Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen of the Story of the Barbary Corsairs. This
Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Aaron Bennett. The Story of
Speaker 1: the Barbary Corsairs by J. D. Gerald Kelly and Stanley
Speaker 1: lane Pool. The failure of the Siege of Malta was
Speaker 1: a sensible rebuff. Yet it cannot be said that it
Speaker 1: seriously injured the renown of the Turks and the Mediterranean.
Speaker 1: They had been resisted on land. They had not been
Speaker 1: beaten at sea, nor could they look back on the
Speaker 1: terrible months of the siege without some compensating feeling of consolation.
Speaker 1: They had taken Saint Elmo, and its fall had aroused
Speaker 1: general jubilation in every Muslim breast. The Moors of Grenada
Speaker 1: went near to rising against the Spaniards on the mere
Speaker 1: report of this triumph of the Turkish arms. Though they
Speaker 1: had failed to reduce Saint Michael, the cause was to
Speaker 1: be found, at least in part, in false alarm and
Speaker 1: an unreasoning panic, to be defeated by such warriors as
Speaker 1: the Knights of Saint John was not a disgrace. Like
Speaker 1: the Highlanders in the Crimean War, these men were not
Speaker 1: so much soldiers in their opponent's eyes as veritable devils,
Speaker 1: and who shall contend against the legions of the jin Moreover,
Speaker 1: forced as they were to abandon the siege, had they
Speaker 1: not left the island a desert, its people reduced by half,
Speaker 1: its fortifications, heaps of rubbish, its brave defenders, a handful
Speaker 1: of invalids, So reasoned the Turks, and prepared for another campaign.
Speaker 1: They had lost many men, but more were ready to
Speaker 1: take their place. Their immense fleet was uninjured, and though
Speaker 1: Dragoot was no more, Achiali, as the Christians called Ali
Speaker 1: al Eluji, the renegade, the Turks dubbed him Fartus, scurvied
Speaker 1: from his complaint, was following successful in his old master's steps.
Speaker 1: Born at Castelli in Calabria about fifteen oh eight, Achiali
Speaker 1: was to have been a priest, but is capture by
Speaker 1: the Turks turned him to the more exciting career of
Speaker 1: a corsair. Soon after the Siege of Malta, he succeeded
Speaker 1: Barbarosa's son Hassan as Pasha or Begelberg of Algiers, and
Speaker 1: one of his first acts was to retake Tunis all
Speaker 1: but Goletta and the name of Sultan Salim, the second,
Speaker 1: who to the unspeakable loss of the Mohammedan world, had
Speaker 1: in fifteen sixty six succeeded his great father Suliman. In
Speaker 1: July fifteen seventy off Ali Kada, on the southern coast
Speaker 1: of Sicily Akiala, surrounded four galleys of the religion. They
Speaker 1: then possessed but five, and took three of them, including
Speaker 1: the flagship, which Saint Clement, the general of the galleys, abandoned,
Speaker 1: in order to throw himself in his treasure on shore
Speaker 1: at Montequiero, one galley alone, the Saint Anne made a
Speaker 1: desperate resistance, the others surrendered. Sixty knights or serving brothers
Speaker 1: of the order were killed or made prisoners on this
Speaker 1: disastrous day, and so intense was the indignation in Malta
Speaker 1: that the Grand Master had much ado to save Saint
Speaker 1: Clement from being lynched by the mob, and was obliged
Speaker 1: to deliver him to the secular court, which at once
Speaker 1: condemned him to death. He was strangled in his cell
Speaker 1: and his body thrown in a sack into the sea.
Speaker 1: Such a success went far to atone for Mustapha Pasha's
Speaker 1: unfortunate siege. A far more important triumph awaited the Turks
Speaker 1: in fifteen seventy and seventy one, a siege and a conquest.
Speaker 1: The new Sultan, like his father, saw in the island
Speaker 1: of Cypress, a standing affront to his authority in the levant.
