Joshua Barney
Encyclopedia
Joshua Barney was a commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...

 in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, born in Baltimore, Maryland, who served in the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

 and the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

.

Revolutionary War

Barney served in the Continental Navy
Continental Navy
The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron, John Adams and vigorous Congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively...

 beginning in February 1776, as master's mate of Hornet
USS Hornet (1775)
The first USS Hornet was a merchant sloop chartered from Captain William Stone in December 1775 to serve under Stone as a unit of Esek Hopkins' Fleet....

 where he took part in Commodore Esek Hopkins
Esek Hopkins
Commodore Esek Hopkins was the first and only Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. He was also an accomplished merchant captain and privateer.-Early life and career:...

's raid on New Providence
New Providence
New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It also houses the national capital city, Nassau.The island was originally under Spanish control following Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, but the Spanish government showed...

. Later he served on the Wasp
USS Wasp (1775)
Scorpion, a merchant schooner built at Baltimore, was purchased by the Continental Navy late in 1775 and renamed USS Wasp —the first of that name. She was outfitted at Baltimore during the winter of 1775–1776; and commissioned in December 1775 or January 1776, Capt...

 and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant for gallantry in the action between the Wasp and a British brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

, the tender Betsey. While serving on Andrew Doria
USS Andrew Doria (1775)
Andrew Doria was a brig purchased by the Continental Congress in October of 1775. She is most famous for her participation in the Battle of Nassau—the first amphibious engagement by the Continental Navy and the Continental Marines—and for being the first United States vessel to receive a salute...

 he took a prominent part in the defense of the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...

.

Barney was taken prisoner several times and several times exchanged. In 1779 he was again taken prisoner and was imprisoned in Old Mill Prison, Plymouth, Devon, England until his escape in 1781. He wrote an account of this in The Memoirs of Commodore Barney, published in Boston, 1832.

Battle of Delaware Bay

In 1782, he was put in command of the Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 ship, Hyder Ally, in which in April he captured HMS General Monk, a warship that was much more heavily armed than the Hyder Ally. He was given command of the Monk and sailed for France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 with dispatches for Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

, returning with news that peace had been declared. After the Revolution Barney joined the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

, where he was made commander of a squadron.

Chesapeake Bay Flotilla

At the outbreak of the War of 1812, after a successful but unprofitable privateering cruise as commander of the Baltimore schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 Rossie, Barney entered the US Navy as a captain, and commanded the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla
Chesapeake Bay Flotilla
For two years the United States had been fighting with Great Britain during War of 1812. The British fleet was marauding the Chesapeake Bay when Joshua Barney, a naval officer of the American Revolutionary War, assembled a motley collection of barges and gunboats known generally as the Chesapeake...

, a fleet of gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

s defending Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

. He authored the plan to defend the Chesapeake, which was submitted to Secretary of the Navy, William Jones
William Jones (statesman)
William Jones was an American politician.Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1760. Apprenticed in a shipyard, during the American War of Independence he saw combat in the battles of Trenton and Princeton and later served at sea. In the decades that followed the war, he was a successful...

 and accepted on August 20, 1813. The plan consisted of using a flotilla of shallow-draft barges, each equipped with a large gun which would be used in large numbers to attack and annoy the invading British, then retreating to the safety of shoal waters abundant in the Chesapeake region.

On June 1, 1814, Barney's flotilla, led by his flagship, the 49 feet (14.9 m) sloop-rigged, self-propelled floating battery USS Scorpion
USS Scorpion (1812)
The first USS Scorpion was a self-propelled floating battery in commission in the United States Navy from 1812 to 1814.Scorpion was a sloop-rigged floating battery that could also be propelled by oars. She probably was built under contract for the U.S. Navy in 1812 for service during the War of...

, mounting two long guns and two carronade
Carronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...

s, were coming down Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 when they encountered the 12-gun schooner HMS St. Lawrence
HMS St Lawrence (1813)
HMS St Lawrence was a 14-gun schooner of the Royal Navy. She had been built in 1808 in St. Michels, Talbot County, Maryland for Thomas Tennant and sold to Philadelphians in 1810. During the War of 1812 she was the American privateer Atlas. The British captured her in 1813 and renamed her St Lawrence...

