spoken in our
accounts of the exploits of Tucker, Biddle, and Paul Jones. The less
important ones must be dismissed with a hasty word.

It may be said, that, in general, the naval actions of 1778 went
against the Americans. In February of that year the "Alfred" was
captured by a British frigate, and the "Raleigh" narrowly escaped. In
March, the new frigate "Virginia," while beating out of Chesapeake Bay
on her very first cruise, ran aground, and was captured by the enemy.
In September, the United States frigate "Raleigh," when a few days out
from Boston, fell in with two British vessels,--one a frigate, and the
other a ship-of-the-line. Capt. Barry, whose daring exploits on the
Delaware we have chronicled, was in command of the "Raleigh," and
gallantly gave battle to the frigate, which was in the lead. Between
these two vessels the conflict raged with great fury for upwards of
two hours, when the fore-topmast and mizzen top-gallant-mast of the
American having been shot away Barry attempted to close the conflict
by boarding. The enemy kept at a safe distance, however; and his
consort soon coming up, the Americans determined to seek safety in
flight. The enemy pursued, keeping up a rapid fire; and the running
conflict continued until midnight. Finally Barry set fire to his ship,
and with the greater part of his crew escaped to the nearest land, an
island near the mouth of the Penobscot. The British immediately
boarded the abandoned ship, extinguished the flames, and carried their
prize away in triumph.

To offset these reverses to the American arms, there were one or two
victories for the Americans, aside from those won by Paul Jones, and
the exploits of privateers and colonial armed vessels, which we shall
group together in a later chapter. The first of these victories was
won by an army officer, who was later transferred to the navy, and won
great honor in the naval service.

In an inlet of Narragansett Bay, near Newport, the British had
anchored a powerful floating battery, made of the dismasted hulk of
the schooner "Pigot," on which were mounted twelve eight-pounders and
ten swivel guns. It was about the time that the fleet sent by France
to aid the United States was expected to arrive; and the British had
built and placed in position this battery, to close the channel
leading to Newport. Major Silas Talbot, an army officer who had won
renown earlier in the war by a daring but unsuccessful attempt to
destroy two