STANDING AND WAITING.
The Ranger and her prizes arrived at Brest at a propitious time, both
for the fortunes of Jones and for those of his adopted country as
well. The secret treaty of alliance between the confederated colonies
and France had been signed on February 6th. The plenipotentiaries from
the United States had been publicly received at Versailles on March
23d. On the same day the French ambassador left England, and the
English ambassador, Lord Stormont, left France. The fleet of D'Estaing
put to sea from Toulon a fortnight later. In two weeks the English
fleet followed to American waters. The attempt was made on the part of
the French to execute the brilliant strategic plan which Jones had
devised, although, of course, the delay had rendered the effort
fruitless.
The successful cruise of the Ranger, the rich captures she had made,
the daring enterprises she had undertaken, the boldness and audacity
of her commander in venturing with a little vessel of such trifling
force into the very midst of the three kingdoms, and the brilliancy of
his capture of a war vessel of nominally superior, and at least really
equal, force, in a fair and open yardarm to yardarm fight, a thing to
which the French navy was not accustomed, awakened the greatest
admiration, and Paul Jones found himself in that most congenial of
positions to him--and to almost any other man--of being the observed
of all. On this expedition, his first real opportunity, he had
demonstrated that he possessed an ability to plan, and a courage to
carry out his conceptions, which put him in the front rank of the sea
officers of his day. With one single vessel, laboring under every
disadvantage conceivable, he had done what no European power or
combination of powers had been able to accomplish in centuries, with
all their resources at command. He had terrorized the whole English
seaboard, and filled the United Kingdom with uneasiness and unrest.
The gallant men who had gone before him and accomplished so much with
the Reprisal, the Revenge, and the others, had a worthy successor and
superior in this little Scots-American, who, as a citizen of the
world, in love with humanity, drew his sword for the cause of freedom.
The French admired him, the English hated him. The American prisoners
immediately felt the effect of his captures by the general
amelioration of their unhappy condition, and Franklin at last realized
that he had a man at hand upon whom he could depend to further his
bold designs. When the news reached America, it was received with
great joy, and the Naval Committee and the Congress generally knew
they had made no mistake in sending Jones to Europe. The young navy
looked to him with hope. His exploits were detailed and amplified in
the cafés and on the boulevards of Paris, and were related with
approbation even within the sacred confines of the court. He was the
hero of the hour.
But there is a homely maxim exemplified by frequent experience that
"Fine words butter no parsnips." It was true in this instance
undoubtedly, and Jones learned that there was no necessary connection
between glory and bread and butter. He was unable to procure actually
necessary supplies for his crew. All the vessels of the Continental
navy went to sea undermanned, ill-provided, and inadequately
provisioned, and the ship's purser, as a rule, had no money. The
seamen had not received their wages--no money at all, in fact, except
that which Jones himself had advanced out of his own pocket. With the
sanction of the Marine Committee he had made himself responsible for
the regular payment of the wages of the men. His pocket was now empty,
the last guineas having been given to the Irish fishermen
aforementioned. His own resources were always drawn upon freely for
the good of the service and his men; now they were entirely exhausted.
His provisions had been consumed, he did not know where to get any
more. In addition to his own people he had several prizes and over two
hundred prisoners who had to be cared for, and who were a healthy and
hungry lot.
When he arrived in France he had been authorized to draw upon the
commissioners to the extent of twelve thousand livres, with the
caution not to avail himself of the permission unless it were
imperatively necessary. With great prudence, and by the exercise of
rigid economy, he had avoided any inroad on the depleted and overtaxed
fund of the commissioners. Something, however, had to be done in this
instance, and without securing another authority, for which, indeed,
time was wanting, so pressing were his needs, he made drafts upon the
commissioners in the sum of twenty-four thousand livres, about five
thousand dollars.
Meanwhile he subsisted his crew and prisoners through the generosity
of the French naval authorities at Brest, which he secured by the
pledge of his own private personal credit. The draft was dishonored.
Certainly the commissioners were embarrassed almost beyond endurance
by the demands upon them from every side, but this was a matter to
which they should have given attention if it were humanly possible,
for they were the only resource that Jones had. His condition was
simply desperate. He knew not what to do nor where to turn. The
following extract of a letter to the commissioners on the 27th of May
exhibits his painful position:
"Could I suppose that my letters of the 9th and 16th current (the
first advising you of my arrival and giving reference to the events of
my expedition; the last advising you of my draft in favour of Monsieur
Bersolle, for twenty-four thousand livres, and assigning reasons for
the demand) had not made due appearance, I would hereafter, as I do
now, inclose copies. Three posts have already arrived here from Paris
since Comte d'Orvilliers showed me the answer which he received from
the minister, to the letter which inclosed mine to you. Yet you remain
silent. M. Bersolle has this moment informed me of the fate of my
bills; the more extraordinary as I have not yet made use of your
letter of credit of the 10th of January last, whereby I then seemed
entitled to call for half the amount of my last draft, and I did not
expect to be thought extravagant when, on the 16th current, I doubled
that demand. Could this indignity be kept secret I should disregard
it; and, though it is already public in Brest and in the fleet, as it
affects only my private credit I will not complain. I can not,
however, be silent when I find the public credit involved in the same
disgrace. I conceive this might have been prevented. To make me
completely wretched, Monsieur Bersolle has now told me that he now
stops his hand, not only of the necessary articles to refit the ship,
but also of the _daily provisions_. I know not where to find
to-morrow's dinner for the great number of mouths that depend on me
for food. Are then the Continental ships of war to depend on the sale
of their prizes for a daily dinner for their men? 'Publish it not in
Gath.'
"My officers, as well as men, want clothes, and the prizes are
precluded from being sold before farther orders arrive from the
minister. I will ask you, gentlemen, if I have deserved all this.
Whoever calls himself an American ought to be protected here. I am
unwilling to think that you have intentionally involved me in this
dilemma, at a time when I ought to expect some enjoyment.
"Therefore I have, as formerly, the honour to be, with due esteem and
respect, gentlemen, yours, etc."
How he managed under such circumstances he relates in a journal which
he prepared in later years for submission to the King of France.
"Yet during that time, by his [Jones'] personal credit with Comte
D'Orvilliers, the Duc de Chartres, and the Intendant of Brest, he fed
his people and prisoners, cured his wounded, and refitted both the
Ranger and the Drake for sea."
