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ML_decatur_bkp.htm
Commodore Stephen Decatur
Exploits Against Infamous Barbary Pirates Made Decatur The Navy's Youngest Captain
By Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Military.com Columnist
Fresh from his War of 1812 fame, Commodore Stephen Decatur in 1815 was sent to North Africa, where the Barbary powers of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli were encouraging -- or at the very least permitting -- piracy. There, Decatur engineered peace between the United States and His Highness Omar Bashaw, Bey of Algiers. "Should a vessel of either of the contracting parties be cast on shore within the Territories of the other all proper assistance shall be given to her, and to her crew; no pillage shall be allowed," reads Article 10 of the peace treaty.
These words were more than a formality. For hundreds of years, Barbary pirates had been the terror of the Mediterranean. In 1804, Decatur himself had given these guerrilla sailors their first taste of failure. On Feb. 16 of that year, pirates had captured the U.S. frigate Philadelphia. With a small ship and even smaller crew, Decatur slipped into the harbor and scuttled the Philadelphia, burning it without the loss of even one of his men. The British admiral Lord Nelson called it "the most daring act of the age." In negotiating the peace treaty, Decatur put an end to the extortionist tributes that had been demanded from all ships by the pirates.
On his return to the United States following his 1804 triumph, Decatur was honored at a banquet, and proposed a famous toast: "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!" For his deeds, Decatur was made a captain, the youngest ever in the Navy at the age of 25.
Decatur was a much-celebrated figure in his heyday, but his life was cut tragically short by a duel. Some sources claim that, ever the gentleman, Decatur did not back up the necessary number of paces for safety because of his opponent's faulty eyesight. All of Washington turned out for his funeral in March 1820. |
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