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[Illustration: COMMODORE BARRY
(After Chappelle)]
THE STORY
OF
COMMODORE JOHN BARRY
"Father of the American Navy"
BY
MARTIN I.J. GRIFFIN
Historian of the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick
of Philadelphia
"_I serve the country for nothing_"--BARRY
"_May a suitable recompense always attend your bravery_"--WASHINGTON
PHILADELPHIA
1908
Dedicated
TO
The Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick
for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland
ST. PATRICK'S DAY
1908
MARTIN I.J. GRIFFIN,
_Historian of the Society_.
COPYRIGHT
1908
THE STORY
OF
COMMODORE JOHN BARRY
"Father of the American Navy"
[Copyrighted]
CHAPTER I.
HIS NAVAL RENOWN--HIS CAREER IN THE COLONIAL MERCANTILE MARINE
SERVICE--APPOINTED TO THE "LEXINGTON" BY THE CONTINENTAL MARINE
COMMITTEE--HIS FIRST CRUISE.
The American Navy by its achievements has won enduring fame and
imperishable honor. The careers of many of its heroes have been narrated
fully, and oft in fulsome terms. All Americans unite in these tributes
of praise where justly due.
JOHN BARRY has, aptly and justly, been called "THE FATHER OF THE
AMERICAN NAVY." His early, constant and worthy services in defence of
our country; his training many of those who became the foremost and most
distinguished sons of the sea in our early naval annals makes the title
one fitly bestowed.
The Congress of his country having directed the erection in the Capital
City of the Nation of a monument commemorative of the man and his deeds,
this is a fitting time to present a brief record of his career and of
his deeds during the Revolutionary War, which won the Independence of
our Country, and also in the War with France, which maintained the
integrity of the new Nation and the protection of its commerce. In both
wars he bore a heroic part. At all times his services were useful and
brilliant.
"Captain John Barry may justly be considered the Father of our Navy,"
wrote Mr. Dennie in _The Portfolio_, July 1813, in giving the first
biographical sketch of this distinguished naval officer. "The utility of
whose services and the splendor of whose exploits entitle him to the
foremost rank among our naval heroes."
Allen's _Biographical Dictionary_, published in 1809, declared he "was a
patriot of integrity and unquestioned bravery."
Frost's _Naval Biography_ states: "Few commanders were employed in a
greater variety of services or met the enemy under greater
disadvantages," and yet he did not fail to acquit himself of his duty in
a manner becoming a skillful seaman and a brave warrior.
[Illustration: THE BARONY OF FORTH]
"His public services were not limited to any customary rule of
professional duty, but without regard to labor, danger or excuses, his
devotion to his Country kept him constantly engaged in acts of public
utility. The regard and admiration of General Washington, which he
possessed in an eminent degree, were among the most eminent fruits of
his patriotic career."
Judson's _Sages and Heroes of the Revolution_ says: "Barry was noble in
spirit, humane in discipline, discreet and fearless in battle, urbane
in his manners, a splendid officer, a good citizen, a devoted Christian
and a true Patriot."
Many other quotations might be cited to show the high esteem in which
Commodore John Barry was held as well also the importance of his
services to our Country.
A brief narration of his career will set forth the character and worth
of these services as well as afford proof of the valor and fidelity of
this most successful naval officer.
[Illustration: BALLYSAMPSON]
John Barry was born in 1745 in the townland of Ballysampson. He lived
his boyhood in the townland of Roostoonstown, both in the parish of
Tacumshin, Barony of Forth, Province of Leinster in Ireland. The parish
covers three thousand acres. It is situated between two townland-locked
gulfs with very narrow openings--Lake Tacumshin and Lady's Island Lake.
Possibly these lakes gave young Barry the inspiration for the sea, and
upon both he in youth, we may be sure, oft pulled the oar.
When and under what circumstances young Barry left his birthplace and
departed from Ireland are not known. The best traditionary evidence
justifies us in believing that leaving Ireland, while yet young, he went
to Spanishtown in the Island of Jamaica and from there, when about
fifteen years of age, came to Philadelphia, where he found employment in
the commercial fleets of Samuel Meredith and of Willing & Morris,
leaders in the mercantile life of the city.
[Illustration: TACUMSHIN LOUGH]
[Illustration: LADY'S ISLAND LOUGH]
Being but a boy, records do not attest his presence or position. But
however lowly, we are sure that merit hovered over every action and
proved the worth of the young navigator of the seas so fully that on
attaining his twenty-first year he was at once entrusted with the sole
command of a vessel--the schooner "Barbadoes," sixty tons, which cleared
from Philadelphia on October 2, 1766.
The schooner he commanded was registered at the Custom House on
September 29, 1766. It was built at Liverpool, in the Province of Nova
Scotia and was owned by Edward Denny, of Philadelphia. John Barry was
registered as its Captain.
