Sir,
By a message received yesterday afternoon from the Marquis de Boullie,
I find there is no reason to expect him or the Admiral here very soon.
We shall, therefore, set out for Port Royal early tomorrow morning,
and endeavor to get our ship refitted as soon as possible. She will
follow us in a day or two, and, as the enemy's ships of war are
frequently cruising near the Island, she will go under convoy; four of
them are now in sight of this town.
It seems agreed on all hands, that the expense of refitting the
Confederacy will be very considerable. To reduce this matter to
greater certainty, I have desired the captain to make out an estimate
of his wants; he promised to prepare it, and give me a copy this
evening. If I receive it before nine o'clock, it will accompany this
letter, otherwise it will be transmitted by the next conveyance.
The agent here tells me, he is without cash, and in debt on the public
account. I fear he has been neglected. I shall, however, defer saying
anything further on his subject till I shall be better informed.
Should an opportunity offer of writing to your Excellency from Port
Royal, I shall embrace it, if not, I shall take the first after my
return. As the government here will, I hope, advance the money
necessary for preparing the frigate for sea, I am anxious that you may
have the earliest intelligence of it, that timely provision may be
made for the payment.
Of the fleet mentioned in my letter of the 20th instant, only nine
were taken or destroyed.
_7 o'clock._--I had written thus far, when Captain Harding called upon
me. He has made out an estimate of the ship's wants, and given it to
Mr Bingham, without having made a copy for me, which it is now too
late to do to go by this vessel.
On our return from Port Royal, the captain will transmit particular
accounts of everything respecting the ship, which he ought to
communicate. He has been too much engaged to prepare his despatches to
go by this vessel, and, therefore, postpones writing for the present,
especially as he would have leisure only to repeat the general account
of our misfortune contained in my letter.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN JAY.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
St Pierre's, Martinique, December 24th, 1779.
Sir,
My former letters to your Excellency of the 20th and 22d instant, (a
triplicate of the former, and a duplicate of the latter are herewith
enclosed) have already informed Congress of the disaster, which
imposed upon us the necessity of coming hither. But as that necessity
has been and still continues the subject of much inquiry and
investigation, it is proper that the facts from which it arose be
minutely stated.
On the 7th day of November last, between the hours of five and six in
the morning, in latitude 41 03 N. and longitude 50 39 W. the Captain
being in bed indisposed, and the master and second lieutenant on deck,
the ship going nine knots an hour in a brisk breeze and rough sea, but
by no means hard weather, her bowsprit and all her masts gave way in
less than three minutes. The day was employed in clearing the ship of
the wreck, and getting up a little sail; towards evening a heavy gale
came on. During the night, the tiller was lashed fast, and she lay too
very well, the wind blowing hard at south east. The next morning the
shank of the rudder was found to be so much wrenched and split, that
the Captain then told me he thought it a greater misfortune than the
loss of the masts. There were two French gentlemen on board, who, it
was said, and I believe with truth, were well skilled in maritime
affairs, having been bred to that business from their infancy, viz.
Monsieur Roche, a Knight of the Order of St Louis, and a Captain
Remuy, of Marseilles. Either this day or the next, I am not certain
which, M. Gerard remarked to me, that without any previous counsel,
it seemed to be the unanimous opinion of all the naval officers on
board to go to the West Indies, and that he believed it would be best,
though he said he was at first inclined to oppose it. The first
expedient to steer the ship was by the cable and a spar; below the
split in the rudder there was a bolt with two rings, to which it had
been intended to fix a chain for the purpose of steering the ship in
case of such accidents, but the fixing the chains had been omitted;
through this ring the Captain passed a chain, and to each end of it
fastened a strong rope, which was conducted over the quarters, and
this was the second mode of steering her; but from the uncommon
breadth of the rudder by which its power became unusually great, and
the acuteness of the angle between it and the chains rendering a
greater force necessary than if it had approached nearer to a right
angle; the bolt, though to appearance a good one, broke nearly in the
middle, and came out.
