Show thelam na go wo ff h N man AU 0 wco WV apish aej av aa el tr 13 6 se 40 7 C ea S e lor V W 4 4 by ALFRED IN N 11 THE united states naval hall ot of paine faroe no name occupies a more prominent niche than that of stephen decatur whose heroic and daring deeds illumine the pages of american history and have been told in ninny many a thrilling tale tal corn born in maraland in our hero was given the name of stephen in of his father commodore stephen decatur who not only played an important part in the war of the revolution evolution It but in the war with franco france commanded tile delaware carrying twenty pins guns and in 1800 was in command of a squadron of thirteen vessels it was but natural that the boy should have a longing to follow in the alie footsteps of his father on whose ship he made his first voyage when tits his desire for a naval life became known to commodore carry barry that officer secured a mans warrant for him and started him on his adventurous and brilliant career lie he began ills his serice sen ice when he was eighteen years old under commodore barry on the frigate united states it was on this ship that young decatur became acquainted with james barron barren then a lieutenant at whose handi he be was to meet his death in a duel twenty two years later th tho frigate united states was sent to the wt indies and decatur having made good was soon boon promoted by commodore barry to a lieutenancy provisionally and the appointment was confirmed by president adams while on his second cruise decatur performed an act of grent great bravery A member of the crew who could tot not swim fell overboard and decatur without a moments hesitation leaped after him and supported him until a ships boat came to the rescue while ills his ship was temporarily in the harbor of philadelphia lieutenant decatur was assigned to recruiting duty several of tits his men whom lie had enlisted deserted and took service on an india merchantman ue ile demanded their surrender but athe first officer not only refused to deliver tile the deserters but grossly insulted him thereupon decatur laid the matter before his father who told him to demand an apology and if denied then ithen to send a challenge to fight ile he acted accordingly and an apology being refused he issued a challenge which was accepted decatur told his friends that he did not intend to kill the officer but would merely wound him in the hip the duelists met in a secluded spot on tile the banks of the delaware and exchanged shots decatur who escaped injury kept tits his word lie he winged his man in the exact enact spot where lie had bad said he be would when the brief war with france was ended the navy was reduced but decatur was retained with thirty six other lieutenants in 1801 he was assigned to the essex commanded by capt william bainbridge and while cruising in the mediterranean the ship put into the port of barcelona for a brief anchorage the boats of the essex esses while going to and from the shore at night were halted by the off officers leers of a spanish ship ot of war doing police duty in the harbor decatur called on the proper officer and presented a remonstrance being treated in a most discourteous manner be declared he be would not let the matter drop the next day lie visited tile spanish ship but was unable to find the officer who had insulted him upon taking ills his departure lie left a message couched in very hostile language for the offending spaniard on reaching shore decatur made a thorough search for him being determined to call him to account the officer kept under cover until the spanish captain general took a hand in the affair and with the aid of captain bainbridge prevented a duel in the summer of decatur was promoted to first lieutenant and was assigned to duty on the frigate new york commanded by barren Darron who had risen to a captaincy the ship sailed for the mediterranean crul cruising sing in that sea for several months when war was declared against tin algerian pirates who were raiding american merchant vessels and demanding large sums of money for immunity which the united states refused to pay although other nations came across with the required tribute and thus bought the freedom of the mediterranean decatur was given command of a brig and sailed to join the fleet at the scene of trouble it was in the harbor of tripoli that decatur engaged in a most perilous adventure that made film world famous and caused lils ills name to be indelibly written in the annals of brave deeds the frigate philadelphia running on a rock while in pursuit of a pirate vessel was captured by the enemy and capt caal william bainbridge and the tenure crew were taken prisoners captain bainbridge managed to send from his prison an apparently insignificant letter to commodore preble in the harbor of syracuse and preble suspecting that it concealed a matter of importance held it against the flame of a candle which exposed a message written in lemon juice captain bainbridge suggested that a party of men under trusty officers be sent into the harbor ot 0 