cer--which resulted fatally for the
Englishman--Decatur was sent home for a time. In 1803 he was back in the
Mediterranean in command of the _Enterprise_. He distinguished himself
almost immediately.

Conceiving the daring idea of recapturing or destroying the frigate
_Philadelphia_, which had been captured by the pirates and lay in the
harbor of Tripoli, on February 31, 1804, he manned a little boat called
the _Intrepid_, with seventy volunteers, and, braving the enemy, he
reached the _Philadelphia_, set it afire and got away, with the loss of
only one man.

For this gallant achievement Congress voted Decatur thanks and a sword.
He was also promoted to captain.

Following this, Decatur was engaged in all the attacks on Tripoli from
1804 to 1805. In the War of 1812 the ship which he commanded, the
_United States_, captured the British vessel, the _Macedonian_, after a
desperate struggle. In 1813 he was appointed commodore to command a
squadron in New York Harbor, which was blockaded by the British. In 1813
he attempted to get to sea to break the blockade with the _United
States_, the _Hornet_, and the _Macedonian_, which had been by this time
converted into an American ship. A superior British squadron forced
Decatur to run into the Thames, and he lay off New London for several
months. He sent a challenge to the commander of the blockading squadron
to come on and fight, but the challenge was not accepted.

At length, unable to get to sea, two of the ships were dismantled, and
Decatur returned to New York, where he took command of a squadron
destined for the East Indies. In the frigate _President_ he put to sea
on the 14th of January, 1815. The blockading British squadron pursued
the ship, and after a desperate running fight forced Decatur to
surrender.

Soon afterward Decatur returned to the United States, peace between
England and America was declared. But the Barbary pirates were once more
giving trouble. Decatur took a command in the Mediterranean.

He arrived before Algiers on June 22, 1815, and immediately demanded a
treaty from the Dey. His terms were very brief: no more annual tribute
or ransom for prisoners; all enslaved Americans to be released; and no
American ever again to be held as a slave. The question of tribute was
the most difficult to settle. The Dey feared that other European powers
would demand the same terms.

"Even a little powder," said the Dey, "might prove satisfactory."

"If," replied