Joshua Barney

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Joshua Barney (6 July 1759 - 1 December 1818) was a commodore in the United States Navy who served in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

Barney was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He served with distinction in Hornet and Wasp during the Revolutionary War. He was offered one of the initial captaincies in the newly formed U.S. Navy, but turned it down because of a perceived slight.

At the outbreak of the War of 1812, Barney reentered the Navy as a captain, and commanded the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, a fleet of gunboats defending Chesapeake Bay. At the Battle of Bladensburg, Barney and his sailors, acting as artillerymen, made a heroic defense of the national capital. Barney was severely wounded with a bullet deep in his thigh which could never be removed.

A replica of one of his gunboats today sits in a waterside park in Bladensburg.

With Gen. John Stricker of the Maryland Militia, Barney was responsible for the creation of the flag that flew over Fort McHenry, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner." The flag itself was sewn by Mrs. Mary Young Pickersgill of Baltimore.

Commodore Barney died at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 1, 1818 from a fever related to the wound he received at the Battle of Bladensburg.

Three ships, USS Barney, were named for him, as well as Commodore Barney.

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.