A Victory—‘By the Rule of the Contrary’

Although Yorktown marked the last consequential land battle of the Revolutionary War in the Americas, the armed conflict continued at sea for many months.' One of the last naval battles of the American Revolution, and perhaps the most significant, took place at the mouth of the Delaware River in early April 1782. This event greatly diminished Britain’s domination of Americas ports and brought fame to a young naval hero.

The 22-year-old Lieutenant Joshua Barney of Baltimore had served in the Continental Navy since December 1775 with distinction in many naval engagements. On his return after a daring escape from Old Mill prison in England in May 1781, Barney recuperated upon his return the following March in Philadelphia, his wife Anne Bedford’s hometown. While ashore, Barney was forced to assess his career prospects in the Continental Navy. By spring 1782, the Continental Navy had only two frigates, the Alliance and Deane, and a small number of lesser ships. The list of unassigned naval officers consisted of 22 captains and 39 lieutenants. In addition, the Continental Admiralty Board had become inoperative, making his seniority open to dispute. The likelihood of finding a new billet appeared very slim.

A bit of good luck occurred, however. Barney’s friend, Robert Morris, founder of the Bank of North America, was both the Superintendent of Finance and Agent of Marine for the Continental Congress. Morris suggested that Daniel Smith, secretary to the Pennsylvania Commissioners for the Defense of the Delaware, might promote Lieutenant Barney to the rank of full captain in the Pennsylvania State Navy and assign him the command of an armed ship. A Pennsylvania commission of captain was not a Continental Navy rank, but it was not unusual to accept a command in a state navy while awaiting a regular assignment.

The British blockaded the water route to and from the Atlantic Ocean along the Delaware River by setting up a network of various-sized vessels. American Tories, largely from British-occupied New York, interdicted shipping by manning flat-bottomed “refugee boats” that hid in marsh creeks and tiny coves. With two rowers per oar and a reserve lateen sail, tide and wind inhibited them far less than their larger prey. These shallow-draft row galleys, armed with formidable 24- or 32-pounder guns in their prow, inflicted considerable damage and then retreated up the Delaware’s many tributaries. The British Navy also set up a mobile picket line of larger vessels that included a converted New York whaler called the Trimmer, the British frigate Medea, the sloop-of-war General Monk, as well as other ships randomly assigned by the British naval command.

This armada virtually shut down the nation’s capital, the busy port of Philadelphia. The city’s merchants, who considered the passage of legislative resolutions as ineffective paper rejoinders, demanded relief through military action. The merchants borrowed funds from Morris’s Bank of North America to purchase and arm the best vessel available on the Philadelphia quayside: the 100-ton merchantman Hyder-Ally, named for a contemporary Muslim ruler who led a brave but unsuccessful revolt against the British in India.²

The Hyder-Ally was Barney’s first full command of a naval ship, even though he had been at sea in some capacity for almost a decade. On 25 March 1782, under Barney’s direction, shipwrights prepared the Hyder-Ally for sea and the more than 100 men needed for her crew. She was armed with 16 6-pounders. Barney chose his officers and crew from a relative abundance of unemployed seamen available around Philadelphia. Justus Starr was his first lieutenant and Luke Mathewman was appointed his second lieutenant. The lieutenant of the Marines, known only as Scull, enlisted Bucks County farmers and hunters from just north of the city. These new Marines took great pride in their marksmanship and readily responded to discipline. The rest of the crew, already experienced mariners, drilled to become proficient in the art of naval gunnery.

