JOHN PAUL JONES: OUR FIRST GREAT NAVAL HERO.
=244. The Colonies poorly prepared to cope with England on the Sea.=--Now
we must remember that the American Revolution, which lasted about seven
years, and which resulted in our independence, was fought almost
entirely on land. We were poor, and besides had but little or no
experience in building men-of-war. The few vessels that had been built
in this country were mostly sloops or schooners for fishing, or for
trading.
In this lack of large sailing craft during the Revolution, we should
have got on very poorly but for the generous aid of France. When
Washington's forces closed in upon the enemy at Yorktown, he would not
then have been able to capture the whole British army and so end the
great struggle, but for the thirty-six French ships that arrived just in
time to give us the assistance we so much needed.
In the first years of the war the colonies began to build a number of
warships, but these were of little account compared with the navy of
England. Such few vessels as we already had were hastily fitted up for
naval service and armed with small cannon. These had to make up for
their want of size by the boldness of their crews and the quickness of
their movement.
Privateering was then very common. This means that a vessel owned or
officered by private persons has a commission from the government to go
out and attack the enemy's vessels. Without this authority it would have
been regarded as a pirate.
=245. John Paul Jones begins his Remarkable Career.=--The feeble colonies
had then not only few vessels, but few officers to command them. There
was one officer, however, John Paul Jones, who soon became widely famous
as a naval commander of extraordinary courage and superb audacity. He
was born in Scotland. When a boy of only twelve years he began to go to
sea. In time he visited his elder brother, a farmer in Virginia. During
the next few years he made a number of voyages to the West Indies, and
became rich by his skill in trading.
When the war of the Revolution began, this energetic young Scotch sailor
determined to take an active part in it. He entered the navy in 1775,
when twenty-eight years old, and became lieutenant of the sloop-of-war
Alfred.
On this vessel Paul Jones hoisted to the masthead the first American
flag ever displayed over an American warship. It was a yellow silk flag
showing a pine tree, with a rattlesnake coiled at its root as if about
to strike, and the motto, "Don't tread on me." Our present flag, with
its beautiful stripes and glowing stars, was adopted by Congress two
years later.
The Alfred was the flagship of a little fleet of seven vessels. They
soon captured two British vessels from the Bahamas, then went to Nassau,
the capital of the islands, took the governor prisoner, and carried away
nearly a hundred cannon with a large quantity of military supplies. On
the way home they seized two more British vessels. On a later cruise, of
forty-seven days, Jones took sixteen prizes.
=246. John Paul Jones performs Daring Deeds on the English
Coast.=--Afterwards Paul Jones went to France, and sailing from Brest in
his ship the Ranger, he swept the seas all around England, taking or
destroying every hostile ship he met. He was so audacious as to sail
into British ports, wrecking and pillaging everywhere. He entered the
harbor of Whitehaven, England, surprised the forts, spiked the guns, and
burned some ships at the docks. English commerce was crippled, insurance
rates rose to a fabulous price, and merchants met with enormous losses.
The English were so alarmed that they sent out the well-armed
sloop-of-war Drake to capture Jones and bring him in a prisoner. But the
daring hero turned the game just the other way. He met the British craft
in the Irish Sea, and after a severe battle of over an hour he captured
her with more than two hundred prisoners and took the prize to Brest.
All this pleased the French wonderfully, for they had had war with
England.
In fact all Europe rang with the praises of John Paul Jones.
[Illustration: JOHN PAUL JONES.]
=247. Jones's Interview with Franklin; secures Help from France.=--The
American Commissioners in Paris, of whom Franklin was the leader,
promised Jones a much larger ship; but they could not get the money to
pay for it, and Jones was very impatient to be off to sea again. He went
to the harbor of Lorient, on the west coast of France, to choose a ship.
Week after week he waited for an order from Paris to buy the vessel, but
none came.
One day, while in a restaurant, the young officer took up a copy of
_Poor Richard's Almanac_, a very unique little annual, really the work
of Franklin. Reading the bright sayings scattered over every page, he
came upon this maxim: "If you would have your business done, go; if not,
send!"
The truth of the homely saying came to his mind like a flash. He sprang
to his feet.
"That was written for me," he said. "Here I am, _sending_ to Paris, when
I ought to _go_!"
He started at once. He appealed to the Minister of Marine, and then to
King Louis himself. He pleaded his way to success. The king immediately
gave him a forty-gun ship at Lorient. He went back and took command. The
first thing Paul Jones did was to paint out the old name and give for a
new one the French equivalent of Dr. Franklin's almanac name, Bon Homme
Richard ("Poor Richard," or "Goodman Richard"); for he gave the credit
of his sudden success to Franklin's wise maxim.
=248. The Battle between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis.=--Our
daring mariner soon sailed out with six other vessels, all flying the
beautiful new American flag. The crew on the Richard numbered nearly
four hundred men, a medley of sailors from almost every nation in
Europe, and even including some Malays. He sailed up between England and
Ireland, taking a number of prizes, then around the north of Scotland
and down on the east coast of England.
