To reward those who had participated in this feat, which Lord Nelson, it is said, called “the most bold and daring act of the age,” Congress made Decatur a captain and gave him a sword, and to each of the others two months’ pay. And, because of this adventure, the name of the ketch was changed to _Intrepid_. To show his feelings in the matter, the Bashaw of Tripoli placed the American prisoners in a cold, damp apartment in the castle, where their only light was from an iron grating in the ceiling, and he did not release them from it until compelled to make peace. [Illustration: Piece of the _Philadelphia’s_ Stern. _From the original piece at the Naval Institute, Annapolis._] CHAPTER XV HAND-TO-HAND WITH THE PIRATES A FIGHT AGAINST ODDS OF THREE GUNBOATS TO ONE--DECATUR AND MACDONOUGH LEADING THE BOARDERS--COLD-BLOODED MURDER AND THE VENGEANCE THAT FOLLOWED--WHEN REUBEN JAMES WON FAME--ELEVEN AGAINST FORTY-THREE IN A HAND-TO-HAND STRUGGLE, AND THE REMARKABLE RESULT--THE HANDY _CONSTITUTION_--FIRED THEIR GUN AS THE BOAT SANK UNDER THEM--WHEN SOMERS AND HIS MATES WENT TO THEIR DEATH IN A FIRESHIP--END OF THE WAR WITH THE PIRATES. After the destruction of the _Philadelphia_ the war against the Tripolitans was carried on with increased vigor. A number of gunboats, carrying one long heavy gun each, and two barges, carrying a big thirteen-inch brass mortar each, were “generously loaned us by his Sicilian majesty.” With these and the force already in hand a number of attacks were made on the city of Tripoli by Captain Preble, who was still in command of the American forces. The first of these, and the most notable as a battle, took place on the afternoon of August 3, 1804. Six gunboats, in two divisions, were sent in to attack the enemy’s fleet. Master Commandant Richard Somers, of whom a remarkable story will be told further on, led one division, and young Stephen Decatur, now a captain, the other. Of the six gunboats only three succeeded in weathering the point and getting at the enemy; but one of these carried Stephen Decatur, and another Stephen’s brother, Lieut. James Decatur. The Tripolitan fleet numbered nine gunboats, each at least as well manned and armed as any of the American boats, but the Yankees dashed at the head of the fleet with hearty cheers. Stephen Decatur’s boat was the first to open the fire. Its long gun had been loaded with a thousand musket-balls in a bag, in lieu of the ordinary projectiles, and it was fired at point-blank range. A moment later the Yankee boat was beside the enemy, and Decatur led the way to her quarter-deck. The Tripolitans retreated forward, where a wide, open hatch protected them, after a fashion, from direct assault; but a narrow gangway was found on each side of the hatch--a gangway where men might advance in single file--and over these narrow paths the Yankees charged. Decatur was first on one side and Midshipman Thomas Macdonough