[2] Sterett's first assignment was as Third Lieutenant of the USS Constellation,[3] under Captain Thomas Truxtun, which was sent to do battle with French vessels during the Quasi-War.

Upon Constellation's arrival back in Baltimore, the anti-federalist press, who opposed the military in general and the Quasi-War in particular, seized upon this incident as an example of the Navy's "arrogance and cold-bloodedness".

Soon afterward, he took command of the schooner USS Enterprise where he remained through the end of the Quasi-War, capturing the privateer Amour de la Patrie on 24 December 1800.

[3] After twice faking surrender, Tripoli suffered 30 dead and 30 wounded, including the Captain, Rais Mahomet Rous, and the first officer.

After her crew was ordered to dump its guns overboard, Tripoli was allowed to sail home, where her captain was humiliated and punished.

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).

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.

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.