Here, in the evening of a clear September day in 1779, his little fleet
met, off Flamborough, the new British ship of forty-four guns, commanded
by Captain Pearson. The Serapis, though a larger and better ship than
the old Richard, tried to escape, but the Richard chased her and brought
her to. It was just at twilight, and so near the land that crowds of
people thronged the shores to see the contest.
As darkness settled down, the ships drew nearer. Just then the full moon
rose slowly over the sea, and right in the range of its broad field of
light were the dark shapes of the two hostile vessels.
Now they draw closer. On each ship rests a stillness like that of death.
The men stand at their guns silent and thoughtful. The thousands on
shore hold their breath. Silently up goes the British flag on the
mainmast of the Serapis, and over the Richard waves the new banner of
the "stars and stripes."
"Ship ahoy!" shouted Captain Jones through his speaking trumpet.
"Aye, aye!" was the reply from the English vessel.
"What's your name?" came ringing over the water.
"His majesty's ship Serapis! What's yours?"
"Bon Homme Richard!" replied the gallant Jones; "haul down your flag!"
The Englishman's answer was the flash and boom of a cannon shot that
whizzed through the rigging of the Richard. Then raged the lightning and
thunder of battle. Fast and furious was the roar of the big guns, now
from this ship, now from that.
They drift nearer together; now their rigging is entangled; now they
touch! Now the struggling crews fight hand to hand. Right and left the
conflict rages, with pikes and pistols and cutlasses.
Jones is now here, now there, seeing all, controlling all, and mixing
with the bravest, now training some gun, now pulling at some rope or
cheering some lagging sailor lad. His strong will and sturdy pluck give
new life to his men. They cheer as their shot begin to tell. The air is
filled with the crash of cannon, the rattle of pistols, the orders of
officers, the yells of the crews, and the groans of the dying.
The American flag is obscured with smoke, so that Captain Pearson, not
seeing it, shouts, "Are you ready to surrender?"
Instantly comes Jones's defiant reply, "Surrender! I've not yet begun to
fight!"
Then Jones lashed the ships together, while the cannon balls tore
through the vessels, cut the masts, and scattered the wounded and dead
all around. The Richard is leaking badly, but the fight still rages.
Marines in the rigging bring down the enemy with incessant shots, and
hurl grenades that fire the Serapis.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE BON HOMME RICHARD AND THE
SERAPIS.]
The flames spread; both ships are on fire! but still the big guns roar.
Both vessels have been on fire three times, but the pumps are at work
and the battle still rages. The scene is one of appalling, indescribable
grandeur. Finally, at about ten o'clock, Captain Pearson sees there is
no hope against such a foe as this, and so strikes his flag. When the
haughty English captain gave up his sword to the brave Yankee sailor, he
said: "I cannot but feel much mortification at the idea of surrendering
my sword to a man who has fought me with a rope round his neck."
The gallant Jones received the Englishman's sword, and at once returned
it, saying, "You have fought bravely, sir, and I hope your king will
give you a better ship."
Thus ended one of the most desperate sea fights recorded in naval
history. The Bon Homme Richard was a complete wreck and was fast
sinking. Accordingly Jones took all on board the Serapis, which of
course was then under his command, and in a few hours the American
vessel went down in the deep sea, carrying with her the bodies of her
dead. The victorious commander took the Serapis, with all his prisoners,
into a Holland port.
=249. Effect of this Grand Naval Victory; After-Life of Paul Jones.=--This
famous victory was a severe blow to England's naval prestige. The moral
effect upon the nations of Europe of such a victory within sight of the
English coast was something remarkable.
Franklin praised Jones, and Washington wrote him a warm letter of
thanks. The French king invited him to his palace, and presented him
with a superb gold-mounted sword. The empress of Russia gave him an
honorary ribbon, and the king of Denmark awarded him a pension.
In America this victory brought universal joy, and Congress bestowed on
the victor a large gold medal. The brave Captain Pearson was afterwards
knighted by his king. On hearing of it, Jones said, "He deserves it;
and if I fall in with him again I'll make a lord of him."
After a few years' further service in our navy, Paul Jones was offered a
position of honor in the Russian navy. He accepted it and soon won a
brilliant victory in the Black Sea over the Turks, who were frightened
at his remarkable bravery.
Afterwards, when living in Paris, Jones became broken down in health. No
wonder, for he had fought twenty-four naval battles! When he was taken
sick, the queen sent her physician, to attend him. He died in Paris in
1792, at the early age of forty-five, thirteen years after his memorable
victory. No one knows the place of his burial. At the public funeral a
vast concourse filled the streets of the French capital.
General sorrow was shown throughout the United States at the death of
John Paul Jones, the great ocean hero of the Revolution--indeed, the
first heroic character in our country's naval history.