p172  XIII.

Public Service and Private Enterprise

Again "at avery grate expence," John Barry traveled the long route from Boston, and arrived in Philadelphia on October 27, 1778. Pausing at the marine office to report his presence and deliver sundry letters, he hastened to the Austin homestead where Sarah and her brother, Isaac, had resumed their abode. He found his wife overjoyed at his return, but weighed down with worries about her mother's estate. She was as depressed as she had been in Reading the previous winter, and the cause again was her errant elder brother.

William Austin had departed with the British. A relentless assembly had decreed confiscation of the estates of all Tories who had fled with the enemy. Numbered among those attainted for high treason was brother William. Before vacating, he had appropriated to his own use a considerable part of the personal estate of his mother, and had sold a number of items at more than appraised value, but had neglected to render any accounting. Thus, the mother's estate and William's own property were hopelessly entangled. Sarah lived in daily dread that the mansion house would be seized over her head by state authorities. The muddle was not of a nature to be straightened out without recourse to petitions, claims, audits, decrees and all the other impediments of the courts. John Barry and his brother-in‑law, Isaac Austin, were pitched that autumn into legal difficulties lasting a dozen years.

The Captain's major interest was a suitable naval assignment. His exploit in the Raleigh was the talk of the continent. He was entitled to and could expect preferment. With the death of Nicholas Biddle, and dismissal of Hector McNeill and Thomas Thompson from the service, he had advanced to fourth  p173 on the seniority list. Only James Nicholson, John Manley and Dudley Saltonstall outranked him. Through the appointment of Seth Harding to the Confederacy, Congress had filled the last frigate vacancy. No suitable post was available, so one was created.

Congress had been toying with a chimerical plan to invade East Florida, and reduce the British stronghold at St. Augustine. For the nucleus of this extravagant effort, it had a few skeleton Continental battalions in South Carolina and Georgia, and that was all. To succeed, it was necessary to build the proposed expedition into a crusade against the arrogant Patrick Tonyn, "Captain General, Governor and Commander-in‑Chief in and for his Majesty's Province of East Florida, Chancellor and Vice Admiral of the same!"

Most enlightening are the resolutions of November 10, 1778, which placed Major General Benjamin Lincoln in supreme command, told him how to recruit his army, extended land bonuses to all volunteers, and requested the governors of Maryland and Virginia to contribute their armed galleys to form the naval wing of the crusade. Even more enlightening is the preamble to the final resolution. It pointed out that "differences may arise among the officers of the respective states whose gallies are employed, which if not guarded against might defeat the end of the enterprise." To obviate this contingency, John Barry was directed "to take command of all armed vessels employed on the intended expedition."

The Captain learned of the plan and was unimpressed. The more he studied it, the colder he grew. When the Marine Committee, ten days later, produced his detailed orders, he was noncommittal. He was to proceed to Maryland and request that state's galleys. A similar request was to be communicated to the governor of Virginia. What he did in Maryland must not be "disagreeable to the Governor of Virginia." What he did subsequently must not be "disagreeable to either of the Governors of Maryland or Virginia." When he had the galleys in one fleet, he was to proceed to Charlestown, South Carolina, taking every opportunity "to cultivate harmony among your Officers and Men."

"We have strong hopes of a favorable Issue to the intended expedition," the Marine Committee concluded. Its hopes were  p174 considerably stronger than Barry's. The Captain reacted not at all to the committee's exhortations. Instead, as Congress seemed to expect him to be a super-diplomat, he conveyed to that august body a demand for a diplomat's perquisites.

"Captain Barry having made some extraordinary demands on Congress for an allowance for a table and a secretary which the House have not determined upon, is detained here," wrote Henry Laurens, its president, to General Lincoln, on November 24. He voiced suspicions. While Barry was "a brave and active Seaman," Laurens had learned "the intended service is not pleasing to him."