It seems the rudder of this ship was hung after she had been launched,
and that to do it the more easily an eyebolt had been fixed in each
side of the rudder below the shank; to these eyebolts two chains were
then fixed, which crossing the edge of the rudder in opposite
directions, were fastened to pennants made of cordage, provided for
the breechings of our twelve pounders. These pennants passed through
blocks at the end of spars, run out of the ports of the cabin. From
thence they were led through blocks in opposite ports of the main deck
to the capstan, by means of which they were very conveniently managed,
and the ship without much difficulty steered. Such however was the
force and wear they underwent before our arrival in calmer latitudes
and smoother seas, that they generally gave way every day or two; and
the Captain tells me, no less than six hundred weight of that cordage
has been consumed in that service.
So great was the swell off the Banks, and so high, though not severe
the winds, that near a fortnight elapsed before the ship was put in
her present condition for sailing. The same obstacles also retarded
the repairing of the rudder, which after all was so weak that it was
not thought advisable to steer by the tiller, and to prevent any
further injury from its striking against the ship, which it constantly
did in calm weather, bags stuffed with oakum were placed on each side
of it, and a man employed night and day to tend them.
Some days before the 23d day of November, the Captain told me, he
thought it advisable to call a council of his officers, and submit to
their consideration the propriety of continuing our course towards
Europe. M. Gerard shortly after mentioned to me the sitting of this
council, and said, he could assure me that the Chevalier Roche and
Monsieur Remuy would not give their opinions on the subject but in
writing, and on being requested to do it in writing by the Captain.
This intelligence appeared to me extraordinary, but as it was not
necessary that my sentiments relative to it should be known, I made no
reply to M. Gerard, but by degrees turned the conversation to another
subject; nor did I give the least hint of it to the Captain, but
observed a perfect silence relative to it. It appeared to me that
those gentlemen either overrated their importance, or entertained
improper ideas of the merit of our officers, and I confess it gave me
pleasure to hear that they were not consulted at all.
The council of officers was held the 23d of November last. The
Captain gave me their report, together with a return of the provisions
and water on board, and assured me of his readiness to proceed to any
port whatever, that M. Gerard and myself should direct. I gave these
papers to M. Gerard, and although I did not think it expedient by
consulting the French officers to give them reason to suppose, that I
concurred in sentiments with them as to the importance of their
opinions, yet I told M. Gerard, I was well satisfied he should
communicate to them the report of our officers, and obtain their
sentiments on the question stated in it, and the better to enable him
to do it, I proposed that we should postpone the discussion of the
subject till the next day, or longer if necessary. He took the papers,
said it was very well, and that he would speak to those gentlemen. A
day or two after, being on deck, M. Gerard took me aside and gave me
the papers, telling me he had seen these gentlemen, and that they both
declined giving any opinion about it; that they had always been, and
still were, ready to do anything for the benefit of the ship; that had
they been requested to give their opinions while the matter was in
agitation, they would have done it; that it was now over, and
determined; that under these circumstances their opinion would be of
no avail, and that they did not choose, by declaring their sentiments,
either to confirm the report, or give it ineffectual opposition. M.
Gerard further intimated, that those gentlemen seemed to think their
giving their advice in the course of our troubles had given offence to
the officers of the ship; but I had never reason to think their
apprehensions well founded. Upon this conduct of those gentlemen, I
briefly observed to M. Gerard, that as they were passengers, we had
no right to demand their opinions, and that they had a right to
withhold them, or not, as they pleased, and for such reasons as they
might think proper; but that as the Captain of the ship had been
directed by the marine committee to obey such orders as he should
receive from us, it was necessary that in the present conjuncture we
should decide on the report; that the Captain, in my opinion, would
not be justifiable in further pursuing his course against the solemn
and unanimous opinion of all the officers, unless by our express
orders; and he would be culpable in changing it, without a previous
application to us for direction. M. Gerard observed, that he was
sensible of the honor done him by the order alluded to, but that it
was not convenient to him to give any opinion or direction on the
subject. It did not appear to me prudent to reply to this, and
therefore I took the first opportunity of turning the conversation to
another topic. As this circumstance prevented the Captain's receiving
any positive orders from us on the subject, he was of course left to
pursue his own judgment, but being desirous of my opinion, I gave it
to him, in the manner endorsed on the report of the council, of which
a copy is herewith enclosed.
