On this date in 1804, Stephen Decatur led a raid into Tripoli harbor to destroy the captured frigate Philadelphia during the First Barbary War. The picture is a famous painting of the USS Philadelphia burning while Decatur and his crew flee on a ship in the foreground. Decatur became the first American post-Revolutionary War war hero. His brother, and fellow naval officer, James was killed during this war. While we Americans were successful militarily, we did end up ransoming our captives, and were forced to return and fight a Second Barbary War after the War of 1812 was finished.
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