In August 1806 Sterett was hired by Baltimore ship owner Lemuel Taylor to captain Taylor's sloop Warren on a trading voyage to the North West coast of America and China (though there were rumors that the ship was actually headed to the West Indies or South America with a cargo of contraband). Taylor selected Procopio Pollock, son of Revolutionary War financier Oliver Pollock, as the Warren's supercargo (cargo master). Both men were given sealed orders that were not to be opened until a certain point in the voyage.[1]
On 12 September the Warren sailed out of Baltimore with a complement of about 112 men,[2] including four officers (all previously known to Sterett. In early December, off the coast of Brazil, Sterett and Pollock opened their instructions. To his horror Sterett discovered that Taylor's orders to Pollock gave Pollock control over not only the cargo but operational control of the vessel as well; they stated that the ship was to proceed to the west coast of South America, where Pollock was to engage in trade as he saw fit. These orders, different from those given to Sterett and in violation of the articles of employment signed by the crew, caused a violent argument between Sterett and Pollock. Sterett seems to have been driven into a frenzy bordering on madness; he was heard by members of the crew to say that before he would follow such orders he would kill either Pollock or himself. About a week later, after apparently trying unsuccessfully to shoot Pollock, Captain Sterett retired to his cabin alone and shot himself in the head. He lingered in agonizing pain for two weeks before dying on 9 January 1807, a few weeks shy of his 29th birthday and shortly before the ship rounded Cape Horn. Neither the records of the Warren or a lawsuit later filed against Taylor by the crew make any mention of Sterett's body, so it is presumed that he was buried at sea. Thus ended the short life of an officer of great principle and promise.[3]
