A Rage for Glory; The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN

by James Tertius de Kay

• ISBN13: 9780743242455
• ISBN10: 0743242459
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-12-30
• Publisher: Free Press

Summary

Stephen Decatur was one of the most awe-inspiring officers of the entire Age of Fighting Sail. A real-life American naval hero in the early nineteenth century, he led an astonishing life, and his remarkable acts of courage in combat made him one of the most celebrated figures of his era.Decatur's dazzling exploits in the Barbary Wars propelled him to national prominence at the age of twenty-five. His dramatic capture of HMS Macedonian in the War of 1812, and his subsequent naval and diplomatic triumphs in the Mediterranean, secured his permanent place in the hearts of his countrymen. Handsome, dashing, and fearless, his crews worshipped him, presidents lionized him, and an adoring public heaped fresh honors on him with each new achievement.James Tertius de Kay is one of our foremost naval historians. In A Rage for Glory, the first new biography of Decatur in almost seventy years, he recounts Decatur's life in vivid colors. Drawing on material unavailable to previous biographers, he traces the origins of Decatur's fierce patriotism ("My country...right or wrong!"), chronicles Decatur's passionate love affair with Susan Wheeler, and provides new details of Decatur's tragic death in a senseless duel of honor, secretly instigated by the backroom machinations of jealous fellow officers determined to ruin him. His death left official Washington in such shock that his funeral became a state occasion, attended by friends who included former President James Madison, current President James Monroe, Chief Justice John Marshall, and ten thousand more. Decatur's short but crowded life was an astonishing epic of hubris, romance, and high achievement. Only a handful of Americans since his time have ever come close to matching his extraordinary glamour and brilliance.

Author Biography

James Tertius de Kay is the author of numerous naval histories, including The Rebel Raiders, Monitor, and Chronicles of the Frigate Macedonian. He lives in Pawcatuck, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

One
Washington City

Two
Philadelphia

Three
Mr. Midshipman Decatur

Four
Honor

Five
Glory

Six
Legend

Seven
Susan

Eight
The Leopard-Chesapeake Affair

Nine
Court-Martial

Ten
Atlantic Tensions

Eleven
29ø N x 29ø 30' W 113

Twelve
"Of Equal Force"

Thirteen
Gales Ferry

Fourteen
USS President and HMS Endymion

Fifteen
"Dove Mi Piace!"

Sixteen
The Navy Board

Seventeen
Barron Returns

Eighteen
The Challenge

Nineteen
Bladensburg

Twenty
Afterwards
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Notes and Comments
Index

Excerpts

Chapter Five: Glory On Tuesday, November 1, 1803, Decatur once again passed through the Pillars of Hercules and into the Mediterranean, dropping anchor in Gibraltar after a notably uneventful crossing of thirty-four days from Boston. It had been a little over six months since he had hastily left for home to escape arrest on the charge of murder. Now he was returning in temporary command of the spanking new brig Argus, of eighteen guns, and carrying with him thirty thousand dollars in gold and silver for the use of the American squadron and its new commodore, Edward Preble.Decatur remained in Gibraltar for two weeks, occupied in turning over the Argus to his friend and superior, Lieutenant Isaac Hull, and assuming command of the older and smaller schooner Enterprise, of twelve guns. It was not until November 12 that Commodore Preble arrived in the harbor on board his flagship, the Constitution, and Decatur was able to report to him in person. He had already heard stories from the other officers of the squadron of Preble's determination to bring the war directly to the Tripolitanians, and was much encouraged by the meeting. Preble was an irascible, strongly opinionated Down-East Yankee who made no effort to curb his short temper or hide his aggressive nature. His fighting spirit contrasted sharply with that of his two predecessors, and Decatur and the squadron's other junior officers took heart.But no sooner had Preble arrived than he disappeared again, setting sail the next day to deliver the American consul to Algiers. Before departing he ordered Decatur to meet him at the new American command post at Syracuse, where he planned to put together his campaign against Yusuf Karamanli. What neither Decatur nor Preble knew at the time was that a disaster had just occurred a thousand miles to the east that would drastically alter the balance of power in the Mediterranean and render all the American commodore's war plans irrelevant.On October 31, the day before Decatur's arrival at Gibraltar, Captain William Bainbridge was returning the frigate USS Philadelphia to her blockading position off the stormy shores of Tripoli. For several days the wind had been blowing strongly from the west, and had driven the ship a considerable distance off station. Now Bainbridge was taking advantage of a fair breeze to run her down toward the town again.Around nine o'clock in the morning, with the minarets of Tripoli just visible on the horizon, lookouts spotted a vessel inshore and to windward, standing for the harbor. Bainbridge was eager to overhaul the stranger -- there was prize money to be made from such captures -- but he was initially reluctant to take his deep drafted ship into uncharted waters that might well mask dangerous shoals. But the temptation of a possible capture was too strong to resist, and eventually Bainbridge overcame his doubts and decided to risk it. He gave the orders to make sail and give chase.Another captain might have been more cautious, but William Bainbridge had his own reasons for taking a more aggressive course. In his five years of active duty he had somehow managed to compile the most woefully lackluster record of any officer in the navy, and he was eager to clear his reputation.Soon after receiving his commission as a lieutenant, he had been put in command of the USS Retaliation. She was subsequently taken by the French, and Bainbridge became the first American naval officer forced to strike his flag to an enemy.An even greater humiliation lay in store a year later, when he was given command of a frigate, the USS George Washington, with orders to deliver an annual tribute of gold and naval stores to the dey of Algiers. After Bainbridge discharged his cargo the dey demanded the use of his ship to carry an embassy to the ruler of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople. Bainbridge vigorously refused, protesting that