Stephen Decatur

Stephen Decatur (born Jan. 5, 1779, Sinepuxent, Md., U.S.—died March 22, 1820, Bladensburg, Md.) was a U.S. naval officer who held important commands in the War of 1812. After returning from successful engagements abroad in 1815, he replied to a toast with the famous words: “Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong.”

Decatur entered the navy in 1798 and saw service in the quasi-war with France (1798–1800). In 1804 he led an expedition into the harbour of Tripoli to burn the U.S. frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into Tripolitan hands. He succeeded in this objective and made his escape under fire with only one man wounded. This exploit earned him his captain’s commission and a sword of honour from Congress.

In the War of 1812, his ship, the United States, captured the British vessel HMS Macedonian. In 1813 he was appointed commodore to command a squadron in New York Harbor, which was soon blockaded by the British. In an attempt to break out (January 1815), his flagship, the President, was forced to surrender to a superior force. Subsequently, he commanded in the Mediterranean area against the corsairs of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli with great success. He was made a navy commissioner in November, 1815—an office he held until killed in a duel.