Why should it be? To embark on the proposed expedition, subject to the whims of either of two governors, hedged about with restrictions, and supposed to reconcile state naval captains into accepting subordinate positions under him, would have been political suicide. To have refused the command point blank would have been as fatal. Barry had taken a shrewder course. His demands were debated in Congress, on December 3, and committed to the Marine Committee. No decision was reached. Suddenly, as the year ended, the whole bright plan blew up with a bang. The British had launched an offensive against Savannah. Congress tucked the crusade against East Florida into the portfolio of plans that had died aborning, and the Captain heaved a sigh of relief.

* * *

Matthew and Thomas Irwin, a keen pair of Philadelphia merchants, had profited much by the war. They owned several staunch and capacious brigs which plied back and forth between the Dutch and Spanish West Indies and the continent. Cargoes of boards, scantlings, hoops and staves went outward, chiefly to St. Eustatia and Hispaniola. There they were sold at a handsome profit, and a portion of the proceeds invested in return cargoes of sugar, molasses, rum and coffee — commodities commanding high prices in all American cities. Good fortune attended Matthew and Thomas. Their precious cargoes consistently eluded British cruisers. Perhaps it was more good management than good fortune. The Irwins took all precautions. Their brigs were well armed, stoutly manned, and carried letter-of‑marque commissions. Privateering, as such, was not in  p175 their line. They had no objections to their captains bagging an occasional prize, but they insisted that the primary objective of any voyage was to reach port with the cargo intact. As their success rested largely upon the ability, judgment, bravery and honesty of the men to whom they entrusted their vessels, they employed the best shipmasters they could find.

When the brothers learned John Barry was idling at home with no prospect of an immediate Continental command, they made overtures to him. Their largest vessel, the 200 ton brigantine Delaware, just returned from St. Eustatia, was without a master. Would Captain Barry consider taking command?

The offer came at a propitious time. With the close of 1778, Barry, while not in straitened circumstances, could visualize the pending pinch of poverty. Not a penny of wages had been paid him for his services in the Continental navy since the day he had accepted his commission, in March, 1776. Neither had he received any of the money due him for subsistence on shore or allowance at sea. The United States owed him the tidy sum of $2700, and showed no disposition to meet its obligations. With Sarah's share of her mother's estate withheld pending final settlement, they had been living upon his pre‑war capital and prize shares from the captures made in the Lexington and in the barge cruise. All outgo and no income could not continue indefinitely.

The Marine Committee had nothing to offer him. The collapse of the East Florida expedition spelled the end of its ingenuity and resources. Faced with more officers than ships, the committee encouraged Continental captains to seek private employ. Therefore, Barry lent an attentive ear to the Irwins' proposal. On January 4, 1779, he applied to the committee and received leave of absence. Gossip at the annual meeting of the Society for the Relief of poor and distressed Masters of Ships, their Widows and Children, at the Coffee House that night, was that Captain Barry had accepted command of one of the Irwin brigs.

Philadelphia had embarked upon its infamous profligate era — an era that is recorded in history as one of profiteering and public debauchery. Merchants had gone money mad. Persons in public office had stooped to low means to feather their nests at the expense of the struggling nation. Wages remained piti­fully  p176 inadequate while inflated values started the Continental currency upon a downward path that was not stemmed until long years later. As the basis of wealth lay in the trade with the West Indies, the focal point for trouble was the shipping in the port. Seamen protested their meagre pay even to the point of staging a riot along the water-front on January 12. Numerous outward-bound vessels were unrigged "in order to distress the merchants into the raising of wages." Mariners refused to sign up for voyages until their grievances were redressed.

Unable to enlist full crews, the shipmasters sought to lure hands from French vessels in the river and from the state galleys. John Barry was among those who enticed Frenchmen from their ships. He refrained from proselytizing among the galleymen. The Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council was content to issue a caution "to all owners and masters of vessels against employing or harboring" deserters from the state fleet. Not so, Monsieur Oster, Vice Consul of France. That gentleman launched protest after protest, culminating with a memorial listing every case that had come to his attention. Chief among the offenders he named Barry. Fortunately, as it was reported later to the Assembly, "the Special complaint has been sattisfactorily redressed upon application to Captain Barry."