He could, of course, have relieved himself of some of his burden by
turning over his prisoners to France, but, as that country was still
nominally neutral, the people he had captured would have been set
free at the demand of England. As long as he held possession of them
it was possible that the circumstance would force an exchange for
Americans--a thing the commissioners had been bent upon since their
arrival in Europe. The English Government had long since sanctioned
and carried out the exchange of soldiers, but for arbitrary and
inadequate reasons seamen stood upon a different footing apparently.
When Franklin previously wrote Lord Stormont, the British ambassador,
offering to exchange one hundred men captured by the Reprisal for an
equal number of American seamen held in English prisons, no answer was
made to his letter; a second letter brought forth the following curt
reply:
"The king's ambassador receives no applications from rebels, unless
they come to implore his Majesty's mercy."
To this insulting and inexplicable message the following apt and
dignified reply was made:
"In answer to a letter which concerns some of the material interests
of humanity, and of the two nations, Great Britain and the United
States of America, now at war, we received the inclosed indecent
paper, as coming from your lordship, which we return for your
lordship's more mature consideration."
Of course, the ostensible reason for refusing this exchange was that
the captured seamen were traitors, and as such had no belligerent
rights, yet how they differed from soldiers it is impossible to see.
Indeed, the English authorities went so far as to call them pirates,
and they could not have treated them worse--short of hanging them--if
they had actually merited the opprobrious title. The real reason,
however, lay in the hope that the Americans, having no place in France
in which to confine their prisoners, would be compelled to set them
free. This hope was frequently justified, and it was not until March,
1779, that the persistent determination of Franklin brought about a
complete general recognition of the principle of exchange for which he
had so valiantly contended, although he had been partially successful
on particular occasions before that time. Jones knew the situation
perfectly, and so with his usual grim determination he held on to his
precious prisoners.
The prize agents were dilatory and incompetent. The seamen, lacking
food, clothes, salary, and prize money, were naturally mutinous and
discontented. But Jones repressed the crews, hurried up the sales, and
managed at last to weather all his troubles.
The malcontent Simpson was a constant incentive to discord and mutiny,
and he was finally removed to a French guardship, called the Admiral,
where he was well treated and allowed the freedom of the deck. While
there, he behaved in such a contumacious manner that D'Orvilliers, the
French commander, sent him to the prison of the port. All his expenses
during this interval were paid by Jones himself; indeed, when he did
not pay personally, nobody did. There was nothing sordid or avaricious
in Jones' character. He was greedy for glory and fame and reputation,
but he cared nothing whatever for money. To dismiss a tiresome
subject, Jones, with extraordinary complaisance, finally accepted
Simpson's apologies and released him on his parole not to serve in the
navy until he had been regularly tried by a court-martial. He even
went further than this. He offered to relinquish the command of the
Ranger to him in order that he might take her back to the United
States and there take his trial.
While these efforts were pending, the commissioners, misunderstanding
their tentative character, restored Simpson to the command of the
Ranger, unconditionally, much to Jones' disgust. He was quite willing
to relinquish the command of his little ship, because the King of
France had requested the commissioners to allow France to avail
herself of the services of Jones in a naval expedition which was
projected. But that such contumacy and lack of subordination as had
been exhibited by Simpson should go unpunished, and that he should
receive the absolute command of the ship as a reward for his action,
and should be allowed to return home without even an investigation,
was not only harmful to the service, but an apparent reflection upon
himself--though, of course, nothing was further from the
commissioners' thoughts, as they specifically declared. In the end
Jones acquiesced in the situation, and the matter was dropped. Simpson
was never employed in the service after he returned home.
The famous action between the Arethusa and the Belle Poule, on June
17th, having made it clear to every observer that war between France
and England was inevitable, though the formal declaration was not
issued until the following September, the first enterprise which it
was desired Jones should undertake under the auspices of France was
proposed to him by Franklin as follows:
"The Jersey privateers," he says, "do us a great deal of mischief by
intercepting our supplies. It has been mentioned to me that your small
vessel, commanded by so brave an officer, might render great service
by following them where greater ships dare not venture their bottoms;
or, being accompanied and supported by some frigates from Brest, at a
proper distance, might draw them out and then take them. I wish you to
consider of this, as it comes from _high authority_."
It was not a particularly brilliant prospect; all the hard work and
dangerous labor was to be performed by Jones, and the glory was to be
reaped by the French frigates; but, with a noble disinterestedness in
his desire to serve his country, he at once expressed his perfect
willingness to co-operate. Before anything came of it, however,
Franklin offered him the command of the Indien, in the following
letter:
(Private.)
"Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of informing you that it is proposed to
give you the command of the great ship we have built at Amsterdam. By
what you wrote to us formerly, I have ventured to say in your behalf,
that this proposition would be agreeable to you. You will immediately
let me know your resolution; which, that you may be more clear in
taking, I must inform you of some circumstances. She is at present the
property of the king; but, as there is no war yet declared, you will
have the commission and flag of the States, and act under their orders
and laws. The Prince de Nassau will make the cruise with you. She is
to be brought here under cover as a French merchantman, to be equipped
and manned in France. We hope to exchange your prisoners for as many
American sailors; but, if that fails, you have your present crew to be
made up here with other nations and French. The other commissioners
are not acquainted with this proposition as yet, and you see by the
nature of it that it is necessary to be kept a secret till we have got
the vessel here, for fear of difficulties in Holland, and
interception; you will therefore direct your answer to me alone. It
being desired that the affair rest between you and me, perhaps it may
be best for you to take a trip up here to concert matters, if in
general you approve the idea.
"I was much pleased with reading your journal, which we received
yesterday."
This is the first mention of the Prince of Nassau-Siegen, who will
appear prominently hereafter, and be described in his proper place.
Jones was naturally delighted with the flattering prospects, and at
once wrote to the prince, acquainting him of the pleasure he
anticipated in having him associated with him. A few days later
Franklin wrote Jones again as follows:
"Passy, _June 10, 1778_.
"Dear Sir: I received yours of 1st instant, with the papers inclosed,
which I have shown to the other commissioners, but have not yet had
their opinion of them; only I know that they had before (in
consideration of the disposition and uneasiness of your people)
expressed an inclination to order your ship directly back to America.
