“The invasion of Algiers began on 5 July 1830 with a naval bombardment by a fleet under Admiral Duperré, and a landing by troops under Louis Auguste Victor de Ghaisne, comte de Bourmont. The French quickly defeated the troops of Hussein Dey, the Ottoman ruler, but native resistance was widespread.”
Before Virgina’s ancestor Comte de Bourmont (along with Admiral Duperre) made war against the Muslim Pirates in Algiers in 1830 – in 1803 my great grandfather helped Captain the U.S.S. Constitution against the Barbary Pirates in Tripoli. Captain Isaac Hull helped put Marines ashore in order to put an end to the seizing of American ships and holding Americans hostage for ransom. This is the same motive for France invading Algiers. Hull softened up the Muslim Deys for Bourmont – who had to know American forces went before him. However, de Bourmont was for a French Monarchy, as opposed to a French Democracy.
Above is a drawing of Admiral Duperré on board his ship heading for Algiers, with, the Comte de Bourmont at his side?
This amazing history has been hidden in a dusty attic until I found it this morning. After telling Virginia about Isaac Hull’s connection to Old Lyme and Saybrook, she got down on one knee and asked me to marry her. She knew next to nothing about the Comte de Bourmont. Since our engagement I have been telling Virginia about her family history. We have been ‘Married by History’ before we have taken our wedding vows. This all came about after I took a Hawkish stand about punishing Syria for atrocities against Humanity. I defended my President, came to his aid, as did France.
It is very likely that Virginia is kin to Fulk de Anjou the Crusader King of Jerusalem whose grandson, Henry ‘King of England’ had a love affair with Fair Rosamond.
When Virginia got down on her wounded knee and took my hand she was renewing an old alliance. We pledged a New Allegiance as two citizens of the United States of America. Surely God has had a hand in brining Virginia and I together.
Jon Presco
Copyright 2013
Top photo: French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, left, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and British Foreign Secretary William Hague, second right, pose for the media prior to a meeting on Syria at the Quai d’Orsay in Paris, Sept. 16, 2013.
The “Fan Affair” which was the pretext for the invasion.
In 1827, Hussein Dey, Algeria’s Ottoman ruler, demanded that the French pay a 31-year-old debt, contracted in 1799 by purchasing supplies to feed the soldiers of the Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt. The French consul Pierre Deval refused to give answers satisfactory to the dey, and in an outburst of anger, Hussein Dey touched the consul with his fan. Charles X used this as an excuse to initiate a blockade against the port of Algiers. The blockade lasted for three years, and was primarily to the detriment of French merchants who were unable to do business with Algiers, while Barbary pirates were still able to evade the blockade. When France in 1829 sent an ambassador to the dey with a proposal for negotiations, he responded with cannon fire directed toward one of the blockading ships. The French then determined that more forceful action was required.[1]
Karamanli was born in Tripoli in 1770, a member of the Karamanli dynasty (named after a city of Karaman in Turkey), was originally of Turkish origin.[2] His brother, Hamet Karamanli, was deposed in 1793 by Ottoman officer Ali Benghul; Benghul proceeded to restore Ottoman rule over Tripoli. In 1795, however, Yusuf returned to Tripoli, and with the aid of the Bey (ruler) of Tunis, seized the throne, exiling Hamet and restoring Karamanli rule.
http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan07/jeff_quran.htm
http://skikda.boussaboua.free.fr/algerie_histoire_ahmed_bey.htm
September 16, 2013
United Nations inspectors say there is “clear and convincing evidence” that chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale in an attack in Syria last month that killed hundreds of people.
In a report issued Monday, inspectors said environmental, chemical and medical samples show “unequivocally and objectively” that “surface-to-surface rockets” containing the nerve agent sarin were used in the Ghouta area of Damascus’ on August 21.
The report cited survivors who reported “a military attack with shelling,” followed by an onset of symptoms including “blurred vision, nausea, vomiting and an eventual loss of consciousness.”
The inspectors were asked to determine whether chemical weapons were used, and not who unleashed them.
In 1786, Jefferson, then the American ambassador to France, and Adams, then the American ambassador to Britain, met in London with Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, the “Dey of Algiers” ambassador to Britain.
