Okla-homey
3/22/2007, 06:32 AM
Mar 22, 1820: Naval hero killed in duel
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/13261/2004364062993728759_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004364062993728759)
Stephen Decatur
187 years ago on this day, U.S. Navy officer Stephen Decatur, hero of the "Barbary Wars" against North African pirates, is mortally wounded in a duel with disgraced Navy Commodore James Barron at Bladensburg, Maryland.
Although once friends, Decatur sat on the court-martial that suspended Barron from the Navy for five years in 1808 and later opposed his reinstatement, leading to a fatal quarrel between the two men.
Born in Maryland in 1779, Stephen Decatur was reared in the traditions of the sea and in 1798 joined the United States Navy as a midshipman aboard the new frigate, USS United States. That year, he saw action in the so-called "quasi-war" with France and in 1799 was commissioned a lieutenant. Five years later, during the Tripolitan War, he became the most lauded American naval hero since John Paul Jones.
http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/11784/2004300038512088229_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004300038512088229)
In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids against U.S. ships by Muslim pirates from the Barbary states--Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania (Libya).
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/10853/2003968931477586515_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003968931477586515)
Jefferson had grown tired of paying the "protection" money to North African warlords which was necessary to guarentee the safety of US vessels trading on the Mediterranian Sea. Instead, the infant US would make payment in steel and fire.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/13909/2003935924528983008_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003935924528983008)
Action on the Barbary Coast. The USS Constitution and the schooner USS Vixen bombard Tripoli, August 3, 1803.
Sustained action began in June 1803, and in October the U.S. frigate Philadelphia ran aground near Tripoli and was captured by Tripolitan pirates. The Americans feared that the well-constructed warship would be used as a model for building future Tripolitan pirate ships, and on February 16, 1804, Stephen Decatur led a daring expedition into Tripoli harbor to destroy the captured vessel.
After disguising himself and his men (some of whom were Marines) as Maltese sailors, Decatur's force sailed into Tripoli harbor and boarded Philadelphia, which was guarded by Tripolitan cutthroats. The pirates were quickly overpowered by the Americans. After setting fire to the frigate, Decatur and his men escaped without the loss of a single American.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/13050/2004373336983208345_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004373336983208345)
The burning of USS Philadelphia
Philadelphia subsequently exploded when its magazine was ignited by the spreading fire. Famed British Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson hailed the exploit as the "most bold and daring act of the age," and Decatur was promoted to captain.
In August 1804, Decatur returned to "the shores of Tripoli" on the coast of the modern country of Libya as part of a larger American offensive. Decatur emerged as a hero again during what would become known as the "Battle of the Gunboats," which saw hand-to-hand combat between the Americans and the the motley Tripolitan force of pirates, garden-variety thugs and mercenaries.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/11530/2003982721159823087_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003982721159823087)
In 1807, Commodore James Barron, who fought alongside Decatur in the Tripolitan War, aroused considerable controversy when he failed to resist a British attack on his flagship, USS Chesapeake.
During this period, American merchant vessels were often detained and searched by Royal Navy vessels and an untold number of American sailors were "press ganged" into the British Navy which needed skilled seamen to man its ships in the world war against Napolean.
http://aycu10.webshots.com/image/14009/2004332211031267949_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004332211031267949)
British "press gang" taking a captured US sailor for forced service in the Royal Navy.
The matter came to a head on 22 June, 1807 during the siezure of USS Chesapeake by HMS Leopard with a number of her crew being so conscripted. This was a seminal act in motivating America to war in 1812. The fact that Chesapeake's skipper didn't put up a fight was considered cowardly and inexcusable.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/14040/2004399820404087750_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004399820404087750)
USS Chesapeake
Decatur sat on the court-martial that passed a verdict suspending Barron from the Navy for five years. This began the dispute between Decatur and Barron that would end 13years later on Maryland dueling grounds.
In the War of 1812, Decatur distinguished himself again when, as commander of USS United States, he captured the British ship of war HMS Macedonian off the Madeira Islands.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/14040/2004367932932151463_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004367932932151463)
USS United States v. HMS Macedonian
Barron, meanwhile, was overseas when his Navy expulsion ended in 1813 and did not return to the United States to fight in the ongoing war with England. This led to fresh criticism of Barron from Decatur, who later used his influence to prevent Barron's reinstatement in the Navy.
In June 1815, Decatur returned to the Mediterranean to lead U.S. forces in the Algerian War,(the second North African conflict.) By December, Decatur forced the dey (military ruler) of Algiers to sign a peace treaty that ended Algeria's extortion of the United States. Up to this time, the US governmnet had been compelled to pay the Algerians "protection" money to prevent Algerian piracy from being directed at US-flagged vessels operating in the Med.
Upon his return to the United States, Decatur was honored at a banquet in which he made a very famous toast:
"Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!"
Appointed to the Navy Board of Commissioners, Decatur arrived in Washington in 1816, where he became a prominent citizen and lived a satisfying life politically, economically, and socially.
In 1818, however, dark clouds began to gather when he again vocally opposed Barron's reinstatement into the Navy. The already strained relations between the two men deteriorated, and in March 1820 Decatur agreed to Barron's request to meet for a duel.
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/14286/2004158102022223196_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004158102022223196)
James Barron
Dueling, though generally frowned on, was still acceptable among Navy men. On March 22, at Bladensburg in Maryland, Decatur and Barron lifted their guns, fired, and each man hit his target. Decatur died several hours later in Washington, and the nation mourned the loss of the great naval hero.
http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/10651/2004163125375117582_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004163125375117582)
People still love Stephen Decatur
Barron recovered from his wounds and was reinstated into the Navy in 1821.:eek:
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/13261/2004352350097919306_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004352350097919306)
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/13261/2004364062993728759_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004364062993728759)
Stephen Decatur
187 years ago on this day, U.S. Navy officer Stephen Decatur, hero of the "Barbary Wars" against North African pirates, is mortally wounded in a duel with disgraced Navy Commodore James Barron at Bladensburg, Maryland.
