Evening star., 1914-05-16

with any other of the enenly's vessels
| he might fall In with. He sailed from
| the port of Boston, and when out sew
| eral days was attacked by two Brltlsh
frgates one Of which was larger than
the Raleigh, while both combined car
ried more than double the number OF
guns. The battle ragged from In the
| afternoon until midnight. Barry con-
| tinually frustrated the attempt OF the
larger ship to prevent him from making
| the shore Finally, when he saw victory
was impossible and that defeat was I'M
| pending, he decided If he could do SO
to run the ship on shore This feaI was
eighty-fve men landed safely and es-
capped He set fire to the ship and would
have succeeded in burning 1t had 1t not
been for the negligence or treaehery OF
flames and permitted the ship to be cap
| tured. =.
| THE secretary of the navy board. 10
informing Congress of Barrys loss IN
contended with desperate valor against
better defended Cooper. in his .chnr his
| Barry gained credit for his gallantry
on this occasion, while the Pennsyi-
1 yania Post. at the time. voicing pupilc
| opinion, stated that his good conouct
| and bravery are universally allowed.
Takes Command of Privateer.
| after this fight Barry was without
| a regular warship and hs-. took COM
mand of a privateer. harassing the
| enemy's commerce and inf1icting such
| havoc that the merchants of England
| began to clamor for the cessation OF
| war.
| .In the fall of 1880, the Continental
| Congress had fitted out ship named
] the Alliance, 50 called in compliment OF
| our alliance with France. a swl1ter
| and grander ship never rode the waves
| 1t was equal to any vessel in the naVles
| of France or England. and was per-
| feet specimen of the naval architecture
| of the time. 1t was paced under the
| command of Barry in accordance with
| the fixed custom of always recognizing
! him as senior officer and awarding MN
| lance was always victorious ms ap-
| pointment of Barry was of immense
| Significance. 1t came about the time
| the treason of Arnold was discovered
and Washington, in despair, had asked
| Whom can We trust now Barrys as
| signment to the best vessel in the serF-
.ce was the reassuring answer to
| Washington's broken-hearted inquiry.
| The Alliance sailed to France. carry
| Ing Col Laurens the American commits
| sioner, sent to the French court It
| negotiate for assistance 1t sailed back
| again to America carrying the 100000
| French iivres which enabled Washing
| ton to pay his troops transport his vic
| torious army to Yorktown and strike the
blow which terminated British suprem-
acy in America.
| Fierce Battle at Sea.
But on returning home the Alliance
encountered two war vessels. the Atalanta
and the Trepassy. So badly damaged
was the ship of Barry in this fight that
it was said In all the sea never was
| anything less fit to float than Barry's
vessel, except the enemy's ships which
he had reduced to a worse condition.
4 During this battle Barry was wounded
in the shoulder and was carried below.
While his wound was being dressed his
lieutenant came down and asked leave
to strike the colors. The indomitable
spirit of Barry broke out and he pas
| sionately refused permission. saying that
If the ship could not be fought without
him he would be carried on deck and do
so himself. But before he reached the
deck his enemies had struck their colors.
after this victory Barry captured
nine prizes. Four of these vessels were
sent to France. where they We're sold
for the sum Of s. 900, being the larg-
ton.
THE British forces having surrendered
in Virginia, the Alliance again sailed to
France, bringing home the distinguished
. Lafayette. The Congress considered the
/. | Sale QeuVery OF l/dIdyell6 a matter OF
: the highest Importance. Knowing there
fore the facility with which Barry at
. tached himself to the enemy's ships and
usually brought two at least home with
! him In company. he was particularly in
| structed to take no prizes and to keep in
mind as his sole object to make quiet and
, safe passage to some port In France
Barry was ever obedient to duty, though
, it was said of him that as he more than
once avoided the tempting opportunity to
capture British vessels encountered In his
course. he often wished in thought that
: Lafayette were in France.
Articles of Peace Signed.
November 80. 1882. preliminary arti-
; cles of peace had been signed. and De
cember King George had prohibited the
: further prosecution Of the war But the
, last shot at sea was fred by Barry in
: the month of March following. He had
I left Havana in company with another
3 ship carrying public moneys to America
They were overhauled by three British
war vessels, and in order to save his
I companion ship. which was slower than
D the Alliance. and to afford her opportunity
to escape. Barry for almost an hour held
? his pursuers at bay In a most spirited en-.
gagement. Therefore we see that Barry
had fought the first and the last sea
fight of the revolution and by his conduct
, during the war glorified the American
Navy.
When our present navy was created
in 1TA the relative order of rank was
established by the War Department, and
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