The Americans wanted to negotiate a peace treaty based on Congress’ vote to appease.
During the meeting Jefferson and Adams asked the Dey’s ambassador why Muslims held so much hostility towards America, a nation with which they had no previous contacts.
In a later meeting with the American Congress, the two future presidents reported that Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja had answered that Islam “was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Quran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.”
For the following 15 years, the American government paid the Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages. The payments in ransom and tribute amounted to 20 percent of United States government annual revenues in 1800.
Not long after Jefferson’s inauguration as president in 1801, he dispatched a group of frigates to defend American interests in the Mediterranean, and informed Congress.
Declaring that America was going to spend “millions for defense but not one cent for tribute,” Jefferson pressed the issue by deploying American Marines and many of America’s best warships to the Muslim Barbary Coast.
The USS Constitution, USS Constellation, USS Philadelphia, USS Chesapeake, USS Argus, USS Syren and USS Intrepid all saw action.
In 1805, American Marines marched across the desert from Egypt into Tripolitania, forcing the surrender of Tripoli and the freeing of all American slaves.
During the Jefferson administration, the Muslim Barbary States, crumbling as a result of intense American naval bombardment and on shore raids by Marines, finally officially agreed to abandon slavery and piracy.
Jefferson’s victory over the Muslims lives on today in the Marine Hymn, with the line, “From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli, We fight our country’s battles in the air, on land and sea.”
It wasn’t until 1815 that the problem was fully settled by the total defeat of all the Muslim slave trading pirates.
Jefferson had been right. The “medium of war” was the only way to put and end to the Muslim problem. Mr. Ellison was right about Jefferson. He was a “visionary” wise enough to read and learn about the enemy from their own Muslim book of jihad.
Arriving the morning of 3 August, Constitution, Argus, Enterprise, Scourge, Syren, the six gunboats, and two bomb ketches began operations. Twenty-two Tripoline gunboats met them in the harbor and, in a series of attacks in the coming month, Constitution and her squadron severely damaged or destroyed the Tripoline gunboats, taking their crews prisoner. Constitution primarily provided gunfire support, bombarding the shore batteries of Tripoli. Yet despite his losses, Karamanli remained firm in his demand for ransom and tribute.[64][65]
Though Duperré was critical towards the expedition against Algiers, Charles X made him commander of the fleet which ferried troops under Bourmont to depose the Algerian Regency. The fleet of the invasion of Algiers was 103 warships strong, with 572 freighters ferrying 35 000 soldiers, 3 800 horses and 91 heavy guns. In recognition for his role, Duperré was made pair de France on 16 July 1830.
The invasion of Algiers began on 5 July 1830 with a naval bombardment by a fleet under Admiral Duperré, and a landing by troops under Louis Auguste Victor de Ghaisne, comte de Bourmont. The French quickly defeated the troops of Hussein Dey, the Ottoman ruler, but native resistance was widespread. This resulted in a protracted military campaign, lasting more than 45 years, to root out popular opposition to the colonisation. The so-called “pacification” was marked by resistance of figures such as Ahmed Bey, Abd El-Kader and Lalla Fatma N’Soumer.
The invasion marked the end of several centuries of Ottoman rule in Algeria and the beginning of French Algeria. In 1848, the territories conquered around Algiers were organised into three départements, defining the territories of modern Algeria.
Fulk (in French: Foulque or Foulques; 1089/1092 place Unknown – 13 November 1143 Acre), also known as Fulk the Younger, was Count of Anjou (as Fulk V) from 1109 to 1129, and King of Jerusalem from 1131 to his death. He was also the paternal grandfather of Henry II of England.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
During the Napoleonic Wars, the Regency of Algiers had greatly benefited from trade in the Mediterranean, and of the massive imports of food by France, largely bought on credit. The Bourbon Restoration limited trading, while the Mediterranean was completely controlled by the British Royal Navy, and the rebuilding French Navy. The dey attempted to remedy the decrease of his revenues by increasing taxes, which was resisted by peasants, increasing instability in the country and leading to widespread piracy against shipping from Europe and the young United States of America. This in turn led to the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War, which culminated in August 1816 when Lord Exmouth executed a naval bombardment of Algiers.
