Barney Circle used to be notable as the end of the street-car lines in the District. Commuters to the far SW and SE had to here transfer to buses. The Circle boasts, as I recall, a large statue not of Barney Fwank or Barney the Dinosaur but of Joshua Barney, a now largely forgotten naval hero of the Revolution and early republic.
Joshua Barney was born 6 July 1759 in Baltimore, Md. He served with distinction in Hornet and Wasp during the Revolutionary War and at the outbreak of the War of 1812 reentered the Navy as a captain, and commanded a fleet of gunboats defending Chesapeake Bay. At the Battle of Bladensburg, Barney and his sailors, acting as artillerymen, made a heroic defense of the National Capitol. Commodore Barney died 1 December 1818 at Pittsburgh, Pa.
During the War of 1812, while a large force of British naval vessels kept a large portion of the American Navy bottled up in the Elizabeth River, British Navy Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn led a small fleet in the Chesapeake Bay, harassing local ports and shipping. To combat this force, Joshua Barney, an American naval hero of the Revolutionary War, devised a Chesapeake Flotilla of small boats and barges manned and armed to engage Admiral Cockburn's ships. His plan was approved by the Navy Department and funded by the Congress, and Joshua Barney was bestowed the rank of Commodore. The flotilla was assembled in Baltimore and engaged Admiral Cockburn's force in various actions, the last of which was on June 26, 1814, at St. Leonard's Creek near the mouth of the Patuxent River. Ships of the flotilla successfully beat back two larger and more heavily armed British ships, but then retreated up the Patuxent River to rejoin the rest of the flotilla.
In mid-August, Admiral Cockburn's force was joined by Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane's fleet with Major General Robert Ross' army embarked. Together, the three leaders developed a plan to sail the combined fleet up the Patuxent River, where the soldiers and marines would disembark, and invade the city of Washington.
On August 21, 1814, the larger ships in Admiral Cochrane's fleet could get up the Patuxent only as far as Benedict, Maryland (near the present Patuxent River Bridge (Maryland Route 231)) so General Ross' army disembarked there. They proceeded northward with Admiral Cockburn's smaller ships pacing them on the river. The army spent their first night in the town of Nottingham, with the naval forces anchored offshore. On the following day, General Ross' army passed by Page's Chapel (now St. Thomas Episcopal Church), through the town of Croom (on what is now Croom Road (Maryland Route 382)) and spent their second night in Upper Marlboro.
Admiral Cockburn was anticipating an encounter north of Pig's Point with Commodore Barney's flotilla, so he landed his compliment of Royal Marines at the town of Leon, to engage the militia there. The vessels then proceeded up the river to attack the American flotilla (near where present day Pennsylvania Ave. (Maryland Route 4) crosses the Patuxent River), but found that the Americans had set fire to their ships to prevent their capture and to block the river. (A much discussed tactic for dealing with the British Navy on the Patuxent was to set fire to ships or barges and set them adrift in the path of the invading fleet.) Commodore Barney had been ordered by the Navy Department to scuttle his flotilla, and he and his flotillamen to join the sparse existing forces in the defense of Washington. The British salvaged (some would say pillaged) what they could, including some merchant schooners and a large quantity of tobacco.
On the 23rd, Admiral Cockburn's force sailed back to Charlestown (now Mount Calvert), where the Royal Marines disembarked and entered Upper Marlboro, where they remained to occupy the town after General Ross' army set off for Bladensburg and Washington.
On the 24th, Commodore Barney's 500 flotillamen and about 1,000 citizen soldiers successfully repelled four attacks by General Ross' force of 5,000 soldiers and marines at the Battle of Bladensburg. Commodore Barney lead his flotillamen in a counter-attack, expecting support from the remaining American forces, but poor logistics made support impossible. The citizen soldiers retreated, and Commodore Barney was forced to surrender. General Ross was so impressed by the bravery of Commodore Barney and his flotillamen that he immediately paroled them (after disarming them, of course). (On September 12, 1814, at the Battle of Baltimore, General Ross was killed by a shot fired by a former flotillaman he had paroled.)
Here is Com Barney's account of the Battle of Bladesburg.
The Battle of Bladensburg, 1814
Commodore Joshua Barney to the Secretary of the Navy
{SOURCE: John Brannan, ed.
