By Seth Grossman
On Sept. 4, 1804, Somers Point native Richard Somers and 12 fellow seamen aboard his ship, USS Intrepid were killed in the harbor of Tripoli, North Africa, during the long-forgotten Barbary Wars. On Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4, dozens of area residents and members of the Somers Family will gather to remember him by the statue and mural dedicated to him at 801 Shore Road in Somers Point.
Richard Somers was born in Somers Point on Sept. 15, 1778, when the American Revolution was being fought. As a teenager he attended and completed Abercrombie’s Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia when that city was our nation’s capital. There he was often in the company of George Washington.
When he was 17, Richard Somers learned to be a ship captain. By age 18, he was in charge of merchant ships sailing between New York and Philadelphia. By age 20 he was prepared to sail merchant ships around the world.
Even then America’s economy depended on trade. We shipped our fish, grain, lumber, furs, tobacco, whiskey and other products around the world. Our ships brought back coffee, tea, silk, china, sugar, tools and other goods from overseas. Americans got rich quickly because they paid almost no taxes. Our government had no navy and almost no army to pay for. We thought we were at peace with the world and did not need them.
But we were wrong. When we gained our independence our ships were no longer under the protection of the British Empire. They were soon attacked and seized by Barbary corsairs operating near North Africa. These corsairs were not pirates. Pirates were criminals. The Barbary corsairs were privateers hired by nations to attack and rob their enemies in times of war.
For more than a thousand years, the Muslim Barbary kingdoms of North Africa frequently engaged in religious wars against Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and other Christian nations in Europe. Barbary corsairs attacked, robbed and looted Christian ships and villages as far north as Iceland and Ireland. They also captured Europeans and sold them as slaves throughout the Arab world.
By the time America won its independence in 1783, most European nations had made treaties with the Barbary kingdoms. In those treaties, European nations bought protection for their people by paying bribes or “tribute” to the Barbary kingdoms. When America won independence in 1783, our ships were no longer protected by the treaties or the British navy so they were quickly attacked by Barbary corsairs.
For years America joined the Europeans in making treaties and paying tribute to protect our cargo and our people. But the more we paid, the more the Barbary kingdoms demanded. Later, French pirates began to attack and rob our ships in the Caribbean. When we asked French government officials for help, they too sought bribes in exchange for protection.
When America finally had enough, our mantra became, “Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute.” We stopped paying tribute and built a new navy instead. At age 20, Richard Somers became one of the first to join that new navy. In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson sent our navy to the coast of North Africa to fight the Barbary corsairs. In 1803, 25-year-old Master Commandant Richard Somers was put in command of the Intrepid and its 103 men.
By 1804 America’s young sailors had defeated the most feared sea-fighters of the four Barbary kingdoms in battle after battle. Morocco, Algiers and Tunis made peace with America. Only Tripoli, now known as Libya, continued to fight.
On Sept. 4, 1804, Richard Somers and 12 volunteers from the Intrepid crew went on a daring mission to use Intrepid as a floating bomb to destroy the remaining enemy warships in the harbor of Tripoli. Tragically, their vessel exploded prematurely. Somers and his 12 fellow volunteers were killed that night, but their courage and sacrifice inspired their American comrades to keep fighting and persuaded the rulers of Tripoli to make peace with us the following year.
Sept. 4 falls on Labor Day Monday this year. We invite you to join us at 4 p.m. in the park next to the Atlantic County Library at 801 Shore Road in Somers Point. Expect to learn much more, 219 years later, about this fascinating tale of heroism. At one time the story of Richard Somers was taught to almost every school child in America. It is rarely told today.
We will tell the story of the statue of Richard Somers in Somers Point, which was dedicated in 2013, as well as earlier monuments built to remember him in Somers Point, Annapolis, Md., and the town of Somers, N.Y. We will also explain the images on the mural on the wall of the Atlantic County Library which illustrates the story.
At 5 p.m. there will be a fundraising buffet sponsored by LibertyAndProsperity.com to defray expenses associated with this event. It will be held at Sal’s Café, 501 New Road in Somers Point.
Tickets are $30 and can be purchased by donating that amount through the “donate” tab of the website or at the door.