The wide unpopularity of the Bourbon Restoration also made France unstable. In an attempt to distract his people from domestic affairs, King Charles X decided to engage in a colonial policy.
The French then determined that more forceful action was required.[1]
King Charles X decided to organise a punitive expedition on the coasts of Algiers to punish the “impudence” of the dey, as well as to root out Barbary corsairs who used Algiers as a safe haven. The naval part of the operation was given to Admiral Duperré, who advised against it, finding it too dangerous. He was nevertheless given command of the fleet. The land part was under the orders of Louis Auguste Victor de Ghaisne, comte de Bourmont.
On 16 May, a fleet comprising 103 warships and 464 transports departed Toulon, carrying a 37,612-man strong army. The ground was well-known, thanks to observations made during the First Empire, and the Presque-isle of Sidi Ferruch was chosen as a landing spot, 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Algiers. The vanguard of the fleet arrived off Algiers on 31 May, but it took until 14 June for the entire fleet to arrive.
French troops landed at Sidi Ferruch on 14 June 1830 against minimal opposition. Within a few days, however, troops of Algerian caids started to rise against the invaders. On 18 June, Hussein Dey assembled a 10,000-man army, comprising 1,000 Janissaries, 5,000 Moors and 3,000 Arabs and Berbers from Oran, Titteri and Medea. Bourmont merely kept the counter-attacks at bay until 28 June, when siege weapons were landed, making it possible to attack Algiers itself.
Fighting at the gates of Algiers.
Ornate Ottoman cannon, length: 385cm, cal:178mm, weight: 2910, stone projectile, founded 8 October 1581 in Algiers, seized by France at Algiers in 1830. Musée de l’Armée, Paris.
Sultan-Khalessi, the main fort defending the city, was attacked on 29 June and fell on 4 July. The Bey then started negotiations, leading to his capitulation the next day. At the same time, in France, the July Revolution led to the deposition of Charles X. French troops entered the city on 5 July, and evacuated the Casbah on 7 July. The French had 415 killed.
The Dey was exiled to Naples, and some of the Janissaries to the Ottoman Empire. Bourmont immediately instituted a municipal council and a governmental commission to administer the city
Before the new status of Algiers could be settled, Bourmont struck at Blida and occupied Bône and Oran in early August. On 11 August, news of the July Revolution reached Algiers, and Bourmont was required to pledge allegiance to Charles’ successor Louis-Philippe, which he refused to do. He was relieved of command and replaced by general Bertrand Clauzel on 2 September. Negotiations were started with the beys of Titteri, Oran and Constantine to impose a French protectorate, spreading French influence over the entire former Regency.
On July 15, 1830, five days after his surrender to the French, Husseyn Dey left Algiers with his family, his harem and his personal fortune on the French ship Jeanne d’Arc. His request for permission to live in France having been refused by Charles X, he settled in Naples which was under the control of the Austrian Empire.[5] He stayed in Italy for three years and died in Alexandria in 1838.
