Commodore Joshua Barney, The War of 1812, Library of Congress Archives Commodore Joshua Barney, American Hero who fought more battles against the British than any other American Revolutionary war figure. Barney was taken prisoner and exchanged several times. In 1779 he was again taken prisoner and 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. During the Battle of Bladensburg, August 24, 1814 Barney and 360 sailors and 120 Marines 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 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. History is 100% fabulous. Just remember, right now we are ALL making history. Live your life like it counts because it does.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 01:14:08 +0000
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