They were under full sail, and were apparently making for Fort Penn,
with the probable intention of recapturing Barry's prizes. Fearing
that he might be robbed of the fruits of his victory, Barry put the
four transports in charge of Capt. Middleton, with instructions to
fire them should the enemy attempt to cut them out. In the mean time,
he took the ten-gun schooner, and made for the Christiana River, in
the hopes of taking her into shallow waters, whither the heavier
British vessels could not follow. But, unluckily for his plans, the
wind favored the frigate; and she gained upon him so rapidly, that
only by the greatest expedition could he run his craft ashore and
escape. Two of the guns were pointed down the main hatch, and a few
rounds of round-shot were fired through the schooner's bottom. She
sunk quickly; and the Americans pushed off from her side, just as the
British frigate swung into position, and let fly her broadside at her
escaping foes.

The schooner being thus disposed of, the British turned their
attention to the four captured transports at Fort Penn. Capt.
Middleton and Capt. McLane, who commanded the American militia on
shore, had taken advantage of the delay to build a battery of bales of
hay near the piers. The British sloop-of-war opened the attack, but
the sharp-shooters in the battery and on the transports gave her so
warm a reception that she retired. She soon returned to the attack,
but was checked by the American fire, and might have been beaten off,
had not Middleton received a mortal wound while standing on the
battery and cheering on his men. Dismayed by the fall of their leader,
the Americans set fire to the transport and fled to the woods, leaving
the British masters of the field.

Barry's conduct in this enterprise won for him the admiration of
friend and foe alike. Sir William Howe, then commander-in-chief of the
British forces in America, offered the daring American twenty thousand
guineas and the command of a British frigate, if he would desert the
service of the United States.

"Not the value and command of the whole British fleet," wrote Barry in
reply, "can seduce me from the cause of my country."

After this adventure, Barry and his followers made their way through
the woods back to Whitehall, where his ship the "Effingham" was lying
at anchor. Here he passed the winter in inactivity. At Whitehall, and
near that place, were nearly a dozen armed ships, frigates, sloops,
and pri