American Brave

Captain Joshua Barney, perceiving them to be a part of the enemy's force, made the signals to this convoy to get under way immediately and return up the bay. The convoy responded to his orders immediately while the Hyder-Ally provided cover. Barney immediately sounded general quarters and the drum alerted all the crew to take their positions. The Hyder-Ally closed the gap with the sloop-of-war General Monk, under the command of Captain Rogers, of the Royal Navy. The British force was nearly double his own force of metal, and they had twenty-five percent more crew, which translated into more gunners. Barney was thinking how he was going to trick the British officers on the General Monk. As the two ships drifted closer together, Barney ordered his gunner to load all the cannons, but to wait for his order to fire. Properly loading the guns with an exacting amount of powder was important not only to prevent blowing up the gun but also to develop constancy in where the projectiles would go. “Mr. Snyder, quietly tell the men to get ready to board the enemy,” Barney was into his game. Barney than went over to his helmsman and said, “I am going to shout out my next order for the benefit of the enemy but follow my next orders by the rule of the contrary.” The next minutes past slowly as Barney waited for his ship to travel about one-quarter of a boat length in front of the General Monk. When the General Monk was on the starboard side of the Hyder-Ally Barney shouted towards the General Monk, "hard-a-port your helm," but as he had instructed his helmsman, he did the opposite. As predicted the captain of the General Monk reacted by instructing his helmsman, “hard to port!” The captain had planned to pull in behind Barney and fire on the undefended stern of the Hyder Ally with his bow cannon. The ships collided as planned, when the Hyder Ally helmsman turned the ship hard to starboard. The booms and rigging becoming entangled, locking the two ships together. “Fire broadsides,” Barney ordered. Each of the gun crews on the Hyder Ally consisted of twelve men and a powder boy. The first gun captain primed and aimed the gun. The second captain tended the firing lock and slowmatch and fired the gun. The first, second and third Spongers and Rammers relieved one another at those tasks to keep up a fast rate of fire. One man was responsible for bringing shot from the racks while another tended the train tackle to hold the gun in place while loading. The smoke from the guns was enveloping the two ships as they continued to fire their guns. The men were firing blind but the American’s were accurate with each volley. Barney then ordered the boarding parties to board. Violent hand-to-hand fighting commenced; with men losing body parts, gutted, and heads cracked open with brain spilling on the deck. The blood was running on the deck making footing difficult causing the men to slip and fall. The carnage lasted for twenty-six minutes when the midshipman on the General Monk, one of the few remaining sailors of any rank left standing, struck the British colors. The General Monk had twenty men killed and thirty-three wounded out of a crew of 136. Captain Rogers and all his officers suffered wounds. The dead included the first lieutenant, purser, surgeon, boatswain, and gunner. Barney experienced four men killed and eleven wounded. Barney also discovered a musket ball had wounded him on the side of his head. He had a hole in his hat from the ball passing through and a hole in his jacket that just missed his chest. It was common that snipers would be in the top masts with their flintlock muskets that weighted between twelve and eighteen pounds and they were affective weapon in calm winds and seas. Joseph Bedford, the brother of Joshua’s wife Ann, was a volunteer serving on the Hyder-Ally. During the battle, Joseph was on the Maintop platform as an expert shooter. He was very effective in killing at least three British officers and one crewmember. Joseph was shooting at the enemy when he received a wound in the groin destroying his left testicular. He was not fully aware of the severity of his wound until he was descending from the top. He reached the deck and fell over from the loss of blood. Joseph shipmates carried him below and the bleeding stopped before stitching him up; the cleaning up of the sac and extracting of what remained of one testicular postponed. The Hyder-Ally had fired thirteen broadsides during Twenty-six minutes of battle. The murderous fire had left the deck of the General Monk a shambles. For every broadside fired, the General Monk was capable of propelling 125% more shot than the Hyder-Ally. Barney also boarded the General Monk, went to the Captain quarters, and was pleased to find the ships book of signals, which Joshua quickly tucked into his coat pocket. The sails of the frigate Quebec were fading in the distance, indicating the enemies discontinuing his involvement in the fight. Barney wanted the Quebec added as a prize but giving chase was not going to work. Barney ordered the British flag displayed on the General Monk and the American flag lowered on the Hyder-Ally. “Look captain, the Quebec appeared to be coming towards us.” The Quebec seeing the British flag flying had reason to believe His Majesty’s ship-of-war the much larger HMS General Monk had been victorious over the American vessel. The launching of the HMS Quebec, 32-guns, a fifth rate frigate was in 1781. The HMS Quebec was prying on merchantmen and smaller American privateers in northern and Caribbean waters. Barney ordered that the guns on both ship be made ready to deliver broadsides on the HMS Quebec and soon as the frigate was within range. The plan worked, tricking the frigate into striking after a short firefight.