Official Letters of the Military and Naval Officers of the United States
During the War with Great Britain in the Years 1812, 13, 14, & 15
With Some Additional Letters and Documents Elucidating the History of that Period.
(Washington: 1823), pp. 405-407. }
Farm at Elk Ridge, 29 August 1814
This is the first moment I have had it in my power to make a report of the proceedings of the forces under my command, since I had the honour of seeing you at the camp at the "Old Fields".
On the afternoon of that day, we were informed that the enemy was advancing upon us. The army was put under arms, and our positions taken; my forces on the right, flanked by the two battalions of the 36th and 38th, where we remained some hours; the enemy did not make his appearance. A little before sun-set general Winder came to me, and recommended that the heavy artillery should be withdrawn, with the exception of one 12 pounder to cover the retreat.
We took up our line of march, and in the night entered Washington by the Eastern Branch bridge. I marched my men, &c. to the marine barracks, and took up quarters for the night, myself sleeping at commodore Tingey's, in the navy yard.
About 2 o'clock general Winder came to my quarters, and we made some arrangements for the morning. In the morning I received a note from general Winder, and waited upon him, he requested me to take command, and place my artillery to defend the passage of the bridge on the Eastern Branch, as the enemy was approaching the city in that direction. I immediately put my guns in position, leaving the marines and the rest of my men at the barracks, to wait further orders.
I was in this situation when I had the honour to meet you, with the President and heads of departments, when it was determined that I should draw off my guns and men, and proceed towards Bladensburg, which was immediately put into execution. On our way, I was informed the enemy was within a mile of Bladensburg-we hurried on.
The day was hot, and my men very much crippled from the severe marches we had experienced the days before, many of them being without shoes, which I had replaced that morning. I preceded the men, and when I arrived at the line which separates the district from Maryland, the battle began.
I sent an officer back to hurry on my men; they came up in a trot; we took our position on the rising ground, put the pieces in battery, posted the marines under captain Miller, and the flotilla men, who were to act as infantry, under their own officers, on my right, to support the pieces, and waited the approach of the enemy. During this period the engagement continued, and the enemy advancing, our own army retreating before them, apparently in much disorder.
At length the enemy made his appearance on the main road, in force, and in front of my battery, and on seeing us made a halt. I reserved our fire. In a few minutes the enemy again advanced, when I ordered an 18 pounder to be fired, which completely cleared the road; shortly after, a second and a third attempt was made by the enemy to come forward, but all were destroyed. They then crossed over into an open field, and attempted to flank our right; he was there met by three 12 pounders, the marines under captain Miller, and my men, acting as infantry, and again was totally cut up. By this time not a vestige of the American army remained, except a body of five or six hundred, posted on a height on my right, from whom I expected much support, from their fine situation.
The enemy from this period never appeared in force in front of us; they pushed forward their sharp shooters; one of which shot my horse under me, who fell dead between two of my guns. The enemy, who had been kept in check by our fire for nearly half an hour, now began to out-flank us on the right; our guns were turned that way; he pushed up the hill, about two or three hundred, towards the corps of Americans stationed as above described, who, to my great mortification, made no resistance, giving a fire or two and retired. In this situation we had the whole army of the enemy to contend with. Our ammunition was expended; and, unfortunately, the drivers of my ammunition wagons had gone off in the general panic. At this time I received a severe wound in my thigh; captain Miller was wounded; sailing master Warner killed; acting sailing master Martin killed; and sailing master Martin wounded; but to the honour of my officers and men, as fast as their companions and messmates fell at the guns, they were instantly replaced from the infantry.
Finding the enemy now completely in our rear, and no means of defence, I gave orders to my officers and men to retire. Three of my officers assisted me to get off a short distance, but the great loss of blood occasioned such a weakness, that I was compelled to lie down. I requested my officers to leave me, which they obstinately refused; but upon being ordered they obeyed, one only remained.
In a short time I observed a British soldier, and had him called, and directed him to seek an officer; in a few minutes an officer came, and on learning who I was, brought general Ross and admiral Cockburn to me. Those officers behaved to me with the most marked attention, respect and politeness, had a surgeon brought, and my wound dressed immediately. After a few minutes conversation, the general informed me (after paying me a handsome compliment) that I was paroled, and at liberty to proceed to Washington or Bladensburg; as also Mr. Huffington, who had remained with me, offering me every assistance in his power, giving orders for a litter to be brought, in which I was carried to Bladensburg; captain Wainwright, first captain to admiral Cochrane, remained with me, and behaved to me as if I was a brother. During the stay of the enemy at Bladensburg, I received every marked attention possible from the officers of the army and navy.