Speaker 1: Then as now, Cypress was a vital scent and all
Speaker 1: maritime wars in the Eastern Mediterranean, a convenient depot for
Speaker 1: troops and stores, a watch tower, whence the movements of
Speaker 1: the Turkish fleet could be observed, a refuge for the
Speaker 1: numberless Christian corsairs that infested the coast of Syria. Cyprus
Speaker 1: belonged to Venice, and on the score of her protection
Speaker 1: of piracy, the Sultan found no difficulty in picking a
Speaker 1: quarrel with the Senate. War was declared and Piali Pasha
Speaker 1: transported a large army under Lala Mustapha, not the Syroxier,
Speaker 1: who commanded at Malta to lay siege to Nicosia, the
Speaker 1: capital of the island. After forty eight days, the city
Speaker 1: fell September ninth and became a shambles. The catastrophe might
Speaker 1: have been averted had the Christian fleet owned a single
Speaker 1: competent chief, But unhappily, the relief of Cyprus was entrusted
Speaker 1: to the least trustworthy of all instruments, a coalition. Pope Pious,
Speaker 1: a man of austere pi piety, full of the zeal
Speaker 1: of his high office, and an energy and intellect a
Speaker 1: born leader, spared no effort to support the Venetians. As
Speaker 1: soon as war became inevitable. Few of the states of
Speaker 1: Europe found it convenient to respond to his appeal, but
Speaker 1: Philip of Spain sent a numerous fleet under Giovanni Andrea Doria,
Speaker 1: and the Pope himself, aided in some degree by the
Speaker 1: Italian Princess, added an important contingent, which he confided to
Speaker 1: the care of the Grand Constable of Naples, Mark Antony Colonna.
Speaker 1: Giovanni Zan commanded the Venetian fleet. The whole force, when united,
Speaker 1: amounted to no less than two hundred and six vessels,
Speaker 1: of which eleven were galleases, and nearly all the rest galleys,
Speaker 1: while the soldiers and crews numbered forty eight thousand men.
Speaker 1: So dire was the dread then inspired by the Turks
Speaker 1: that this vast armament dared not move till it was
Speaker 1: known there that Achiali had left the neighborhood of Italy,
Speaker 1: and even then the rivalries of the different admirals tended
Speaker 1: rather to war between the contingents than an attack upon
Speaker 1: the enemy's fleet. While the Christians were wrangling and Doria
Speaker 1: was displaying the same fabian caution that had led his
Speaker 1: grand uncle to lose the Battle of Pravesa, Piali Pasha,
Speaker 1: wholly regardless of danger, had bared his galleys almost entirely
Speaker 1: of soldiers in order to aid Lala Mustafa in the
Speaker 1: final assault on Nicosia. Had the Allied fleets attacked him
Speaker 1: on the eighth or ninth of September, it is doubtful
Speaker 1: whether a single Turkish galley could have shown fight. But
Speaker 1: Kolona and Doria wasted their time in wrangling and discussing,
Speaker 1: while the foe lay powerless at their feet. Finally they
Speaker 1: sailed back to Sicily for fear of bad weather. Such
Speaker 1: were the admirals who furnished the jibes of Achiali and
Speaker 1: his brother Corsairs. Famagusta surrendered August fourth, fifteen seventy one,
Speaker 1: and despite the promise of life and liberty, the garrison
Speaker 1: was massacred and the Venetian commander Braggadino cruelly burned to death.
Speaker 1: Cypress became a Turkish possession thenceforward to this day. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the Turkish and Barbary fleets, commanded by Ali Pasha, the
Speaker 1: successor of Piali and Akiali, ravaged Crete and other islands,
Speaker 1: and coasting up the Adriatic, worked their will upon every
Speaker 1: town or village it suited their pleasure to attack. Thousands
Speaker 1: of prisoners and stores, and booty of every description rewarded
Speaker 1: their industry at length. In September, they anchored in the
Speaker 1: Gulf of Lepanto. They had heard that the United Christian
Speaker 1: fleets were on the move, and nothing would suit the
Speaker 1: victors of Cypress better than a round encounter with the enemy.
Speaker 1: Flushed with success, they had no fear for the issue.
Speaker 1: Many a Christian fleet had gathered its members to together
Speaker 1: before then in the waters of the Adriatic. The Great
Speaker 1: Battle off Privesa was in the memory of many an
Speaker 1: old sailor. As the galleys came to the rendezvous in
Speaker 1: the autumn of fifteen seventy one. But there was an
Speaker 1: essential difference between then and now. Pervesa was lost by
Speaker 1: divided consuls. At Lepanto, there was but one commander in chief.
Speaker 1: Pope Pious the Fifth, had labored unceasingly at the task
Speaker 1: of uniting the allies and smoothing away jealousies, and he
Speaker 1: had succeeded in drawing the navies of Southern Europe on
Speaker 1: to another year's campaign. Then, worn by what he had
Speaker 1: learned of the wranglings off Cyprus, he exerted his prerogative
Speaker 1: as Vicar of God and named as the sole commander
Speaker 1: in chief of the whole fleet. Don John of Austria,
Speaker 1: son of the most illustrious monarch of the age, Don John,
Speaker 1: was born to greatness. His mother was the beautiful singer
Speaker 1: Barbara Blomberg. His father was Charles the Fifth. The one
Speaker 1: gave him grace and beauty, the other the genius of command.