By then, the Captain had his full complement of forty-five men on the Delaware, and was training them to the ten 4‑pounders comprising her armament. He had shipped the cargo as well — 20,600 staves, •3,000 feet of board, 2,000 shingles, 2,000 hogshead headings, 500 hogshead hoops, 132 knock-down hogsheads, seventy-four barrels of tar, thirty-eight hogsheads of tobacco and thirty barrels of flour — all consigned to Baron Legrand & Co., Port-au‑Prince, Hispaniola. There remained his letter-of‑marque commission, which the Irwins procured, on February 15, posting a ten‑thousand-dollar bond to assure non‑violation of its provisions. The commission exists today, signed by John Jay, as president of Congress.

That same February 15, the Captain and Sarah walked down to the Walnut yard to view a squalling bit of humanity just ushered into the world — brother Thomas' first offspring and John Barry's newest niece. Before the visit ended, the Captain stood as sponsor, with Sarah as witness, while Father  p177 Farmer, of St. Mary's Church, duly baptized Anna, infant daughter of Thomas and Anna Barry.

In company with several other armed vessels, the Delaware stood down the river on February 16. Barry's consorts included another Irwin brigantine, the Lady Gates, also bound for Port-au‑Prince. The merchantmen sailed as a fleet for protection against John Goodrich's "pirates." That Tory marauder was still at large, harassing American shipping off the Virginia capes. Somewhat like old times it seemed to be again bound for the West Indies. Almost five years had elapsed since Barry's last southward voyage in the little Peggy, in 1774. The difference between then and now, however, was marked by iron 4‑pounders along the bulwarks, an augmented crew and a constant watch at the masthead. War had not changed the currents and winds of the sea routes. Barry could fall back upon his old knowledge, and put it to use in expediting the passage. Neither Goodrich, nor any of his Tory squadron, was sighted. The voyage to Hispaniola was barren of any excitement.

In mid‑March the little fleet slipped through St. Marc channel and came to anchor off Port-au‑Prince. For more than a month, it lay there, discharging lumber and receiving return cargoes supplied by Baron Legrand & Co. Other vessels waited in the roadstead until the Captain was ready to depart. A glimpse of them is contained in a letter which reported "10 Sail of Americans were to sail from Port au Prince in 2 or 5 days mostly for Philadelphia under convoy of Barry in a brig." They cleared on May 21, and made a rapid and un­event­ful northward run. Five of them, including the Delaware and Lady Gates, reached Philadelphia on June 4 — a passage of fourteen days.

The Irwins sold the cargoes with dispatch and profit. Much went to A. Butler, retailer in Front street, who shortly was advertising "a quantity of the best Muscovado sugar in hogsheads and barrels, just imported in the Brigs Delaware and Lady Gates."

* * *

Continental employment seemed as remote to Barry in June as it had been earlier in 1779. The Irwins wanted him to make  p178 another voyage to Port-au‑Prince and he consented. During the balance of the month and early July, the vessel was overhauled. Also, another brigantine was purchased by Mathew and Thomas — the Impertinent, a prize sent in by State ship General Greene. They gave command of her to John Young, a Continental captain, who, like Barry, was awaiting a Marine Committee assignment.

To guard against the Goodrich menace, a little fleet of five letters-of‑marque was assembled in the river. Three were owned by the Irwins — the Delaware, Lady Gates and Impertinent. The other two were the brig Morning Star and schooner Concord.

"For the sake of regularity and good order," read the owners' instructions, "we have appointed John Barry Esqr Commodore of the Fleet, therefore we desire you will obey and pay due respect to all the orders and Signals the said Commodore may give or order to be given, while on the high Seas, during this present Voyage."

