Sailor of Fortune:
The Life and Adventures of Commodore Barney
by Hulbert Footner

Hulbert Footner's Biography of Joshua Barney is back in print. The Naval Institute Press has added Sailor of Fortune - The Life and Adventures of Commodore Barney, USN to its popular Classics of Naval Literature Series.

Hulbert Footner first learned of the heroic American navy officer, Commodore Joshua Barney from his neighbor, Ed Sellers, in Southern Maryland's Calvert County. A mile from the Footner home, St. Leonard's Creek, on Patuxent River, is where Barney's Naval Flotilla had fought a battle against units of Rear Admiral Cockburn's Royal Navy blockading fleet during the War of 1812. The tale of Bamey's gallant action had been handed down by word of mouth by generations of Mr. Ed's family who had been spectators to the battle. The ex New Yorker, intrigued by the story and by the manner by which it was conveyed in great detail by the old man who described over a hundred years later Barney's movements and the course of the two day battle, Footner felt compelled to consult official records of the navy in the national archives. Flabbergasted, he found that his. neighbor's tale matched closely official reports of the action. Continuing to probe into Bamey's life, Footner's research brought forth from the nation's naval archives and Barney's personal papers, the almost forgotten story of this great naval hero of our two wars with Great Britain.

Footner's biography of the Maryland hero beloved by Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe describes his series of incredible naval engagements against the Royal Navy during the Revolutionary War, his exciting and ever-changing life between the wars and his exciting accomplishments during the War of 1812. It is a fascinating tale. But most of all this book is not about battles and engagements and life at sea: it is the story of a brave naval man, a patriotic man, a beautifully complicated man, often tortured by his mishandling of the conformities that society placed on lives in his time.

323 pages, end notes, index, illustrations
Naval Institute Press, 1998
Annapolis, Maryland
This edition of the book has an introduction by the author's son
Price: $40.00; including shipping (USA) and handling.