tripoli and either retake or burn or blow up the philadelphia which the pirates had re floated repaired and manned for action commodore preble promptly acted on the suggestion and issued a call tor for volunteers decatur and other valorous officers at once offered to lead a party and carry out the plan of attack decatur however was given tile the command owing to his priority and with severity ove five volunteers from ills bis the siren biren embarked in a otty fifty ton I 1 ketch for the lie harbor ot of tripoli this little vessel had been captured from the Tripoli tans a few weeks previously by decatur and had been renamed the intrepid with tier her intrepid crew she proved true to tier her name slie she carried a large supply of combustibles explosives and cutlasses cut lasses under cover of the night of 0 february 10 16 bisoi tile the intrepid was roach directly to the philadelphia phia and made fast decatur gave the order to board the vessel and liis ills men climbed to the deck the Tripoli tans were taken completely by surprise and were mowed down one after the other by the americans with their cutlasses cut lasses the onslaught was terrific and merciless more than twenty were killed at the first attack seeing resistance useless some of the sun ivors vors jumped overboard and were drowned or killed by the sirens boat crew who had followed in the wake of the intrepid others hid in the dark recesses of the shirk ship the capture ot of the philadelphia was accomplished in ten minutes and in less than halt half an hour she was a mass ot of flames decatur and his band of heroes escaped amid a shower ot of shot and shell from the shore batteries and returned to syracuse harbor two days after their audacious exploit not one of the fearless adventurers was killed or wounded nelson the distinguished english naval commander declared it the most daring net act of the age upon receiving commodore report and recommendations congress rewarded decatur with a sword and a captains commission six months after the destruction of the philadelphia lit decatur in command of a fleet of gun boats began a series of flie five attacks on the tripoli harbor and batteries one of the gun boats in command of decature Deca brother james decatur Deon Peca tur engaged tn a battle with a pl pirate craft whose bose commander surrendered As the lieutenant was about to take possession the treacherous captain shot him in the head and he fell back into ills his boat dead taking advantage of the stunning surprise and excitement of tile the americans the corsair rowed rapidly 10 away captain decatur on hearing of what had happened gae chase and soon overhauled the fu fugitive 1 I boat lie he climbed on oil board etli aith ten men and singled out tile the murderer of its his brother ue he as a gigantic turk but undaunted by his size and defiant attitude decatur attacked him with all the vigor at his command and succeeded in killing him thus did he quickly avenge the murder of lis his brother a bright oung boung man mail whom lie dearly loved following the tripoli battles decatur was placed in command of the frigate constitution which became famous as old ironsides and Is being carefully preserved as a glorious memorial of the pioneer navy the next year decatur sailed tor for home and in 1808 was promoted to commodore and assigned to the frigate united states as ills his flagship on which lie he had made his initial cruise in the bernice sen ice of ills his country in the war of 1812 commodore decatur captured the british warship macedonia BIa cedonia after a most desperate battle and for this brilliant victory congress presented him with a gold medal in 1815 when in command of the president lie he encountered the endymion oft off long island and a fierce fight followed ills men fell thick and fast killed billed and wounded ills his ships spars and rigging were shot to pieces the vessel was almost dismantled finally tier her battery was silenced the endymion defeated dropped out of action when alien other oilier british vessels came up and prepared to put an end to the president by opening fire seeing that further fighting was suicidal commodore decatur surrendered to the british squadron not to the endymion which hall had been severely punished ile he handed tits his sword to commodore hayes bayes who returned it ft at once as a token of its his appreciation of the gallant fight that the presidents commander had made decatur was paroled on the arrival of the british squadron at the bermudas and was sent home A court of inquiry instead of criticizing criticising critic ising rig decatur praised him and his officers and crew the verdict being they were worthy of the highest commendation five days after the peace with england was announced the united states declared war against the bey of algiers whose pirates had captured an american We merchant reliant blile the edwin and sold the crew as slaves in two fiercely contested battles with ith the navy whose squadron outnumbered the american fleet decatur captured two of tile the best algerian vessels and at once