http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan07/jeff_quran.htm
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world’s oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution
In 1785 Barbary pirates, most notably from Algiers, began to seize American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean. In 1793 alone, eleven American ships were captured and their crews and stores held for ransom. To combat this problem, proposals were made for warships to protect American shipping, resulting in the Naval Act of 1794.[8][9] The act provided funds to construct six frigates, but included a clause that if peace terms were agreed to with Algiers, the construction of the ships would be halted.[10][11]
During the United States’ preoccupation with France and the Quasi-War, troubles with the Barbary States were suppressed by the payment of tribute to ensure that American merchant ships were not harassed and seized.[47] In 1801 Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli, dissatisfied with the amount of tribute he was receiving in comparison to Algiers, demanded an immediate payment of $250,000, equal to $3,449,500 today.[48] In response, Thomas Jefferson sent a squadron of frigates to protect American merchant ships in the Mediterranean and to pursue peace with the Barbary States.[49][50]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_Karamanli
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution
Arriving at Gibraltar on 12 September, Preble waited for the other ships of the squadron. His first order of business was to arrange a treaty with Sultan Slimane of Morocco, who was holding American ships hostage to ensure the return of two vessels the Americans had captured. Departing Gibraltar on 3 October, Constitution and Nautilus arrived at Tangiers on the 4th. Adams and New York arrived the next day. With four American warships in his harbor, the Sultan was more than glad to arrange the transfer of ships between the two nations, and Preble departed with his squadron on 14 October, heading back to Gibraltar.[56][57][
,\
War was declared on 18 June and Hull put to sea on 12 July, attempting to join the five ships of a squadron under the command of Rodgers in President. Hull sighted five ships off Egg Harbor, New Jersey, on 17 July and at first believed them to be Rodgers’ squadron, but by the following morning the lookouts determined that they were a British squadron out of Halifax: HMS Aeolus, Africa, Belvidera, Guerriere, and Shannon. They had sighted Constitution and were giving chase.[87][88]
Finding himself becalmed, Hull acted on a suggestion given by Charles Morris, ordering the crew to put boats over the side to tow the ship out of range, using kedge anchors to draw the ship forward, and wetting the sails down to take advantage of every breath of wind.[89] The British ships soon imitated the tactic of kedging and remained in pursuit. The resulting 57 hour chase in the July heat saw the crew of Constitution employ a myriad of methods to outrun the squadron, finally pumping overboard 2,300 US gal (8.7 kl) of drinking water.[90] Cannon fire was exchanged several times, though the British attempts fell short or over their mark, including an attempted broadside from Belvidera. On 19 July Constitution pulled far enough ahead of the British that they abandoned the pursuit.[91][92]
Constitution arrived in Boston on 27 July and remained there just long enough to replenish her supplies; Hull sailed without orders on 2 August to avoid being blockaded in port.[93] Heading on a northeast route towards the British shipping lanes near Halifax and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Constitution captured three British merchantmen, which Hull ordered burned rather than risk taking them back to an American port. On 16 August Hull was informed of the presence of a British frigate 100 nmi (190 km; 120 mi) to the south and sailed in pursuit.[94][95]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy-Victor_Duperr%C3%A9
The Comte de Bourmont and Admiral Duperre on board lAmiral on arrival at Algiers
Geoffrey V (24 August 1113 – 7 September 1151), called the Handsome (French: le Bel) and Plantagenet, was the Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine by inheritance from 1129 and then Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144. By his marriage to the Empress Matilda, daughter and heiress of Henry I of England, Geoffrey had a son, Henry Curtmantle, who succeeded to the English throne and founded the Plantagenet dynasty to which Geoffrey gave his nickname.
Fulk was born at Angiers, between 1089 and 1092, the son of Count Fulk IV of Anjou and Bertrade de Montfort. In 1092, Bertrade deserted her husband and bigamously married King Philip I of France.
He became count of Anjou upon his father’s death in 1109. In the next year, he married Erembourg of Maine, cementing Angevin control over the County of Maine.
He was originally an opponent of King Henry I of England and a supporter of King Louis VI of France, but in 1118 or 1119 he had allied with Henry when Henry arranged for his son and heir William Adelin to marry Fulk’s daughter Matilda. Fulk went on crusade in 1119 or 1120, and became attached to the Knights Templar. (Orderic Vitalis) He returned, late in 1121, after which he began to subsidize the Templars, maintaining two knights in the Holy Land for a year. Much later, Henry arranged for his daughter Matilda to marry Fulk’s son Geoffrey of Anjou, which she did in 1127 or 1128.
Rosamond Press 
Reblogged this on rosamondpress and commented:
Yesterday we learned our heroic President sent special forces into Syria to try and rescue the journalist that was beheaded, and other that were being held for ransom. My great grandfather commanded the U.S.S. Constitution that lay cannon fire on a barbarous caliph who held Americans and Europeans for ransom. “Before Islamic extremists brutally beheaded an American journalist on camera, they demanded $132 million in ransom from his family and his employer.
Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists began sending the serious messages to James Foley’s family and the GlobalPost last fall, Philip Balboni, the news agency’s head, told CNN.
At first the infrequent messages made political and financial demands. Then, last week, the fighters sent an hateful email saying Foley would be killed.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/isis-demanded-132m-ransom-killing-james-foley-article-1.1911515#ixzz3B2U1Ux2V