Existing comment:
Stephen Decatur, Sr. (1752-1808):
Decatur spent his life at sea. He commanded his first ship, a merchant sloop, at the young age of 22. He earned a fortune during the Revolutionary War through privateering. After the war, he returned to the merchant service.
When the Navy was rebuilt in the 1790s, Decatur offered his services. Commissioned a captain in 1798, he initially commanded the ship Delaware. By the end of the war, Decatur was in command of the frigate Philadelphia, which, by a bizarre twist of fate, his own son would destroy a few years later.
Benjamin Stoddert (1751-1813):
On April 30, 1798, the Navy Department was established. The first Secretary: Benjamin Stoddert.
Stoddert was a dynamic leader and organizer. In two years he acquired 50 vessels to cruise the West Indies, acquired the land for seven navy yards, drafted the bill for government of the Marine Corps, and began construction of a Navy Hospital at Newport, Rhode Island. His vision and energy gave shape and permanence to the United States Navy.
Constellation vs L'Insurgent -- February 9, 1799:
Truxten went ti sea at the age of twelve and commanded a ship by twenty. He was a successful privateer during the Revolutionary War. When Congress authorized new frigate construction in 1794, he was appointed captain and oversaw the building of the frigate Constellation in Baltimore. With the outbreak of hostilities with France, Truxton took command of a squadron, with Constellation as his flagship, for a cruise in the West Indies. On February 9, 1799, he encountered L'insurgente. |