headed tor for the harbor ot of algiers with the intention of attacking the shore fortifications whon when the fleet came in sight a messenger with etli a flag of truce invited decatur to come ashore to consider a treaty lie he refused and insisted lasI Insi sled that a treaty in compliance with his 34 VA A A demands should be immediately signed in less les than three hours it was signed sealed ana an delivered and tile american prisoners together with nith indemnity for the capture of tile tho edwin and her cargo were imme handed over A few weeks later the feet acet sailed for tripoli and tunis both having violated their treaties and obligations of neutrality they quickly compiled with the terms dictated by decatur who received the acclaim of all europe tor for breaking up the piracy that lias has been so boldly carried on by the barbary states soon after decature Deca return to the united states lie was appointed a member of the board of navy commissioners ills his colleagues being commodores rodgers and porter it was at tb this ls time that tile the real trouble between barron barren and decatur originated in 1807 barron was in co command minand ot of the chesapeake aben vi hen she was ordered to heave to by the tha british man of war leopard to be searched sea relied tor for deserters the english claiming the right of search sell I 1 rell although there was no treaty to that effect barron refused the demand but made tile mistake of 0 not getting ready for action tile the leopard fired a broadside and continued firing for ten or fifteen minutes twenty two shots struck the chesapeake killing or wounding twenty one members of the crew barron himself was wounded the chesapeake owing to and confusion was unable to fire more than one shot when barron lowered his hag flags four men charged cli arged with beling being english deserters were taken over to the leopard which then sailed away barron was brought before a court of inquiry of which decatur was a member although tile the court found barron only partially to blame for the surrender of his vessel it sentenced him to five years suspension the finding as to barrons barrens personal conduct virtually acquitted him in of cowardice in these words no transposition of the specifications or any other modification of the charges themselves will III alter tile hie opinion of tile the court ns as to tile the firmness and courage of the accused the eil evidence dence being clear and satisfactory ills sent erce expired five months after the breaking out of the war of 1812 but barron who was in europe did not return to the united states until after the declaration of pence peace lie ile then decided to apply for reinstatement but when ills his petition came before the commissioners decatur refused to recommend faNo favorable rable action the principal ground of ills his objection was that barron had not returned to take part in the war barron who was reinstated took exception to certain remarks made by decatur who refused to retract but did everything ever tiling in ills a power to restore the friendly feeling that had existed between them A long correspondence followed but decatur stood firm in his replies to barrons Bar rohs letters lie persistently denied that lie he bore tiny animosity against him between you and me decatur wrote there never has been any personal difference but I 1 liae have entertained and do still entertain the opinion that your conduct as ai an officer since the affair of the chesapeake has been such as ought to forever bar your readmission to the service this stinging rebuke sank deep into the heart of barron barren who finally challenged decatur they met on march 22 1820 at bladensburg this small village in the immediate vicinity of washington was the scene of the battle between the americans and the british in 1811 1814 and became a famous dueling ground capt jesse elliott acted as second for barron and commodore bainbridge seconded decatur just before the duel barron barren said to decatur that he hoped to meet him in the next world and to be better friends than they had been in tills this 1 I have never been your enemy replied decatur the two men took their stations at eight paces tile the distance being shortened ried two paces owing to the fact that barron mas as somewhat nearsighted at the exchange of shots both were wounded in the right hip decatur Is to have forgiven barron but lie he said that he could not forgive those who had urged him to take ills his life would to god had said tills this yesterday jes replied barrun barron decatur died within a few hours and was deeply mourned by the entire nation unswerving loyalty to liis its country was the outstanding principle of ills his life it ag decatur who gave utterance to the famous sentiment my country may she ever eier be right but right or wrong my country barron soon koon recovered and became senior boffl of the navy in 1830 1800 but never again was in ID active son ice lie he lived to be eighty two years of age but never fully won back the re sLat of the public which lie had once hold held |