At the conclusion of the First Barbary War (1801–1805), Captain David Porter, USN assumed the task of creating a suitable monument for the fallen officers. Working with the Bishop of Florence, Porter commissioned Micali to produce the piece for $3000, half of Micali's usual fee. Completed in 1806, it was shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to Newport, Rhode Island on board the (famous frigate "Old Ironsides"), and then shipped south to the newly laid out national capital of Washington, D.C.. After awaiting funds for assembly and erection, the structure was finally placed at the Washington Navy Yard on the banks of the Eastern Branch (now the Anacostia River) of the Potomac River, as the "Naval Monument". Vandalized and damaged by the occupying British at the burning of Washington in August 1814, during the War of 1812, the monument was later restored. In 1831, it was moved to the United States Capitol on the west front facing the National Mall, much to the dissatisfaction of Porter, who found it had "been placed in a small circular pond of dirty fresh water—not large enough for a duck puddle—to represent the Mediterranean Sea."