A favored way of recruiting young American men for service during the Revolutionary War was capturing their imagination with a patriotic poem set to a familiar tune to be sung in taverns and on village greens. Philip Freneau, poet of the Revolution and fiery propagandist, wrote a 15-stanza poem for Barney’s recruiting effort, appealing to promises of wealth, honor, and manly adventure. The first stanza of “The Sailor’s Invitation” gives the flavor of the advertising used to influence these Philadelphia boys to become fighting men:

Come all ye lads that know no fear,

To wealth and honor we will steer

In the Hyder-Ally Privateer

Commanded by bold Barney³

With the ship ready and all papers in order, Barney cast off from Philadelphia on his first mission on 7 April 1782.⁴ The elapsed time from his appointment as captain, the ship’s refitting, and the recruiting and rudimentary training of the crew was an extraordinary 14 days. Remarkably, the Pennsylvania Legislature did not officially pass the resolution authorizing the purchase of Hyder-Ally for the defense of the Delaware until 9 April, one day after the vessel’s most famous battle.⁵

Barney did not have time to test fully the handling characteristics of his first command, but as part of a shakedown cruise, he was ordered to escort a convoy of seven merchant ships down the Delaware as far as Cape May and Cape Henlopen. His mission was to protect the ships against the marauding refugee boats and small privateers found in the upper bay waters. A fair wind brought the flotilla to Cape May with little difficulty, but at sundown the offshore wind died, forcing them to anchor in sheltered water inside the cape. An eighth merchantman then joined them at anchor. Cruising at the mouth of the Delaware were the British frigate Quebec and the sloop-of-war General Monk. A lookout spotted the American convoy in the fading western light and the two British warships cruised leisurely just outside the Cape May channel to block the passage of the ships out to sea. Their presence went undetected by the Americans.

That evening, Captain Josias Rogers, commander of the General Monk, was rowed to a meeting with Captain Christopher Mason of the Quebec, and there they made plans to capture the vulnerable Americans. The Quebec was a large ship with a deep draft. The shallows of the bay were too treacherous to place her at risk, so the frigate was to sail around the Overfalls, a midbay shoal, so as to block a likely escape route. The smaller General Monk was to be the aggressor. At daybreak they were pleased to see that, by chance, three British privateers were passing the entrance to the bay. Only the brig Fair American responded to the signal hoisted aloft ordering them to join the Quebec and General Monk.⁶

It was almost 1000 the next morning before the chilly fog burned off and Barney became aware of the three ships advancing toward him. An hour later, a lookout identified them as a large frigate, a sloop-of-war, and an armed brig. At the change of the noon watch it became evident the frigate was standing off Cape Henlopen and the brig and sloop were sailing up the Cape May channel, apparently intending to engage him. Barney ordered his convoy to weigh anchor and return up the channel and to stay as close to the shore as possible, reasoning that the British were unlikely to follow in the poorly charted waters. The Hyder-Ally would act as their rearguard protector.

During the scramble to safety, there was a great deal of confusion. Shortly after the tight throng of ships hauled anchor and hastily set sail, the Charming Sally ran aground on the Overfalls shoal and became a helpless British prize. The crew of the American merchantman went ashore in small boats or attempted to swim to safety. Because the General Greene was armed with 12 guns, her captain disobeyed Barney’s order and courageously stayed to fight alongside the Hyder-Ally. Barney had his crew throw any unneeded heavy equipment overboard to lighten the Hyder- Ally to gain speed and maneuverability. The vessel then tacked back and forth to present a target for the approaching enemy and to cover the fleeing merchantmen.

The Fair American began the engagement with the Americans by firing two broadsides at the Hyder-Ally. The broadsides did little damage, and the Hyder-Ally did not respond in kind. The lightly armed General Greene wore ship to gain a more advantageous position, but the quarters were so tight that she ran aground. With only one American warship left and two potentially valuable merchantmen aground, the privateer Fair American abandoned the chase with the Hyder-Ally and sailed to claim the prizes. The ebbing tide rippled the waters, hinting at the sandy flats off Egg Island. The Fair American, not heeding the warning, ran hard aground on the flats and was out action.

The General Monk hove to and dropped a small boat with a prize crew to take command of the disabled Charming Sally. The British sloop then caught the wind and sailed directly toward the American sloop-of-war. The Hyder-Ally began an evasive tack, but the attacking vessel covered the move to gain a sailing advantage. Barney noticed that the cautiously approaching General Monk had 12 gun ports to a side to his 8. The Briton’s decks were crowded with sailors and there were red-coated Marines aloft. Barney, by contrast, had a novice crew who had been to sea together for only one day. If he successfully evaded the General Monk, a formidable opponent lay in the frigate Quebec that guarded the deep water on the opposite side of the mouth of the Delaware. The impending contest appeared to ignite daring and imagination in Barney.