Speaker 1: He was but twenty two when his half brother Philip
Speaker 1: confided to him the difficult task of suppressing the rebellion
Speaker 1: of the Moors and the Alpuares, where the experienced veterans
Speaker 1: of Spain had failed. The beardless general of twenty two
Speaker 1: succeeded to admiration, and now two years later he was
Speaker 1: called to the command of the whole navy of Southern Europe.
Speaker 1: He accepted the post with joy. He had all the
Speaker 1: hopeful confidence of youth, and he longed to fight one
Speaker 1: of the world's great battles. His enthusiasm glowed in his face.
Speaker 1: One sees it in his portraits and on the medals
Speaker 1: struck to commemorate his victory. Squadron after squadron begins to
Speaker 1: crowd the straits of Messina Venero, the Venetian admiral is
Speaker 1: already there, with forty eight galleys and sixty more expected.
Speaker 1: When Colonna enters in July with eighteen vessels and moors alongside,
Speaker 1: Don John has not yet arrived. He has had much
Speaker 1: ado to get his squadron ready, for no nation understands
Speaker 1: better than the Spanish the virtue of the adage Festina Lente.
Speaker 1: At last, he puts off from Barcelona and laboriously crosses
Speaker 1: the Gulf of Lions. One may smile now at the transit,
Speaker 1: but in those days, what with the mistral and the
Speaker 1: risk of corsairs, to cross the Gulf of Lions was
Speaker 1: a thing to be thought about. At Genoa, Don John
Speaker 1: is entertained by g Andrea Doria and attends a fancy
Speaker 1: ball in a gay humor that becomes his youth and buoyancy,
Speaker 1: with all his perils still ahead. As he proceeds, he
Speaker 1: hears how the Turks are laying waste Dalmatia, and how
Speaker 1: the Allies are quarreling at Messina, but he hastens not.
Speaker 1: He knows that a galley on a long voyage has
Speaker 1: as much a fixed pace as a horse, and that
Speaker 1: flogging is of no use except for a short course.
Speaker 1: At Naples. He reverently receives the standard blessing by His
Speaker 1: Holiness himself, and on August twenty third he joins the
Speaker 1: fleet at Messina. Time is still needed for the other
Speaker 1: ships to come up and for the commander in chief
Speaker 1: to mature his plans before they start. Each captain of
Speaker 1: a galley will have a separate written order showing him
Speaker 1: his place during the voyage and his post in any
Speaker 1: engagement whereby the risk of confusion and hasty marshaling is
Speaker 1: almost done away. On the sixteenth of September, the signal
Speaker 1: is given to weigh anchor. Don John is off first
Speaker 1: in his real a splendid capatina galley of sixty oars
Speaker 1: with a poop carved with allegorical designs by Vasquez of Seville.
Speaker 1: After him come two hundred and eighty five vessels comprising
Speaker 1: six galleasses and two hundred nine galleys, carrying twenty nine
Speaker 1: thousand men and commanded by the most famous names of
Speaker 1: the great families of Spain Genoa, Venice, Naples, Rome, Vincenza, Padua,
Speaker 1: Savoy and Sicily. Don Juan de Cardona leads the van
Speaker 1: with seven galleys. Don John himself, between marc Antonio, Colonna
Speaker 1: and Venera, commands the center of sixty two large galleys.
Speaker 1: Gia Doria has fifty in the right wing. Barbarigo of
Speaker 1: Venice fifty three in the left. Don Alvaro de Bezon
Speaker 1: commands the reserve of thirty galleys. The galleases are ranged
Speaker 1: before the lines, each with five hundred arquebacers on board.
Speaker 1: After ten days of rowing and sailing, they reach Corfu
Speaker 1: and the castle greets them with thunders of joy guns.
