BARRY VISITS THE "SYBILLE" ON HIS RETURN TO PHILADELPHIA--PEACE IS
DECLARED--ORDERED TO AMSTERDAM WITH TOBACCO--THE "ALLIANCE" BECOMES
DISABLED--IS ORDERED SOLD.
After Captain Barry had arrived at New London it was nearly three months
before he came on to Philadelphia. Mrs. Barry had, in April, gone on to
New London. Captain Barry returned home by way of New York. The
"Sybille" was there. Captain Barry visited her and was "politely
treated" by Captain Vashon. The vessel yet bore the marks of the injury
Barry had inflicted and "they said they had not been treated so roughly
before," records Kessler. Some of the Hessians were embarked on her for
return home. As she had received "eighteen cannon shots her condition
was such that pumps had to be manned night and day to keep her from
filling five to eight feet of water." That proved how she had been
shattered by Barry. Captain Barry, after a brief visit to Philadelphia,
returned to Providence Harbor and soon set sail for the Rappahannock
River, Virginia, for a cargo of tobacco for Amsterdam, Holland, on
public account, to pay the interest on loan negotiated there. This was
in August, 1783.
On the way down the Providence River the "Alliance," when going four or
five miles an hour, ran against a sunken rock, which "stopped her as
quick as thought," related Barry. After remaining on the rock two hours
and finding the ship made no water in consequence of the mishap, the
"Alliance" proceeded to Virginia where she took on 500 hogsheads of
tobacco weighing 530,000 pounds.
The Accounts of Robert Morris show that to meet this Holland Loan, 1837
hogsheads of tobacco weighing 1,937,355 pounds had been sent by Daniel
Clarke, Agent of the Finance Department.
On August 24th the "Alliance" sailed from the Capes of Virginia "with
good prospects before us and in hopes of a short voyage. But," as
Captain Barry reported to Robert Morris on the 26th from the Delaware
Bay, "as is often the case when people's expectations are buoyed up with
great prospects they frequently find themselves disappointed."
"We had not been long out with a moderate breeze, wind and smooth sea
when we discovered all of a sudden the ship to make nineteen inches per
hour and soon to have three feet of water in her hold and so damaging
the tobacco."
Captain Barry then "made for the Delaware." Though her bottom was
"perfectly sound when bore down at Providence," Barry believed the run
on the rock caused the leak. The damage to the "Alliance" was serious
enough to warrant Congress appointing a committee to examine the
condition of the ship. On September on their report Congress ordered the
ship "to be unladen and her cargo freighted to Europe on the best
terms." The Agent of Marine was directed to discharge officers and crew,
have her surveyed and a report made of the expense "necessary to give
her a good repair." Five hundred hogsheads of the tobacco were reshipped
on the "Princess Ulrico" [480 hhds.] and the "Four Friends" [20 hhds.].
Had the voyage to Amsterdam been made, Barry would have stopped at
London. Robert Morris gave him a (July 24, 1783) letter of introduction
to Messrs. Bewickes & Mourgue of that city stating that: "He has proved
himself a brave and deserving officer in the service of his country and
a worthy man in every station of life." (Crimmin's Autographs.) He also
had a letter from John Paul Jones to friends in Paris.
In pursuance of the Act, Robert Morris, Agent of Marine, appointed as
surveyors Captains John Barry and Thomas Read and Messrs. Thomas
Penrose, Joshua Humphreys, Jr., and Benjamin G. Eyre. The latter were
shipbuilders. They estimated the repairs would cost 5866-2/3
dollars--that it was not necessary to keep the "Alliance" for the
protection of commerce and it would be to the interest of the Union to
dispose of her. A resolution to direct the Agent of Marine to dispose of
her by public auction was adopted on June 3, 1785. She was sold on
August 1, 1785. So Congress parted with its last and its best vessel.
The new Nation was without a ship or flag on the ocean. Captain Barry
had the first Continental vessel. He commanded the last one. Great must
have been his satisfaction when given the "Lexington." Sad, indeed, must
he have been in parting with the "Alliance."
She was purchased by Coburn & Whitehead for L2287 or $7,700 in
certificates of public credit. They sold to Robert Morris "at a great
profit." She became a merchant vessel and in June, 1787, made a voyage
to China, returning September, 1788. She was of 724 tons--a large ship
for those days. After all her perilous voyages and wonderful escapes
from the enemy she was beached on Petty's Island in the Delaware River
opposite Kensington, Philadelphia. Part of her timbers remained until
1901 and her hulk was visible at low tide. The widening of the channel
caused the removal of what remained of her hulk. Pieces are preserved at
the Museum of Independence Hall, where it is labeled as having been
commanded by John Paul Jones. Another portion is at the American
Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. There also may be seen the
card table and soup tureen of the Commodore, deposited by the compiler
of this record.