“I go where I please”

Stephen Decatur was one of the great fighting captains in the first years in the United States Navy. A worthy successor to the legendary John Paul Jones, Decatur sought fame and glory in battle for himself and for his country in battles against the English and French navies as well as the Barbary pirates. In an age when naval officers were notoriously cruel, Decatur was a revered, indeed a beloved captain – a remarkable achievement in itself.

A Rage for Glory is a lively account of the life of Commodore Stephen Decatur. Written by noted naval historian James Tertius De Kay, the book begins with a description of Decatur’s tragic death in 1820. Throughout the biography you keep asking yourself why this brilliant mariner allowed himself to be drawn into a duel with a disgruntled rival captain. This is one of the mysteries of the book. Modern readers simply cannot identify with the code of honor that forced Decatur to accept such a challenge.

De Kay partially answers this question in an early chapter on Decatur’s childhood. He was born on Jan. 5, 1779 and grew up in Philadelphia, the nation’s capital until 1800. De Kay speculates that the “sight of such legendary leaders” as Franklin, Washington, Hamilton and Madison had a powerful effect on the boy. “His entire life would reflect the optimism, the willingness to risk, the occasional hubris, and the tendency to overreach that characterized his country in those first formative years of its existence,” De Kay writes. Few periods in history have produced such a galaxy of stars as was seen in those early years of the American Republic. Certainly the period compares favorably with the achievements of Fifth century, B.C., Athens and the High Renaissance in Italy.

Decatur began his naval career in 1798 as a 19-year-old midshipman aboard the newly-commissioned frigate UNITED STATES. Interestingly, during this period he served under James Barron, the man who would later kill him in a duel. De Kay then traces Decatur’s “search for glory” as he rose rapidly in the fledgling U.S. Navy. “The leaders of the new navy consciously sought to encourage a certain swagger in their midshipmen. With so many highly sensitive young men crowded into confined quarters on board warships, it was inevitable that the practice of dueling would quickly become ingrained in naval life.” In the first five years of his service, Decatur was involved in several such incidents.

In 1803 the United States was involved in a war with the Barbary pirates of North Africa. It was at this point that Decatur was rewarded in his “search for glory.” His dramatic recapture and burning of the frigate USS PHILADELPHIA in Tripoli harbor brought him national acclaim. Decatur followed this with other heroics in the Barbary War and the War of 1812, “which,” De Kay notes, “made Decatur the stuff of legend.”

Decatur’s difficult relationship with James Barron stemmed from a court-martial following the so-called CHESAPEAKE affair in 1808. By 1819 Barron was a jealous, embittered man, convinced that Decatur was responsible for the ruin of his career. The 1819-1820 correspondence between Barron and Decatur, culminating in the fatal duel, is presented as a tragedy for both men.

Throughout the book De Kay does an admirable job of presenting Decatur as a genuinely heroic figure. As he writes, “There was something in the sheer audacity of his achievements that touched his fellow citizens profoundly.” Decatur’s reply to an Algerian admiral’s inquiry is the stuff of legend: “Where are you bound?” “Dove mi piace!” – “I go where I please.”

Harry Gratwick, a part-time resident of Vinalhaven, writes regularly for Working Waterfront.