The reasons on which this opinion was grounded are, in part, contained
in this report, but there were others not mentioned in it. That
Congress may the better judge of their force, it is necessary that
they be informed of some previous circumstances.
The first fair day after losing our masts, I went to the door of M.
Gerard's room on the deck, which was open, to bid him good morning.
Chevalier Roche was with him; they were conversing on the course most
proper for us to steer, and the port most proper to make for. M.
Gerard was for going to Cadiz; he had an excellent set of charts, and
he had then one of the Atlantic Ocean, with its American, European,
and African Coasts, and the intervening islands, before him. By the
assistance of this map we perfectly understood his reasoning. The
Chevalier at that time inclined to the West Indies, and I heard him,
on leaving the room, tell M. Gerard, that to endeavor to get to Europe
in the present condition of the ship, would be to "_run a very great
risk of perishing in the ocean_." Some time after this, M. Gerard
perceiving that I had adopted no decided opinion on the subject, (and
that was really the case) in the course of an evening he spent with us
in the cabin, (none of the officers of the ship being present) desired
me to attend particularly to his several reasons for going to Cadiz,
and consider them maturely before I made up my judgment. I promised
him to do it, and was as good as my word. He proceeded to observe;
1st. That the distance to Cadiz and to Martinique differed but little,
and that no weighty argument could be drawn from this difference.
2dly. That between us and Cadiz lay the Western and Canary Islands,
into some one or other of which we might run, if necessary.
3dly. That if, on our arrival at either of these Islands, it should
appear impracticable or imprudent to proceed further, our persons at
least would be safe, and we might get to Europe in one of the many
vessels, which frequent those Islands; whereas, on the other hand,
there were no Islands between us and Martinique, and we should, in
steering southward, be obliged to run all that distance without
finding any place by the way, at which we might touch, or, in case of
danger, find shelter.
4thly. That if calmer seas were our object, we should find them in
going eastward as well as southward; that we must not expect to meet
with the trade winds at that season but in a very remote southern
latitude; that in crossing the latitude of Bermudas, we should meet
with heavy squalls, and bad weather; that in the latitude between that
and the trade winds, we must expect variable winds, and particularly
long calms, which are often more dangerous, and more to be dreaded
than hard winds.
5thly. That in a voyage to Cadiz, we should have nothing to apprehend
from the enemy, but to Martinique, everything.
6thly. That if we should arrive safe at Martinique, we should probably
be detained there until next Spring; that the vessels, which usually
sail from thence for France every fall, would have departed before the
time we should reach the Island; that he had reason to believe it
would be very difficult, if not impracticable, to obtain a frigate,
and, among other reasons, urged the absence of Count d'Estaing, and
the improbability that any subordinate officer would undertake without
his orders to grant us one, even admitting what was very unlikely,
that one might be spared from the service.
7thly. That the ship might remain long at Martinique without being
made ready for sea, for want of naval stores, provisions, &c.
These were M. Gerard's reasons for our steering for Cadiz, by the way
of the Azores, and I do not remember to have afterwards heard an
additional one. Whether the French officers really thought them
conclusive, or whether they found it convenient to make a compliment
of their sentiments to a gentleman very able to serve them, is
uncertain; but I believe they in appearance inclined to M. Gerard's
opinion, and gave him implied reasons to think their sentiments
corresponded with his.
