Hamidu rice

Hamidu Reis , actually Hamidu Ben Ali (* 1770 in Boumerdès , Algeria ; † on June 17, 1815 in the naval battle off Cape Gata , western Mediterranean ), was a corsair captain of the barbarian state of Algiers . In the English and French language literature and sources, he is usually called Hamidou , Rais Hammida or Amidon .

Life

Hardly any reliable facts are known about Hamidu's origin and early years of life. He is said to have been born in Boumerdès in 1770. According to some accounts, he was the son of an Arab tailor based in Algiers and had learned his father's craft before going to sea, according to others a Kabyle and thus of Berber descent. It just seems reasonably certain that he was not a Turk. The latter was particularly emphasized by Europeans who made his acquaintance. In this context, they not only pointed out his antipathy for the Turks living in Algiers, but also described him as a good-looking man who - contrary to the custom at the time in Islamic countries - did not wear a full beard. Hamidu is said not to have been averse to wine consumption either.

After his decision to go to sea, Hamidu quickly brought it from the cabin boy to the captain ( rice ) of a Schebeck des Deys of Algiers. Beginning in the last years of the 18th century, he hijacked numerous ships of the Christian sea powers, especially those of the Kingdom of Naples . He became famous for his coup on May 27, 1802, when he was sailing under a false flag and captured a Portuguese frigate with 44 cannons and a 282 crew.

Hamidu's successes as a corsair not only brought him increasing wealth, but also brought the Dey not inconsiderable income for the state treasury. Hamidu had even made Hamidu wakil el kharf for a short time in the late 1790s , which corresponded to the position of naval minister in the Christian European states. The success of his Korsarenkapitäns seem to have caused but increasing suspicion in Dey over time, since 1808 Hamidu was for more than a year from Algiers banned . Not least because of the lack of state income that Hamidus' removal brought with it, the Dey was forced to bring the exile back from his Beirut exile and to entrust him again with command of a ship squadron . Back in office, Hamidu undertook a pirate voyage into the Atlantic Ocean in 1810 , in 1812 he carried out a successful naval operation against the navy of the neighboring barbarian state of Tunis on behalf of his master .

During their pirate trips, the barbarian states benefited above all from the fact that the fleets of most of the European sea powers were tied up in the coalition wars and were needed for tasks other than hunting for corsair ships. However, the increasing audacity of the Algerian corsairs brought them into conflict with the United States again in 1815 , which led to the Second Barbarian War. Hamidu's squadron sailed towards the Strait of Gibraltar towards the US enemy in June . Its squadron consisted of nine ships, which were commanded by Stephen Decatur junior (1779-1820), a veteran of the First Barbarian War .

On June 17, 1815, Decatur's ships encountered the solo sailing Mesh (o) uda , the flagship Hamidus with 46 guns at Cape Gata . After a gun battle against several US ships, which lasted only about 25 minutes, the Mesh (o) uda finally dropped the flag . Hamidu Reis and 30 crew members were killed in the US cannonade , and 406 others were taken prisoner. There were only nine dead and 30 wounded on board the US ships involved in the fight, the majority of whom had been caused by an exploding gun.

Trivia

Raïs Hamidou , one of the 57 municipalities ( Communes ) of the province of Algiers ,which consists of 13 districts ( Daïras ), is named after Hamidu Reis.

literature

• Paul Desprès: Raïs Hamidou. Le dernier corsaire barbarenque d'Alger. Harmattan 2007, ISBN 978-2-296-02808-1 . (historical novel)

Web links

• Albert Devoulx: Le raïs Hamidou. Notice biographique sur le plus célèbre corsaire algérien du XIIIe siècle de l'hégire. D'après des documents authentiques. Et pour la plupart inédits. Dubos Frères, 1859. (PDF-File, 183 KB)
• Short biography including picture of Hamidous on www.algerie.com (in French)

References and comments

1. ↑ See Frederick C. Leiner: The End of Barbary Terror. America's 1815 War against the Pirates of North Africa. Oxford University Press 2006, ISBN 978-0195189940 , pp. 91f.
2. ^ Salvatore Bono: Pirates and Corsairs in the Mediterranean. Naval War, Trade, and Slavery from the 16th to 19th Centuries. Klett Cotta, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-608-94378-8 , pp. 182f. - Leiner (2006), p. 91, dates the hijacking of the frigate to May 28, 1802 and states that it was armed with 36 guns. According to yet another representation, the ship that was captured in 1802 was a Portuguese brig .
3. ↑ Leiner (2006), p. 91f. - In Bono (2009), however, the promotion of Hamidu to Minister of the Navy is not mentioned.
4. ↑ On the prehistory of this war and the relations between the USA and the barbaric states cf. also Leiner (2006), Chapter 1–3, pp. 5–52.
5. ^ John Franklin Dobbs: From Bunker Hill to Manila Bay. Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2009, ISBN 978-0217938082 , p. 140. - A detailed account of this naval battle and the further fate of the Mesh (o) uda can be found in Leiner (2006), pp. 93-102. Regarding the death of Hamidus, Bono (2009), p. 183, only states that he was " fatally wounded by a bullet ", whereas Leiner (2006), p. 97, writes that he was literally torn in two by a cannonball while he was trying to get his team to fight.