You will judge from what follows whether it will not be advisable for
you to propose their sending her back with her people, and under some
other command. In consequence of the high opinion the Minister of the
Marine has of your conduct and bravery, it is now settled (observe,
that it is to be a secret between us, I being expressly enjoined not
to communicate it to any other person), that you are to have the
frigate from Holland, which actually belongs to Government, and will
be furnished with as many good French seamen as you shall require. But
you are to act under Congress commission. As you may be likely to have
a number of Americans, and your own are homesick, it is proposed to
give you as many as you can engage out of two hundred prisoners, which
the ministry of Britain have at length agreed to give us in exchange
for those you have in your hands. They propose to make the exchange at
Calais, where they are to bring the Americans. Nothing is wanting to
this but a list of yours, containing their names and rank; immediately
on the receipt of which an equal number are to be prepared, and sent
in a ship to that port, where yours are to meet them.
"If by this means you can get a good new crew, I think it would be
best that you are quite free of the old, for a mixture might introduce
the infection of that sickness you complain of. But this may be left
to your own discretion. Perhaps we shall join you with the Providence,
Captain Whipple, a new Continental ship of thirty guns, which, in
coming out of the river of Providence, gave the two frigates that were
posted to intercept her each of them so heavy a dose of her 18- and
12-pounders that they had not the courage or were not able to pursue
her. It seems to be desired that you will step up to Versailles (where
one will meet you), in order to such a settlement of matters and plans
with those who have the direction as can not well be done by letter. I
wish it may be convenient to you to do it immediately.
"The project of giving you the command of this ship pleases me the
more as it is a probable opening to the higher preferment you so
justly merit."
In obedience to this request Jones went privately to Versailles, where
he spent some time in consultation with the commissioners and the
French ministry discussing the exchange of prisoners, and proposed
several plans of attack by which his services could be utilized. These
plans well indicate the fertility of imagination, the resourceful
genius, and the daring hardihood of the man. One of them was for
making another descent upon Whitehaven, another was to attack the Bank
of Ayr and destroy or ransom that town; another was to burn the
shipping on the Clyde. Expeditions on the coast of Ireland were
suggested. London might be distressed, he thought, by cutting off the
supplies of coal from Newcastle; but the most feasible projects were
the capture or destruction of the West Indian or Baltic fleets of
merchantmen or the Hudson Bay ships.
The Minister of Marine, M. de Sartine, lent an attentive ear to all of
the plans which were proposed, and Jones returned to Brest with high
hopes that he should be soon employed in an expedition to carry out
one or the other of these plans with adequate means to do it well. It
is quite likely that the minister was as earnest and honest in his
intentions as the king in his desire to make use of Jones, but the
formal declaration of war rendered it possible to prosecute the
enterprises which had been suggested by Jones, if it were thought
expedient to attempt them, under the French flag and with French
officers. As France had only intended to use him under the cover of
the American flag to harass England before war was declared, and as
that could now be done openly under her own flag, they did not see the
same necessity for his services as before.
The matter of finding employment for him was further complicated by
the fact that since a state of actual war existed the ministry was
besieged with applications from numbers of French officers for
command, and the ships which had been proposed for Jones were
naturally appropriated to the French themselves. Even if a command
could have been found for the American, there would have been a
natural disinclination, so great as to be nearly prohibitive of
success, on the part of the French officers to serving under a
foreigner. Time brought him nothing but disappointment, and the high
hopes he had cherished gradually waned.
Always a persistent and voluminous letter writer, in his desperation
he overwhelmed everybody with correspondence. Inaction was killing to
him. Not to be employed was like death itself to a man of his
intensely energetic temperament. His pride would not permit him to
return to the United States and seek a command when he had
specifically announced, in a letter to Congress by the returning
Ranger, that the King of France asked that he might make use of his
services, and therefore no command in America need be reserved for
him; and yet he now found himself a hanger on the outskirts of a court
and a ministry which had no further use for him.
The delicate situation of the commissioners, who had been themselves
scarcely more than on sufferance, did not permit them, in the
interests of expediency and diplomacy, to insist as strongly as they
would have liked to do, that the king and the ministry should keep
their engagement with Jones, which was, of course, an engagement with
them and with the United States. Diplomacy and persuasion were the
only weapons at their command. They certainly made good use of them.
Franklin, pending something else, procured the minister's order that
Jones should be received on the great French fleet of D'Orvilliers,
which was about to put to sea to engage the English fleet under
Keppel. He was very desirous of availing himself of this invitation,
which he himself sought, for it would give him an opportunity he could
not otherwise hope to enjoy, of perfecting himself in naval tactics
and the fine art of maneuvering and governing a great fleet. He never
allowed anything to interfere--so far as he was able to prevent
it--with his advancement in professional study. The permission,
however, to D'Orvilliers' great regret, arrived too late, for the
fleet sailed without him. The French admiral seems to have appreciated
the American captain, and to have highly esteemed him. It is stated
that the delay in transmitting the permission was intentional, and was
due to the jealousy of the French naval service.
Jones was exasperated by all these happenings almost to the breaking
point. In one letter he says: "I think of going to L'Orient, being
heartily sick of Brest." I should think he would be! As days passed
without bringing him any nearer to the fruition of his hope, he became
more modest in his demands and propositions. One significant phrase
culled from one of his letters well indicates the bold, dashing
character of the man: "I do not wish to have command of any ship that
does not sail fast, _for I intend to go in harm's way_."[7] In the
sentence which follows this statement, we get another touch of that
entire consciousness of his own ability and high quality which, though
warranted, it were better, perhaps, for his reputation if it were not
so evident in his writing: "I know, I believe, that this is no other
person's intention. Therefore, buy a frigate that sails fast and is
sufficiently large to carry twenty-six or twenty-eight guns on one
deck."
His state of mind may well be understood from this citation: "I have,
to show my gratitude to France, lost so much time, and with it such
opportunities as I can not regain. I have almost killed myself with
grief."
Chafing, fretting, writing letters, the time dragged on. At last he
addressed to the Minister of Marine, M. de Sartine, this emphatic
protest and statement which he calls, and justly, an explicit letter.
It is certainly sufficiently definite and clear, and shows that rank
and position did not deter him from a free and somewhat sarcastic
expression of his grievances and wrongs:
"Brest, _September 13, 1778_.
"Honoured Sir: When his excellency Doctor Franklin informed me that
you had condescended to think me worthy of your notice, I took such
pleasure in reflecting on the happy alliance between France and
America that I was really flattered, and entertained the most grateful
sense of the honour which you proposed for me, as well as the favour
which the king proposed for America, by putting so fine a ship as the
Indien under my command, and under its flag, with unlimited orders.
"In obedience to your desire, I came to Versailles, and was taught to
believe that my intended ship was in deep water, and ready for sea;
but when the Prince [de Nassau] returned I received from him a
different account; I was told that the Indien could not be got afloat
within a shorter period than three months at the approaching equinox.
