Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1890-04-11
THE BARRoN-oEcATuR DUEL.
One Of the Many Meetings That Occupied
| at Bladensburg, Md.

One of the Many Meetings That Occupied
at Biadensburg, Md.
In the naval history of the United
States Stephen Decatur's name ranks on
the first page. On the ship Preble, be-
fore Tripoli, as a lieutenant, he won
promotion, and his rise thereafter was
steady and brilliant. The only tarnish
in his honorable life was his death at Bla-
densburg. Barron, like Decatur, was an
officer in the United States navy. He
had been suspended from service for five
years before the war of 1212-14, because
his ship, the Chesapeake, unprepared,
was boarded by the British ship Leopard.
The tinge of cowardice naturally colored
his life and reflected all his acts. He event
abroad, broken man, and being in Eng
land when the war broke out, was neces-
sarily detained during its continuance.
On his return he applied for active SER
vice and ship. His application met
with resistance; he was despised by his
fellow officers, and his absence from the
country during her hour of need was Sc
verely commented upon. Gossip became
Decatur was the foremost of his peIsecu-
tors. Then there began a long corre-
spondence between the two. Mutual
friends widened the breach, and at last
Barron, stung to madness at the imputa-
ton of cowardice everywhere thrust
upon him, challenged Decatur.
No man of his time was more skilled
in the use of weapon than Decatur; no
man more of an adept in dueling. 1t
had been to him pastime from his
school days up. He unhesitatingly ac-
cepted Barron's challenge, and with fas-
tidious niceness prepared his worldly
affairs. He wrote his will, kissed his
sleeping wife good-by, and rode out on
the raw, chilly morning of March %,
1920, to seek his death at the accursed
spot of Bladensburg. Great personages
were they who stood in that narrow
gully at the meeting The American
navy was well represented. Great de-
corum prevailed in the choice of corners
and the measure of distance. The two
principals, naughty, dignified, self pos
sessed ever, observed in silence the ar
rangements made for the death of one,
and the question must have suggested it.
self, Which?
All being in readiness, the principals
were placed back to back; their orders
were to turn at the word Present" and
not to fire before the word "One," nor
after the word Three" Eight PAGES
distant from each other, they swung
around at the word "Present," each saw
the face of the other, the rising sun and
the barren landscape; one for the last
time, but which?
At the cry "One!" each took deadly
aim; to miss fire meant DEATH
"Two." Both pistols were discharged
simultaneously and both men fell Both
men were wounded in the hip; the ball
which struck Decatur glanced upward,
severing the blood vessels in the abdo-
men. His time had come. Both men
were hustled from the field; Barron
away from the city and chance prosecu-
ton, Decatur back to his elegant home.
He fingered far into the night and died
in great agony. The affair created in
tense excitement all over the country.
"a cursed shame!" said the few opposed
to murder disguised under the name of
the duel. Unfortunate in its resultsT
exclaimed the many advocating the code.
Barron suffered from his wounds for
many months and finally died in 1851,
having gained nothing in life that clung
to his name with the tenacity of his rep
utation as the slayer of Decatur.-Gene
Riley in New York Star.