Battle of Derna (1805)

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The Battle of Derna at Derna, Cyrenaica, was a military engagement in April–May 1805 of a mercenary army recruited and led by United States Marines under the command of U.S. Army Lieutenant William Eaton, diplomatic Consul to Tripoli, and U.S. Marine Corps First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon. The battle involved a 521-mile (839-km) march through the Libyan Desert from Alexandria, Egypt, to the eastern port city of Derna, which was defended by a much larger force. The Battle of Derna and the broader First Barbary War highlighted the challenges faced by the United States in dealing with piracy and asserting its interests in the Mediterranean during the early years of its existence as a nation. It was also the first foreign military intervention in U.S. history.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Colonel Charles Waterhouse, U.S. Marines (Marine Corps Art Collection) (http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Home_Page.htm), Public domain