On March 10th, 1783, The USS Alliance, commanded by Captain John Barry, and the USS Duc de Lauzun, commanded by Captain John Green, were sailing off of Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying 72,000 Spanish Silver Dollars to finance the Continental Army. They were set upon by three British men of war. Captain John Barry, though out-gunned, surprisingly took on the HMS Sybil, and in a 40-minute fight subdued the British frigate. This, along with the arrival of a French man of war, caused the British to withdraw. The Spanish silver was then successfully delivered.
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