 (the former Baltimore privateer Atlas), and boats from the 74-gun Third Rates
Third-rate
In the British Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...

 HMS Dragon
HMS Dragon (1798)
HMS Dragon was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 2 April 1798 at Rotherhithe. She was designed by Sir William Rule, and was the only ship built to her draught....

 and HMS Albion
HMS Albion (1802)
HMS Albion was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Perry's Blackwall Yard on the Thames on 17 June 1802...

 near St. Jerome Creek. The flotilla pursued St Lawrence and the boats until they could reach the protection of the two 74s. The American flotilla then retreated into the Patuxent River
Patuxent River
The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeast passing through Baltimore, and the Patuxent River between...

 where the British quickly blockaded it.

The British outnumbered Barney by 7:1, forcing the flotilla on 7 June to retreat into St. Leonard's Creek. Two British frigates, the 38-gun HMS Loire and the 32-gun HMS Narcissus, plus the 18-gun sloop-of-war
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

 HMS Jasseur blockaded the mouth of the creek. The creek was too shallow for the British warships to enter, and the flotilla outgunned and hence was able to fend off the boats from the British ships.

Battles continued through June 10. The British, frustrated by their inability to flush Barney out of his safe retreat, instituted a "campaign of terror," laying waste to "town and farm alike" and plundering and burning Calverton
Calverton, Maryland
Calverton is an unincorporated area and Census-designated place located on the boundary between Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, Maryland.-Geography:As an unincorporated area, Calverton's boundaries are not officially defined...

, Huntingtown
Huntingtown, Maryland
Huntingtown is a census-designated place in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,436 at the 2000 census. The community is growing, with many large estate homes in small developments off of Maryland Route 2/4. It has a public high school called Huntingtown High. The...

, Prince Frederick
Prince Frederick, Maryland
Prince Frederick is a census-designated place in Calvert County, Maryland, United States, not to be confused with the incorporated, and much larger, city of Frederick some to the northwest in Frederick County...

, Benedict
Benedict, Maryland
Benedict, Maryland is a small unincorporated town in Charles County, Maryland, located on the Patuxent River in Southern Maryland, USA.-History:...

 and Lower Marlboro.

On June 26, after the arrival of troops commanded by U.S. Army Colonel Decius Wadsworth, and U.S. Marine Captain Samuel Miller, Barney attempted a breakout. A simultaneous attack from land and sea on the blockading frigates at the mouth of St. Leonard's creek allowed the flotilla to move out of the creek and up-river to Benedict, Maryland
Benedict, Maryland
Benedict, Maryland is a small unincorporated town in Charles County, Maryland, located on the Patuxent River in Southern Maryland, USA.-History:...

, though Barney had to scuttle gunboats No. 137 and 138 in the creek. The British entered the then-abandoned creek and burned the town of St. Leonard, Maryland
St. Leonard, Maryland
St. Leonard is a census-designated place in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. The population was officially 536 at the 2000 census, although residents of the Calvert Beach-Long Beach, Maryland community also use the St. Leonard zip code designation, making it in fact a much larger community...

.

The British, under the command of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane
Alexander Cochrane
Admiral Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane GCB RN was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars.-Naval career:...

 then moved up the Patuxent, preparing for a landing at Benedict. Concerned that Barney's remarkable flotilla could fall into British hands, Secretary of the Navy Jones ordered Barney to take his squadron as far up the Patuxent as possible, to Queen Anne
Queen Anne, Prince George's County, Maryland
Queen Anne in Prince George's County, Maryland is a former seaport on the Patuxent River in Maryland.-Geography:Queen Anne is located at 38°53'55" North, 76°40'42" West . Most of the town's former waterfront area is now part of Patuxent River Park, owned and operated by the Maryland-National...