By July 13, each captain had his cargo, Barry's consisting of 27,900 feet of pine board, 13,500 feet of scantlings, 10,225 short shingles and 4100 hogshead staves, all "Shipped in good Order and well conditioned upon the good Brigantine called the Delaware." On July 14, the fleet descended the river. Off Chester, while exchanging pilots, Barry beheld the frigate Confederacy at anchor. If the sight made him a bit envious, he concealed his feelings. He must have recalled the fruitless recommendation of the Navy Board of the Eastern District that he be given command of her. But that was past history. His present command required his attention, with no room or time for regrets over what might have been.

Under Cape May, on July 16, Barry called his fellow captains on board for a brief discussion of procedure and signals. In attendance was the Captain's new clerk, a young man named John Kessler, who could wield a fluent pen and was developing an ardent admiration for his tall superior officer. In after years, this same John Kessler would produce an invaluable narrative of his experiences under John Barry. Just then, however, the youthful clerk was busy making copies of the signals to be used — one for each captain — and transcribing a message for the owners to be sent ashore with the pilot. Barry had found  p179 "The Old Brigg behave as well as usual," but was too deep in the water, even after he had lightened her by transferring part of her cargo to a shallop.

"The Commanders in our little Squadron isº very complasant and Obliging to each Other," the Captain dictated to Kessler, adding that this fact "is a great Satisfaction to me."

Crystal clear was that July morning when the fleet of five letters-of‑marque cleared Cape May. A spanking breeze from the northeast had chased away the dancing heat waves of midsummer, giving the air high visibility. In the bright atmosphere, the light house on Cape Henlopen, twenty miles to the southward, stood silhouetted against a blue horizon. A beauti­ful day of good omen it was, as, upon signal from the Delaware, her consorts spread their canvas to benefit to the full from that most favorable wind.

Before noon, when they were all at sea abreast of the cape, a call came from the Delaware's masthead:

"A sail, dead ahead!"

Through the fleet ran a ripple of excitement as signals communicated the news. Was she friend or foe? A ship of force or a merchantman? Would they have to scatter and flee or was there prospect of a prize? The answer came from the lookout.

"She's put about," he called. "She's standing to the southward with all sail set."

Barry flung the "give chase" flag to the peak, and five "complasant" captains went merrily in full cry after the quarry. The speedy Impertinent outdistanced her consorts. The pursuit strung southward along the Delaware coast with John Young's brigantine well in the lead. To her fell the honor of making the capture. When, toward dusk, the sluggish Delaware came up, Young boarded her, and reported his success.

"She's one of Goodrich's fleet, Captain Barry," he said in high elation, "the sloop-of‑war Harlem. There's a midshipman and sixty-three hands on board. Her captain threw his guns overboard — fourteen 4‑pounders, I believe — and then took to his long-boat with about a dozen men. They tell me the boat overset. At any rate, we took her without a shot being fired."

Barry accompanied Young to the Harlem. It was decided to divide the captive crew among the five vessels and put back to Cape Henlopen, "they being too many in numbers to keep  p180 on board our little fleet with Safty." The chase had carried them some forty miles south of the cape. The breeze, which had wafted them along so well in the pursuit, baffled them, however, on July 17. At dawn, they were still forty miles away from their destination, and saw slight chance of reaching it with "the wind ahead." Another consultation brought agreement that the prisoners should be landed at Sinepuxent, Maryland, a few leagues to the southwest, and turned over to the military authorities.

Later that day, they dropped anchor in Sinepuxent bay, Boats began to convey the prisoners to the beach, and an officer from the Impertinent went ashore to arrange for a proper guard. Most of the captives had been landed, when the officer returned with a tale of woe. His first efforts had been to employ a private guard, promising an order on the Irwins for the payment of all charges upon the delivery of the prisoners in Philadelphia. "Sundry" persons were approached and had turned deaf ears to the offer. Then he had applied to the proper militia authority, and had met with a rebuff. No one would lift a finger to relieve the sailor guard.

