selected to take command of the U.S. Navy’s Mediterranean Squadron in the Spring of 1803.
In the two years since the bashaw of Tripoli had declared war on the United States in May of 1801, two previous commodores had shown themselves to be less than aggressive in prosecuting the war against the North African state. But even before Preble had entered the Mediterranean, it became obvious that things were about to change significantly, that such lethargy was soon going to be a thing of the past.
As Preble’s flagship—the frigate Constitution—neared the Strait of Gibraltar in the gathering darkness of the evening of 10 September 1803, lookouts reported what Preble determined to be a warship. Ordering the Constitution’s crew to quarters and her guns run out, Preble closed to within hailing distance. After several unsuccessful attempts to get the mysterious ship to identify herself, Preble grabbed a speaking trumpet and shouted: “I am now going to hail you for the last time. If a proper answer is not returned, I will fire a shot into you!”
Out of the darkness came the equally belligerent reply, “If you fire a shot, I will return a broadside
“What ship is that?” demanded Preble.
“This is His Britannic Majesty’s ship Donegal, 84 guns, Sir Richard Strachan, an English commodore!” a decidedly British voice returned, then imperiously ordered, “Send a boat on board!”
Quickly climbing into the shrouds, Preble formidably shouted back: “This is the United States ship Constitution, 44 guns, Edward Preble, an American commodore, who will be damned before he sends his boat on board of any vessel!” Then turning to his crew, but still speaking loud enough to be heard on the other ship, he said, “Blow your matches, boys!”
As glowing embers flared along the Constitution’s rail, the sound of a boat being lowered to the water could be heard, and soon one emerged from the darkness carrying a British lieutenant. Once aboard the American ship, the lieutenant explained apologetically that he was not from the Donegal, a ship of the line, but from the Maidstone, a 32-gun frigate. His captain had delayed answering Preble’s challenge because—England and France then being at war—he thought that he might have encountered a French vessel and needed time to get his crew to quarters.
That early display of an aggressive spirit would be verified in the months to come, when Preble and “his boys,” as his officers came to be known, would engage their Barbary enemies with impressive intrepidity, taking the war to Tripoli in ways that would serve as inspirational precedent for a Navy that was just beginning to get its sea legs.