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

The friends of the late Commodore Decatur, have learned, with very great regret, that misconceptions injurious to him prevail, and are extending, relative to the difference between him and Commodore Barron. To place the subject in its true light, they have thought it necessary to submit to the public, without comment, the whole correspondence which preceded the meeting.

HAMPTON, (VA.) JUNE 12, 1 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. 1819.

Sir: I have been informed, in Norfolk, that you have said that you could insult me with impunity, or words to that effect. If you have said so, you will no doubt avow it, and I shall expect to hear from you.

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

To Commodore Stephen Decatur,

Washington .

WASHINGTON, JUNE 17, 1819.

Sir: I have received your communication of the 13th instant. Before you could have been entitled to the information you have asked of me, you should have given up the name of your informer. That frankness which ought to characterize our profession required it. I shall not, however, refuse to answer you on that account, but shall be as candid in my communication to you as your letter or the case will warrant.

Whatever I may have thought, or said, in the very frequent and free conversation I have had respecting you and your conduct , I feel a thorough conviction that I never could have been guilty of so much egotism as to say that " I could insult you" (or any other man) "with impunity."

I am, sir, your obedient servant, STEPHEN DECATUR.

To Commodore James Barron,

Hampton, Virginia .

HAMPTON, (VA.) JUNE 25, 1819.

Sir: Your communication of the 17th instant, in answer to mine of the 13th, I have received.

The circumstances that urged me to call on you for the information requested in my letter, would, I presume, have instigated you, or any other person, to the same conduct that I pursued. Several gentlemen in Norfolk, not your enemies, nor actuated by any malicious motive, told me that such a report was in circulation, but could not now be traced to its origin. I, therefore, concluded to appeal to you, supposing, under such circumstances, that I could not outrage any rule of decorum or candor. This, I trust, will be considered as a just motive for the course I have pursued. Your declaration, if I understand it correctly, relieves my mind from the apprehension that you had so degraded my character, as I had been induced to allege.

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

To Commodore Stephen Decatur,

Washington .

WASHINGTON, JUNE 29, 1819.

Sir: I have received your communication of the 25th, in answer to mine of the 17th, and, as you have expressed yourself doubtfully, as to your correct understanding of my letter of the aforesaid date, I have now to state, and I request you to understand distinctly, that I meant no more than to disclaim the specific and particular expression to which your inquiry was directed, to wit: that I had said that I could insult you with impunity. As to the motives of the "several gentlemen in Norfolk," your informants, or the rumors which "cannot be traced to their origin," on which their information was founded, or who they are, is a matter of perfect indifference to me, as is also your motives in making such an inquiry upon such information.

Your obedient servant, STEPHEN DECATUR.

To Commodore James Barron,

Hampton, Virginia .

HAMPTON, OCTOBER 23, 1819.

Sir: I had supposed that the measure of your ambition was nearly completed, and that your good fortune had rendered your reputation for acts of magnanimity too dear to be risked wantonly on occasions that can never redound to the honor of him that would be great. I had also concluded that your rancor towards me was fully satisfied, by the cruel and unmerited sentence passed upon me by the court of which you were a member; and, after an exile from my country, family, and friends, of nearly seven years, I had concluded that I should now be allowed, at least, to enjoy that solace, with this society, that lacerated feelings like mine required, and that you would have suffered me to remain in quiet possession of those enjoyments; but, scarcely had I set my foot on my native soil, ere I learnt that the same malignant spirit which had before influenced you to endeavor to ruin my reputation was still at work, and that you were ungenerously traducing my character whenever an occasion occurred which suited your views, and, in many instances, not much to your credit as an officer, through the medium of our juniors; such conduct cannot fail to produce an injurious effect on the discipline and subordination of the navy. A report of this sort, sir, coming from the respectable and creditable sources it did, could not fail to arrest my attention, and to excite those feelings which might naturally be expected to arise in the heart of every man who professes to entertain principles of honor, and intends to act in conformity with them. With such feelings I addressed a letter to you under date of the 13th June last, which produced a correspondence between us, which I have since been informed you have endeavored to use to my farther injury, by sending it to Norfolk by a respectable officer of the navy, to be shewn to some of my particular friends, with a view of alienating from me their attachment. I am also informed, that you have tauntingly and boastingly observed, that you would cheerfully meet me in the field, and hoped I would yet act like a man, or that you had used words to that effect: such conduct, sir, on the part of any one, but especially one occupying the influential station under the government which you hold, towards an individual, situated as I am, and oppressed as I have been, and that chiefly by your means, is unbecoming you as an officer and a gentleman; and shews a want of magnanimity which, hostile as I have found you to be towards me, I had hoped for your own reputation you possessed. It calls loudly for redress at your hands: I consider you as having given the invitation, which I accept, and will prepare to meet you at such time and place as our respective friends, hereafter to be named, shall designate. I also, under all the circumstances of the case, consider myself entitled to the choice of weapons, place, and distance; but, should a difference of opinion be entertained by our friends, I flatter myself, from your known personal courage, that you would disdain any unfair advantage, which your superiority in the use of the pistol, and the natural defect in my vision, increased by age, would give you. I will thank you not to put your name on the cover of your answer, as, I presume, you can have no disposition to give unnecessary pain to the females of my family.

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

Commodore Stephen Decatur,

Washington .

WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 31, 1819.

Sir: Your letter of the 23d inst. has been duly received. Prior to giving it that reply which I intend, its contents suggest the necessity of referring to our June correspondence.

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