My wound is deep, but I flatter myself not dangerous; the ball is not yet extracted. I fondly hope a few weeks will restore me to health, and that an exchange will take place, that I may resume my command, or any other that you and the President may think proper to honour me with.
Here is a British version of the same events and the subsequent burning of Washington. It is from James's 'Naval History of Britain from 1793 to 1815' Vol V
Commodore Barney's gun-boats were still lying in the Patuxent. An immediate attempt against this flotilla offered two advantages ; one, in its capture or destruction, the other, as a pretext for ascending the Patuxent, with the troops destined for the attack of the federal city. Part of the ships, having advanced as high up the river as the depth of water would allow, disembarked the troops, about 4000 in number, on the 19th and 20th of August, at Benedict, a small town, about 50 miles south-east of Washington. On the 20th, in the evening, Rear-admiral Cockburn, taking with him the armed boats and tenders of the fleet, having on board the marines under Major Robyns, and the marine-artillery under Captain James H. Harrison, proceeded up the river, to attack Commodore Barney's flotilla ; and to supply with provisions, and, if necessary, afford protection to the army, as it ascended the right bank. The boats and tenders were separated into three divisions. The first division was commanded by Captains Thomas Ball Sullivan and William Stanhope Badcock, the second, by Captains Rowland Money and James Somervell, and the third, by Captain Robert Ramsay ; and the whole was under the superintendence and immediate
management of Captain John Wainwright, of the Tonnant. The frigates Severn and Hebrus, Captains Joseph Nourse and Edmund Palmer, accompanied by the brig-sloop Manly, Captain Vincent Newton, had been also directed to follow the boats up the river as far as might prove practicable.
On opening the reach above Pig point, the rear-admiral, who had just before been joined by Captains Nourse and Palmer with the boats of their two frigates, which they could get no higher than Benedict, discovered Commodore Barney's broad pendant in the headmost vessel, a large sloop, and the remainder of the flotilla extending in a long line astern of her. The British boats now advanced as rapidly as possible ; but, on nearing the flotilla ; the sloop bearing the broad pendant was observed to be on fire, and soon afterwards blew up ; as did 15 out of the 16 remaining gun-boats. The one in which the fire had not taken was captured. The rear-admiral found 13 merchant schooners, which had been under Commodore Barney's protection. Of these, such as were not worth bringing away, were destroyed. The remainder were moved to Pig point, to receive on board the tobacco which had been there found.
The destruction of this flotilla secured the right flank of the army under Major-general Ross ; who, on the afternoon of the 22d, with the troops, arrived and encamped at the town of Upper Marlborough, situated about four miles up the western branch of the Patuxent. The men, therefore, after having been nearly three months on board ship, had, in less than three days, marched 40 miles ; and that in the month of August, when the sultriness of the climate could scarcely be tolerated. While General Ross and his men were resting themselves at Upper Marlborough, General Winder and his army, now joined by Commodore Barney and the men of his flotilla, were lying at their encampment at the long Old-Fields, only eight miles distant. On the next morning the American troops were reviewed by Mr. Madison, " their commander-in-chief, whose martial appearance gladdened every countenance and encouraged every heart. " * Soon after the review, a detachment from the American army advanced along the road to Upper Marlborough; and, after exchanging a few shots with the British skirmishers, fell back to the main body.
On the 23d, in the morning, Rear-admiral Cockburn, having left at Pig point, directly opposite to the western branch, the marines of the ships under Captain Robyns, and two divisions of the boats, crossed over, with the third division to Mount Calvert; and proceeded, by land, to the British encampment at Upper Marlborough. The little opposition experienced by the army in its march from Benedict, and the complete success that had attended the expedition against Commodore Barney's flotilla,
determined Major-general Ross to make an immediate attempt upon the city of Washington, distant from Upper-Marlborough not more than 16 miles. At the desire of the major-general, the marine and naval forces at Pig point were moved over to Mount Calvert ; and the marines, marine-artillery, and a proportion of the seamen under Captains Palmer and Money, joined the army at Upper-Marlborough.
