Eaton stated that Commodore Barron said the following to Isaac Hull.
Sir,
The written orders I here hand you to proceed to the port of Alexandria or Smyrna for the purpose of convoying to Malta any vessels you may find there, are intended to disguise the real object of your expedition, which is to proceed with Mr. Eaton to Alexandria in search of Hamet Bashaw, the rival brother and legitimate sovereign of the reigning bashaw of Tripoli, and to convoy him and his suit[e] to Derne or such other place on the coast, as may be determined the most proper for co-operating with the naval force under my command. . . .
Should Hamet Bashaw not be found at Alexandria, you have the discretion to proceed to any other place for him, where the safety of your ship can be, in your opinion, relied upon.
The Bashaw may be assured of the support of my squadron at Bengazi or Derne where you are at liberty to put in, if required. And you may assure him also that I will take the most effectual measures with the forces under my command for co-operating with him against the usurper, his brother, and for re-establishing him in the regency of Tripoli.
William Eaton appeared finally to have a U.S. Navy ship ready to take him to his first destination in search of Hamet. However, conspicuously absent from Hull’s “Secret Verbal Orders” was any mention of supplying arms, ammunition, or money. Barron was, in effect, approving the transporting of Hamet with naval support for Hamet’s war efforts. Eaton and Captain Hull left the President and at 8 A.M. boarded the Argus, which set sail for Malta. They arrived about forty hours later at midnight on September 17.
Now Eaton had a ship, and according to his notebook entries, he fully expected to leave for Alexandria within a day or two. But he still had no money. He dashed off a furious letter to Don Antonio Porcile. He opened with no chitchat or gracious greeting but launched very abruptly with the words: “It seems you have wholly mistaken the intentions of my government in consenting to the release of your daughter Anna.” Then Eaton stated he had drawn a bill of credit upon one Charles Wadsworth for the sum of $8,354 (the loan plus interest), payable on sight, “which I have no doubt you will honor.” (It was a bluff for money on Eaton’s part, and Wadsworth, a U.S. Navy purser, would never secure a penny from Porcile.)
Eaton, still furious over his lack of funds, also scribbled a testy note to Secretary of State Madison, also beginning abruptly: “I request you will be pleased to cause information to be forwarded from the office of the Department of State by which I may learn on what grounds . . . the Chevalier Antonio Porcile of Sardinia founds a pretext of having been released.” Eaton explained that he had been counting on that money to finance his mission. “This disappointment embarrasses exceedingly my calculations as I am left wholly without an alternative.”
Exasperated, Eaton also complained in a letter that same day to the secretary of the navy. “Commodore Barron declares he does not consider any construction of the President’s instructions will justify him in furnishing cash, arms and ammunition to Hamet Bashaw.” Eaton added that therefore, he must reluctantly retract his offer not to receive a salary and requested that he be allowed to draw his salary of $1,200 to use to finance his mission.
Eaton’s frustrations boiled over. “I cannot forbear expressing on this occasion the extreme mortification I suffer on account of my actual situation: destitute of commission, rank or command, and I may say, consideration or credit.”
Despite the hurdles, Eaton remained doggedly determined. “I hope to be organizing my saracen militia on the plains of Libya in order to bring them to the field next spring,” he wrote to a Federalist friend, Colonel Dwight. And he stated if Barron denied him supplies, “I shall be compelled to draw on the enthusiasm of Arabian resentment . . . as a substitute for field artillery, muskets, cartridges, flints, &c.—for I shall not abandon the object.”
On the verge of embarking, Eaton suddenly lost his one firm asset: the ship. The Argus, after a season in the winds off Tripoli, needed caulking, but no caulkers were to be found at Malta or Syracuse. So it was decided that the Argus would sail to Messina in northern Sicily. Also, Commodore Preble (the honorific title Commodore remains for life) wanted to return eight gunboats and two bomb boats he had borrowed from the King of Sicily. Preble requested that Hull in the Argus shepherd the loaner vessels to Messina. Since the caulking would take a week or more, the senior officers decided instead of sailing and killing time in Messina, they would take a little excursion to see Europe’s tallest active volcano.