Correspondence, between the late Commodore Stephen Decatur and Commodore James Barron, which led to the unfortunate meeting of the twenty-second of March

I reiterate to you, that I have not challenged, nor do I intend to challenge you. I do not consider it essential to my reputation that I should notice any thing which may come from you, the more particularly, when you declare your sole object, in wishing to draw the challenge from me, is, that you may avail yourself of the advantages which rest with the challenged. It is evident, that you think, or your friends for you, that a fight will help you; but in fighting, you wish to incur the least possible risk. Now, sir, not believing that a fight of this nature will raise me at all in public estimation, but may even have a contrary effect, I do not feel at all disposed to remove the difficulties that lay in your way. If we fight, it must be of your seeking; and you must take all the risk and all the inconvenience which usually attend the challenger, in such cases.

You deny having made the communication to the British consul at Pernambuco, which captain Lewis and Mr. Goodwin have represented. The man capable of making such a communication, would not hesitate in denying it; and, until you can bring forward some testimony, other than your own, you ought not to expect that the testimony of those gentlemen will be discredited. As to the veracity of the British consul, I can prove, if necessary, that you have, yourself, vouched for that.

You offer, as your excuse for not returning to your country, during our war with England, that you had not been invited home by the then Secretary, notwithstanding you had written him, expressive of your wishes to be employed. You state, that, if you "had received the slightest intimation from the department, that you would have been employed on your return, you would have considered no sacrifice too great, no exertion within your power should have been omitted to obtain so desirable an object." From this, I would infer, that, in consequence of not receiving this intimation, you did not make the exertions in your power to return, and this I hold to be an insufficient excuse. You do not pretend to have made any attempt, except by the way of the cartel, the John Adams. You cannot believe, that reporting yourself to the Department, at the distance of 4000 miles, when the same conveyance which brought your letter would have brought yourself, will be received as evincing sufficient zeal to join the arms of your country; and besides, you say it was not believed, for a considerable time after the news of war arrived in Denmark, that the war would last six months. With those impressions, you must have known, that it would have occupied at least that time for your letter to have arrived at the Department, you to receive an answer, and then to repair to America. You deny that the opportunities of returning were frequent. The custom house entries at Baltimore and New York alone, from the single port of Bordeaux, will show nearly an hundred arrivals; and it is well known, that it required only a few days to perform the journey from Copenhagen to Bordeaux, by the ordinary course of post. You deny having been advised to return to this country, by your friends, during the war. Mr. Cook, of Norfolk, your relative, says he wrote to you to that effect; and Mr. Forbes, then our consul at Copenhagen, who is now at this place, says he urged you in person to do so.

You have charged the officers who concur with me in opinion respecting your claims to service, as being my satellites. I think I am not mistaken, when I inform you, that all the officers of our grade, your superiors as well as inferiors, with the exception of one who is your junior concur in the opinion, that you ought not to be employed again, whilst the imputations, which now lie against you, remain; nor have they been less backward than myself in expressing their opinions.

Your charge of my wishing to obtain your rank, will apply to all who are your juniors, with as much force as to myself. You never have interfered with me in the service, and, at the risk of being esteemed by you a little vain, I must say, I do not think you ever will. Were I disposed to kill out of my way, as you have been pleased to insinuate, those who interfere with my advancement, there are others, my superiors, who I consider fairly barring my pretensions; and it would serve such purpose better, to begin with them. You say, you were the means of obtaining me the first command I ever had in service. I deny it: I feel that I owe my standing to my exertions only.

Your statement, that your advice prevented me from resigning on a former occasion, is equally unfounded. I have never, since my first admission into the navy, contemplated resigning; and, instead of being ordered, as you state, from the 1st lieutenancy of the New York, to the 2d of the Chesapeake, Commodore Chauncy, who was then flag captain, can testify, that I was solicited to remain as 1st lieutenant of the flag ship: and I should have remained as such, had it not been for the demand which the government of Malta made, for the delivery of the persons who had been concerned in the affair of honour, which led to the death of a British officer. It was deemed necessary to send all the persons, implicated in that affair, out of the way; and I went home in the Chesapeake, as a passenger.

