BARRON, Samuel, naval officer, born in Virginia about 1802. He entered the navy as midshipman in 1812, attained the rank of lieutenant 3 March 1827, of commander 15 July 1847, and of captain in 1855. He was appointed chief of the bureau of detail in the navy department when the southern states seceded, but had already accepted a commission as commodore in the confederate navy. He superintended the defenses of North Carolina and Virginia. Being present at the attack upon Forts Clark and Hatteras, 28 August 1861, he assumed direction of the defense by request of the officers of the forts, and, after the surrender, was a prisoner of war in New York until exchanged in 1862. He then went to England, where he engaged in fitting out blockade-runners and privateers. After the war he became a farmer in Virginia.