Existing comment:
Miniature Portrait:
This portrait, from a miniature by Olivio Sozzi, was completed after Decatur's promotion to captain.
Stephen Decatur, Jr.
1778-1820
For his actions in destroying Philadelphia, Stephen Decatur was, at the age of 25, promoted to captain, the youngest person to hold that rank in the United States Navy.
Decatur went on to serve as a commander in the War of 1812 and the 1815 conflict known as the Algerian War. His successful negotiations with the governments of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli earned him the sobriquet "Conqueror of Barbary Pirates." His career came to a sad end, when he was mortally wounded in a duel. |