Hotham, and had arrived at Martinique about the same time that Hotham had arrived at Barbadoes. On the afternoon of the 14th Barrington had intelligence of his approach, and the enemy's fleet, with a crowd of smaller shipping, was sighted from the neighbouring hills. Expecting no enemy from the sea, his ships were in no posture of defence. But during the night he succeeded in forming his little squadron in a close line across the mouth of the bay, the ends supported by a few guns on the hills above, and with the transports and store-ships inside. His attitude was firm, but his force was comparatively insignificant; and M. de Suffren, captain of the Fantasque, strongly urged D'Estaing to run boldly in and anchor close alongside, or on top of the anchor-buoys, thus rendering the shore batteries useless, and crushing the English by force of numbers. D'Estaing, however, preferred standing in in line of battle, keeping away along the English line, and so passing again out of the bay, after a desultory interchange of firing. In the afternoon he partially repeated the same manœuvre, equally without result. On the 18th, therefore, he landed the troops to the northward, and attempted to storm a hill strongly held by Brigadier-general Meadows. He was once and again repulsed with great slaughter, and finally, hearing that Vice-admiral Byron, with a force superior to his own, was hourly expected, he re-embarked his men and sailed for Martinique. As he did so the French governor, who had till then held out, surrendered.
Byron, however, having had an extremely stormy passage from Rhode Island, did not reach St. Lucia till 7 Jan. 1779, when he necessarily took the command, acknowledging, in a letter to the admiralty, his regret at being compelled to supersede Barrington, to whom he gave the option of hoisting his flag in a frigate and remaining in command at St. Lucia, or of continuing in the Prince of Wales, as second in command of the fleet. Barrington preferred the more active service, and had thus a very brilliant share in the confused and ill-managed action of Grenada on 6 July, and was still with the fleet on 22nd July, when its steadfast line, at anchor in front of Basseterre of St. Kitts, again deterred D'Estaing from a resolute attack [see Byron, the Hon. John]. Having shortly afterwards availed himself of the permission to return to England, he was, in the following spring, offered the command of the Channel fleet. But the jobbery and trickery which, in the spring of 1779, had threatened Keppel's life and honour, had made the command in the Channel no desirable appointment. Barrington positively refused it, though he consented to command in the second post under Admiral Geary. In August, on Geary's resignation, Barrington again positively refused. ‘I am ready, however,’ he wrote on 29 Aug. 1780, ‘to serve under any officer superior to myself except one’ (presumably Sir Hugh Pallisser). Before an answer to this letter could be received Geary was compelled to leave the fleet, and Barrington, determined to avoid the entanglement, requested Admiral Sir Thomas Pye to take the direction of it till their lordships' pleasure should be known. After this he was naturally shelved so long as that ministry remained in office. In April 1782 he was again appointed to the Channel fleet, as second in command to Lord Howe. He hoisted his flag in the Britannia, and for a short time, in Howe's absence, commanded in chief off Ushant. But through the rest of the year he acted under Howe's orders, and assisted in the relief of Gibraltar (16–19 Oct.), and in the repulse of the allied fleets of France and Spain on the 20th. This service being successfully accomplished, the fleet returned to England, and on 20 Feb. 1783 Barrington struck his flag. On 24 Sept. 1787 he was advanced to the rank of admiral, and during the Spanish armament, in 1790, hoisted his flag in the Royal George, again as second in command under Lord Howe. The fleet, however, was not called on to go to sea, and his flag was kept flying for only a short time. This was his last service. Whether by his own desire, from failing health, or in consequence of some disagreement with the admiralty, it does not now appear, but he was not employed during the early years of the revolutionary war, and he died in 1800. His conduct during the time he was in independent command speaks of talents and energy which might, had circumstances permitted, have placed him amongst the most distinguished of our admirals. Nor was the kindliness of his disposition less conspicuous. Many anecdotes have been told illustrating this. They may be more or less apocryphal; but it is matter of official record that, whilst in the West Indies, he succeeded in obtaining for his men a remission of the postage on their letters, which weighed very heavily on them, more especially under the old system of never paying the men whilst their ship was abroad.
[Ralfe's Naval Biog. i. 120; Charnock's Biog. Nav. vi. 10; Beatson's Nav. and Mil. Mem., under date; Official Correspondence in the P.R.O. The Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds is the gem of the Painted Hall at Greenwich, where are also a very good picture of the engagement in