The General Monk maneuvered into position to intimidate the Hyder-Ally. Barney had kept his gun ports closed even in the face of the two earlier broadsides fired by the Fair American. Rogers therefore assumed Barney did not intend to put up a fight, reasoning that the Hyder-Ally was serving as a decoy so the remaining merchantmen could escape. Rogers also noted that his vessel had an advantage in crew size, apparent armament, speed, and maneuverability. Consequently, he decided that the best strategy was to come along side and board the Hyder-Ally.

Barney had three significant advantages: surprise, cunning, and ingenuity. The American captain ordered all cannon loaded with a combination of roundshot, grapeshot, and canister rounds. Next, he ordered his men to stay hidden and not to fire until they were within pistol range of the sloop. When in close range, the Hyder-Ally fired at the General Monk’s bow. The British gunners replied with their bow chasers, as these were the only guns facing their foe. Barney then ordered the Hyder-Ally to turn quickly to port so his ship was standing directly athwart the General Monk. He then shouted the order for a full raking broadside. The guns fired from fore to aft in a cascade of brilliant flashes that punctuated a gray-white gun-smoke cloud. The thunder resonated back in echo from the low-lying shore, and frightened sea birds hastily took to flight. The American gunfire did severe damage to the General Monk’s sails and rigging.

The two ships were only a few yards apart and, with a more prolonged rolling roar, the combatants then proceeded to trade broadside for broadside. The Hyder-Ally fired 13 broadsides during the 26 minutes of battle, a remarkable feat of gunnery for even an experienced crew. The General Monk was partly armed with 12 6-pounders that had been rebored to fire 9-pound shot. These guns quickly overheated, some capsizing from the recoils straining their inadequate gun carriages. A few of the General Monk’s gun crews were injured trying to upright the hot cannon. In addition, six of the General Monk's “guns” were “Quakers,” wooded replicas designed to fool and intimidate a potential quarry.

During the gunfire exchange, the two ships drifted within earshot of each other. Barney ordered his gun crews to reload with grape and canister shot, but to hold fire. Others prepared for hand-to-hand fighting and stayed under cover. The Bucks County sharpshooters clambered up the ratlines, taking posts aloft in the fighting tops. Barney then ordered his helmsman to “follow my next orders by the rule of the contrary” and patiently watched for the right moment when the Hyder-Ally was a quarter of a boat length in front of his opponent. Barney suddenly bellowed at the top of his lungs, “Hard a-port your helm! Do you want him to run aboard of us?”⁷ This command was heard on the General Monk and Rogers rashly ordered hard a-port to cover this maneuver. When the Hyder-Ally abruptly turned to starboard as the General Monk turned to port, the bowsprit of the British sloop became tangled in the Hyder-Ally’s forerigging. Barney abruptly ordered a broadside to neutralize most of the remaining British guns and hopefully catch much of the General Monk’s crew exposed and away from cover. The battle intensified in pitch as the warships ground together tumblehome to tumblehome and yardarm to yardarm. Grappling hooks were thrown to tether the two adversaries together. The American boarders and British repellers exchanged feral yells to frighten their foes and gain false courage as men leapt over the bulwarks of the grappled ships.

Barney mounted his ship’s wooden binnacle on the quarterdeck for a better view and directed the fighting through his speaking trumpet. At one point a musket ball passed through his hat, producing a slight scalp wound. Another ball grazed him, tearing a hole in the back flap of his new captain’s coat. It was the only time Barney recalled cursing during the battle. After a few minutes, the binnacle was shot away from under him, but he remained unharmed. Barney observed that one of his young crewmen became frightened and refused to serve his cannon. An unnamed officer threatened the sailor with a cook’s ax and was about to deliver a blow when the binnacle that supported Barney was shot away. The officer dropped the ax and ran to Barney’s side, thinking his captain was wounded. Meanwhile, the young seaman found his courage and returned to his gun crew.

