[Footnote 8: Sherburne's Life of Jones, New York, 1851, p. 164.]
The question naturally arises, Who dictated the narrative of the
fight which Lunt wrote in the _Serapis'_ log? It is an authentic and
truthful narration of the principal occurrences, and corresponds with
Jones' own accounts of the battle. It is written in the first person,
and must have been written by some one who was on board the _Bon
Homme Richard_, and copied by Lunt into the _Serapis'_ log at some
time subsequent to the engagement, in order to have a circumstantial
account recorded in the log. Lunt's statement that the log-book
belonged to him on September 3, 1780, when second lieutenant of the
_Ariel_, nearly a year after the fight, would lead us to suppose
that, as he was surrounded by the officers who were on the _Bon Homme
Richard_, he simply copied a description dictated by one of them,
probably by Jones himself, as the latter's well-known proclivity
for self-adulation would naturally show itself in a desire to have
his personal efforts spread upon the official record. It is further
worthy of note that almost the only tributes to the officers of the
_Bon Homme Richard_, or recognition of their services, are to be
found in Jones' charges and proofs against Landais, where his object
was to give force to their testimony.[9] His apparent unwillingness
to commend others, or award to each of his officers a just meed of
praise, has been noted by some of his biographers as his great fault.
[Footnote 9: Sherburne's Life of Jones, New York, 1851, pp. 156-171.]
It is a matter of interest to a collector to be able to identify the
author or writer of this narrative of the engagement, and to place
it, after a long separation, where it originally was written.
The first regular entry in the _Serapis'_ log is on the 26th of
September, when, dismasted, crowded with prisoners, and encumbered
with wounded, her people, assisted by men from the other ships of
the squadron, were employed in erecting jury masts and repairing
the damages sustained in the action. The wind was for several days
light, from the southwest, and the sea fairly smooth, the speed
recorded being from two to four knots. Jones decided to make the port
of Dunkirk, but his colleagues overruled him, and upon making the
land, owing to bad weather and contrary winds, the squadron, after
being tossed to and fro by contrary winds for seven days, anchored in
the Texel Roads on the 3d of October. That the ship should have been
safely taken to a harbor under such circumstances is not the least
of Jones' exploits as a seaman; while the failure of the English
cruisers to intercept and recapture her brought much obloquy upon the
British admiralty.
Safely anchored in the Texel, Sir Joseph Yorke, the British
ambassador at The Hague, who persistently referred to Jones as
"that pirate, Paul Jones: a rebel subject and criminal of State,"
immediately demanded the surrender of the prizes and the release of
the prisoners.[10] The demand was refused by the High Commissioners,
and after much correspondence Jones obtained permission, under
certain restrictions, to land his prisoners and wounded, and to mount
guard over them on an island in the Texel. Jones may fairly be said
to have added to his fame by being mainly instrumental in bringing
about an open rupture between England and Holland by the stand taken
by him during this trying period.
[Footnote 10: Sherburne's Life of Jones, New York, 1851, p. 129.]
As will be seen by the entries in the log, the crew, with assistance
from the other ships, were for many days busily employed in cleaning
up her decks and in repairing and refitting the ship. She was in a
dreadful condition of filth and disorder. Jones desired to refit her,
and again to cruise in English waters, as she was a fine, stanch
ship, recently built, and would have been a valuable substitute for
the lost _Richard_. Jones states that she was the best ship he ever
saw of her kind.
Complications between the Dutch and English governments, however,
became acute. Jones was ordered to sail from the Texel, then
blockaded by an English fleet, and the Dutch Admiral was ordered
to use forcible measures, if found necessary, to compel him to do
so. With Dr. Franklin's approval it was decided to turn over to
the French the prizes, and all the ships except the _Alliance_,
which, having been built in America, was accepted as a properly
commissioned Continental ship-of-war. In pursuance of this decision
Jones turned over to Captain Cottineau the command of the _Serapis_,
who hoisted the French flag over her on November 21, 1779. Landais
was deposed from the command of the _Alliance_, to which ship
Jones transferred his flag, having first stripped the _Serapis_
of everything movable and useful and sent the same on board the
_Alliance_.[11]
[Footnote 11: See log of _Serapis_ for November 21, 1779.]
