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 Tripoli Monument - Annapolis, MD Posted by:  DougK
N 38° 58.987 W 076° 29.255
18S E 371153 N 4315955
In 1860, this monument was relocated from Washingto, DC, to its current site, the U.S. Naval Academy, which had opened in 1845, at Annapolis, Maryland. This monument is also known as the Naval Monument and the Peace Monument.
Waymark Code: WMEDNE
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 05/12/2012
Views: 4
The Tripoli Monument recalls the courage and valor displayed by several US naval officers killed in action in Tripoli, Libya, 1804 -- Captain Richard Somers, lieutenants James Caldwell, James Decatur (brother of Stephen, naval officer), Thomas Dorsey, Joseph Israel, and Henry Wadsworth. Their actions centered on the capture of the frigate Philadelphia near and in Tripoli’s harbor. These men fought in our young republic’s first armed conflict, the Barbary Wars.
On each side of the large square base is inscribed:
TO THE MEMORY OF
SOMERS, CALDWELL, DECATUR, WADSWORTH,
DORSEY, ISRAEL
From the Smithsonian AIC description:
The white marble sculpture consists of a thirty foot high column topped by an eagle and mounted on an elaborate base adorned with allegorical figures representing Glory, Fame, History, and Commerce. History, on the northwest corner, is represented by a seated female figure holding a book in her proper left hand and a pen made of bronze gilt in her proper right hand. She looks up and begins to record the event that she sees. Commerce, on the northeast corner, is represented by a male figure pointing to the column with his proper right hand and holding a caduceus in his proper left hand. Winged Victory stands beside the column, her proper right hand holding a laurel wreath over a sarcophagus and her proper left hand holding a bronze gilt palm branch. The column is adorned with two rows of antique "beaks of galleys" and two rows of antique anchors carved in relief. The sculpture rests on a square base constructed with blocks of stone and adorned with an urn on each corner.
A plaque at the base of the southeast side of the monument reads:
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THE TRIPOLI MONUMENT
The oldest military monument in the United States honors heroes of the War against
the Barbary Coast Pirates, the new republic's first war. In 1804, President Jefferson ordered
the nation's tiny naval force to the Mediterranean to protect the expanding trade of the new
United States against the pirates, who demanded ransom for safe passage of merchant ships.
"Millions for defense, but not on cent for tribute" became the rallying cry for this war.
Jefferson's action established the doctrine of extension of power overseas and created
a permanent United States Navy.
On "the shores of Tripoli," young Americans took brave actions against the pirates, including
torching their own grounded vessel, the USS Philadelphia, to prevent her use by the pirates.
Six men were killed before Tripoli's "pasha" relented. Congress cited them for their gallantry
and Captain David Porter, one of the pirates' captives, instituted a campaign for a monument
to honor his former shipmates, now heroes.
The monument was carved in 1806 in Italy, of Carrera marble, and brought to the United States
as ballast on board the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides). From the Washington Navy Yard it
moved to the west terrace of the national Capitol. It has stood at the Naval Academy since 1860.
Renovation of the Monument was completed in June 2000 through the leadership of
CAPT Warren B. Johnson '47, thanks to gifts from the VADM Eliot H Bryant & Miriam H Bryant
Endowments and Friends of the Save the Tripoli Monument Committee.
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TITLE: Tripoli Monument
ARTIST(S): sculptor: Giovanni C. Micali
DATE: Carved 1806. Installed 1808. Relocated 1831. Relocated 1860
MEDIUM: Sculpture: Carrara marble; Base: sandstone
CONTROL NUMBER: IAS 75005835
Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link]
PHYSICAL LOCATION:
east of the Officers' & Faculty Club
between Preble Hall (The Museum) & Leahy Hall
just inside the Maryland Ave Gate, United States Naval Academy
DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH:
None
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Visit Instructions:
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