"To employ this interval usefully, I first offered to go from Brest
with Count D'Orvilliers as a volunteer, which you thought fit to
reject. I had then the satisfaction to find that you approved in
general of a variety of hints for private enterprises which I had
drawn up for your consideration, and I was flattered with assurances
from Messieurs de Chaumont and Baudouin that three of the finest
frigates in France, with two tenders and a number of troops, would be
immediately put under my command; and that I should have unlimited
orders, and be at free liberty to pursue such of my own projects as I
thought proper. But this plan fell to nothing in the moment when I was
taught to think that nothing was wanting but the king's signature.
"Another much inferior armament from L'Orient was proposed to be put
under my command, which was by no means equal to the services that
were expected from it; for speed and force, though both requisite,
were both wanting. Happily for me, this also failed, and I was thereby
saved from a dreadful prospect of ruin and dishonour.
"I had so entire a reliance that you would desire nothing of me
inconsistent with my honour and rank, that the moment you required me
to come down here, in order to proceed round to St. Malo, though I had
received no written orders, and neither knew your intention respecting
my destination or command, I obeyed with such haste, that although my
curiosity led me to look at the armament at L'Orient, yet I was but
three days from Passy till I reached Brest. Here, too, I drew a blank;
but when I saw the Lively it was no disappointment, as that ship, both
in sailing and equipment, is far inferior to the Ranger.
"My only disappointment here was my being precluded from embarking in
pursuit of marine knowledge with Count D'Orvilliers, who did not sail
till seven days after my return. He is my friend, and expressed his
wishes for my company; I accompanied him out of the road when the
fleet sailed, and he always lamented that neither himself nor any
person in authority in Brest had received from you any order that
mentioned my name. I am astonished therefore to be informed that you
attribute my not being in the fleet to my stay at L'Orient.
"I am not a mere adventurer of fortune. Stimulated by principles of
reason and philanthropy, I laid aside my enjoyments in private life,
and embarked under the flag of America when it was first displayed. In
that line my desire of fame is infinite, and I must not now so far
forget my own honour, and what I owe to my friends and America, as to
remain inactive.
"My rank knows no superior in the American marine. I have long since
been appointed to command an expedition with five of its ships, and I
can receive orders from no junior or inferior officer whatever.
"I have been here in the most tormenting suspense for more than a
month since my return; and, agreeable to your desire, as mentioned to
me by Monsieur Chaumont, a lieutenant has been appointed, and is with
me, who speaks the French as well as the English. Circular letters
have been written, and sent the 8th of last month from the English
admiralty, because they expected me to pay another visit with four
ships. Therefore I trust that, if the Indien is not to be got out, you
will not, at the approaching season, substitute a force that is not at
least equal both in strength and sailing to any of the enemy's
cruising ships.
"I do not wish to interfere with the harmony of the French marine;
but, if I am still thought worthy of your attention, I shall hope for
a separate command, with liberal orders. If, on the contrary, you
should now have no further occasion for my services, the only favour I
can ask is that you will bestow on me the Alert, with a few seamen,
and permit me to return, and carry with me your good opinion in that
small vessel, before the winter, to America."
His intense, burning desire for action, however, did not permit him to
degrade, as he thought, his Government and station by accepting the
command of a privateer which was tendered to him. In the command of a
speedy, smart privateer there is no limit to the plundering he might
have done and the treasure he might have gained, if that had been what
he wished. Many naval officers before and since his time have done
this and thought it not derogatory to their dignity. It is therefore
to Jones' credit that he was very jealous in this and many other
instances on the point of honor of serving in no ship, under no flag,
and with no commission save that of the United States. We shall see
this spirit again and again. The citizen of the world was beginning to
feel that the world as his country was hardly adequate to his needs;
in theory it was a very pretty proposition, but in practice it was
necessary to form and maintain a more definite and particular
relationship. As a final effort to better his condition and secure
that opportunity for which he thirsted, he prepared the following
letter to the king:
"Brest, _October 19, 1778_.
"Sire: After my return to Brest in the American ship of war the
Ranger, from the Irish Channel, his excellency Doctor Franklin
informed me by letter, dated June the 1st, that M. de Sartine, having
a high opinion of my conduct and bravery, had determined, with your
Majesty's consent and approbation, to give me the command of the ship
of war the Indien, which was built at Amsterdam for America, but
afterward, for political reasons, made the property of France.
"I was to act with unlimited orders under the commission and flag of
America; and the Prince de Nassau proposed to accompany me on the
ocean.
"I was deeply penetrated with the sense of the honour done me by this
generous proposition, as well as of the favour your Majesty intended
thereby to confer on America. And I accepted the offer with the
greater pleasure as the Congress had sent me to Europe in the Ranger
to command the Indien before the ownership of that vessel was changed.
"The minister desired to see me at Versailles to settle future plans
of operation, and I attended him for that purpose. I was told that the
Indien was at the Texel completely armed and fitted for sea; but the
Prince de Nassau was sent express to Holland, and returned with a very
different account. The ship was at Amsterdam, and could not be got
afloat or armed before the September equinox. The American
plenipotentiaries proposed that I should return to America; and, as I
have repeatedly been appointed to the chief command of an American
squadron to execute secret enterprises, it was not doubted but that
Congress would again show me a preference. M. de Sartine, however,
thought proper to prevent my departure, by writing to the
plenipotentiaries (without my knowledge), requesting that I might be
permitted to remain in Europe, and that the Ranger might be sent back
to America under another commander, he having special services which
he wished me to execute. This request they readily granted, and I was
flattered by the prospect of being enabled to testify, by my services,
my gratitude to your Majesty, as the first prince who has so
generously acknowledged our independence.
"There was an interval of more than three months before the Indien
could be gotten afloat. To employ that period usefully, when your
Majesty's fleet was ordered to sail from Brest, I proposed to the
minister to embark in it as a volunteer, in pursuit of marine
knowledge. He objected to this, at the same time approved of a variety
of hints for private enterprises, which I had drawn up for his
consideration. Two gentlemen were appointed to settle with me the
plans that were to be adopted, who gave me the assurance that three of
the best frigates in France, with two tenders, and a number of troops,
should be immediately put under my command, to pursue such of my own
projects as I thought proper; but this fell to nothing, when I
believed that your Majesty's signature only was wanting.
"Another armament, composed of cutters and small vessels, at L'Orient,
was proposed to be put under my command, to alarm the coasts of
England and check the Jersey privateers; but happily for me this also
failed, and I was saved from ruin and dishonour, as I now find that
all the vessels sailed slow, and their united force is very
insignificant. The minister then thought fit that I should return to
Brest to command the Lively, and join some frigates on an expedition
from St. Malo to the North Sea. I returned in haste for that purpose,
and found that the Lively had been bestowed at Brest before the
minister had mentioned that ship to me at Versailles. This was,
however, another fortunate disappointment, as the Lively proves, both
in sailing and equipment, much inferior to the Ranger; but, more
especially, if it be true, as I have since understood, that the
minister intended to give the chief command of an expedition to a
lieutenant, which would have occasioned a very disagreeable
misunderstanding; for, as an officer of the first rank in the American
marine, who has ever been honoured with the favour and friendship of
Congress, I can receive orders from no inferior officer whatever. My
plan was the destruction of the English Baltic fleet, of great
consequence to the enemy's marine, and then only protected by a single
frigate. I would have held myself responsible for its success had I
commanded the expedition.
"M. de Sartine afterward sent orders to Count D'Orvilliers to receive
me on board the fleet agreeably to my former proposal; but the order
did not arrive until after the departure of the fleet the last time
from Brest, nor was I made acquainted with the circumstance before the
fleet returned here.
"Thus have I been chained down to shameful inactivity for nearly five
months. I have lost the best season of the year, and such
opportunities of serving my country and acquiring honour as I can not
again expect this war; and, to my infinite mortification, having no
command, I am considered everywhere an officer cast off and in
disgrace for secret reasons.
"I have written respectful letters to the minister, none of which he
has condescended to answer; I have written to the Prince de Nassau
with as little effect; and I do not understand that any apology has
been made to the great and venerable Dr. Franklin, whom the minister
has made the instrument of bringing me into such unmerited trouble.
"Having written to Congress to reserve no command for me in America,
my sensibility is the more affected by this unworthy situation in the
sight of your Majesty's fleet. I, however, make no remark on the
treatment I have received.
"Although I wish not to become my own panegyrist, I must beg your
Majesty's permission to observe that I am not an adventurer in search
of fortune, of which, thank God, I have a sufficiency.
"When the American banner was first displayed I drew my sword in
support of the violated dignity and rights of human nature; and both
honour and duty prompt me steadfastly to continue the righteous
pursuit, and to sacrifice to it not only my own private enjoyments,
but even life, if necessary. I must acknowledge that the generous
praise which I have received from Congress and others exceeds the
merit of my past services, therefore I the more ardently wish for
future opportunities of testifying my gratitude by my activity.
"As your Majesty, by espousing the cause of America, hath become the
protector of the rights of human nature, I am persuaded that you will
not disregard my situation, nor suffer me to remain any longer in this
unsupportable disgrace.
"I am, with perfect gratitude and profound respect, Sire, your
Majesty's very obliged, very obedient, and very humble servant,
"J. Paul Jones."
This letter, at once dignified, forceful, respectful, and modest, was
inclosed to Dr. Franklin with the request that it should be delivered
to the king. The deference paid to Franklin's opinion, the eager
desire to please him, the respect in which he held him, is not the
least pleasing feature of Jones' character, by the way. The letter in
question was withheld by Franklin with Jones' knowledge and
acquiescence, and the king, it is probable, never saw it. There was,
in fact, no necessity for its delivery, for the appeals, prayers, and
importunities had at last evoked a response. The minister, worn out by
the persistence of Jones, determined, since none of the French naval
vessels were available, to buy him a ship and assemble a squadron and
send him forth.
The inquiry naturally arises why the French Government should care to
go to the trouble and expense of doing this. Before the war was
declared their action was understandable, but afterward the then
operating cause disappeared. Yet there was another reason aside from
the fact that M. de Sartine was willing to keep his promise if he
could, and that was this:
It was not the custom to harry, plunder, and ravage the seacoasts in
the wars between France and England. Military or naval forces were the
sole objects of attack, and by a specific though unwritten law of
custom, the efforts of the rival combatants were confined to ships of
war, fortifications, and armies, and, of course, to merchant vessels
belonging to the enemy. The peaceful seashore towns were generally let
alone unless the inhabitants in exposed localities provoked
retaliation by aggression--a thing they usually took good care not to
do. To introduce the practice would be unfortunate and nothing would
be gained, by France especially. The King of France, however, was more
than willing to have the coasts of his neighbor ravaged, if no
retaliation on his own unprotected shores were provoked thereby. No
convention of any sort, expressed or understood, existed between Great
Britain and the United States which would prevent such action on the
part of the Americans. Great Britain was making a bloody ravaging
warfare on the coasts of North America, and, never dreaming of
reprisal, paid no attention whatever to this law of war, save when it
suited her to do so, on our seaboard. Franklin and the commissioners
wisely realized that the only way to stop this merciless and brutal
burning and plundering was to let the enemy experience the thing
himself. They were therefore in entire accord with the desire of the
French king. To produce the result he would furnish the squadron, they
the flag. It was a charming arrangement from the king's point of view.
Consequently the reason for the encouragement given Jones is apparent,
and the determination of the minister is therefore explained and
understood.
Jones received word early in November through the commissioners, with
a solemn assurance from De Sartine, that a suitable ship would be
purchased for him at the expense of France and a squadron assembled
under his supreme command. Let those who would reproach Jones for his
part in this plan remember that (as in his previous cruise) he only
carried out the orders of Franklin. There was no sentimental nonsense
about the old Quaker. He knew what was the best remedy for the
deplorable conditions in America, and he grimly prepared to apply it.
He had no illusions in the premises at all; it was a pure matter of
business, and with sound policy he so treated it. Jones' appeals, be
it understood, were only for a ship or ships and an opportunity to get
into action with the enemy. His orders were outside of his control.
All he had to do as a naval officer was to carry them out to the best
of his ability when he received them. Therefore a censure of Jones is
a censure of Franklin.
It was first designed to employ Jones and his proposed squadron for a
descent upon Liverpool, for which purpose five hundred men from
Fitzmaurice's Irish regiment were to be taken on the ships. Pending
the assembling of the squadron, and while Jones was busily engaged in
seeking for a proper vessel for himself in various French ports,
Lafayette arrived from America, and sought the command of the land
forces of the proposed expedition. His desire was a notable tribute to
the sailor, by the way. The change was most agreeable to Jones, to
whom, of course, the reputation and abilities of Lafayette were well
known, and who would naturally prefer association with such a
distinguished man in the undertaking, but, as usual, there were delays
on the part of the minister.
Jones traveled about from port to port, looking at different ships
which it was proposed to purchase for him. The minister offered him
the Duc de Broglie, a large new ship lying at Nantes, capable of
mounting sixty-four guns. He inspected her, and would have taken her
gladly, but he felt utterly unable properly to man such a large ship,
and he was reluctantly compelled to dismiss her from consideration.
There was also at Nantes a smaller ship, the Ariel, of twenty guns,
which had been captured from the English, which he was willing to
accept if nothing better turned up. Another vessel that he looked at
was a great old-fashioned merchant ship, lying dismantled at L'Orient,
which had been some fourteen years in the India trade, and was very
much out of repair. She was called the Duc de Duras. Jones thought she
might do in default of anything else, and he so informed the minister.
However, in spite of the promises that had been made and reiterated to
him, and the determination which had been arrived at, nothing was
done. His visits of inspection were fruitless, his propositions were
disregarded as before. Furthermore, the plan to send Lafayette with
him fell through because France was at that time projecting a grand
descent in force upon England, and Lafayette was designated to command
a regiment in the proposed undertaking. Like other similar projects,
the plan was never put in operation. Though France did enter the
Channel with sixty-six French and Spanish ships of the line, she did
not accomplish as much with this great armada as Paul Jones did with
the little squadron he finally was enabled to assemble.
Meanwhile he was at his wits' end. The year had nearly passed and
nothing had been done. He had been put off with promises until he was
desperate. Chance, it is stated, threw in his way one day, as he sat
idle at Nantes, gloomily ruminating on the prospect, or lack of it,
and almost making up his mind to go back to the United States in the
first vessel that offered and seek such opportunity for service as
might arise there, a copy of Franklin's famous book of maxims, called
Poor Richard's Almanac. As the harassed little captain sat listlessly
turning its pages, his eyes fell upon this significant aphorism:
"If a man wishes to have any business faithfully and expeditiously
performed, let him go on it himself; otherwise he may send."
The truth of the saying inspired him to one final effort before he
abandoned European waters. He went to Versailles in November, 1778,
for one last visit, and there settled the matter. His determination
and persistence at last, as it had many times before, brought him
success. De Sartine directed the purchase of the Duras, which Jones,
from his love for Franklin and the circumstance just related, with the
consent of the minister, renamed the Bon Homme Richard, that being the
French equivalent for Poor Richard, or Good Man Richard, which was the
caption of the almanac.
De Sartine appointed as the agent and commissary of the king for the
purchase and refitting of the Duras and the other vessels of the
squadron, and for the disposal of any prizes which might be taken, in
short, as his representative with entire liberty of action, Monsieur
le Ray de Chaumont. This gentleman, belonging, of course, to the
nobility of the country, was a man of considerable influence at the
court, where he had held the responsible dual position of Grand Master
of the Forests and Waters of the King. Since the arrival of the
American commissioners he had shown his devotion to the cause of
liberty and to them personally by many and conspicuous acts of
kindness.
It was his private residence at Passy that Franklin made his
headquarters during his long tenure of office. De Chaumont had offered
him the use of this house, and with generous and splendid hospitality
had refused to accept of any remuneration by way of rental. Realizing
the pressing necessity of the struggling colonists for every dollar
they could scrape together, he positively declined to impair their
limited resources by any charge whatsoever. Franklin endeavored to
change his decision, and when John Adams replaced Deane he made the
same effort, but the generous Frenchman refused to recede from his
determination. He also placed his private purse at the disposal of
Franklin, and in every way showed himself a worthy and disinterested
friend of America.
He was one of those romantic Frenchmen who espoused the cause of the
rights of man under the influence of the new philosophy of Rousseau
and Voltaire; somewhat, it would seem, from motives similar to those
proclaimed by Jones himself. He had nothing to gain by his action and
much to lose should the effort of the colonists result in failure. He
was a man of affairs and possessed an ample fortune. To anticipate
events, it may be stated that he spent it all in the cause to which he
had devoted himself, and eventually became bankrupt. He was not a
military man; still less was he aware of the exigencies and demands of
the naval service. For the present, however, he did his work
efficiently and well.
The Duras was purchased immediately, as were two other merchant
vessels, the Pallas and the Vengeance, all at the cost of the
royal treasury. To these were added the Cerf, a king's cutter, a
well-appointed and efficient vessel, and the United States ship
Alliance, a new and very handsome frigate built at Salisbury,
Massachusetts, in 1778, which had arrived in Europe with Lafayette as
a passenger. Jones had specifically asked that the American frigate
should be assigned to his squadron--a most unfortunate request, as it
afterward turned out.
The Duras was an East Indiaman of obsolete type; a large,
old-fashioned ship with a very high poop and topgallant forecastle.
She had made, during many years of service, a number of round voyages
to the East Indies. While stoutly built for a merchant ship, as
compared to a man-of-war of her size she was of light and
unsubstantial frame. In the absence of particular information I
suppose her to have been of something under eight hundred tons burden.
Neglect had allowed her to fall into such a bad condition that her
efficiency as a proposed war vessel was further impaired by her
inability to stand the necessary repairs.
Jones, however, surveyed her and determined to make her do. Indeed,
there was no choice; it was that or nothing. He hoped to effect
something with her which would warrant him in demanding a better ship;
so, with a sigh of regret for the Indien, he set to work upon her,
doing his best to make her efficient. By his orders she was pierced
for twenty-eight guns on her main deck and six on the poop and
forecastle. In order to further increase her force, Jones, after much
deliberation, resorted to the hazardous experiment of cutting six
ports in the gun room, on the deck below the gun deck, close to the
water line; so close, in fact, that, with anything like a sea on, to
open the ports would be to invite destruction by foundering.[8] Only
under exceptionally favorable circumstances, therefore, could these
guns be used. At best the gun-room battery could only be fought in the
calmest weather and smoothest water. In this dangerous place he
mounted six old and condemned 18-pounders, which were all that he
could obtain from the French arsenals. On the main deck fourteen
12-pounders and fourteen 9-pounders were mounted.[9] Two 9-pounders
were placed aft on the quarter-deck, two in each gangway, and two on
the forecastle. All the guns were old and worn out; many of them had
been condemned by the French Government as unfit for use. The six guns
on the lower deck were mounted three on a side, but a sufficient
number of ports had been cut to admit of shifting the guns and working
the whole battery on either side. New guns had been ordered cast for
the Richard at the French gun foundries; but the usual delays
compelled Jones to take what he could, and finally sail with these old
makeshifts. The guns intended for the Bon Homme Richard arrived after
she had gone.
The Alliance was a frigate-built ship of thirty-two guns, 9- and
6-pounders, manned by two hundred and fifty men, and commanded by
Pierre Landais. Landais was an ex-officer of the French navy, who had
been dismissed for insubordination and incapacity. Ignorant of these
facts, knowing only that he had been a navy officer, and wishing to
please their royal ally, and perhaps pay a delicate compliment also to
Lafayette, who was a passenger upon the ship on her first cruise, the
marine commissioners had appointed him to the command of this fine and
handsome little frigate. The Alliance was one of the fastest ships of
her day; indeed, she may be regarded as the precursor of that long
line of splendid frigates and sloops of war which have been the pride
of American shipbuilders and the admiration of foreign navies.
Properly re-armed and refitted, under the command of stout old John
Barry she did splendid service on several occasions later in the war.
Her swiftness and mobility, it was believed, would add greatly to the
usefulness of Jones' squadron.
The Pallas was a fairly efficient merchant ship, frigate built,
carrying thirty 6-pounders, commanded by Captain de Cottineau de
Kloguene. The Vengeance was a twelve-gun brig of little force, and the
Cerf a sixteen-gun cutter, under the command of Captains Ricot and de
Varage respectively.
After many difficulties and disheartening delays, chiefly overcome by
Jones' invincible determination and persistence, the squadron was at
last made ready for use. The first duty assigned to the daring
commodore was a cruise for the driving of the enemy's ships out of the
Bay of Biscay, and convoying merchant ships bound from port to port
along the coast. It was not a particularly congenial duty, but he
entered upon it zealously and without complaint.
The squadron sailed on the 19th of June, 1779. During the night of the
20th the Alliance ran foul of the Richard, and as a result of the
collision the mizzenmast of the Alliance was carried away, while the
Richard lost her head, cutwater, jib boom, etc. The blame for the
accident mainly rested on Landais, who, it was afterward developed,
had behaved disgracefully on this occasion, showing such a lack of
presence of mind and seamanly aptitude, coupled with such timidity and
shrinking from duty, that, when the accident occurred, he not only
gave no orders, but basely ran below to load his pistols, leaving the
ship to be extricated from her critical situation by the junior
officers. Perhaps he was afraid that the infuriated Jones would attack
him for the mishandling of his ship. Jones, who had been below when
the accident occurred, immediately assumed charge of the Richard, and
by prompt action averted a more serious disaster. To do Landais
justice, however, the officer of the watch on the Richard also must
have been culpable, for he was subsequently court-martialed and broken
for his lack of conduct on this occasion.
Refusing to return to port, and patching up the two ships as well as
possible from their present resources, Jones performed the duties
assigned to him, driving the enemy's ships out of those waters and
safely delivering his convoy. On the return voyage, Captain de Varage,
of the Cerf, had a spirited encounter with a heavily armed privateer
of greater force than his own, which lasted for an hour and ten
minutes and resulted in the privateer striking her flag. Before he
could take possession, however, other ships of the enemy appeared, and
he was forced to abandon his prize. The Richard chased several sail,
two of which were thought to be frigates, and the officers and men
manifested every disposition to get into action; but the ships sighted
were all able to run away from the cumbrous and slow-sailing American
ship.
On the last day of June the squadron put into L'Orient again to repair
damages. During the cruise it is interesting to note that Jones
dispatched thirty pounds, in the shape of a draft, through a friend in
Dublin, to Scotland for the use of his family. He frequently made them
remittances from his scanty supplies of money, and, in fact, he never
forgot them, however busy with great undertakings he may have been.
Instructions were received at L'Orient from Franklin intended to
govern the future movements of the squadron. They had, of course, been
prepared after consultation with De Sartine. Jones was directed to
cruise off the west coast of Ireland to intercept the West Indian
ships and then to proceed to the northward, passing the Orkneys, and
range down the coast of Scotland and endeavor to capture the Baltic
fleet--which, by the way, had been one of his original projects. After
carrying out these orders he was instructed to proceed to the Texel
about August 15th, where he would find further directions awaiting
him. Prizes were to be sent to Dunkirk or Ostend in France, or Bergen
in Norway, consigned to such agents as De Chaumont should designate.
Jones was very much disappointed, naturally, with the Richard, and in
acknowledging the receipt of these instructions he made a last effort
to get the Indien. It was intimated that such might be the result of
his cruise when he arrived at the Texel, if it were successful, but
that no change could be made in his orders at present. Franklin
refused to attempt to have them modified by consulting with the
ministry, and, in a way gentle but sufficiently decided, he directed
Jones to finish repairing the ships with all speed and proceed to
carry out the orders he had received. The commodore, swallowing his
disappointment and dissatisfaction with a rather ill grace, it must be
confessed, hastened to get his ships in shape for the proposed
expedition.
During the cruise in the Bay of Biscay a mutinous spirit had broken
out among the English seamen, with whom in part Jones had been forced
to man his ship in default of other men, which had become sufficiently
developed to result in an organized conspiracy to take the Richard.
The plot was discovered and the ringleaders were put in irons. When
the Richard arrived at L'Orient, these men, two quartermasters, were
court-martialed; but, instead of being sentenced to death, as they
deserved, they were severely flogged with the cat-o'-nine-tails.
Jones, who, if he erred, leaned to the side of mercy, seems to have
been greatly relieved at this termination of the affair. At this time
the lieutenant of the Richard, who had been in charge of the watch
during the collision, was also court-martialed and dismissed the
service.
These several unfortunate happenings had given De Sartine a very low
idea of the efficiency and value of the Bon Homme Richard and the
squadron, which galled Jones extremely. Indeed, I imagine De Sartine
looked upon Jones in the light of a nuisance more than anything else.
The repairs progressed very slowly, and it was not until August that
the ships were ready to proceed. Meanwhile an event of the greatest
importance had occurred in the arrival of a cartel at Nantes with one
hundred and nineteen exchanged American prisoners. Many of them
entered on the Richard, and Jones was thus enabled to weed out a large
proportion of the mutinous and disorderly element in his crew. The
fine qualities of some of these new recruits enabled him to replace
many of his petty officers--invaluable adjuncts to an efficient
crew--with experienced seamen who could be depended upon, not merely
as sailors, but as men who, fresh from the horrors and brutalities of
English prisons, were more than ready to fight against the red flag
wherever it was planted. They leavened the whole mass.
