While the legends of José Gaspar are full of alleged adventure and swashbuckling, history tells a different story.

In July of 1785, Algerian pirates captured American ships ... the third President of the United States in 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli sent him a note demanding the immediate payment of $225,000 ...

Six years later he went as third lieutenant to the famed frigate Constellation, four years older than himself, which had spouted broadsides against the French, the English, the pirates of Tripoli.