Speaker 1: For the fear of the Turk is removed. Ali Pasha
Speaker 1: hard By in the Gulf of Lepanto sent out scouts
Speaker 1: to ascertain the enemy's strength. A bold Barbary corsair pushed
Speaker 1: his bark unseen by night, among the Christian galleys, but
Speaker 1: his report was imperfect. Until the day of conflict, neither
Speaker 1: side knew the exact strength of his opponent. The Turkish
Speaker 1: fleet numbered about two hundred and eight galleys and sixty
Speaker 1: six galleos and carried twenty five thousand men. Constantinople furnished
Speaker 1: ninety five galleys, twenty one from Alexandria, twenty five from Anatolia,
Speaker 1: ten from Rhodes, ten from Middelein, nine from Syria, twelve
Speaker 1: from Napoli de Romania, thirteen from Negropont, and eleven from
Speaker 1: Algiers and Tripoli. The galios were chiefly barbary vessels, more
Speaker 1: useful for piracy than a set battle. The two fleets
Speaker 1: unexpectedly came in sight of each other at seven o'clock
Speaker 1: on the morning of October seventh, at a point just
Speaker 1: south of the Echinades and between Ithaca and the Gulf
Speaker 1: of Patras or l A white sail or two on
Speaker 1: the horizon was described by Don John's lookout on the
Speaker 1: main top. Then sail after sail rose above the sea line,
Speaker 1: and the enemy came into full view. Don John quickly
Speaker 1: ran up a white flag, the signal of battle, and
Speaker 1: immediately the whole fleet was busily engaged in clewing up
Speaker 1: the sails to the yards and making all snug for
Speaker 1: the conflict. The central banks were removed to make room
Speaker 1: for the soldiers, and the slaves were served with meat
Speaker 1: and wine. Old seamen, who had met the Turks again
Speaker 1: and again from their youth up prepared grimly for revenge.
Speaker 1: Sanguine boys who held arms and set for fight for
Speaker 1: the first time that day, looked forward eagerly to the
Speaker 1: moment of action, even to the last. The incurable vacillation
Speaker 1: of the Allied admirals was felt. They suggested a council
Speaker 1: of war. Don John's reply was worthy of him. The
Speaker 1: time for councils is past, he said, do not trouble
Speaker 1: yourselves about aught but fighting. Then he entered his gig
Speaker 1: and went from galley to galley, passing under each stern,
Speaker 1: crucifix in hand, encouraging the men. His calm and confident men,
Speaker 1: and the charm of his address excited universal enthusiasm, and
Speaker 1: he was met on all hands with the response. Ready Sir,
Speaker 1: and the sooner the better. Then Don John, unfrilled the
Speaker 1: blessed standard with the figure of the Savior, and falling
Speaker 1: on his knees, commanded his cause to God. About eleven o'clock,
Speaker 1: a dead calm set in. The Turks shortened sail and
Speaker 1: took to their oars. In perfect order, and with matchless
Speaker 1: speed and precision, they formed in line of battle, while
Speaker 1: drums and fifes announced their high spirits. The Christian fleet
Speaker 1: was slower in falling into line. Some of the galleys
Speaker 1: and most of the galley asses were behind hand. Don
Speaker 1: John let drop some pious oaths and scent swim vessels
Speaker 1: to hurry them up. At last they began to get
Speaker 1: into order. Barbarigo, the left guide, hugged the coast with
Speaker 1: the left wing. Don John, with the center, kept touch
Speaker 1: with him, But where was the right guide. Giovanni Doria,
Speaker 1: infected with the tactical vanity of his family, resolved to
Speaker 1: show these landsmen how a sailor can maneuver. Conceiving that
Speaker 1: Akiali on the Ottoman left was trying to outflank the
Speaker 1: Christian fleet, he bore out to sea in order to
Speaker 1: turn him in vain. Don John sent to recall him.
Speaker 1: He had gone out of reach and the battle had
Speaker 1: to be fought without the right wing. Doria's precious maneuvering
Speaker 1: went near to losing the day. The Ottoman fleet was
Speaker 1: marshaled in the same order as the Christian except that
Speaker 1: there were no galleasses. The line of battle, nearly a
Speaker 1: mile long, was divided into center and right and left wing,
Speaker 1: and behind the center was the reserve. Mohammed Shaluk, called
Speaker 1: by Europeans. Sirocco commanded the right wing, opposed to Barbarigo's left.
Speaker 1: Ali Pasha opposed Don John in the center. Aki Aali
Speaker 1: was over against the posts where Doria should have been.
Speaker 1: Between the two lines stood forth the heavy galleasses like
Speaker 1: great breakwaters, turning aside and dividing the flowing rush of
Speaker 1: the Ottoman galleys. The fire of these huge floating castles
Speaker 1: nearly caused a panic among the Turks, but they soon
Speaker 1: pulled past them, and a general melee ensued and the
Speaker 1: Christian left. After a deadly struggle in which both Barbarigo
Speaker 1: and Siroko lost their lives, the Turks were repulsed and
Speaker 1: deprived of their chief took to the shore, but not
Speaker 1: before the Christians had lost many galleys and a host
Speaker 1: of brave men. Soon after the left had been engaged,
Speaker 1: the center came into action. Ali Pasha made straight for
Speaker 1: Don John's real and his beak rammed it as far
Speaker 1: in as the fourth bank of Wars. Those by were
Speaker 1: Pertev Pasha and the capitanas of Colonna and Venio. The
Speaker 1: ships became entangled and formed one large platform of war.
