A privateer captain from a distinguished naval family, she provided invaluable intelligence and logistical support for the U.S. Marine Corps campaign against the Barbary pirates. Born into a French Huguenot family exiled in Switzerland, Irene d'Arneau claimed descent from Abraham Duquesne, the famed French naval commander of Louis XIV's age. Her family had left France for their faith, but never left the sea. From Smyrna's trading houses to Marseille's hidden docks, Irene soon earned her place in the Mediterranean's secret networks. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars threw the Mediterranean into chaos, and Irene rose quickly in the turmoil. Legend says that when Napoleon escaped Egypt for France, a Maltese-flagged xebec helped his small fleet evade British patrol ships. Irene left no name in French military reports, only forged passes, leaked routes, and a night of failed British searches. To the British, she was a smuggler. To the French, an exile. To the Barbary Pirates, a thorn they could not remove. After the First Barbary War began, William Eaton brought Irene into the expedition plan for her contacts and experience in the Mediterranean underworld. O'Bannon first distrusted her, but Irene quickly proved her worth in Alexandria. With bounties and promises, she gathered Greek gunners, Maltese sailors, Arab cavalry, and desert guides. Her knowledge of supply lines and North African ports helped the expeditionary force cross the sands and reach Derna's walls. During the Battle of Derna, she led a small team through an old drainage channel into the city's flank, cutting off the powder magazine from the gate so O'Bannon's frontal assault could break the defenders' line. After the battle, she gave O'Bannon detailed intelligence on the Pasha, helping the Americans gain an advantage in the negotiations. Irene received no hero's welcome at the moment of triumph, but she and the Mediterranean's secret networks played a vital role in the expedition's victory.