Stories of Our Naval Heroes Every Child Can Read — John Shaqi
Stories of Our Naval Heroes Every Child Can Read
History
Stories of Our Naval Heroes Every Child Can Read
United States. Navy -- Biography
Never had the good people of the Quaker City gazed on such a sight as
now met their eyes. Nothing had been done to remove the marks of battle.
The ships came in as they had left the fight. Shattered bulwarks, ragged
rents in the hulls, sails in tatters and drooping cordage told the story
of the desperate battle.
And the decks presented a terrible picture. Blood was everywhere. On the
_General Monk_ were stretched the dead bodies of twenty men, while
twenty-six wounded lay groaning below. The _Hyder Ali_ had suffered much
less, having but four killed and eleven wounded.
In all the Revolutionary War there have been few more brilliant actions;
and his victory gave Joshua Barney a high standing among the naval
commanders of the young Republic.
Shall we take up the story of the gallant Barney at a later date? Thirty
years after his victory over the _General Monk_, there was war again
between Americans and Britons, and Commodore Barney, now an old man,
took an active part.
He started out in the early days of the war with no better vessel than
the schooner _Rossie_, of fourteen guns and 120 men. He soon had lively
times. The _Rossie_ was a clipper, and he could run away from an enemy
too strong to fight, though running away was not much to his taste.
In his first cruise he was out forty-five days, and in that time he
captured fourteen vessels and 166 prisoners.
In a month's time he was at sea again. Now he got among British frigates
and had to trust to the heels of his little craft. But in spite of the
great ships that haunted the seas, new prizes fell into his hands, one
being taken after an hour's fight. In all, the vessels and cargoes taken
by him were worth nearly $3,000,000, though most of this wealth went to
the bottom of the sea.
The next year (1813) he was made commodore of a fleet of gunboats in
Chesapeake Bay. Here for a year he had very little to do. Then the
British sailed up the Chesapeake, intending to capture Washington and
Baltimore, Barney did not hesitate to attack them, and did considerable
damage, though they were much too strong for his small fleet.
At length there came from the frightened people at Washington the order
to burn his fleet, and, much against his will, he was forced to consign
his gunboats to the flames. With his men, about four hundred in all, he
joined the army assembled to defend the capital.
These sailor-soldiers made the best fight of any of the troops that
sought to save Washington from capture; but during the fight Commodore
Barney received a wound that brought his fighting days to an end.
Fortunately there was little more fighting to do, and peace reigned over
his few remaining years of life.
CHAPTER X
THE MOORISH PIRATES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN
OUR NAVY TEACHES THEM A LESSON IN HONOR
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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