The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Commodore John Barry - Aug. 9th, 2003

ushistory.org ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
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FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

God Bless America
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Commodore John Barry
(1745-1803)

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"Father of the American Navy"
Few Americans are well-acquainted with the gallantry and heroic exploits of Philadelphia's Irish-born naval commander, Commodore John Barry. Obscured by his contemporary, naval commander John Paul Jones, Barry remains to this day an unsung hero of the young American Republic. As most naval historians note, Barry can be classed on a par with Jones for nautical skill and daring, but he exceeds him in the length of service (17 years) to his adopted country and his fidelity to the nurturing of a permanent American Navy. Indeed, Barry deserves the proud epithet, "Father of the American Navy," a title bestowed on him not by current generations of admirers, but by his contemporaries, who were in the best position to judge.



In the space of 58 years, this son of a poor Irish farmer rose from humble cabin boy to senior commander of the entire United States fleet. Intrepid In battle, he was humane to his men as well as adversaries and prisoners. Barry's war contributions are unparalleled: he was the first to capture a British war vessel on the high seas; he captured two British ships after being severely wounded in a ferocious sea battle; he quelled three mutinies; he fought on land at the Battles of Trenton and Princeton; he captured over 20 ships including an armed British schooner in the lower Delaware; he authored a Signal Book which established a set of signals used for effective communication between ships; and he fought the last naval battle of the American Revolution aboard the frigate Alliance in 1783.

Early Years

John Barry was born in a modest thatched cottage in 1745 at Ballysampson on Our Lady's Island, which is part of Tacumshin Parish in County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford, at the southeasternmost part of Ireland, has always had a strong maritime tradition. Yet Barry's father was a poor tenant farmer who was evicted by his British landlord. The family was forced to relocate to the village of Rosslare.

At Rosslare, the youth's uncle, Nicholas Barry, was captain of a fishing skiff, and the young man determined at an early age to follow his uncle to sea. Barry started out as a ship's cabin boy, and graduated from seaman to able seaman and ultimately, a Mate's rating. Barry grew to be a tall, muscular, well-respected seaman. A salient event which occurred in Barry's youth led to a lifelong enmity of oppression and the British. At a young age Barry learned of the massacre of some 3,000 Wexfordians under an invading force led by Oliver Cromwell in 1649.

His First Command

Barry's first command came in 1766 aboard the schooner, Barbadoes, sailing out of Philadelphia, which Barry adopted as his home port. Barry had good reason to make Philadelphia his new home. William Penn's legacy of religious freedom allowed Roman Catholics, which Barry was, greater latitude of worship than most anywhere else in the Colonies. Further, the city was emerging as a great maritime trade center. Its growing population, which exceeded 30,000 by the start of the Revolution, hungered for imported goods brought in by ships piloted by captains such as Barry. Plying back and forth between Philadelphia and the West Indies, Barry gained his early skills of command at the helm of several merchant ships.


Minature portrait painted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, possibly by Gilbert Stuart. It appears to show Barry as a young man.

In the West Indies trade, Barry honed his nautical skills making at least nine round trips without a single mishap. Philadelphians came to like "Big John" Barry due to his reliability, personable nature and his success in the merchant shipping business. His next command, the Patty and Polly, was a small brigantine which he took on but a single voyage. Shortly after, Barry took command of the Industry, a 45-ton vessel which he described as a "good schooner."

By 1772, Barry's abilities as a shipmaster had come to the attention of one of Philadelphia's premier mercantile houses, Meredith and Clymer. Reese Meredith recognized Barry's ability by assigning him command of the vessel Peg, quite a plum for a young captain. About the time colonial difficulties with the mother country necessitated the convening of the First Continental Congress in 1774, Barry began a lifelong friendship and collaboration with the Revolutionary financier, Robert Morris. Barry's last pre-revolutionary sailing experience came in the service of Morris, who was a partner in Philadelphia's top merchant shipping firm, Willing, Morris and Cadwalader. Barry was assigned to their sleek 200-ton ship, Black Prince. It was aboard Black Prince on a return voyage from England that Barry made the amazing and unparalleled record of travelling 237 miles by dead reckoning in a 24 hour period -- the fastest day of sailing recorded in the 18th century.

The Private Barry

In private life, Barry's world was twice darkened by tragic events. First was the premature death of his first wife, Mary Clary (or Cleary), whom he had married at Philadelphia's Old St. Joseph's chapel on October 31, 1767. Mary's death on February 9, 1774, at 29 years of age, grieved him all the more since he was at sea when her passing occurred. The second tragedy was the disappearance at sea of Barry's brother and fellow mariner Patrick Barry. Patrick's ship, the Union, a letter of marquee vessel, sailed from Bordeaux, France, in August of 1778, and was never heard from again.