As if by concert, the American army retired from the long Old-Fields, about the same time that the British army advanced from Upper-Marlborough ; and the patroles of the latter actually occupied, before midnight, the ground which the former had abandoned. The American army did not stop until it reached Washington ; where it encamped, for the night, near the navy. yard. On the same evening upwards of 2000 troops arrived at Bladensburg from Baltimore. On the 24th, at daylight, General Ross put his troops in motion for Bladensburg, 12 miles from his camp ; and, having halted by the way, arrived, at about 11 h. 30 m. A. M., at the heights facing the village.
According to a letter of General Armstrong, the American secretary at war, to the editor of the " Baltimore Patriot, " General Winder had under his command, including the 15,000 militia he had been directed to call out, as many troops and seamen, as would make his total force, when assembled, 16,300 men ; but an American writer gives the details of the general's force, in which he includes 600 seamen, and makes the total amount to only 7593-men. Of artillery, the American army had on the field not fewer than 23 pieces, varying from 6 to 18 pounders. This army was drawn up, in two lines, upon very commanding heights, on the north of the turnpike-road leading from Bladensburg to Washington ; and, as an additional incitement to glory on the part of the American troops, their president was on the field.
The affair (for it hardly deserves the name of battle) of Bladensburg, ended, as is well known, in the rout of the Americans ; from whom 10 pieces of cannon were taken, but not above 120 prisoners, owing to the swiftness with which the enemy went off, and the fatigue which the British army, about 1500 of whom only were engaged, had previously undergone. The retreating American troops proceeded, with all haste, towards Washington ; and the British troops, including the rear-division, which, just at the close of the short scuffle, had arrived upon the ground, halted to take some refreshment. Had it not been for the American artillery, the loss of the British would have been very trifling. Under these circumstances, the loss, on the part of the army, amounted to one captain, two lieutenants, five sergeants, and 56 rank and file killed, two lieutenant-colonels, one major, one captain, 14 lieutenants, two ensigns, 10 sergeants, and 155 rank and file wounded, total, 64 killed and 185 wounded. The loss sustained by the naval department amounted
to only one colonial marine killed, one master's mate (Jeremiah M'Daniel), two sergeants, and three colonial marines wounded ; making a total of 65 killed and 191 wounded. The officers of the navy and of the marines, who, besides Rear-admiral Cockburn, were present in the battle, appear to have been Captain Edmund Palmer, with his aide-de-camp, midshipman Arthur Wakefield, Lieutenant James Scott, first of the Albion, acting as Rear-admiral Cockburn's aide-de-camp, Lieutenant John Lawrence, of the marine artillery, and Lieutenant of marines Althestan Stephens.
As soon as the troops were refreshed, General Ross and Rear-admiral Cockburn, with about 1000 men, moved forward from Bladensburg, and at 8 P. M. arrived at an open piece of ground, two miles from the federal city. The troops were here drawn up, while Major-general Ross, Rear-admiral Cockburn, and several other officers, accompanied by a small guard, rode forward to reconnoitre. On arriving opposite to some houses, the party halted ; and, just as the officers had closed each other, in order to consult whether or not it would be prudent to enter the heart of the city that night, a volley was fired from the windows of one of two adjoining houses, and from the capitol which volley killed one soldier, and General Ross's horse from under him, and wounded three soldiers. Rear-admiral Cockburn instantly rode back to the detachment stationed in advance, and soon returned with the light companies. The house was then surrounded ; and, after some prisoners had been taken from it, set on fire : the adjoining house fell with it. The capitol, which was continuous to these houses, and which, according to an American writer, was " capable of being made an impregnable citadel against an enemy, with little artillery, and that of the lighter class, " was also set on fire.
We are obliged to pause an instant, in order to correct a very serious mistatement, which, as the book in which it appears with two or three others, lay open before us, we at first took to be the splenetic effusion of an American writer. But we owe an apology to the Americans ; for the statement emanates from the pen of a British naval officer, and here it is: " A little musketry from one of the houses in the town, which killed the general's horse, was all the resistance they met with. This was quickly silenced ; the house burnt, and the people within it put to death." * When it is considered, who are usually the inmates of a dwelling-house, the statement, that " the people within it were put to death " and that for " killing a horse, " is calculated to fill the mind with horror, and to call forth execrations against the monsters who could perpetrate such an act. Fortunately for the fame of the general and admiral who presided. on the occasion, the account we have just given, and the substance of
which we published eight or nine years ago, is a faithful relation of all that occurred.