The American captain ordered the Hyder-Ally’s portside 6-pounders turned around, and their recoil tackle was lashed to rings on the deck to add firepower to starboard. Lieutenant Matheman, who was in charge of the cannon, said the outboard guns “fought with their muzzles almost rubbing together.” The Bucks County sharpshooter Marines rained lethal musket shots on the deck below. One Marine called down to Barney to watch “that fellow in the white hat.” The Marine then fired a single shot that made the man leap into the air and drop like a limp rag to the deck. After the battle, it was discovered that almost all of the British killed by musket rounds had entry wounds from above. After less than a half-hour, the Hyder-Ally was victorious over the General Monk.⁸

The British losses included the ship’s first lieutenant and surgeon killed, and the purser, boatswain, and chief gunner badly wounded. Captain Rogers was wounded in the foot. Of the General Monk’s crew of 136, 20 were killed and 33 wounded. The Hyder-Ally logged 4 killed and 11 wounded. After the battered General Monk later was docked at Philadelphia, a sail maker counted 365 shot holes in the small mizzen staysail of the British sloop-of-war.⁹

The combined crews were able to repair the General Monk enough so the vessel could make cautious headway. The Hyder-Ally suffered little damage to her masts and rigging. Barney soon turned his attention to the Quebec, cruising leisurely about two nautical miles away. In a move to deceive the British frigate, Barney directed his signalmen to run the British jack aloft on both the Hyder-Ally and the General Monk. He reasoned that Captain Mason of the Quebec would assume the General Monk had triumphed. Barney employed one more ruse de guerre. A British signal book was found on board the General Monk, allowing Barney to answer any signals sent from the distant Quebec. Barney shrewdly positioned the Hyder-Ally to the stern of his prize, one of “naval submission,” and waited. Mason maintained his position, assuming the outwardly victorious General Monk was about to chase after stragglers from the American merchant convoy. The ploy worked; the Quebec stayed on blockade station at the mouth of the Delaware and took no further notice of the Hyder-Ally.

As daylight faded, the Hyder-Ally and General Monk under a prize crew sailed northward to overtake six of the members of the convoy now safely anchored off Chester, Pennsylvania. The next morning, Barney left the Hyder-Ally to protect the convoy and sailed his prize back to Philadelphia, where a 13-gun salute and a crowd of joyful well-wishers awaited him at the dock.

The wounded Rogers, only four years older than Barney, was a rising star in the officer corps of the British Navy. He had seen service in North American waters since the beginning of the war and, like Barney, also had been captured and escaped to rejoin his ship. Barney granted Rogers military courtesies toward a defeated enemy that were common among naval officers of the era. When the prize ship General Monk reached Philadelphia, Barney had Rogers carried ashore on a litter and arranged for his care. Rogers eventually recovered, was exchanged, and in 1787 rose to the rank of post-captain in the British Navy. He always walked with a limp, a souvenir of the Hyder-Ally engagement and the broken blockade of Philadelphia.

At the time, the battle was one of the most celebrated naval victories of the war. On 13 April 1782, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a resolution in praise of the captain and crew of the Hyder-Ally. John Dickinson, President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, gave Barney an engraved presentation sword commemorating the victory.¹⁰ The triumph of Barney and his ship in defense of Philadelphia also was the subject of yet another Freneau poem, “Song on Captain Barney’s Victory over the ship General Monk."" Set to music, it became a popular folk song, but the tune has been lost. Perhaps James Fenimore Cooper best summarized the whole affair when he wrote the following passage about this naval engagement:

This action has been justly deemed one of the most brilliant that ever occurred under the American flag. It was fought in the presence of a vastly superior force that was not engaged; and the ship taken was, in every essential respect, superior to her conqueror. The disproportion in metal between a six-pounder and a nine-pounder is half; and the Monk, besides being heavier and a larger ship, had the most men. . . . The steadiness with which Captain Barney protected his convoy, the gallantry and conduct with which he engaged, and perseverance with which he covered the retreat of his prize, are all deserving of high praise. Throughout the whole affair this officer discovered the qualities of a great naval captain; failing in no essential of that distinguished character.¹²