The matter appeared to me in a serious light, and to require caution
on many accounts. Every consideration called me to Spain; private as
well as public good forbade a difference with M. Gerard. I had reason
to believe him well disposed towards me; I perceived, clearly, that he
could not with any patience admit the idea of being absent from Europe
at so important a season, and that he could scarcely treat with common
decency the reasons urged for going to Martinique. Hence it appeared
obvious, that should I be the means of his losing his objects, or
should any public inconveniences result from our not being in Europe
during the winter, I should be censured, not only by him, but by all
those who judge of the propriety of a measure only by its
consequences, of which number are the far greater part of mankind.
Thus circumstanced, I found myself in a very unpleasant situation,
without any way of extricating myself, but by agreeing to a sort of
middle proposal; viz. to order the Captain to land us on one of the
Western Islands, and then leave the ship to shift for herself. This
would have satisfied M. Gerard, and we should have been as good
friends as ever. I thought it my duty, however, to form my decision
carefully, and honestly, and abide by it firmly. It was that we should
proceed to Martinique. Some of the reasons for it are set forth in the
report of the council of officers. The whole together were briefly
these.
1st. That the officers of the ship, including the carpenter, who were
to be presumed to be better judges than M. Gerard or myself, were of
opinion, that we ought not to attempt to go to Europe, and had this
reason stood single and unexplained, I should not readily have
ventured to reject it, especially as it appeared to me against the
interest of the officers to come to the West Indies, and I have heard
them constantly and uniformly regret the necessity of it; but I also
thought they decided on good grounds; for
2dly. The rudder daily gave us infinite trouble, almost everyday a
pennant breaking, and on every such occasion the ship for some time
left to the direction of the wind and waves, a circumstance which
might be fatal in hard weather, and near land; the quantity of cordage
consumed in this way of steering; the doubt of our having sufficient
for the purpose without stripping the guns, which would thereby be
rendered useless; the rudder irons daily becoming more and more loose,
and, by the nails drawing out, opening a passage for the water into
the stem of the ship. By this circumstance our bread had been damaged;
the danger of our being obliged to get rid of the rudder entirely, and
steering only by the cable, which in northern seas, and winter season,
is very inadequate. This event would have arrived in case either of
the eye bolts in the rudder had given way, as the first mentioned one
had done, or the upper irons become entirely loose; and for this event
it was thought necessary to prepare, by removing the obstacles to
unhanging the rudder. Indeed the upper irons in the course of our
passage here, with fair winds and no storms, became so loose as to
render it necessary to lash the head of the rudder with ropes to a
bolt fixed for the purpose in the cabin floor.
3dly. The sails we had left were bad, having been originally made, as
Mr Vaughan the second Lieutenant told me, of damaged canvass; they
frequently split; we had none to replace them, nor a sufficient stock
of twine to mend them, eight pounds only being left of the twenty odd
we brought from Philadelphia; nor were we much better supplied with
cordage, for which there was a daily demand and some of which was very
bad.
4thly. Our jury masts were not calculated for hard weather, the
foremast being sprung a few feet below the top, and not able to endure
a hard storm.
For these reasons the rough weather common in northern latitudes was
by all means to be avoided, and smooth seas sought.
As to the conveniences to be derived from the Islands laying between
us and Cadiz, I took some pains to examine into that matter. We had
maps and descriptions of them all, and our master had been at many of
them. I found there was not a single harbor in any one of them in
which a ship could ride at anchor in every wind; on the contrary
neither of them has anything more than open roads, out of which it is
necessary for ships to make the best of their way, and put to sea
whenever certain winds blow, a task which our ship was very far from
being in condition to perform.
From this and other circumstances it was evident we could not refit in
either of those Islands, not even so much as get a new rudder; for
admitting materials for the latter could be had, yet such was the
difficulty, if not impossibility, of hanging it in an open road, from
whence the ship was every moment exposed to the necessity of going to
sea by an unfavorable wind, that we could expect to derive no
advantage from these Islands, except the prospect of obtaining some
refreshments, which we could do without, and the value of which would
not have compensated for the risk of approaching them in our
condition.
