immediately upon Argus and the sloop-of-war , anchored quite a bit nearer than Argus and Nautilus. By 14:45 that afternoon, gunfire from the ships silenced all of the guns in the city. A desperate charge led by United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon managed to carry the gun batteries by storm and breathed new life into the assault. After hoisting the American flag over the battlements, O'Bannon ordered the already loaded captured guns to be turned on the town. By 16:00 that afternoon, the entire town had fallen to Eaton's army, and the enemy fled to the hinterland. The capture of Derna has been immortalized in the words of the Marines' Hymn ("... to the shores of Tripoli"). After Eaton's and O'Bannon's victory, a Tripolitan army, which had been sent to reinforce the town, arrived and began preparations to retake Derna. Argus remained offshore to provide gunfire support in the defense of the town throughout the occupation of Derna. When the Tripolitans finally assaulted the town on 13 May 1805, Argus joined in the fray and enabled the defensive forces narrowly to beat back the charging enemy troops. Arguss guns wreaked havoc among the enemy forces during their headlong retreat. Between that time and early June 1805, the Tripolitans made a few more half-hearted approaches during which Arguss long 12-pounders (5 kg) came into play. However, things remained relatively quiet, for negotiations with the pasha in power were already underway. On 11 June 1805, orders arrived for Eatons force to evacuate Derna as negotiations had been concluded. The troops and the deposed pasha were embarked in Constellation that evening, and Argus and the other American ships quit the area. Operations, 1805–1812 Argus continued to cruise the Mediterranean until the summer of 1806. She returned to the United States at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on 13 July 1806 and was laid up there in ordinary. In 1807, she was fitted out at the Washington Navy Yard, returned to full commission, and began a series of cruises along the Atlantic coast of the United States to enforce the Embargo Act of 1807, which she continued through the outbreak of the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom in June 1812. War of 1812 After the outbreak of war, Argus continued her cruises off the U.S. Atlantic coast. During one cruise between 8 October 1812