Decatur, who served on the court-martial panel, was among those who opposed it and made disparaging remarks about Barron. Six years later, Barron sought reinstatement to the Navy. The March 22, 1820, duel between naval officer Stephen Decatur and Commodore James Barron led to the death of one of the nation’s top military officers, shocking the nation and leading to an outpouring of grief.ĭecatur was a naval hero, a veteran of the Barbary wars and the War of 1812 and a member of Washington’s high society - something like a young and dashing version of a John McCain with a little Colin Powell thrown in.īarron was another naval officer who had been court-martialed for being unprepared in a fight with a British ship searching for deserters, a controversy known as the Chesapeake– Leopard affair after the names of the two ships. With “Hamilton” now streaming on Disney+, the infamous duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr is once again in the news.īut another duel that took place right off the Route 1 corridor was just as consequential, and its 200th anniversary was somewhat overlooked this year as it happened just as the coronavirus pandemic began.
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