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

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

History

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

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

Decatur, Stephen

Barron, James, 1769-1851 -- Correspondence; Decatur, Stephen, 1779-1820 -- Correspondence

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_.

                   *       *       *       *       *

                                 No. 6.

                                           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.

On the 12th June last, you addressed to me a note, inquiring whether I
had said that "I could insult you with impunity." On the 17th June, I
wrote you, in reply, as follows: "Whatever I may have _thought or said
in the very frequent and free conversations 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."

On the 25th of June, you again wrote to me, and stated, that the report
on which you had grounded your query of 12th June, "could not now be
traced to its origin," and your letter is concluded in the following
words: "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." Immediately on receiving your letter of the
25th of June, I wrote to you, 29th June, as follows: "As you have
expressed yourself doubtfully as to your correct understanding of my
letter of the 17th June, 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." Here ended our June correspondence, and, with it all kind of
communication, till the date of your letter of the 23d inst. which I
shall now proceed to notice.

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

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