The log-book now continues with "A Journall Kept on Board the
American Continental Frigate of War, _Alliance_, of 36 guns, under
the Command of the Honble. John Paul Jones, Commencing in the Road of
Texel in Holland."
Commencing on the 22d of November, the log states the daily
occurrences until June 12, 1780. According to Jones' account the ship
was in a deplorable condition, which he attributed to the incapacity
of Landais, whom he had supplanted, and with whom he was on bad
terms, having charged him with being responsible, in part, for the
collision with the _Richard_ on her first cruise; with cowardice
during the action with the _Serapis_; with intentionally firing
upon the _Richard_; with disobedience of orders, disrespect, and
insolence. Jones states that the _Alliance_ had not a good cable
or sail; the officers and men were intemperate and idle; filth,
insubordination, and epidemic diseases prevailed among the crew; she
was badly supplied with arms; and her powder was of bad quality. Some
of these deficiences Jones supplied from the _Serapis_.
The remaining officers and crew of the _Richard_ were transferred
to the _Alliance_, except the French volunteers; and the French
volunteers and marines on the _Alliance_ were sent to the _Serapis_,
as it had been arranged that no French subject was to remain on
the _Alliance_. Until the 27th of December the ship's company and
mechanics from shore were busily employed in making necessary
repairs, refitting the rigging, making new yards, and altering the
old ones. Every effort was apparently made to get the ship ready for
sea. Gales of wind and rotten cables placed her often in peril. Her
bottom being foul, the ship was careened and the bottom scrubbed.
The English kept a squadron cruising off the port, but Jones
determined to get to sea as soon as the weather would permit. He
thought he had recovered the trim of the ship which had been lost
under Landais. He states that the ship was well manned, and would not
be given away; that the Holland squadron had been drawn up ready for
battle for more than a month to drive him out if he should attempt to
remain after the wind became fair, while the English fleet was almost
constantly in sight of the harbor.
He was requested by the Dutch Admiral to declare whether the
_Alliance_ was a French or an American vessel, and if French to
display the French flag, and to omit no occasion of departing. To
this Jones replied, declining to display French colors, and saying
that he would get to sea whenever a pilot would take the ship out of
the harbor.
On the 27th of December, the wind serving, he set sail from the
Texel, fell foul of a Dutch merchant ship, lost the best bower-anchor
and cable, and had other mishaps, owing to the ignorance or
drunkenness of the old pilot.
The _Alliance_ passed along the Flemish banks, got to windward of
the enemy's fleet in the North Sea, and passed through the Strait of
Dover in full view of the enemy's fleet in the Downs. He then ran the
_Alliance_ past the Isle of Wight, in view of the enemy's fleet at
Spithead, got safe through the Channel, and cruised about the Bay of
Biscay and Cape Finisterre, overhauling many neutral ships and making
a few unimportant prizes. On the 17th of January he came to anchor
in the harbor of Corunna, Spain. Here he remained until the 28th of
January. He received and entertained visitors; again careened the
ship and scrubbed her bottom; made changes in her spars; obtained a
new anchor; and gave his men liberty. The men were complaining that
their wages and prize money had not been paid, and were in a mutinous
condition. On the 19th of January they all refused doing duty, but
Jones succeeded in satisfying them, and they returned to duty the
following day.[12]
[Footnote 12: See log of _Alliance_ for January 19, 1780.]
On the 28th of January, after entertaining the governor, the
_Alliance_ again put to sea, and cruised in the neighboring waters,
overhauling several ships, capturing a few unimportant prizes. She
met the American letter-of-marque ship _Livingston_, and in company
with her anchored within the Isle of Groix on the 11th of February,
and on the 19th moved up to the harbor of L'Orient, and moored the
_Alliance_ to the King's Moorings.