John Young, quick tempered and fiery, sent word of the situation to Barry and went ashore. He and the disobliging militia colonel had high words, Young flatly charging the latter with being too friendly to the enemy. When that highly affronted gentleman withdrew, others present remained obdurate to entreaties, threats, or promises of reward. That night the Harlem's crew, herded on the beach, was guarded by the seamen. Barry came ashore and added his persuasive eloquence in the morning, but to no effect. Twenty-four hours had been spent in fruitless negotiations. A decision was reached about noon. Another militia officer had arrived with a file of men. Young gave him no chance to result.

"As you command the armed forces of the government here," he said, "I turn these prisoners over to you."

The seamen were ordered to the boats, and, while the protesting militia captain stormed, pulled back to their respective vessels. Before leaving the Maryland coast, Barry and Young wrote letters to their owners, and gave them to the prizemaster on the Harlem for delivery. Neither minced matters as to their reception in Sinepuxent bay. Subsequent Congressional action  p181 caused some unpleasant hours for the disobliging militia officers.

The voyage to Hispaniola thereafter was barren of any additional excitement. They arrived at Port-au‑Prince in August, where Baron Legrand & Co. had scanty return cargoes ready. Into the hold of the Delaware were stowed sixty hogsheads of sugar and ten casks of taffia. Proportionate quantities of the same commodities were shipped on the other four vessels, and the fleet sailed for home early in September. Shortly after leaving the West Indies, "a merchant vessel of Liverpool was taken." No further description of this capture has come to light, a matter of small moment, as she was retaken subsequently by one of Goodrich's squadron. Without further incident, the five vessels arrived off Cape May early in October.

The pilot who came out to the Delaware voiced a warning.

"You'd best put your hands ashore south o' Chester, Cap'n Barry," he said. "The Confederacy's layin' there an' impressin' crews o' inbound merchantmen."

His tale ran through the brigantine. Shortly the hands came gingerly aft with a request to talk to the Captain.

"We've heard about the Confederacy, Sir," the spokesman explained. "Many o' us is married men as wants to get home to our wives. We're askin', Sir, beggin' your pardon, if you'd be willin' to put us ashore below Chester. We'd come aboard again above an' —"

"A moment, lads," Barry interrupted. "If you have the spirit of freemen, you'll neither desire to go ashore, nor tamely submit to be taken against your wills. Are you afraid of a frigate's boat crew?"

They caught the implied suggestion to defend themselves, and cheered him to the echo. During the afternoon, the boatswain passed out muskets, pistols and boarding pikes. A well armed, determined crew watched the formidable lines of the frigate take shape at dawn off Chester. From Confederacy, as they came abreast, a voice hailed:

"Ahoy the brig! Lay your main topsail on the mast!"

"Would you have us running ashore?" Barry called back.

"Then come to anchor," was the sharp response.

The Captain nodded to the mate to continue as they had been, beating up with the tide at flood and the wind ahead. A  p182 warning gun to heave to was fired from the frigate, and a boat put off toward the Delaware.

"When she comes alongside, let the officers board us," Barry told his crew. "You can handle the men as you please."

The boat nosed against the port side, and two pompous junior lieutenants, both armed, leaped over the bulwarks and strutted up the ladder to the poop.

"Cast off your main topsail halyards!" one of them shouted.

John Barry gazed down at them from his more than six feet of height, a quizzical smile on his face,

"Have you been sent to take command of this vessel?" he inquired.

A commotion in the waist prevented an answer. The frigate's men had not followed their officers. The Delaware's crew presented a barrier of threatening weapons and promised instant death to the first blasted son of a sea cook who tried to board. Such a situation was too much for the young lieutenants. They blustered a bit, and one of them pushed a pistol into the boatswain's midriff. To no avail. Barry's hands could not be bluffed.

