Eaton, William

▪ United States military officer

born Feb. 23, 1764, Woodstock, Conn.

died June 1, 1811, Brimfield, Mass., U.S.

      U.S. Army officer and adventurer who in 1804 led an expedition across the Libyan Desert during the so-called Tripolitan War.

      After service in the U.S. Army, Eaton was appointed consul at Tunis (1798) by President John Adams. In 1803 he won President Thomas Jefferson's approval for a plan to settle U.S. maritime differences with Tripoli by removing its government and reinstating the exiled Pasha Hamet Karamanli. Eaton marched from Egypt westward, with 10 U.S. marines, a number of Arabs, and Karamanli. With the help of a U.S. naval bombardment, he took Derna (Darnah; April 27, 1805), but when the ruling pasha at Tripoli agreed to a treaty with the United States, Eaton was obliged to curtail his operation. Afterward he returned to the United States.

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