The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1841-11-03
MISCELLANEOUS.
THE!ROMANCE OF NAVAL
HISTORY.

penpence, there are few which can com
, pare with the capture ofthe General Monk
, by the iIyder Ally, under the command
r of Captain Barney.-This took place in
the waters of the Delaware, and was the
Occasion Of great exullation in our city,
The account Of the affair, which we quote,
lis from The life of Commodore Barney, ed
tied by Mary Barney, published in 1882, a
book, by the way, which is written with
great vivacity and dramatic power. and
possesses more interest," at least for the
American reader, than whole library of
trashy novels. 1t has all the vividness,
and much oflhe racy orr ginaliIy which de-
light the erudite readers of Froissart, Mon
strelet and the other chroniclers of the
olden time. But we must hasten to the
story.
"About the close of the revolutionary
war, the Delaware Bay and river were in
tested by numerous refugee barges and
tprvateers, which were committing the
most extensive depredations, not only up
on the commerce Of Philadelphia, but up
on the peaceablo inhabitants, along the
shores of every accessible stream, that
emplied into these waters. In order TO
drive off these plrnderers, who were pro-
lccted by the presence of several OF his
Majesty's ships, and to offer that assis.
lance TO their distressed citizens, which
was not in the power of The general gov
eminent 10 afford, The state ofPennsylAania
had determined TO fit out, at It's own eX-
perse, number of armed vessels, the
operations of which were to be confined
within the great thorough(are to their
apilal. Five days after, Lieutenant Bar
ney's arrival at Philadelphia, he was hon
ored with the offer of The command ofone
Of the vessels TO be equipped, small ship,
mounting Is six-popnders, and carrying
ITO men, called the ) .Hyder Ally lie
did NOT, as may be supposed, hesitate one
moment 10 accept the command, and to
place himself at The disposal of9lhe state
authorities, from whom he had received
many acts of kindness. He entered i'm
mediately upon the duties Of the com
mand. The ship was yet to be equipped
and manned, but with active snperinten-
dence and willing hands this is ap affair
which may snon be despatched. On the
Slh Of April, 1882 only eighteen DAYS af-
TER the happy, re,Goi"" with his family, and
thirteen after he t ok command, the IIy-
ALLY was ready 10 proceed on her tes.
tined service. The instructions under
which Capt. Barney acted, were very plain
aud circunscribed; he was to convey
fleet Of merchantmen to the capes, but on
no account to proceed to sea, ii heing the
intention Of the state, simply 10 protect its
own people, within lis own waters, and
chief 7 from the annoyance of the refugee
boats The convoy dropped down to
Cape May Road; and while lying there,
waiting for fair wind TO take them to sea,
two slips and ii brig were discovered
standing for them. Copt. Barncy, per-
,ceiving them to be a part. of the enemy's
force, made the signals to his convoy to
get under way Immediately and return up
the bay; orders which they were not slow
in obeying, with the exception of one ship,
which was armed; and her commander
very gallanlly determined to abide the is
sue. He hailed Captain Barney, there
fore, and made known his intention, in
case Of an enga cement, 'to stick by him?-
a promise, by the way, which we might as
well say at once, he prevented himself
from redeeming, by running his ship
aground on the Cape May shore, in his ca.
gerness to get TO sea as soon as the actiun
commenced, in this situation, his crew
jumped ashore from the end of the lib.
boom, and made their escape, and the ship
fell into the enemy's hands.
"CaPlain Barney kept aslern of his con-
voy, watching the motions of the enemy,
with all The eagernesS and anxiety natural
to 81 important trust. He saw that the
brig at one Of the ships were following
him into the Cape May channel, while the
other ship, ia frigatr) was maneuvering
to run ahead by the other channel, and
thus cut off the other progress of the con-
voy up the bay. His only hope for the
safety of his convoy was, that the enemy
would first direct their attention to him,
and that by desperate resistance, e
might employ them long enough to allow
time for his Charge to get beyond their
pursuit. For this pnrn"se he would will
lingly have engaged e whole Of the enc
my's furce at once, anu If he had a thou
sand lives. wonId have rated them all as
nothing, if by their sacrifice he could gain
for his conway the advantage of one hours
start. The brig was the first TO come mp
with him, but ii soon became evidcl that il
t,,t h,.. Il ,,.I