You have been pleased to allude to my having received the hospitality of your family. The only time I recollect having been at your house, was on my arrival from the Mediterranean in the Congress, fourteen years past. You came on board, and dined with me; and invited the Tunisian ambassador and myself to spend the evening with you at Hampton. I accepted your invitation. Your having now reminded me of it, tends very much towards removing the weight of obligation I might otherwise have felt on this score.

You speak of the good conduct of your ancestors. As your own conduct is under discussion, and not theirs, I cannot see how their former good character can at all serve your present purpose. Fortunately for our country, every man stands upon his own merit.

You state that the "Virginia delegation in Congress" had presented a memorial in your favour. I would infer from this, that all, or the greater part of the Virginia delegation, had interposed in your behalf. This, sir, is not the fact. A few of them, I am informed, did take an interest in your case; but, being informed of the charges existing against you, of which they were before unapprised, they did not press farther your claims. From the knowledge I have of the high-minded gentlemen that compose the Virginia delegation, if they would take the trouble to examine your case, I should, for my own part, be entirely satisfied to place the honour of the service upon their decision.

You offer as your excuse for permitting four months to intervene between our June correspondence, (with which, from your letter, you appeared to be satisfied) and your letter of 23d October, your indisposition. I am authorized in saying, that, for the greater part of the four months, you were out attending to your usual avocations.

Your offering your life to me would be quite affecting, and might (as you evidently intend) excite sympathy, if it were not ridiculous. It will not be lost sight of, that your jeopardizing your life depends upon yourself, and not upon me; and is done with a view to fighting your own character up. I have now to inform you, that I shall pay no further attention to any communication you may make to me, other than a direct call to the field.

Your obedient servant,STEPHEN DECATUR.

To Commodore James Barron,

Hampton, Va.

No. 11

Norfolk, January 16th, 1820.

Sir: Your letter of the 29th ult. I have received. In it you say that you have now to inform me that you shall pay no further attention to any communication that I may make to you other than a direct call to the field; in answer to which I have only to reply, that whenever you will consent to meet me on fair and equal grounds, that is, such as two honourable men may consider just and proper, you are at liberty to view this as that call; the whole tenor of your conduct to me justifies this course of proceeding on my part; as for your charges and remarks, I regard them not, particularly your sympathy; you know not such a feeling – I cannot be suspected of making the attempt to excite it.

I am, sir, yours, &c.JAMES BARRON.

To Commodore Stephen Decatur,

Washington.

No. 12

Washington, Jan. 24, 1820.

Sir: I have received your communication of the 16th, and am at a loss to know what your intention is. If you intended it as a challenge, I accept it, and refer you to my friend Com. Bainbridge, who is fully authorized by me to make any arrangement he pleases, as regards weapons, mode, or distance.

Your obedient servant,STEPHEN DECATUR.

Com. James Barron.

No. 14

Norfolk, Feb. 6, 1820.

Sir: Your letter of the 29th of December found me confined to bed, with a violent bilious fever, and it was eight days after its arrival before I was able to read it; the fever, however, about that time, left me, and my convalescence appeared to promise a moderately quick recovery. I, therefore, wrote you my note of the 16th ultimo; in two days after I relapsed, and have had a most violent attack, which has reduced me very low, but as soon as I am in a situation to write, you shall hear from me to the point.

I am, sir,your obedient servant,JAMES BARRON.

Com. Stephen Decatur,

Washington.

1

With respect to the date of this letter, it may be proper to observe, that, although it is 12th June, yet the figure 2, as made, might well be mistaken for a 3: hence, in Commodore Decatur's letter of reply, he considered the date to be 13th June. On referring, however, to the post mark on the back of the letter, it was found to have been put into the post office on the 12th: hence, in Commodore Decatur's letter to Commodore Barron, of the 31st October, 1819, it is recognized as dated on the 12th.

2

See the extracts from Capt. Carter's letter, post. page 13.