Jones' first object now appears to have been to repair and refit
the ship and make extensive alterations, the extent and cost of
which were the subject of remonstrance on the part of Benjamin
Franklin, who positively forbids his sheathing the ship's bottom
with copper, buying new canvas and cordage, thus adding to the
extraordinary expenses already incurred in Holland, especially as
Jones seemed to impute the damages the _Alliance_ had sustained more
to Landais' negligence than to accidents of the cruise; Franklin
concludes his admonitions with an appeal to Jones--"For God's sake be
sparing unless you mean to make me a bankrupt, or have your drafts
dishonoured for want of money in my hands to pay them."[13]
[Footnote 13: Richard C. Sands, Life and Correspondence of John Paul
Jones, New York, 1830, p. 248.]
Notwithstanding this appeal for economy, from the 19th of February
to the 12th of June the _Alliance_ remained at anchor at L'Orient,
and the repairs, renewals, and refitting were prosecuted with energy
by the crew of the ship, assisted by carpenters and mechanics from
shore. The log relates the work done day by day with some precision.
The essential repairs were completed in April, and Jones states that,
when finished, judges allowed that everything about the frigate was
perfect, and that he knew not what was the amount of disbursements.
In his journal for the King he says: "She was thought one of the
completest frigates in France."
Meantime, it was Mr. Franklin's intention to send the _Alliance_
back to America with large supplies of arms and clothing. Mr. Arthur
Lee, one of our commissioners, also desired to return in her. Landais
was annoying Franklin with importunities to such an extent that the
latter wrote Jones that he was determined to have nothing further to
do with him.
On the 4th of March Franklin wrote the President of Congress that
Jones would carry the _Alliance_ home, and that Landais had not
applied to be replaced in her, but on the 17th of March he asked
Franklin to be replaced in command of the _Alliance_. To this request
Franklin replied that he considered him so imprudent, so litigious
and quarrelsome a man, that if he had twenty ships-of-war in his
disposition, he would not give him command of one of them. Franklin,
on the 18th of March, states that he knew of nothing to prevent Jones
from proceeding immediately to such part of North America as he could
reach in safety.
The prize-money question was in abeyance; Franklin in his letters
to Jones referred to it, and stated that the ships-of-war he had
taken were to be valued, the King intending to purchase them, but
that the muster-roll of the _Bon Homme Richard_ was wanting in order
to regulate the proportions to each ship. At the same time Franklin
authorized Jones to draw on him for 24,000 livres in advance to
the people of the _Bon Homme Richard_, and stated that M. LeRay de
Chaumont had authorized his correspondent in L'Orient to advance
100,000 livres for the Americans of the _Alliance_ and _Bon Homme
Richard_, on account.
This prize-money question, as shown by the voluminous correspondence
of the time, was a troublesome matter, the cause of dissension,
controversy, and insubordination amounting to mutiny in the ship's
company.
The subject is fully treated in the various biographies of Jones, and
it is unnecessary to do more than allude to it here. It was, however,
the cause which induced Jones to go frequently to Paris, ostensibly
to hasten proceedings for the adjustment of the claims for prize
money. In his absence on shore at L'Orient Captain Landais, acting
under the advice of Arthur Lee and Commodore Gillon, of the South
Carolina navy, took possession of the _Alliance_ on the 12th of June.
The log entry on that day is the last of the _Alliance's_ journal. It
forms a terse but accurate account of this extraordinary transaction.
A more detailed account, by a participant in this event, will be
found in the Appendix.[14]
[Footnote 14: Richard C. Sands, Life and Correspondence of John Paul
Jones, New York, 1830, pp. 265-267. See Appendix H for Nathaniel
Fanning's narrative of this transaction. Landais and his first
lieutenant, Degge, were both tried by a court martial held on the
_Alliance_, November, 1780, Captain John Barry, president; both were
sentenced "to be broke, cashiered, and rendered incapable of serving
in the American navy thereafter." The Board of Admiralty reported
to Congress, March 28, 1781, that the plans of Jones for bringing
clothing and stores to America were overset by Landais' misconduct,
and Jones was exonerated from all charges for the delay. Naval
Records of the Revolution, 1775-1788, Washington, 1906, pp. 170, 171,
173.]