"By God, you'll suffer for this," one of the youngsters shrilled, as they jumped into their boat and were rowed off to the frigate. On the Confederacy could be noted a deal of commotion, and another gun banged away. The ball passed overhead.

"Clear ship for action," Barry commanded. "This has gone far enough. If they injure but a rope yarn with their damned gun, I'll give them a broadside."

For the third time the Confederacy fired. As the echo rolled away, and with his crew at quarters, the Captain hailed.

"Who commands on board there?" he demanded.

"Lieutenant Stephen Gregory, in the absence of Captain Harding," came the answer.

"Lieutenant Gregory, I advise you to desist from firing," called Barry, his voice steely. "This is the brig Delaware, belonging to Philadelphia, and my name is John Barry."

John Barry! That gave Gregory pause. The Continental lieutenant knew Barry and his reputation. Here was no ordinary shipmaster to submit tamely to having his hands impressed, but a bluff sea‑fighter who was not to be trifled with. What if  p183 the Confederacy needed hands badly to speed with her orders to sail for France. To get them, her officers might brave the ire of the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council, as they had frequently, but Gregory hadn't the courage to dare John Barry's wrath. It would be just like Barry to open fire on the frigate if they resorted to force. Better let him alone. Let him all, they did. No more guns spoke from the Confederacy. Unmolested, the Delaware continued up stream, arriving at Philadelphia on October 5. According to John Kessler, the other vessels in the fleet were stopped and lost many men by impressment. After all, there was but one John Barry.

* * *

The Irwins and the Captain parted company after the second voyage to Port-au‑Prince. Barry's thoughts had turned to privateering. He was considering the offer of "a ship of twenty four Guns in the Merchant service" — her name is not disclosed. John Brown put an end to the idea. The Marine Committee secretary hunted him up, on October 21, with word the leave of absence was ended, and an important commission awaited him. Brown was a bit mysterious about it, insisting that Barry call at the committee rooms.

When the committee revealed what was in store, it sounded alluring. He was to proceed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and take command of a new ship‑of-the‑line on the stocks. She was the largest capital ship undertaken by Congress, and had been authorized, November 20, 1776, to rate seventy-four guns. As he recalled it, at the time he had sailed from Boston in the Raleigh, the ship was reported covered as high as the lower deck, but was being cut down to rate fifty‑six guns instead of the original armament. More than a year had passed since then. He presumed she was ready to launch. No one told him differently. Instead, the committee gave him time for personal affairs before instructions would be drawn up.

Undoubtedly, Marine Committee action kept John Barry out of politics and, hence, out of trouble. Since his return from Port-au‑Prince, he had been much in the company of Robert Morris, James Wilson and others, comprising a group of aristocrats whom the riff-raff of the city charged with Toryism and also with profiteering — the former charge groundless, the latter  p184 probably true, but too involved and complicated with Pennsylvania politics to take the space to unravel it. Fortunately, the Captain had been at sea during the bloody attack on "Fort Wilson" on October 4. Possibility a recurrence of mob violence had been in the minds of those who had undergone one experience. This explains a letter from Wilson, the lawyer, to Morris, the merchant, wherein the former highly approved "some such Association as Capt. Barry will shew you." The association appears to have been a method to get the signatures of all who thought as they did, and present the list to the Supreme Executive Council with a tender of the services of the subscribers. It seemed, according to Wilson, "to be the only Measure by which we can expect to live in any tolerable Degree of Quiet," and "Capt. Barry promises every Thing in his Power." Nothing came of the association, probably because its originator now had something of more moment requiring his attention.

