Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber's Notes: Obvious errors have been corrected. Italic text in the original has been enclosed by '_' and bold text by '='.

COMMODORE BARNEY'S
YOUNG SPIES

A Boy's Story of the Burning of
the City of Washington

By JAMES OTIS

Author of "Across the Delaware," "At the Siege of Havana,"
"Life of John Paul Jones," "With Warren at Bunker Hill,"
etc., etc.

With six page illustrations
By J. WATSON DAVIS

A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK

Copyright 1907
By A. L. BURT COMPANY

COMMODORE BARNEY'S YOUNG SPIES

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Captain Joshua Barney 1

II. At Benedict 20

III. Elias Macomber 39

IV. A Lively Tussle 58

V. With the Fleet 77

VI. Feeding the Enemy 96

VII. An Old Acquaintance 115

VIII. The Deserter 133

IX. An Unexpected Meeting 151

X. A Change of Base 169

XI. The British Forces 188

XII. Suspense 207

XIII. Burning the Vessels 226

XIV. At Washington 245

XV. Bladensburg 263

XVI. In Hiding 282

XVII. Missing 300

XVIII. The Escape 318

XIX. The Unexpected 336

XX. Dodging the Enemy 354

XXI. In Port 372

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Darius cried out in my ear; but I heard him not, I was
insane with the scene of carnage Frontispiece

PAGE

"Pass up your painter, or I'll shoot!" Cried Darius 56

With the lantern in my left hand I thrust forward the
barrel of my musket full in the face of the miller 72

"I remember your face, my man;" said the Commodore.
"Come aboard at once." 153

As we pulled away I glanced back at our fleet and saw
that the vessels were well on fire 233

As soon as the line was made fast, a man slipped down,
quickly followed by another 335

FROM LOSSING'S "WAR OF 1812."

"Evidently ashamed of the barbarism committed by British hands, Vice-Admiral Cochrane attempted to palliate it by a pitiful trick. After the destruction of the capital, and the invaders were safely back on their vessels in the Patuxent, Cochrane wrote a letter to Secretary Monroe, in which he said to him, 'Having been called upon by the Governor-General of the Canadas to aid him in carrying into effect measures of retaliation against the inhabitants of the United States for the wanton destruction committed by their army in Upper Canada, it has become imperiously my duty, conformably with the Governor-General's application, to issue to the naval force under my command an order to destroy and lay waste such towns and districts upon the coast as may be found assailable.' Cochrane then expressed a hope that the 'conduct of the executive of the United States would authorize him in staying such proceedings, by making reparation to the suffering inhabitants of Upper Canada,' etc. This letter was antedated August 18, or six days before the battle of Bladensburg, so as to appear like a humane suggestion, in the noncompliance with which might be found an excuse for the destruction of the national capital. It did not reach Mr. Monroe until the morning of the 31st of August, a week after Washington was devastated, when that officer, in a dignified reply, reminded the vice-admiral that the wanton destruction by the British of Frenchtown, Frederick, Georgetown, and Havre de Grace, and the outrages at Hampton by the same people, had occurred long before the destruction of Newark."

COMMODORE BARNEY'S YOUNG SPIES.