It appears from the correspondence of Mr. Franklin that Landais had
been furnished with money to enable him to return to America for
trial upon the charges preferred by Jones, and Franklin had, in May,
expressed his astonishment that he continued to remain at L'Orient.
To this Landais, on the 29th of May, coolly replied that he had been
waiting for orders to retake command of the _Alliance_! Franklin
replied to this, "I charge you not to meddle with the command, or
create any disturbance on board her, as you will answer the contrary
at your peril."
Arthur Lee, as well as Commodore Gillon, had previously quarreled
with Jones, and detested him. Lee, in a written opinion discussing
constitutional questions as to the authority of Congress, and that
of Mr. Franklin, advised Landais that he might lawfully treat our
minister's orders with contempt. As Jones was constantly absent from
his ship, spending much time in Paris, where he was the recipient of
marked attentions, it was not difficult for Landais to work upon the
mutinous spirit of the crew by charging Jones with neglect of their
interests regarding prize money due them, to such effect that they
addressed a letter to Franklin, signed by one hundred and fifteen
of the crew, declaring that they would not raise the anchor, nor
depart from L'Orient, until their wages and the utmost farthing of
their prize money had been paid them, and until _their legal captain,
P. Landais, was restored to them_. This mutinous document was
undoubtedly instigated by Landais; it bore unmistakable evidence of
being penned, and was forwarded to Franklin, by Landais himself.
On the morning of the 12th of June Jones, at L'Orient, assembled
his crew, before going on shore, and asked them if they could say a
word to his disadvantage. They answered that they could not, and,
according to Jones' account, showed every appearance of contentment
and subordination. Jones then went on shore, and Landais, taking
advantage of his absence, seized the command during the afternoon of
that day. Jones heard of the transaction from Dale, who informed him
that he and some others had just been turned ashore.
Jones immediately despatched by express to Franklin a statement of
the occurrence. Upon its receipt Franklin procured an order from
Versailles for the arrest and imprisonment of Landais, as a Frenchman
and subject to French laws. Lee, under whose legal advice Landais
had acted, wrote a long letter to Jones, in which he claimed that it
was clear that Landais commanded the _Alliance_ under the full and
express order of Congress, and no other authority existed which could
dismiss him from the command.
Some attempt was made by the commandant of the port to arrest Landais
and prevent the departure of the _Alliance_. Jones declined to employ
means to prevent her departure, interposing, he says, "to prevent
bloodshed between the subjects of allied powers." The _Alliance_
was hurried out of port with a mutinous crew--many of them in
irons--taking Arthur Lee and a number of civilians as passengers. On
the voyage homeward the officers and crew became dissatisfied with
Landais' conduct, and compelled him to relinquish the command. Mr.
Arthur Lee was particularly incensed against him, and principally
upon his testimony, on his trial by court martial, Landais was
dismissed from the service on the score that he was insane.
The conduct of Jones in thus abandoning his command has been
commented upon at length by his biographers, and variously accounted
for, the consensus of opinion being that, had he really wished to
recover the command, he could have gone on board the _Alliance_ with
his officers as soon as he heard that Landais had taken possession of
her, and would have met with no opposition from Landais, or, if he
had ventured upon personal violence, Jones, being in the right, would
not have been blamable for the consequences. The conduct of Jones
during this extraordinary transaction seems inconsistent with his
general character as a bold and determined fighter, and does not add
to his reputation.
Following the entry in the _Alliance's_ journal, recording the taking
possession of her by Landais, the log continues with "An account of
occurrences in L'Orient, respecting the _Bon Homme Richards_ Officers
& Crew" during the three days they were on shore waiting for orders.
On the 16th of June they were ordered to, and removed on board the
_Ariel_ frigate, that ship having been loaned by the French to assist
in transporting to America clothing and munitions of war, for which
room could not be found on the _Alliance_ and of which our army was
sorely in need. The _Ariel_ was a small frigate, formerly captured
from the English by the squadron under d'Estaing.