Although once friends, Decatur sat on the court-martial that suspended Barron from the Navy for five years in 1808 and later opposed his reinstatement, leading to a fatal quarrel between the two men.
Born in Maryland in 1779, Stephen Decatur was reared in the traditions of the sea and in 1798 joined the United States Navy as a midshipman aboard the new frigate, USS United States. That year, he saw action in the so-called "quasi-war" with France and in 1799 was commissioned a lieutenant. Five years later, during the Tripolitan War, he became the most lauded American naval hero since John Paul Jones.
http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/11784/2004300038512088229_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004300038512088229)
In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids against U.S. ships by Muslim pirates from the Barbary states--Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania (Libya).
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/10853/2003968931477586515_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003968931477586515)
Jefferson had grown tired of paying the "protection" money to North African warlords which was necessary to guarentee the safety of US vessels trading on the Mediterranian Sea. Instead, the infant US would make payment in steel and fire.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/13909/2003935924528983008_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003935924528983008)
Action on the Barbary Coast. The USS Constitution and the schooner USS Vixen bombard Tripoli, August 3, 1803.
Sustained action began in June 1803, and in October the U.S. frigate Philadelphia ran aground near Tripoli and was captured by Tripolitan pirates. The Americans feared that the well-constructed warship would be used as a model for building future Tripolitan pirate ships, and on February 16, 1804, Stephen Decatur led a daring expedition into Tripoli harbor to destroy the captured vessel.
After disguising himself and his men (some of whom were Marines) as Maltese sailors, Decatur's force sailed into Tripoli harbor and boarded Philadelphia, which was guarded by Tripolitan cutthroats. The pirates were quickly overpowered by the Americans. After setting fire to the frigate, Decatur and his men escaped without the loss of a single American.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/13050/2004373336983208345_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004373336983208345)
The burning of USS Philadelphia
Philadelphia subsequently exploded when its magazine was ignited by the spreading fire. Famed British Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson hailed the exploit as the "most bold and daring act of the age," and Decatur was promoted to captain.
In August 1804, Decatur returned to "the shores of Tripoli" on the coast of the modern country of Libya as part of a larger American offensive. Decatur emerged as a hero again during what would become known as the "Battle of the Gunboats," which saw hand-to-hand combat between the Americans and the the motley Tripolitan force of pirates, garden-variety thugs and mercenaries.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/11530/2003982721159823087_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003982721159823087)
In 1807, Commodore James Barron, who fought alongside Decatur in the Tripolitan War, aroused considerable controversy when he failed to resist a British attack on his flagship, USS Chesapeake.
During this period, American merchant vessels were often detained and searched by Royal Navy vessels and an untold number of American sailors were "press ganged" into the British Navy which needed skilled seamen to man its ships in the world war against Napolean.
http://aycu10.webshots.com/image/14009/2004332211031267949_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004332211031267949)
British "press gang" taking a captured US sailor for forced service in the Royal Navy.
The matter came to a head on 22 June, 1807 during the siezure of USS Chesapeake by HMS Leopard with a number of her crew being so conscripted. This was a seminal act in motivating America to war in 1812. The fact that Chesapeake's skipper didn't put up a fight was considered cowardly and inexcusable.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/14040/2004399820404087750_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004399820404087750)
USS Chesapeake
Decatur sat on the court-martial that passed a verdict suspending Barron from the Navy for five years. This began the dispute between Decatur and Barron that would end 13years later on Maryland dueling grounds.
In the War of 1812, Decatur distinguished himself again when, as commander of USS United States, he captured the British ship of war HMS Macedonian off the Madeira Islands.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/14040/2004367932932151463_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004367932932151463)
USS United States v. HMS Macedonian
Barron, meanwhile, was overseas when his Navy expulsion ended in 1813 and did not return to the United States to fight in the ongoing war with England. This led to fresh criticism of Barron from Decatur, who later used his influence to prevent Barron's reinstatement in the Navy.
In June 1815, Decatur returned to the Mediterranean to lead U.S. forces in the Algerian War,(the second North African conflict.) By December, Decatur forced the dey (military ruler) of Algiers to sign a peace treaty that ended Algeria's extortion of the United States. Up to this time, the US governmnet had been compelled to pay the Algerians "protection" money to prevent Algerian piracy from being directed at US-flagged vessels operating in the Med.
Upon his return to the United States, Decatur was honored at a banquet in which he made a very famous toast:
"Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!"
Appointed to the Navy Board of Commissioners, Decatur arrived in Washington in 1816, where he became a prominent citizen and lived a satisfying life politically, economically, and socially.
In 1818, however, dark clouds began to gather when he again vocally opposed Barron's reinstatement into the Navy. The already strained relations between the two men deteriorated, and in March 1820 Decatur agreed to Barron's request to meet for a duel.
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/14286/2004158102022223196_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004158102022223196)
James Barron
Dueling, though generally frowned on, was still acceptable among Navy men. On March 22, at Bladensburg in Maryland, Decatur and Barron lifted their guns, fired, and each man hit his target. Decatur died several hours later in Washington, and the nation mourned the loss of the great naval hero.
http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/10651/2004163125375117582_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004163125375117582)
People still love Stephen Decatur
Barron recovered from his wounds and was reinstated into the Navy in 1821.:eek:
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/13261/2004352350097919306_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004352350097919306)