The re-enforcement was of the greatest value; but Jones' good fortune
did not end here, for before he sailed again he was joined by a young
American naval officer of the highest capacity and courage, named
Richard Dale, who had been captured in the Lexington and held a
prisoner in England. He had effected a most daring and romantic escape
from the Mill Prison by the assistance of an unknown woman, whose name
and the circumstances of their acquaintance remained a mystery; Dale
absolutely refused to divulge them to the day of his death.
Jones found in him a congenial spirit and an able subordinate. He
promptly appointed him first lieutenant of the Richard, and between
the two men there speedily developed a friendship as lasting as it was
unaffected and disinterested. Next to Jones himself, in the early
records, stands the name of this young man, then scarcely twenty-three
years of age. Aside from the great commodore, it was he who
contributed more to the subsequent success of the Richard than any
other man. At the request of De Sartine, Jones also received on the
Richard a battalion of royal marines, who were all French of course,
and who had been augmented until they numbered one hundred and
thirty-seven officers and men, under Lieutenant-Colonel de Chamillard
de Warville. It was supposed by the minister that they could at least
keep order on the ship! The time limited to the expiration of the
cruise was extended to the end of the month of September.
The total complement of the Richard, therefore, according to Jones'
statement, was about three hundred and eighty officers, men, and boys,
including the one hundred and thirty-seven marines. A roll of officers
and men is given by Sherburne in his Life of Jones.
On this list, which purports to contain the names of those who were on
board on the date of the battle with the Serapis, are enumerated the
names of but two hundred and twenty-seven officers and men. It omits
the name of de Chamillard and another colonel of infantry, de Weibert,
who were actually on board, and gives no names of the French marines.
Adding the two hundred and twenty-seven to the one hundred and
thirty-seven, we get three hundred and sixty-four, which is as near as
we can come to Jones' figures. There may have been others whose names
were added later on, but at any rate it is safe to take Jones'
statement as practically correct.
Assuming that the known factors fairly represented the whole crew, we
find that among the officers twenty-four were Americans, two were
Frenchmen, and six British, including Jones and two surgeon's mates.
Among the seamen fifty-five were American born, sixteen Irish,
sixty-one British, twenty-eight Portuguese, twenty who are not
described, of whom seven were probably Portuguese, and fifteen of
other nationalities, including, according to Cooper, some
Malays--possibly Filipinos learning thus early to fight for freedom
under, not against, the Stars and Stripes! Thus, scarcely more than
one fifth of the complement were native Americans. The marines, of
course, were efficiently organized and commanded, and were of the
usual character of the men in the French service. The rest of the
crew, with the exception of the Americans, who were filling the posts
of petty officers, were a hard-bitten, reckless crowd of adventurers,
mercenaries, bravos, and what not, whom only a man like Jones could
control and successfully direct. Under his iron hand they developed
into as ready a crew as ever fought a ship, and in our estimation of
his subsequent success the fact must not be lost sight of that he made
out of such a motley assemblage so efficient an organization. The
officers were fairly capable, though none of them reached the standard
of Dale, and at least one of them left the cruise with a serious cloud
upon his reputation.
Perhaps two thirds of the crew of the Alliance were English seamen who
had been recruited from the men of the line of battle ship Somerset,
which had been wrecked in America, and a large number of her crew
captured. They enlisted on the Alliance in the hope of capturing her
and making their escape, thus avoiding a sojourn in American prisons.
On the way to France, owing to the presence of these men on the ship,
a conspiracy had developed, the successful termination of which was
only prevented by the resolution and courage of Lafayette and the
passengers with the regular officers of the ship. There were but a
small number of Americans on the Alliance, owing to the fact that she
was commanded by a Frenchman, under whom Americans generally refused
to sail. The officers, with few exceptions, were poor in quality. Her
crew had been somewhat improved before the squadron sailed, by the
enlistment of some of the prisoners from the cartel, but it was still
far from being an efficient body of men, and under such a captain as
Landais there was no hope of it ever becoming so.
The officers and crew of the Pallas, Vengeance, and Cerf were French
_in toto_, the officers all holding French commissions. The squadron
was entirely at the charges of the French Government, although each of
the officers sailed with a supplementary American commission issued by
Franklin and his _confrères_, and all the vessels were under the
American flag.
De Chaumont had been indefatigable in fitting out the ships as best he
could, and personally he had done everything in his power to further
the success of the enterprise. If his labors had ceased there, the
results would have been better; but, probably under the direction of
the minister, and influenced by the natural reluctance of the French
officers and men to serve under the command of an officer of another
country, de Chaumont prepared a concordat, which he suppressed until
just before the time of sailing, when it was exhibited to Jones and
the other captains and their signatures demanded. By the terms of this
singular document the officers and men and the several vessels of the
squadron, instead of being under the absolute charge of Jones himself,
as is the case with every properly organized expedition, were formed
into a species of alliance offensive and defensive; and while, of
course, the headship was necessarily under Jones while he lived, he
was so hampered and restricted by the various articles of the
agreement as to feel himself scarcely more than first among his
equals. He was left with full responsibility for success, but so shorn
of power and ability to compel obedience to his orders as to render it
necessary for him to resort to persuasion to effect his end. Any
ordinary commander would have withdrawn at the last moment, but Jones
was determined upon effecting something; so, with great reluctance and
unavailing protests, he signed the concordat, and the ill-assorted
squadron proceeded on its way.[10]
Surely never before was such an expedition for warlike purposes put
forth upon the narrow seas! It is difficult to see what result any
sane man could have legitimately expected from it. That it
accomplished anything was due to Jones himself--commodore by virtue of
a paper agreement, just as binding and effective as any of the several
signers wished it to be! The world had long known him as a man
remarkable for audacity in conception, boldness in planning, hardihood
in carrying out, and downright courage in the supreme moment. As a
seaman and a fighter he had few equals and no masters. But the cruise
developed that he possessed other qualities of leadership which are
sometimes lost sight of in this brilliant galaxy, qualities which his
previous experience had not led us to expect him to exhibit. He was
shown to be considerate, tactful, forbearing, persuasive, holding
himself under strong restraint. Naturally of a passionate, impetuous,
uncontrollable nature, that he exhibited these qualities speaks well
for the man. He had learned to control his feelings in the bitter
school of procrastination, evasion, and disappointment of the past
year.