Barry was consoled by his second marriage, this time to the socially popular and attractive Sarah Keen Austin, nicknamed "Sally" by her friends. Sally Austin and John Barry were married on July 7, 1777, in Old Christ Church by the Reverend William White, rector and founder of the American Episcopal Church. Sarah, an Episcopalian, eventually converted to Barry's Roman Catholic faith. The Barrys were regular parishioners at several Philadelphia Catholic churches: Old St. Joseph's, Old St. Mary's and eventually, St. Augustine's. The Barrys had no children; however, they happily raised two boys from Barry's deceased sister Eleanor's household.

Sarah's nephews from Ireland, Michael and Patrick Hayes, were brought to Philadelphia by Captain John Rosseter on his ship, the Rising Sun. Rosseter was a neighbor of the Barry family in Ireland, and the captain also wound up living on the same street as John Barry in Philadelphia. His close association with the Barrys continued even in death, as the Rosseter plot lies next to the Barry plot in Old St. Mary's churchyard.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks, think they'll let me in in jeans and a T-shirt?

[colorado tanker]

think they'll let me in in jeans and a T-shirt?

Hey, its California. Just throw on sunglasses, a black blazor or leather jacket and walk through the front door talking on a cell phone about a movie deal. You'll get the best table in the house. :)

[SAMWolf]

LOL! I haven't been to California since the early 80's and that was for a business trip to LA.

[Darksheare]

I'm in finally.
Made the mistake of going hiking, and it rained.
So I was soaked to teh bone and teh missus and I had to literally peel out of everythign to put dry stuff on.
Now I feel like I'm itching everywhere from the rain and now being dry.
Ah, the insanity of weather.
Oh, and we had some hail too...

[snippy_about_it]

Good evening Darksheare. Hope you don't catch a cold.

[SAMWolf]

What no poncho? Some boyscout you are!

[Darksheare]

I hate to see a good ship decommissioned.
But she is being replaced with the newest of the new.
Though it still stinks that the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan won't be active and fully in service for a few years yet.
(Unless the shakedown and breakin cruise goes MUCH faster.)

[Darksheare]

Hey, I was artillery, we don't CARE about rain.
*chuckle*

[Soaring Feather]

Well my goodness!! Sit down, put your feet up, get yourself something to drink and FReep awhile!!

We had rain here this afternoon, been gloomy all day.
No hail though.

[Soaring Feather]

#50 hehe

Thundering now.

[SAMWolf]

I was an Engineer and then Mortars. We always cared about rain. LOL!

[Darksheare]

Naaah, I won't catch a cold, it was a warm rain even with the hail.
(Rather odd, but still)

Sitting in warm dry clothes, and have on my old uniform bots with mudsoles on.
(The newer issue deals..)
And if I'm not mistaken.. they STILL have Fort Drum sand inside them!
From FOUR years ago!

Ahh.. memories.
I didn't think it was possible to actually MISS falling dead asleep in the sand there...

[Darksheare]

Whenever we had low hanging clouds at Fort Drum and had a fire mission.. when we fired we knew the rain was going top come down right afterwards.

Our round or whatever would make it rain.
So we learned to not worry about it so much.
*chuckle*
But I do miss my 'puke suit' raingear.

[Darksheare]

Thunder?
If there's lightning you might want to drop offline for a bit.
Never know when your surge protector is going ot be 'tested' by the storm.
And better to never find out than to find out the hard way.
*Voice of experience*

[Soaring Feather]

No lightning just a rumble now and again. I'm running cable here, but do shut down when it's severe. Nothing happening now maybe too, quiet.

You were at Fort Drum, up state from me. The 10th Mountain Division!! rah rah!! Was up that way in Feb. when I went to watch the Hockey star, my grandson. He lives in Canada, Kingston, Ontario and plays for the team there.

[SAMWolf]

I've still got my old heavy OD Green Nam issue poncho. I hated the new light weight ones they issued us in the Guard.

[Darksheare]

Egads, those things never blocked out water, especially the ones with the CAMO PRINT on them.
The old ones, we had THREE in the whole armory, worked MUCH better.
Unfortunately, those three were issued.

I lucked out, I had the newer camo printed ones.
They were crap.
The old 1960's/70's style rain suit, which smelled the high heaven always, we called them puke suits.
They were always MUCH better than the pancho.
Unfortunately we couldn't get any replacements for them.

[Darksheare]

My unit did Annual Training there.
We HAD been attached to the 10th mountain until late '96.
After that, we were detached and put into the New York Division, 27th Brigade.
(27th brigade had previosuly been part of 10th mountain, but begame a seperate supposedly light enhanced brigade.)

Rumor has it that there's some internal reorg going on still, but that's rumor.

My unit DID accidentally wander through Rome New York..
We were supposed to go past it and not through it.
We gave the navigation congrats to our Captain...

[Darksheare]

I always shutdown during storms.
It's a habit I picked up after getting zorched once.
System still works, but it now has some 'flukes'.

