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The expeditionary force did not take the city of Tripoli. Tripoli is in western Libya. The city they did take was Derna, in eastern Libya, where Rommel did his thing. The situation was unlike ISIS, the Bey of Tripoli was more a gangster than religious fanatic. His utmost goal was to enrich himself with as much loot he could grab.

A side note, the Bey was not an Arab, he was Albanian. Some of his compatriots are giving the La Cosa Nostra a run for their money in certain sections of NYC.

"The expeditionary force did not take the city of Tripoli. Tripoli is in western Libya. The city they did take was Derna, in eastern Libya"

You are correct in the city that they took. However, the name of the country at that time was not Libya, but Tripoli. So the Marines did indeed go to the "Shores of Tripoli", not the city, but the country. However, as someone else noted there were only 8 of them I believe. They were lead by Lt. Pressley O'Bannon. The rest of the band under William Eaton was a motely group of mostly muslim mercenaries. It would indeed be a great movie. Another great movie from that era would be Stephen Decator's raid to destroy the captured ship Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor.