Lear’s deal handed Yusuf a way out of certain defeat, allowing him to save face and retain power. The United States agreed to pay Yusuf $60,000 for the Philadelphia prisoners, withdraw from Derne, and leave Hamet’s fate to chance.

This episode examines the fallout of that decision—how Eaton fought back, how Yusuf solidified his rule, and how the news was taken back home.

After months of hardship, battle, and sacrifice, the Marines and their allies had secured Derne. O’Bannon’s men had fought hard, losing two Marines in the assault. But the fight wasn’t over. Yusuf’s troops regrouped and mounted a counterattack, hoping to drive out the Americans and take Hamet prisoner. The defenders, backed by American warships, held their ground, repelling wave after wave of assaults.

As they prepared for the final push toward Tripoli, the campaign was suddenly cut short. A peace deal was being negotiated, and the Marines who had fought to secure Derne were now being ordered to abandon it.

This episode follows Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon and his small Marine detachment as they join William Eaton on a difficult 500-mile march across the desert. Alongside a mixed force of mercenaries and Bedouins, they faced supply shortages, internal conflicts, and the constant threat of attack. 

Their goal was to capture the city of Derne and establish a foothold against Tripoli. This would be one of the Marine Corps’ earliest and most challenging ground campaigns, testing their discipline and resilience in ways they hadn’t faced before.

Last week, we saw the humiliating surrender of the Philadelphia. After running aground, Captain Bainbridge and his crew struggled for hours to free the ship, but their efforts were pointless. Faced with no escape, they were forced to surrender to the Tripolitans.

The crew, including 38 Marines, was taken captive. Some resisted, including Bainbridge himself, who fought off a pirate attempting to steal a locket from his neck. Stripped of their belongings, the prisoners were marched through Tripoli as crowds jeered and spat at them.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia, once a symbol of American power, was now in enemy hands. But the war was far from over. 

The United States, barely three decades old, faced a crisis that tested its identity and resolve. After fighting a revolution to escape paying tribute to a distant empire, Americans found themselves doing the same—but this time to Barbary pirates. Captain William Bainbridge’s humiliating ordeal in Algiers exposed the weakness of U.S. foreign policy, forcing a national reckoning. With Thomas Jefferson in office, America would no longer tolerate extortion. A new era had begun—one that would shape the nation’s military and diplomatic future.

The Barbary Wars are often overshadowed by the American Revolution and the War of 1812, but they were the first real test of the United States’ ability to project power on the global stage. For too long, European nations had dealt with the Barbary States through ransom and tribute payments, essentially buying peace rather than enforcing it. America, at first, did the same. But when demands grew too high and national pride was on the line, the United States made a decision that would define its future—it chose to fight.

To understand why the United States went to war with Tripoli, we have to go back long before Jefferson, long before the American Revolution—even before Europeans knew the Americas existed. The roots of this conflict stretch back centuries, shaped by empires, religion, and the brutal economics of the slave trade. This is the story of the Barbary pirates and how their reign of terror finally met its match.