[PhilDragoo]

COMMODORE JOHN BARRY MEMORIAL
Boston Common, along Tremont Street
(Next to Visitors Information Center)

Battle of Trenton

Battle of Princeton

The USS United States versus HMS Macedonian--October 25, 1812

As Americans were still celebrating the victory of the Constitution over the Guerrière, Captain Stephen Decatur brought news of the defeat of yet another British frigate. On October 25, 1812, while the United States cruised five hundred miles west of the Canary Islands, Decatur sighted the Macedonian, under the command of Captain John Carden. The two ships engaged one another, and Decatur proved himself a man of vigorous action. British survivors reported that the United States fired her guns at such a high rate that the smoke caused the crew of the Macedonian to believe she had caught fire. But such was not the case, and after only ninety minutes of pounding, the Macedonian struck her colors and became a prize of the United States. Decatur, again the hero, arrived in New York with the Macedonian flying the American flag.

On the 25th, soon after daylight, in latitude 29° north, longitude 29°30' west, this American 44 fell in with, on her weather beam, the British 38-gun frigate Macedonian, Captain John Carden. The latter, then steering north-west-by-west, with the wind to the southward, immediately bore-up towards the United-States; whose force and national character (her colours being hoisted) were soon made out. At nine o'clock, finding that the British frigate was bearing down to the attack in a heedless and confident manner, the United-States opened a fire from her long 24's; almost every shot of which struck either the hull or masts of the Macedonian. As the latter closed and hauled-up to fire her broadside, the American frigate bore-way a little, to retain the advantage of her superior skill in gunnery. Thus was the action maintained until nearly ten o'clock: by which time all the carronades on the Macedonian'sengaged side had been disabled, and much other damage and a very serious loss incurred; while the United-States was comparatively uninjured.

Satisfied now, that her opponent was more than half beaten, and that there was little danger in closing with her, the United-States backed her main topsail, and, coming to the wind, opened a rapid and most destructive fire from the whole of her broadside; receiving in return the main-deck fire alone of the Macedonian, and that too ill-directed to be of much effect.

By the time the action, from its commencement, had lasted full two hours, the Macedonian had had her mizen-mast shot away by the board and her fore and main topmasts by the caps, her main yard cut to pieces, lower masts badly wounded, rigging of every sort destroyed, a small portion only of the fore-sail left to the yard, two guns on the main deck, and all on the quarter-deck and forecastle but two, disabled: she had also received upwards of a hundred shots in the hull, several of them between wind and water; had all her boats, except the jolly-boat towing astern, destroyed, and a great portion of her crew killed and wounded.

While the British frigate lay in this defenceless condition, the American, in a comparatively perfect state, having shot ahead, was about to place herself in a raking position on the former's bow. No alternative therefore remained; and at a few minutes past eleven the Macedonian hauled down her colours.

The Frigate Constellation under sail for the last time 1893

The Constellation, a 36 gun frigate of 1,265 tons, was launched at Baltimore, Md., September 7, 1797, the year in which the frigate United States and Constitution were launched. She is still in the service, and is now the station training ship of the Naval Training Station at Newport, R.I.

I was on Constellation in 1970 in Boston. It has remained afloat over two centuries while Ted Kennedy sank his Oldsmobile the first year.

His son, Stephen Decatur, naval officer, born in Sinnepuxent, Maryland, 5 January 1779; died near Bladensburg, Maryland, 22 March, 1820. He made a voyage with his father in 1787. At the age of seventeen he was employed by Messrs. Gurney and Smith, of Philadelphia (who were agents for the navy), and went to New Jersey to superintend the getting out of the keel pieces for the frigate "United States," m which ship he was launched, and which he successfully commanded in the war of 1812'5. Through the aid of Commander Barry, he obtained a warrant as midshipman, dated 30 April, 1798, and was placed on board the frigate " United States." He was at that time nineteen years of age, well informed" for his age, chivalrous in temper, courteous in his deportment, and adding grace of manner to an attractive person. While attached to the frigate "United States" under Com. Barry, Decatur cruised in the West Indies, capturing several French privateers that were preying upon American Commerce. He labored hard to make himself master of his profession. On one occasion the " United States" chased the French privateer "L'Amour de la Patrie," of six guns, which vessel, in attempting to escape, received a twenty-four pound shot at her waterline from the "United States." She at once shortened sail and surrendered, and Decatur was sent in a boat to take possession. When he got alongside, "L'Amour de la Pattie" was sinking fast, and the crew, stripped of their clothing, were assembled at the side, begging to be taken into the boat. As it was impossible to take on board sixty men, Decatur ordered the French captain to put his helm up and run down to the frigate as the only chance of saving the crew. This was done, and though the vessel sank when within fifty yards of the " United States," the crew was saved to a man.