, and scuttle the squadron if the British appeared. Leaving his barges with a skeleton crew under the command of Lieutenant Solomon Kireo Frazier to handle any destruction of the craft, Barney took the majority of his men to join the American Army commanded by General William Henry Winder where they participated in the Battle of Bladensburg
Battle of Bladensburg
The Battle of Bladensburg took place during the War of 1812. The defeat of the American forces there allowed the British to capture and burn the public buildings of Washington, D.C...

. Frazier scuttled all but one of the vessels, which the British captured, of the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla.

Battle of Bladensburg

During the Battle of Bladensburg
Battle of Bladensburg
The Battle of Bladensburg took place during the War of 1812. The defeat of the American forces there allowed the British to capture and burn the public buildings of Washington, D.C...

, Barney and 500 Marines and flotillamen made a heroic defense of the national capital—fighting against the enemy hand to hand with cutlasses and pikes. The battle raged for four hours but eventually the British defeated the greatly outnumbered Americans. The defenders were forced to fall back after nearly being cut off, and the British went on to burn the Capitol and White House. Barney was severely wounded, receiving a bullet deep in his thigh that could never be removed.

During the battle President James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...

 personally directed the marines led by Barney. (Prior to the battle, Madison had narrowly avoided capture.) This battle is one of only two instances of a sitting president exercising direct battlefield authority as Commander-in-Chief, the other having occurred when George Washington rode out and personally crushed the Whiskey rebellion.

Death

Commodore Barney died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 on December 10, 1818 enroute to Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, from complications related to the wound he received at the Battle of Bladensburg.

Namesake and honors

Four US Navy ships were named for him:
  • USS Commodore Barney
    USS Commodore Barney (1859)
    USS Commodore Barney was a ferryboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Ferryboats were of great value, since, because of their flat bottom and shallow draft, they could navigate streams and shallow waters that other ships could not.-Built in New York City in 1859:Commodore...

    , a Civil War ferryboat
  • USS Barney (TB-25), a torpedo boat built at the Bath Iron Works
    Bath Iron Works
    Bath Iron Works is a major American shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, United States. Since its founding in 1884 , BIW has built private, commercial and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy...

    , Bath, Maine
    Bath, Maine
    Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,266. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County. Located on the Kennebec River, Bath is a port of entry with a good harbor. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its...

     in 1900
  • USS Barney (DD-149)
    USS Barney (DD-149)
    USS Barney was a Wickes class destroyer in the United States Navy during the World War II, later redesignated AG-113. She was the second ship named for Commodore Joshua Barney....

    , a Wickes-class
    Wickes class destroyer
    The Wickes-class destroyers were a group of 111 destroyers built by the United States Navy in 1917-1919. Along with the 6 preceding Caldwell class and 155 subsequent Clemson-class destroyers, they formed the "flush-deck" or "four-stack" class. Only a few were completed in time to serve in World...

     destroyer
    Destroyer
    In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

    , built at Cramps’ Shipbuilding in Philadelphia, launched 5 Sep 1918
  • USS Barney (DDG-6)
    USS Barney (DDG-6)
    USS Barney was a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She was the third Navy ship named for Commodore Joshua Barney USN .Her original designation was DD-956...

     was a Charles F. Adams
    Charles F. Adams class destroyer
    The Charles F. Adams class is a ship class of 29 guided missile destroyers built between 1958 and 1967. Twenty three ships were built for the United States Navy, 3 for the Royal Australian Navy, and 3 for the West German Bundesmarine. The ships were based on the existing Forrest Sherman class, but...

     guided missile destroyer
    Destroyer
    In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

    , built at New York Shipbuilding
    New York Shipbuilding
    The New York Shipbuilding Corporation was founded in 1899 and opened its first shipyard in 1900. Located in Camden, New Jersey on the east shore of the Delaware River, New York Ship built more than 500 vessels for the U.S...

     in Camden, New Jersey
    Camden, New Jersey
    The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...

    , launched 10 Dec 1960.


A replica of a gunboat of Barney's Chesapeake Bay Flotilla today sits in a waterside park in Bladensburg.

A traffic circle on Pennsylvania Ave., SE, in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 is named for Barney.

A road, Commodore Joshua Barney Drive, NE, in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 is named for Barney.

External links

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