JOHN PAUL JONES
While the Revolution was being fought out on the land, important battles
were taking place also at sea. Until this war began, the Americans had had
no need of a navy because the mother country had protected them. But when
unfriendly feeling arose, Congress ordered war vessels to be built. These
were very useful in capturing British vessels, many of which were loaded
with arms and ammunition intended for British soldiers. Powder, as you
will remember, was sorely needed by Washington's army.
[Illustration: John Paul Jones.]
Among the men who commanded the American war vessels were some noted
sea-captains, the most famous of whom was John Paul Jones.
He was of Scottish birth. His father, John Paul, was a gardener, who lived
on the southwestern coast of Scotland. The cottage in which our hero spent
his early boyhood days stood near the beautiful bay called Solway Firth,
which made a safe harbor for ships in time of storm.
Here little John Paul heard many sailors tell thrilling stories of
adventure at sea and in far-away lands. Here, also, to the inlets along
the shore, the active lad and his playmates took their tiny boats and made
believe they were sailors, John Paul always acting as captain. Sometimes
when he was tired and all alone, he would sit by the hour watching the big
waves rolling in, and dreaming perhaps of the day when he would become a
great sea-captain.
When he was only twelve, he wished to begin his life as a real sailor. So
his father apprenticed him to a merchant at Whitehaven who owned a vessel
and traded in goods brought from other lands. Soon afterward John Paul
went on a voyage to Virginia, where the vessel was to be loaded with
tobacco. While there he visited an older brother, who owned a plantation
at Fredericksburg.
For six years John Paul remained with the Whitehaven merchant, and during
this time he learned much about good seamanship. After the merchant failed
in business, John Paul still continued to follow a seafaring life, and in
a short time became a captain. But when his brother in Virginia died, John
Paul went to Fredericksburg to manage the plantation his brother had left.
It was now his intention to spend the rest of his life here, but, like
Patrick Henry, he failed as a farmer. In fact, it would seem that he was
born to be a sailor.
In the meantime he had come to be a loyal American, and when the
Revolution broke out he determined to offer his services to Congress. When
he did so, he changed his name to John Paul Jones. Just why, we do not
know.
[Illustration: Battle Between the Ranger and the Drake.]
Congress accepted his services by appointing him first lieutenant. He
proved himself so able that in the second year of the war he was put in
command of two vessels, with which he captured sixteen prizes in six
weeks.
In the following year he was appointed captain of the Ranger and sent to
France with letters to Benjamin Franklin, who was then American
commissioner at the French court, trying to secure aid for the American
cause.
At that time English vessels were annoying American coasts by burning and
destroying property. Jones got permission from Franklin to attack British
coasts in the same way, and he was allowed to sail from France in his
vessel with that purpose in view.
His plan was to sail along the western coast of England and set fire to
the large shipping-yards at Whitehaven, with which harbor, you remember,
he had become familiar in boyhood. He meant to burn all the three hundred
vessels lying at anchor there. Although he succeeded in setting fire to
only one large ship, he alarmed the people all along the coast. The
warning was carried from town to town: "Beware of Paul Jones, the pirate!"
An English war vessel, the Drake, was sent out to capture the Ranger. As
the Drake carried two more guns and a crew better drilled for fighting, it
was thought she would make short work of the American ship in a fight. But
it was just the other way, for after a battle of a single hour the English
vessel surrendered, having lost many men. The American loss was only two
men killed and six wounded.
After this brilliant victory the young captain put back to France. There
he found great rejoicing among the people, whose good-will was more with
America than with England. And as war had already broken out between
France and England, the French King was quite willing to furnish Jones
with a considerable naval force.
A DESPERATE SEA DUEL
Accordingly, in August, 1779, Captain Jones put to sea once more, this
time with a fleet of four vessels. He named his flag-ship Bon Homme
Richard (bo-nom'-r[=e]-shär'), after the Richard of _Poor Richard's
Almanac_, which you will remember Benjamin Franklin had written.
In this ship, which was old, he set out to cruise along the western coast
of Ireland, in order to capture English merchant vessels. After reaching
the southern point of Ireland, he cruised northward around Scotland and
down its eastern coast. Then he sailed up and down the eastern coast of
England, looking for merchant vessels.
At noon on the 23d of September Jones sighted a fleet of forty-two
merchantmen, guarded by two English ships of war, all sailing from the
north. He at once decided to make an attack. This took place early in the
evening, the action being mainly between the Richard and the English
man-of-war Serapis, which was a large ship, new and swift, and very much
better than the Richard.
During the first hour the American vessel got the worst of the fight and
"was leaking like a basket." The English captain, feeling sure of victory,
called out: "Has your ship struck?" Our hero, Paul Jones, shouted back: "I
have not yet begun to fight!"
As the British vessel came alongside his own for a more deadly struggle,
Jones with his own hands lashed the two together. Soon both were badly
leaking, but the fighting went on as fiercely as ever. Presently both
caught fire.
[Illustration: The Fight Between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis.]
Then Jones turned his cannon upon the mainmast of the Serapis, and when it
threatened to fall the English captain surrendered. So after all it was
the English ship and not the American that "struck" the flag. But the
Richard could not have held out much longer, for even before the surrender
she had begun to sink.
When the English captain gave up his sword to John Paul Jones, he said:
"It is very hard to surrender to a man who has fought with a halter around
his neck." You see, Captain Jones would have been hanged as a pirate, if
taken. Jones replied: "Sir, you have fought like a hero. I hope your King
will reward you."
This was a desperate sea duel, and it lasted from half past seven in the
evening until ten o'clock. It was important also in its results, for it
won much needed respect for our flag and gave a wonderful uplift to the
American cause. The victor, John Paul Jones, who was loaded with honors,
from that day took rank with the great sea-captains of the world.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. Tell all you can about the early life of John Paul Jones.
2. Why did the English call him a pirate when he was sailing along the
British coasts in order to destroy property?
3. What was the outcome of the desperate sea duel between the Bon Homme
Richard and the Serapis?
4. What do you admire about John Paul Jones?
5. Do not fail to locate every event upon the map.