Captain Joseph N. Barney was born in Baltimore in 1818. He graduated from
Annapolis first in his class in 1834 and spent many years at sea until
1861, when he resigned to offer his services to the Confederacy.
He commanded the "Jamestown" at the Battle of Hampton Roads, March 8th and
9th, 1862, and, on April 11th, was sent in to capture vessels under the
guns of the Monitor, hoping to provoke the latter to come out and fight.
He commanded a battery at the fight at Drury's Bluff, and later in the war
took part in the operations at the Sabine pass and was sent to command
the C. S. Cruiser Florida, but was prevented by ill health. He was
purchasing agent for the Confederacy at the cessation of the hostilities,
and after the war made one voyage in the command of a commercial steamer.
Captain Barney made his home in Fredericksburg from 1874 to 1899, when his
death occurred. His career was a distinguished one and he had in his later
years, spent here, a host of friends in Fredericksburg.