The Revolutionary War's Other Naval Hero

Most of the heroes in the Revolutionary War, from Washington down to the humblest recruit shivering through the winter at Valley Forge, fought on the land. The tiny, hastily formed Continental Navy—consisting mainly of improvised small craft and converted merchantmen—had to content itself with pinprick raids on enemy commercial shipping or coastal targets and occasional small-scale actions against lesser British military craft, never ships of the line in battle array.

Only two American naval officers, both foreign-born, emerged from the Revolutionary War with true hero status, and only one of them, John Paul Jones, is widely remembered today. A vain but valorous bantam of a man, Jones was born to humble Scottish parents and went to sea at 12, working his way up through the ranks of the merchant marine but finding his true métier as a bold, shrewd naval warrior.

The other American naval hero shared Jones's Celtic roots and humble origins, and also went to sea as a boy. As Tim McGrath makes clear in "John Barry: An American Hero in the Age of Sail," the odds that Barry overcame on his way to the top were, if anything, even more daunting than those faced by Jones. After all, Jones was a Protestant Scot; Barry was a disenfranchised Irish Catholic, born to poor tenant farmers in County Wexford in 1745. What little book learning he acquired was at a government-sanctioned "charter school" that offered Catholic children ages 6-10 a basic education in hopes of converting them to the Anglican-allied Church of Ireland.

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	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks Pharmboy. Yesterday I was looking over a book, "George Washington's Great Gamble", author's last name is Nelson (amusingly), it's about how the General made one of those decisive roll-of-the-dice moves, again hitting the British where they ain't, heading suddenly to the south in concert with the French naval force, which had finally won a decent action (and for that matter, had finally got around to trying one). :') Blast from the Past. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
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The program summary below is from PCN (Pennsylvania Cable Network) Booknotes which is an author interview program by Brian Lockman (who is a very good interviewer.) The interview will be on tomorrow (Sunday June 6) at 9:OO PM eastern time. It can be watched in live streaming at http://www.pcntv.com/streaming/streaming.html
All of the booknotes interviews can also be found later as podcasts.

"John Barry" Author: Tim McGrath Westholme Publishing, 904 Edgewood Road, Yardley, PA 19067

The man regarded as “the Father of the American Navy” returns to the quarterdeck in John Barry: An American Hero in the Age of Sail, the first comprehensive biography of this legendary officer in generations. Son of a hardscrabble Irish farmer from County Wexford, Barry was sent to sea as a child, arriving in Philadelphia during the restless decade before the American Revolution. Brave and ambitious, he ascended the ratlines to become a successful merchant captain at a young age, commanding the most prestigious ship in the colonies and recording the fastest known day of sail in the century.

Volunteering to fight for the Continental cause, Barry saw his star rise during the War for Independence. As captain of the Lexington, Raleigh, and Alliance, Barry faced down broadsides, mutinies, and even a fleet of icebergs. He captured the first enemy warship taken by a Continental vessel and fought the last battle of the American Revolution. His hard-won victory over two British warships simultaneously garnered him international notoriety, while his skill as a seafarer and cool temper established Barry as a worthy foe among British captains. Without a ship during the winter of 1776-77, the ever resourceful Barry lead a battery of naval artillery at the battle of Princeton. With peace came a historic voyage to China, where Barry helped open trade with that reclusive empire. In 1794, President Washington named Barry as the first commissioned officer in the new United States Navy. Given the title of commodore, Barry ended his career during America’s naval war with France, teaching the ropes to a new generation of officers, most notably Stephen Decatur.

Tim McGrath is an executive who lives outside of Philadelphia. An avid sailor, he has been published in Naval History magazine.

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