Naval officer; born in
Baltimore, Md., July 6, 1759.
Inclined to a seafaring life, he went to sea in his early youth: and when he was only sixteen years of age, an accident caused the care of his ship to devolve upon him. He met the exigency with courage and skill.
He entered the
Continental navy, at its first organization in 1775, as master's mate, in the sloop
Hornet, and joined
Commodore Hopkins.
In an action between the
Continental schooner
Wasp and
British brig
Tender, in
Delaware Bay, before he was seventeen years of age, his conduct was so gallant that he was made a lieutenant.
In that capacity he served in the
Sachem (
Capt. I. Robinson), and after a severe action with a British brig, in which his commander was wounded, young
Barney brought her into port.
Soon afterwards he was made a prisoner, but was speedily released, and in the
Andrea Doria he was engaged in the defence of the
Delaware River in 1777.
He was again made prisoner, and was exchanged in August. 1778. A third time he was made captive (1779), and after his exchange was a fourth time made a prisoner, while serving in the
Saratoga, 16, was sent to
England, and confined in the famous
Mill prison, from which he escaped in May, 1781.
He was retaken, and again escaped, and arrived in
Philadelphia in March, 1782, where he took command of the
Hyder Ali, 16, in which he captured the
General Monk, of heavier force and metal.
For this exploit the legislature of Maryland presented him with a sword.
At the close of the war he engaged in business on shore, but very soon took to the sea again.
At
Cape Francis, W. I., he received on his ship (1792) a large number of women and children who had escaped massacre by the blacks.
His vessel was captured by an English cruiser, but
Barney recaptured her from the prize crew.
He was again captured by an English cruiser (1793), and imprisoned as a pirate.
His ship and cargo were condemned.
In 1794 he went with
Monroe to
France, and bore
the
American flag to the National Convention (see
Monroe, James). He was a warm partisan of the
French, and entered their navy as commander of a squadron, but resigned his commission in 1802.
When the
War of 1812-15 broke out, he engaged in privateering with much success.
He was appointed captain in the United States navy in April, 1814,
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and placed in command of a flotilla of small vessels for the defence of the coasts of the
Chesapeake.
Driven up the
Patuxent by a British fleet, he destroyed his vessels, and with over 500 men he joined
General Winder in the defence of
Washington (
Bladensburg, Battle of.).
Barney was severely wounded (Aug. 24, 1814) near
Bladensburg, and made a prisoner.
Too much hurt to be removed as a prisoner, he was paroled and sent to
Bladensburg, near by, on a litter.
There he was joined by his wife and son and his own surgeon, and was conveyed to his farm at
Elkridge, Md. The bullet that gave him the wound, from which he never fairly recovered, is preserved in the Navy Department.
The corporation of
Washington voted him a sword, and the legislature of Georgia their thanks.
In May, 1815,
Barney was sent on a mission to
Europe, but suffering from his wound caused him to return in the fall.
Just as he was about to depart from
Pittsburg, Pa., with his family, to
Kentucky, where he had bought land, he died, Dec. 1, 1818.