Scarcely had the flames burst out from the capitol and the two contiguous houses, than an awful explosion announced, that the Americans were employed upon the same business in the lower part of the city. By this time the remainder of the British forces from Bladensburg had arrived at the encampment. At 10 h. 30 m. P. M., after a party had been sent to destroy the fort and public works at Greenleaf's point, Major-general Ross, and Rear-admiral Cockburn, each at the head of a small detachment of men, numbering together not more than 200, proceeded down the hill towards the president's palace. Finding it utterly abandoned, and hearing probably that a guard of soldiers, with " two pieces of cannon, well mounted on travelling carriages," * had been stationed at, and but recently withdrawn from, this the American " commander-in-chief's " head-quarters, Rear-admiral Cockburn directed it to be set on fire. A log-hut, under similar circumstances, would have shared the same fate, and the justice of the measure not been disputed. Why, then, in a country where " equality of rights " is daily preached up, should the palace be held more sacred than the cottage ? The loss of the one falls, where it ought, upon the nation at large ; the loss of the other, a lamentable case at all times, solely upon the individual proprietor. To the building, containing the treasury and war offices, the torches of the conquerors were next applied. On arriving opposite to the office of the " National Intelligencer, " the American government-paper, Rear-admiral Cockburn observed to the inhabitants near him, that he must destroy it. On being told, however, that the adjoining buildings would be likely to take fire, he desisted. The rear-admiral, then, wishing the inhabitants " good night, " and assuring them that private property and persons should be respected, departed to his quarters on the capitol-hill. Early on the next morning the rear-admiral was seen walking about the city, accompanied by three soldiers only. Indeed, General Wilkinson says : " A single sentinel who had been accidentally left on post near the office of the National Intelligencer, kept undisturbed possession of the central part of the metropolis until the next morning ; of which there are several living witnesses. " † At this time too, it appears an American force of more than 4000 combatants, was posted upon the heights of Georgetown, which is a continuation of the city to the westward.
During the morning of the 25th the secretary of state's office was burnt, and the types and printing materials of the government-paper were destroyed. A serious accident had happened to the party sent to Greenleaf's point. Some powder, concealed in a well, accidentally took fire, killing 12, and wounding 30, officers and men. The extensive rope-walks, at some distance from the city, were destroyed by the British ; and so was an immense quantity of small arms and heavy ordnance, as well as the great bridge across the Potomac ; a very prudent military measure, especially as the Americans had themselves destroyed the two bridges crossing the eastern branch. A party, under Captain Wainwright, destroyed the few stores and buildings in the navy-yard, which had escaped the flames of the preceding night. As the British were in haste to be gone, and as the vessels, even if they could have been floated in safety down the Potomac, were not wanted, it was very considerate in the American government to order the destruction of the frigate, of 1600 tons, which was nearly ready to be launched, and of the fine sloop of war, Argus, ready for sea ; and whose 20 carronades, 32-pounders, and two long 18-pounders, would have assisted so powerfully in defending the entrance to the city by the lower bridge.
According to the official estimate of the public property destroyed, the value has been much overrated. It appears not to have exceeded 1,624,280 dollars, or 365,4631. sterling. With respect to private property, we have only to quote passages from American prints, to show how that was treated. One newspaper says: " The British officers pay inviolable respect to private property, and no peaceable citizen is molested. " A writer from. Baltimore, under the date of August 27th, says: " The enemy, I learn, treated the inhabitants of Washington well. " That the British officers did all they could to secure the inhabitants from injury, both in their persons and properties, may also be gathered from the acknowledgment from Mr. Thompson, another American writer, that " the plunder of individual property was prohibited, and soldiers, transgressing the order, were severely punished."
On the 25th, at 8 P. M., the British left Washington, by the way of Bladensburg. Here such of the wounded as could ride. or be transported in carriages, were provided with 30 or 40 horses, 12 carts and waggons, one coach, and several gigs. With these, preceded by a drove of 60 or 70 cattle, the troops moved leisurely along. On the 29th, in the evening, they reached Benedict, 50 miles from Washington, without a single musket having been fired; and, on the following day, re-embarked in the vessels of the fleet. No complaints, that we can discover, have been made against the British, during their retreat across the country ; although, as an American writer has been pleased to say, " General Ross scarcely kept up his order, sufficiently to identify the body of his army."