Speaker 1: Twice the Spaniards of the Rial boarded the final of
Speaker 1: Ali Pasha as far as the main mast, and twice
Speaker 1: they were driven back with terrible loss. Ali himself was
Speaker 1: preparing to leap upon Don John's galley when Colonna rammed
Speaker 1: him on the poop, penetrating as far as the third
Speaker 1: oar and delivering a withering fire from his arquebascers. The
Speaker 1: Christians had all the advantage of armor and firearms and
Speaker 1: fired behind bulwarks. The Turks were unprotected by kuris or
Speaker 1: a helmet or bulwark, and most of them had bows
Speaker 1: instead of guns. Colona's volleys decided the fate of the Final,
Speaker 1: and Ali Pasha departed this life. An hour and a
Speaker 1: half had sufficed to disperse the Ottoman right and to
Speaker 1: overpower the flagship in chief. When the fleet saw the
Speaker 1: Christian ensign at the peak of the Turkish Capitana, they
Speaker 1: redoubled their efforts. Veniro, severely wounded, still fought with the
Speaker 1: Serroxir Pertev Pasha. The Turks fled and Pertev took to
Speaker 1: the land. In half an hour more, Don John's center
Speaker 1: was completely victorious. Then a new danger arose. Akiali, seeing
Speaker 1: that Doria was well away to see, sharply doubled back
Speaker 1: with all the right wing and bore down upon the
Speaker 1: exhausted center. He rushed upon the Capitana of Malta and
Speaker 1: massacred every soul on board. Dragout is avenged Wan Day
Speaker 1: Cordona hastened to the rescue and of his five hundred soldiers,
Speaker 1: but fifty escaped on the Fiorenza. Seventeen men alone remained alive,
Speaker 1: and other terrible losses were incurred in the furious encounter.
Speaker 1: Upon this, the ingenious Doria perceived that he had outwitted
Speaker 1: only his own cause, and at last turned back. The
Speaker 1: Marquise des Senta Cruz was already upon the enemy. Don
Speaker 1: John was after him with twenty galleys. Achiali was outnumbered,
Speaker 1: and after a brilliant effort, made off in all haste
Speaker 1: for Santa Moa, bearing with him the standard of the
Speaker 1: religion to be hung up in Saint Sophia. The Battle
Speaker 1: of Lepanto is fought and won. The Turks have been
Speaker 1: utterly vanquished. Well might the good Pope cry, as the
Speaker 1: preacher cried in Saint Stephen's a century later, when Sobieski
Speaker 1: saved Vienna, there was a man sent from God whose
Speaker 1: name was John. The Turkish fleet was almost annihilate. One
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety galleys were captured besides Galios, and fifteen
Speaker 1: more burnt or sunk. Probably twenty thousand men had perished,
Speaker 1: including an appalling list of high dignitaries from all parts
Speaker 1: of the Empire. The Christians lost seven thousand, five hundred men,
Speaker 1: including many of the most illustrious houses of Italy and Spain. Cervantes,
Speaker 1: who commanded a company of soldiers on board the Marquesa,
Speaker 1: fortunately escaped with a wound in his left arm, and
Speaker 1: to many the Battle of Lepanto is familiar only from
Speaker 1: the magical pages of Don Quixote. Seventeen Venetian commanders were dead,
Speaker 1: and among them Vincenzo Corarini, and the valiant, chivalrous and
Speaker 1: venerable provedatour Barbarigo. Sixty knights of the diminished Order of
Speaker 1: Saint John had given up the ghost. Twelve thousand Christian
Speaker 1: slaves were freed from the Ottoman galleys. The brilliant young
Speaker 1: conqueror did not wear his well earned laurels long. His
Speaker 1: statue was erected at Messina. His victory was the subject
Speaker 1: of Tintoret and Titian. He was received with ovations wherever
Speaker 1: he went. Two years later he recaptured Tunis. Then he
Speaker 1: was employed in the melancholy task of carrying on Alva's
Speaker 1: detestable work. In Flanders. He inflicted a sanguinary defeat upon
Speaker 1: the Dutch at Jembleu, and then struck down by fever.
Speaker 1: The young hero died on October first, fifteen seventy eight,
Speaker 1: in his thirty first year, the last of the great
Speaker 1: figures of medieval Chivalry, a knight worthy to have been
Speaker 1: commemorated in the Charlemagne Guests, and to have sat at
Speaker 1: Arthur's round table with Sir Galahad himself. End of Chapter fourteen.
Speaker 1: Recording by Aaron Bennett