Instructions were handed the Captain on November 5. He was to repair to Portsmouth and hasten the completion of the new ship. On the way, he should call at Boston and deliver a letter to the Navy Board, urging its co‑operation in pushing her building and fitting out. Should he and John Langdon, the Continental agent at Portsmouth, agree upon alterations in her present design, their recommendations were to be communicated at once to Congress. Barry had one request, that George Jerry Osborne, who had been with him on the Raleigh, be appointed his captain of marines. The committee took that under advisement. Two weeks later it assigned Osborne, with the understanding that no marine detachment should be formed until the ship was nearly ready for sea. Osborne's appointment was virtually the last act of the Marine Committee. It had been legislated out of existence, on October 28, 1779, in favor of a Board of Admiralty, but functioned half-heartedly until admiralty commissioners were appointed.

Long before this, Barry was riding northward. He had set off Sunday, November 7, delaying his departure until after mass. Attendance at St. Mary's Church had taken on new significance to the Captain since his return to port in October. Sarah had delighted him with the news that, on July 21,  p185 she had been baptized into the Catholic faith, with her sister-in‑law, Anna Barry, as her sponsor.

From meagre records, we gather that John Barry reached Portsmouth, on November 21. There he met Langdon, the dynamic New Hampshire leader who had already directed the building of two Continental ships — the Raleigh and Ranger — but who, because of lack of funds, was making slow progress on the ship‑of-the‑line. Also, the Captain renewed acquaintance with Thomas Thompson, who had preceded him on the Raleigh. Thompson had returned home following his dismissal from the navy, but was still hopeful his frequent requests to reopen his case might fall upon favorable ears in Congress.

The Captain spent but one week in Portsmouth, sufficient to find that the new ship was long months from completion, and that the effort to cut her down to a fifty‑six instead of a seventy-four gun ship was a grave mistake. He and Langdon agreed that letter writing would not suffice; that the evidence of an eye‑witness was essential to convince Congress of the proper course. Barry consented to return at once to Philadelphia and make a report. Thompson cornered him, before he set out on November 27, and urged his good offices with the Marine Committee. The Captain explained that a Board of Admiralty was being formed, and promised to recommend Thompson for consideration to some post.

"Drop me a line, Captain, giving me your opinion of the present state of the navy," Barry suggested, ere he rode off, "and include your ideas for its future advancement."

Thompson acquiesced, commenting that he had little hope of seeing the naval department "conducted in a right channel." Rancor was in his voice, but truth in his statement, as history has shown.

John Barry was detained several days in Boston by the Navy Board. James Warren and John Deshon wanted to review the recommendations before endorsing them. He convinced them the ship should be completed as originally designed, and carried their approval when he disappeared southward on December 4. Of his mission, Barry had little to say then or later. His only comment states that he "was appointed to the Comd. of the 74 Gun Ship at Portsmouth and ordered there to axamin her and  p186 report to the Marine Committee then siting at Philadelphia the state she was in; that he returned and made areport."

When he reached Philadelphia, on December 20, the Board of Admiralty was functioning. John Brown served as secretary, the commissioners being Francis Lewis, of New York, for several years prior a Marine Committee member, and two Congressional members, William Ellery, of Rhode Island, and James Forbes, of Maryland. To them he gave the recommendations. A week later, the board agreed. Informing Langdon he should complete the ship for "74 Guns with a fore Castle and quarter Deck"; the letter remarked that Barry would return shortly with directions on numerous points still unsettled.

Several letters came from Thompson, while John Barry twiddled his thumbs in inactivity. One sketchily outlined the talent needed to perfect a navy and ended with the discouraging comment that men with such talent did not exist in the states. The other urged his own qualifications for resident commissioner at Portsmouth. As both letters were interlarded with complaints against his previous treatment, Barry filed them away. To have shown them to the Admiralty Board would have done Thompson more harm than good.

The board seemed unable to make up its mind. By the end of January, 1780, the Captain grew tired of paying bills for oats and bedding for the horse he held ready for the return to Portsmouth. Through his friend Brown arrangements were made to keep the idle steed in the Continental stables. February moved along with no decision. March arrived and with it an urgent letter from Langdon. He had no money. Matters were at a standstill. What did the board propose to do? Where was Barry?

