Major-General Lincoln was to command the Continental and State army forces in the reduction of St. Augustine, Florida, as it "was of the highest importance to the United States."
On November 10, 1778, Congress Resolved:
"That Captain John Barry be and is hereby directed to take command of all armed vessels employed in the intended expedition, subject to the order of the Commander-in-Chief in the Southern Department; and that this commission continue in force till the expedition of the intended invasion of the Province of East Florida or till the further order of Congress; that he proceed with the utmost despatch to the State of Maryland in order to expedite the equipment of the gallies to be furnished by that State and proceed with them to Charleston in South Carolina."
At Charleston armed gallies from Virginia were to be joined. "The success of the expedition depended in the most essential manner on their service." The Continental share of all property taken would be released to the captors.
To prevent difference among officers of the respective States whose gallies would be employed, Captain John Barry was appointed to command the naval part of the expedition. Captain Barry "made some extraordinary demands upon Congress for allowance of a table and a secretary, which the House did not determine on," wrote Henry Laurens, President of Congress, to General Lincoln; adding that "though Captain Barry is a brave and active seaman, the intended service is not pleasing to him, 'tis possible, therefore, he may wish to avoid it and besides you will find old commanders in the two Southern States who will be much mortified should he actually proceed and take the command of them, consequences will arise which will be disagreeable to you and which may prove detrimental to the service."
The British probably became aware of the intended invasion and so organized a counter-movement against General Lincoln and obliged him to defend his occupancy of Charleston. General Clinton, on December 26, 1778, sailed from New York and a month later, delayed by storms, reached Savannah, the base of his operations against Lincoln. This obliged Congress to abandon its projected expedition against East Florida. So Captain Barry's "extraordinary demands" or the jealousies of the Southern naval officers were, by the course of events, set aside. The aggressive movement of Sir Henry Clinton had frustrated the intended invasion and so all the minor considerations involved therein.
But the high esteem in which Barry was held was proven by the appointment to command the expedition and this, too, immediately after the loss of the "Raleigh." His defense of the "Raleigh" was so bravely performed that the appointment to the Southern expedition was given him as the best testimonial of worth and of fidelity to duty. The loss of the "Raleigh" and the abandonment of the invasion of East Florida left Captain John Barry without an available Continental ship. But such a brave and active seaman could not be listless nor idle while an opportunity could be found or made for doing service for his country. When the "Effingham" and other vessels were tied up in the Delaware, Captain Barry became a landsman and did shore duty, leading a company of volunteers in the Trenton and Princeton campaign.
Now that his country had no ship to give him to do duty for America, he entered the service of his adopted State, Pennsylvania, and became "a bold privateer" by becoming commander of the Letter-of-Marque, the brig "Delaware," owned by Irwin & Co., of Philadelphia. His commission bears date of February 15, 1779. It is in the Lenox Library, New York.
The "Delaware" was a new brig of 200 tons, built to replace the schooner of the same name, which had been driven on the New Jersey shore and set on fire to escape the British early on the morning of November 21, 1777, when the State's Navy had passed up the Delaware River after the attack on Fort Mifflin.
The new "Delaware" carried ten guns and forty-five men when commissioned, but Captain Barry increased the force to twelve guns and sixty men.