Continental Navy Captain Joshua Barney escaped from a prison in Britain

It would be an extreme understatement to call Joshua Barney precocious as a young person. He told his father, a prosperous farmer from Maryland, when he was ten years old that he had learnt everything that could have been taught to him at school. After that, he went to sea and became so skilled at his craft that, in 1775, when he was just 16 years old, he was appointed a lieutenant in the fledgling Continental Navy. He was taken prisoner by the British in 1776, kept there until his release on parole, and then eventually traded.

Barney was detained at the Old Mill Prison in Plymouth, England after being captured once more in 1780 following a number of seafaring misadventures. Barney was granted rights as an officer, one of which was the ability to shop. He had a new uniform coat made for him by a tailor, and it was tailored in the manner of a British navy lieutenant. Then, donning his new coat underneath another, less noticeable coat, he crossed the jail wall while paying a guard to turn away as he traveled to London. There, he carried himself with the swagger of an aristocratic British officer, getting to know the staff at the London dockyards.

From there, Barney fled to the Netherlands, followed by France, and then, with Benjamin Franklin's assistance, to America. Barney found combat at sea, including a stunning victory over a British man-of-war that was several times more powerful than his own ship, even though the land conflict had already finished by that point. Later, he rendered equally admirable service in the War of 1812. One of the most amazing escapes of the 18th century, he could have been hung as a spy if he had been caught. He vanished into obscurity after his lengthy and brilliant naval career.

Born: 6 July 1759Baltimore, Province of Maryland
Died: 10 December 1818 (aged 59)Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.