As to the idea of our steering that course with a view of being landed
on one of those Islands, and from thence going to Europe in another
vessel, leaving our own to her fate, no earthly consideration could
ever have reconciled me to it. The reasoning which was insisted on,
that our being seasonably in Europe was of more importance to the
United States than a frigate, and that in time of war, and for the
public good, lives were to be risked by sea as well as by land, was a
species of reasoning which applied to this case led to conclusions,
which never have been, and I pray God never may be, among my
principles of action. Had this plan of being landed on one of the
Azores or Canaries been adopted, we should have either landed the crew
with us or not; if the first, the frigate would have been given to
destruction. This appeared to me inconsistent with the public good,
because, if we reached Martinique, I had no doubt of a passage, and my
arrival in France eight weeks sooner or later did not appear to me of
equal importance to the United States with the frigate. Had the crew
been left on board, it must have been with a view of saving the ship,
either by her reaching Europe or the West Indies. The probability of
her effecting either became then a most important question, as the
lives of between two and three hundred Americans depended on the
event. Against it were opposed the dangers of the seas, and the want
of provisions; the former would have increased with the approach of
winter, and therefore the longer the ship was detained to the
northward, the more she had to suffer, and to fear. The frigate after
having landed us on either of the Islands, must either have gone on
towards Europe, or endeavored to get to the West Indies.
All the considerations abovementioned opposed the first, and whoever
compares the time necessary for a voyage for a ship under jury masts,
and almost without a rudder, from the banks of Newfoundland to the
Azores or Canaries, and from thence to the West Indies, with our stock
of provisions, will find them inadequate to the purpose, and be
convinced of the cruelty of subjecting one's fellow citizens to such
extremities. For these reasons I positively refused to join in this
system.
As to the position in favor of going to Europe, that we should find
the seas calmer as we advanced eastward, equally as we went southward,
all the officers of the ship testified against it, nor would they
admit that we had as much to dread from calms as from hard gales. The
supposed difficulty of obtaining a passage from Martinique made but
little impression on me. I could not suppose the Islands left
unprotected by ships of war, or that the commanding officer would
refuse to order a frigate on this service, if M. Gerard would
represent it to be of importance, which I was sure he would do. How
long our ship might be refitting here was not to be ascertained, but I
could not prevail upon myself to believe, that the King of France
would keep so considerable a fleet in those seas, without providing
for the usual accidents they would be exposed to from the sea and the
enemy. At the worst the ship would be in a safe port, and among a
people bound by treaties and by interest to afford aid and protection,
at least until Congress should be informed of her situation, and have
an opportunity of providing for her wants. As to ourselves, in case we
meet with the imagined difficulties respecting a passage, it would be
easy by passing over to St Eustatia to get very safely in a Dutch ship
to Holland.
On these reasons the advice I gave to the captain to come here was
founded. I thought them right then, and was daily more and more
confirmed in an opinion of their propriety. In the course of our run
here, we had all the way fine, fair breezes; and, except in the
latitude of Bermuda, smooth seas and scarce any calms. The night
before we made the land, it was thought proper to lay the ship too,
after the moon set, which was between twelve and one o'clock, and she
continued in that position only four hours and a half. Such, however,
was the effect of it upon the rudder, and so much damage did it
receive from it, that had the ship continued as much longer in the
same state, it was agreed on all sides, that the rudder would have
been rendered useless.
M. Gerard, hurt by being disappointed in his expectation of being
seasonably in France, and perhaps mortified at my preferring my own
sentiments to his, ceased to observe that cordiality and frankness,
which had before attended his conduct towards me. Nay, he once went
so far as to tell me I had my reasons for coming here. I appeared not
to understand him, and continued to endeavor to render the
conversation as light and general as possible. This was a tax imposed
on my feelings by regard to public good; as a private man, I should
have acted differently.