Captain Barry appears not to have made any objection to his position on the list. He was ready and eager for service and, seemingly, not concerned as to rank or position. He had been given a vessel equal to Captain Nicholson, No. 1. Those to whom stronger armament had been given had not been early or foremost in service or activity. Some of them did not, later, justify any outranking, if that were the case. Captain Barry was early in the struggle, foremost during its continuance and latest in service.
Jones declared that some gentlemen in the first days of the Navy did not join the Navy as "they did not choose to be hanged, as the hazard was very great." But Captain John Barry did not hesitate. He came quickly from London to engage in the conflict, and from the very first day of his return to America was active in service and on duty. Still rank was not necessary to "open the door to glory," for No. 7 became the chief officer of the Navy and No. 18 achieved imperishable fame and popular renown. The pay of the Captains was sixty dollars a month. The uniform was: Blue cloth with red lapels, slash cuff, stand-up collar, flat yellow buttons, blue breeches, red waistcoat with yellow lace.
Interested in the Navy, Captain Barry was also concerned in affairs on land. So when on November 25, 1776, a meeting was held at the Indian Queen Hotel, Philadelphia, to consider accusations against those "suspected as Tories and unfriendly to the cause of America," Captain Barry was there. We may be sure he was earnest and active in any measures to restrict the operations of those inimicable to Liberty or engaged in efforts detrimental to the Patriots' endeavors.
Captain Barry, on November 30, 1776, united with Captains Biddle, Read, Alexander and John Nicholson in a memorial to Congress. It was referred to the Marine Committee, who were directed to pursue such measures as they might think proper. What the memorial related to has not been discovered after long continued endeavor to ascertain. It is not among the papers of the Continental Congress nor mentioned in the records of the Marine Committee, which have been preserved at the Library of Congress.
At this time affairs were serious with General Washington. The battle of Long Island, in August, had been disastrous. Forts Lee and Washington, the bulwarks of the Hudson, had been lost and the sad and gloomy, but marvelously strategic, retreat across New Jersey was being conducted by Washington, pursued by Lord Cornwallis.