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You can always tell an old soldier by the inside of his holsters and cartridge boxes. The young men carry pistols and cartridges; the old ones, grub. -- George Bernard Shaw |
Captain Stephen Decatur, 5 January 1779 - 22 March 1820(284 total words in this text)(2594 Reads)  Born in Sinnepuxent, Maryland, 5 January 1779. Died at Washington DC, 22 March 1820. Buried in St. Peter's Churchyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Appointed Midshipman US Navy, 30 April 1798. Lieutenant 21 May 1799. Captain 16 February 1804. Served as Midshipman on the USS United States, 1798-1799, War with France. Conspicuous for gallantry in War with Tripoli, 1803-1804. Recaptured the USS Philadelphia from the Tripolitans, in the harbor of Tripoli, and destroyed her, 16 February 1804. War of 1812, distinguished for the capture of the HMS Macedonian 25 October 1812; commanded the USS United States at this time. In the spring of 1814 commanded the President and a squadron of three vessels, in the West Indies and flew the pennant of Commodore. 15 January 1815, the USS President had a severe engagement with the British West India Squadron, and surrendered after having lost a quarter of her crew and being surrounded by three frigates Decatur was made prisoner, taken to Bermuda, and from there sent to New London on parole, in the British frigate HMS Narcissus. After peace was declared with Great Britain, Decatur commanded the US Mediterranean Squadron and secured the final treaty of peace with the Barbary Powers. From 1816 to 1820 he was Navy Commissioner. He received the thanks of Congress and a sword for his service before Tripoli and a gold medal for distinguished service in the War of 1812. His sad death from a duel with Commodore Barron was deeply deplored by the whole country. His remains were temporarily deposited in the tomb of Joel Barlow at Washington, but later removed to Philadelphia. |
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This Day in History
1775:
The American Revolution begins as fighting breaks out at Lexington, Massachusetts.
1861: Residents of Baltimore, Maryland, attack a Union regiment while the group makes its way to Washington. 1861: President Lincoln orders a blockade of Confederate ports. 1927: In China, Hankow communists declare war on Chiang Kai-shek. 1938: General Francisco Franco declares victory in the Spanish Civil War. 1943: Waffen SS attack Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto putting down the uprising. 1951: I and IX Corps reached the Utah Line, south of the Iron Triangle. 1951: General MacArthur denounced the Truman Administration before a joint session of Congress for refusing to lift restrictions on the scope of the war. 1952: The U.N. delegation informed the communists that only 70,000 of 132,000 of the prisoners of war held by the United Nations Command were willing to return home. |
