Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-21

A good many military regulations
were undone by the Bladensburg fight,
but it was not so with Barney's. His
name was spoken cheerfully by every
body and in the month following the
depressing Baldensburg affair the
board of aldermen and the common
council of the city of Washington re-
solved, That the mayor be, and he
hereby is. authorized to present to
Commodore Barney a sword, as a testi-
monial of the high sense which this
corporation entertains Of his distin-
guished gallantry and good conduct at
the battle of Bfadensburg," and they
also resolved, THAT the mayor be, and
he hereby is. authorized to present,
through Commodore Barney. the thanks
of the corporation to the gallant Off
GERS and men who served under his or
ders on the oath of August last, and to
assure them this corporation entertains
the most lively sense of their services
on that day"
The resolutions were signed by Roger
C. Wefghtman, president of the board
of common council; Joseph Gales, jr.,
president pro tempore of the board of
aldermen. and James H. Blake mayor
Pnesldent Madison issued on June 10,
lSl2. the proclamation THAT a state of
war existed between the United King
dom of Great Britain and Ireland and
the dependencies thereof and the
United States of America and their ter
ritories'' and on the 18th of July Bar
ney set sail with the privateer Rossie,
nnanced in Baltimore, carrying a crew
or 10 men and an armament of thir-
teen 12-pounders. Between that date
ana the return of the Rossie to her
captured eighteen vessels, with an ae,
sregate tonnage of 3.69S, and PIT pris-
oners.
The value of the ships and their car
goes he set down as s1.5O0,000. His
log shows that he took and burnt the
ship Princess Royal. captured and man
ned with prize crews the ship Kitty.
brig Devonshire. schooner Squid and
the brig Brothers. sunk the brig Henry
and schooner Race Horse. burnt the
William with prize crew, captured
the schooner Two Brothers, took the
ship jamie. took his Britanic ma jesty's
ship Princess Amelia. after severe
action and captured the schooner Ju-
bilee. 1t was an eventful cruise The
Rosie seized a number of American
vessels for breach of the non-importa-
ton law and was several times chased
by English ships of war. but outsailed
them.
In 1913 the United States determined
upon fitting out fotilla of small gun
boats and armed barges for operations
in the Chesapeake bay and tributaries
and gave the command of this fotilla
to Barney. The little fleet was fitted
out at Baltimore and when it was
ready for the work assigned to it, con-
sisted of twenty-six craft. manned by
crews aggregating nine hundred and
of1cered by merchant ship masters and
mates, nearly all from Baltimore or
the country Of the Chesapeake. The
Chesapeake had been in control of the
British from the outset of the war and
at the time of the formation of the
fotilla the British force in the bay con-
sisted of the seventyfour-gun ships
Albion and Dragon, the frigates Loire
and Acosta and several briggs and
schooners under command of Admiral
Cockburn. The British maintained a
naval depot on Tangier Island. in the
bay, and they made those forays into
Maryland and Virginia that must be
familiar to all readers of the history
of this regian. The operations of the
British seem to have been considerably
impeded by the fiotilla.
The great fleet Of British men, f-war
and transports-forty-s sail-entered
the Patuxent river on August is. Bar
ney got in communication with Wash
ington. and he was ordered to withdraw
his flotlla as high up the Patuxent as
possible. and should the enemy make a
landing. Barney was to burn the boats
of the f1otilla and with his men join
Gen. Winder, an officer of the regular
army. who had been appointed to the
command of the military district in
which the British operations of August.
1914. were conducted. When the Brit
ish landed at Benedict. Charles county,
on August 81, and began the march on
Washington. Barney left the f1otilla I'M
der command of Lieut.. Frazier, and
with 400 men marched to Upper Marl-
boro and on the day following joined
Gen. Winder at the Wood Yard. Lieut..
Frazier set fire to the f1otilla and joined
Barney with the remainder of the 40
tilla men.
The entire American force fell back
as the enemy advanced and entered
Washington by way of the Eastern