In this schooner, small in measurement and in tonnage by the standard of
our times and yet not surpassed in either by many vessels in the
colonial marine trade, John Barry, now a man in years and capabilities,
continued until early in 1771 to make voyages to and from Bridgetown,
the principal port of Barbadoes.
[Illustration: BRIDGETOWN]
In May, 1771, he became Captain of the brig "Patty and Polly," sailing
from St. Croix to Philadelphia. In August of that year we find him
Captain of the schooner "Industry," of forty-five tons, plying to and
from Virginia, making trips to New York, voyages to Nevis and to and
from Halifax, Nova Scotia until, on October 9, 1772, he became Commander
of the "Peggy" sailing to and from St. Eustatia and Montserrat until, on
December 19, 1774, a register for the ship the "Black Prince" was issued
to John Barry as Master. It was owned by John Nixon, whose grandfather,
Richard, a Catholic, of Barry's own county, Wexford, arrived in
Philadelphia in 1686. John Nixon read the Declaration of Independence on
July 8, 1776. On December 21st Barry sailed to Bristol, where he
arrived at the end of January, 1775. Later he proceeded to London, where
he arrived June 7th, from whence he returned to Philadelphia, where he
arrived October 13th, the very day Congress had resolved to fit out two
armed cruisers, one of fourteen guns and one of ten guns, the first act
founding a Continental naval force for the United Colonies.
The Marine Committee, under the authority of this Resolve of the
Continental Congress, purchased two vessels and named one the
"Lexington," the other the "Reprisal."
To the "Lexington" John Barry was commissioned Captain on December 7,
1775. Captain Wickes was the same day named Commander of the "Reprisal."
Barry's vessel the "Black Prince," the finest vessel engaged in the
Colonial commerce, was purchased by the Marine Committee, renamed the
"Alfred," after Alfred the Great, the founder of the English Navy. To
the "Alfred" John Paul Jones was appointed Lieutenant under Captain
Salstonstall, on the same day Barry and Wickes were appointed Captains.
The "Lexington" and the "Reprisal" were separate and independent
commands under direct orders of the Marine Committee and not subject to,
nor were they part of, the fleet under Commodore Hopkins. Captain John
Barry was thus the first Commander appointed under the direct authority
of the Continental Congress. He was appointed to the first Continental
armed cruiser--the "Lexington"--named after the first battle place of
the Revolution. It was the first vessel fitted out under Continental
authority by the Marine Committee and "in the nature of things was more
readily equipped" than the "Alfred," says Cooper's _History of the
Navy_. This was especially so as Willing & Morris, Captain Barry's late
employers, alone had a stock of "round shot for four pounders, under
their store in Penn Street and in their yard." These were readily
available to Captain Barry of the "Lexington."
When Barry's cruiser was ready for sea the severity of the weather in
blocking the Delaware with ice debarred its passage to the Bay and out
into the Ocean. In the meanwhile Barry was busily employed on shore duty
and in assisting in preparing the fleet of Commodore Hopkins for its
departure on February 17, 1776, on its expedition to the Southward. This
fleet was intended for the protection of American vessels off the coast
of Virginia, but it proceeded to the Bahama Islands. On St. Patrick's
Day, 1776, Hopkins sailed from New Providence bringing the Governor and
others as hostages as well as securing military stores and ammunition.
Washington on the same day was entering the City of Boston on its forced
evacuation by the British.
Meanwhile Captain John Barry was busy in constant service on the
Delaware River and on shore, promoting the progress of naval affairs
conducive to the formation of a navy.
It was not, however, until March 23d that Congress ordered Letters of
Marque to be issued and authorized public and private cruisers to
capture British vessels or to seize or destroy supplies for the British
naval forces.
Captain Barry, in the "Lexington," at once proceeded down the Delaware.
On March 29, 1776, was off Cape May, New Jersey. On Sunday, the 31st,
the "Lexington" went out to sea--his first entry upon the watery domain
bearing the flag of defiance--the Union or Continental flag hoisted at
Cambridge on January 1, 1776, by General Washington, which he had
adopted so that "our vessels may know one another," and so "distinguish
our friends from our foes," as he had written Captain Barry's friend and
fellow-Catholic of Philadelphia, Colonel Stephen Moylan, the Muster
Master General of his army.
When Captain Barry proceeded to sea, the "Roebuck," British man-of-war,
"one of His Majesty's pirates" and her tender, the "Edward," "put to
sea" also after the "Lexington," but Barry was too swift and got so far
away that the "Roebuck" returned the same evening to the Bay.
Barry's historical and patriotic career had begun.
[Illustration: ADMIRALTY SEAL AND SIGNATURE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE
BOARD]