The commissioners broke down and confessed. To Langdon, on March 17, they wrote: it gives us pain to inform you such is the present state of the Public Treasury that Money cannot at this time be Obtained." They hoped for funds from the Navy Board at Boston "to get the ship into the water and thereby preserve the Hull till the Treasury can enable us to give you further assistance."

They gave Barry the bad news that day. The Captain took it philosophically. He was used to disappointments. He records that "he was informed that Congress has no money to go on  p187 with the Building of her therefore it was useless for me to [re-]turn." So ended his dream of commanding the Continental navy's ship‑of-the‑line, subsequently named the America — a ship that took six years to build and outfit and never saw service under the American flag.

* * *

Again under heavy expense — Congress had not reimbursed him for pay or subsistence while commanding the ship‑of-the‑line — John Barry determined upon another leave of absence. A canvass of the situation convinced him he was not "likely to get a Comd. in the service [of] Congress." Application to the Admiralty Board met approval, his official leave dating from March 23, 1780.

Unhappy, indeed, was the first task fa­cing him. Patrick, the younger brother, whom he had last seen six years before, had been lost at sea. The Captain had feared the worst for well nigh a year, but confirmation had been lacking. Now he was convinced of Patrick's death and, on April 4, appointed for letters of administration upon the estate. When granted, they called for exhibition of an inventory on May 4, and final accounting a year hence.

Meagre facts were at Barry's disposal. Sailing the brig Union, a letter-of‑marque owned by Joseph Hewes, of North Carolina, Patrick Barry had arrived at Bordeaux, France, on July 2, 1778. There he had taken in a return cargo from Samuel and J. H. Delap, sometime Continental agents at that port. The Union had cleared Bordeaux in August, and never had been heard of again. As administrator, Barry had much to learn of his brother's affairs. An inventory by May 4 was out of the question. His first efforts were to write the Delap brothers for an accounting, and to advertise, on May 24, requesting all persons "indebted to the estate of Capt. Patrick Barry, deceased," and all having claims against the estate, to make payments or produce accounts. Like the Sarah Austin estate, the settlement of Patrick Barry's affairs would involve the Captain for a number of years.

"Avery fine Leter of mark," to follow Barry's own peculiar chirography, meanwhile had been offered him. She was the brig American, owned by James Caldwell & Co., a flourishing Philadelphia  p188 mercantile house. He could have the command by buying a one‑sixteenth interest in the vessel and cargo — a not unusual business proposition at that time. Merchants found their property better handled when the master had a financial stake in the venture.

The brig carried fourteen carriage guns and a crew of seventy men. She was a fast sailer, and her lines appealed to him. A one‑sixteenth interest was too steep for his diminishing capital. He talked it over with John Brown and found the latter not averse to a shipping investment. They agreed to divide the one‑sixteenth part equally between them.

St. Eustatia was the destination of the American. Her cargo was principally lumber, but did include thirty‑six hogsheads of tobacco consigned to Amsterdam. Barry's letter-of‑marque commission was dated June 1, 1780. The brig sailed down the river a day or two later. Two bits of evidence of the voyage exist. One is in an old news­paper, announcing that the brig American, Barry, and the brig Neptune, Daniel Darby, had reached Philadelphia on July 29, "in 9 days from St. Eustatia." The other is the Captain's own statement that he made one voyage in the brig and "had afine prospect of retreving hissº loss sustained in the Public Service."

While taking on cargo for a second voyage to the Dutch island, the Admiralty Board sent for him. It had imperative need for his services; a command worthy of his talents. The Captain listened, a bit skeptical from past experiences, but quickly was convinced. Here, indeed, was the opportunity he had longed for. A new shipmaster sailed the American off on her next voyage. Praying that his one‑thirty-second interest in the brig might continue to yield him profit, John Barry prepared, for the third time in as many years, for the long ride to Boston.

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