Ayres, John (d. 1778)

Sea captain.

Commander of the Lynch (March 1776). Captain in Continental navy (October 1776). Reconnoitered sea off Rhode Island and Cape Cod (December 1776), carried dispatches for naval authorities, and participated in prisoner exchanges. Sailed to France as commander of the Arnold Packet, fell ill, and died at Bordeaux (September 1778).

Native of Braintree, Massachusetts. John Adams considered Ayres “An Active Smart Man,” but John Bradford condemned him as a self-important “rotten limb.”