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Upon arrival home he found himself the toast of the nation, and given a position on the Supervisory Board, which he held for several years.  Among his most unpleasant duties was to serve on the court marshal against Captain James Barron, who had commanded the frigate USS ''Chesapeake'' when it sailed out of Norfolk, Virginia in 1807, unready for sea and the guns unloaded, to be forcibly stopped by a British warship, HMS ''Leopard'', with the result that four crewmen whom the British claimed were deserters were forcibly removed from the ship.  Barron’s court marshal would have repercussions in the future for Decatur.

Upon arrival home he found himself the toast of the nation, and given a position on the Supervisory Board, which he held for several years.  Among his most unpleasant duties was to serve on the court marshal against Captain James Barron, who had commanded the frigate USS ''Chesapeake'' when it sailed out of Norfolk, Virginia in 1807, unready for sea and the guns unloaded, to be forcibly stopped by a British warship, HMS ''Leopard'', with the result that four crewmen whom the British claimed were deserters were forcibly removed from the ship.  Barron’s court marshal would have repercussions in the future for Decatur.

==War of 1812==

==War of 1812==

The ''[[Chesapeake-Leopard]]'' affair and the impressment of sailors on the high seas were also catalysts for the War of 1812, and Decatur was in command of USS ''United States'', a powerful 44-gun frigate affectionately called “the Old Wagon” for its slow sailing abilities.  On October 25, 1812, the ''United States'', with Decatur wearing a civilian suit topped with a straw hat, engaged in battle with the equally-powerful British frigate ''Macedonian'', capturing it after a four-hour battle; the British captain, reporting to the Admiralty afterwards, was aghast that he had to surrender to a man “who was dressed like a farmer!” (Captain John Carden presented a beaver hat instead of a sword to Decatur, the results of a friendly bet the two had made in 1810 should they meet in battle).  By the beginning of 1813 a British blockade of American ports kept Decatur in port as well, and he clamored a new ship to command from a port he could slip out of.  Both wishes were granted, and by mid-January he was able to slip out of New York while in command of USS ''President''.  The trip lasted only two days.  Having damaged her keel on a sandbar, the ''President'' could not make sufficient speed, and a British squadron eventually caught up to and captured the ship.  Put ashore with his crew at Bermuda, Decatur made his way home that February.  By then, the War of 1812 had ended.

The [[Chesapeake-Leopard Affair]] and the impressment of sailors on the high seas were also catalysts for the War of 1812, and Decatur was in command of USS ''United States'', a powerful 44-gun frigate affectionately called “the Old Wagon” for its slow sailing abilities.  On October 25, 1812, the ''United States'', with Decatur wearing a civilian suit topped with a straw hat, engaged in battle with the equally-powerful British frigate ''Macedonian'', capturing it after a four-hour battle; the British captain, reporting to the Admiralty afterwards, was aghast that he had to surrender to a man “who was dressed like a farmer!” (Captain John Carden presented a beaver hat instead of a sword to Decatur, the results of a friendly bet the two had made in 1810 should they meet in battle).  By the beginning of 1813 a British blockade of American ports kept Decatur in port as well, and he clamored a new ship to command from a port he could slip out of.  Both wishes were granted, and by mid-January he was able to slip out of New York while in command of USS ''President''.  The trip lasted only two days.  Having damaged her keel on a sandbar, the ''President'' could not make sufficient speed, and a British squadron eventually caught up to and captured the ship.  Put ashore with his crew at Bermuda, Decatur made his way home that February.  By then, the War of 1812 had ended.

While the war was going on, the Barbary States had resumed their piratical ways, causing the United States to deal with them once more.  Commodore Decatur sailed his squadron to the Mediterranean Sea in May 1815, almost immediately capturing the Algerian frigate ''Mashuda'' and forcing Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli to sign humiliating treaties of peace which were dictated, he said, “by the mouths of our cannon.” After returning home, he became a member of the Board of Navy Commissioners in Washington, D.C. In April 1816 he made a toast that would become a standard expression of American patriotism: "Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong."

While the war was going on, the Barbary States had resumed their piratical ways, causing the United States to deal with them once more.  Commodore Decatur sailed his squadron to the Mediterranean Sea in May 1815, almost immediately capturing the Algerian frigate ''Mashuda'' and forcing Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli to sign humiliating treaties of peace which were dictated, he said, “by the mouths of our cannon.” After returning home, he became a member of the Board of Navy Commissioners in Washington, D.C. In April 1816 he made a toast that would become a standard expression of American patriotism: "Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong."