John Paul Jones was born on the 6th of July, 1747, at Arbigland, in the
parish of Kirkbean, Scotland.
The residence of his father was near the shores of the Solway, one
of the most beautiful and picturesque points of the Frith, where our
young hero passed his hours of pastime in launching his “tiny bark”
on the waters, and issuing to his supposed officers and crew his
naval commands. At the age of twelve years, having made known his
determination to lead a seafaring life, it was deemed proper to yield
to it by his reluctant parents. Accordingly, he was apprenticed to a
merchant at Whitehaven, on the opposite side of Solway Frith, in the
American trade.
He made his first voyage before he was thirteen, in the ship Friendship
of Whitehaven, bound for the Rappahannock. His elder brother, William,
had married and settled at Fredericksburg, in Virginia, where Jones
found a happy home during his stay in America.
Although his first visit was of but short duration, he appears to have
become greatly prepossessed in favor of America. These feelings he
fostered under circumstances which made them keen and enduring, being
so intimately connected with his first impressions of a naval life.
His master, finding his affairs embarrassed, was induced to cancel the
indentures of Jones, who now found himself at liberty to think and act
as he pleased; but his fixed determination was the sea. He fortunately
obtained the appointment of third mate of the ship King George, of
Whitehaven, a vessel engaged in the slave trade. After making one
voyage, he shipped as chief mate on board the brigantine Two Friends,
of Kingston, Jamaica, engaged in the same traffic.
We have reason to believe that, after his second voyage in this
brutalizing and unmanly traffic, he became disgusted and took a passage
from the West Indies to Scotland in the John, of Kirkcudbright.
The slave trade was then tolerated by Great Britain, and the
cruel and infamous manner in which its unfortunate victims were
treated, evidently exercised a strong influence upon the mind of
the inexperienced young seaman, and it probably tended, in after
life, to make him inconsiderate of justice as well as regardless of
the sufferings of others. Nevertheless, it is fair to infer, that
the exhibition of these horrors, at which his feelings revolted,
strengthened his love for that liberty for which he afterwards fought,
and for that land which knew how to vindicate the cause of liberty.
On the passage to Scotland, in the _John_, the master and mate both
died of the yellow fever, and Jones took the command of the vessel,
and brought her safely into port. For this service the owners placed
him on board the same vessel as master and super-cargo. He then made
two prosperous voyages to the West Indies, at the end of which, he
was honorably discharged on account of the dissolution of the firm
to which the vessel belonged. At this period the trade to the Isle
of Man was principally contraband, and offered great facilities for
making money. Our adventurous young hero, now in his twenty-third year,
active, ambitious and self-confident, ready to steer his way through
life as circumstances might serve, earnestly embarked in this trade,
which, by a large portion of society was held not to be criminal, but
simply illegal. After having been engaged in this trade for some time,
in 1773 he was called to Virginia at the death of his brother William,
who died without heirs. Jones took possession of the property, formally
abandoned the sea, and declared his intention of devoting himself to
agriculture. This intention he really commenced to carry into effect,
but the quiet domestic life of the planter soon became irksome; and
when the American Revolution broke out, his liberty-loving, and
chivalric soul could no longer bear the ignoble life of a farmer,
and he eagerly embraced the cause of the rebellious provinces. He
immediately offered his services to Congress; they were accepted, and
he received a commission in the navy as lieutenant.
No man appeared better qualified for the part he had to perform. Nature
had made him a hero, and circumstances had prepared him to command men,
as well as to give direction to the development of their energies; and
these qualifications united with a brave heart and chivalrous spirit,
rendered him able to vindicate the rights, which he knew so well how to
assert.
The American navy at this time consisted of the following vessels:
Guns. Men.
Alfred 30 300
Columbus 28 300
Andrew Doria 16 200
Cabot 14 200
Providence 12 150
Hornet 10 120
Wasp 8 100
Fly, dispatch vessel.
Jones, who had been appointed lieutenant of the flag ship, Alfred,
hoisted with his own hands the first American flag that ever waved
over the ocean. He does not give the date of this transaction, but his
commission dates 7th of December, 1775. The device was a pine tree,
with a rattlesnake coiled at its root in the act of striking. This
was the national insignia until 1777, when the present standard was
adopted. On the 17th of February, 1776, the first American squadron
sailed for the West Indies. During the passage they captured two
small vessels, and made preparations for the capture of the island
of New Providence, where a large quantity of stores and ammunition
was deposited. The enterprise succeeded, the island was captured, the
governor taken prisoner; also a hundred cannon and a large quantity of
stores and ammunition fell into their hands.
In October, 1776, when the grade of naval captains was established by
Congress, he received a full commission as one of the number.
Having now acquired the entire confidence of the marine committee of
Congress, he repaired to France to arrange some naval operations with
the American commissioners. His next voyage was to Whitehaven, in the
north of England, where, with a few men, he spiked all the cannon
of two of the forts, the sentinels being first secured in their own
guard-house.
This and similar rapacious attacks, he justified upon the principle
of retaliation for the destruction of private property by the British
troops in America. Off Carrickfergus, on the southern coast of
Scotland, he had an engagement with the British sloop of war Drake,
which, after a severe and close action of an hour, he captured and
carried in triumph into France. The day only before this action
occurred the atrocious act at St. Mary’s Isle. Thinking that the
capture of the Earl of Selkirk, who resided at Selkirk Abbey, St.
Mary’s Isle, might enable Congress to obtain more equal terms in the
exchange of prisoners, his object was to seize his lordship and detain
him as prisoner on board the Ranger, until Congress could demand a
suitable exchange. This, however, was defeated by the absence of his
lordship; and the excuse which Jones gave for entering the Abbey and
bringing away all the family plate, was, that his men, remembering
the scenes of devastation occasioned by the British in America,
disregarded all restraints of wholesome discipline, and acted at their
own discretion. Jones, in a communication from Brest to the countess,
informed her that he should gratify himself by purchasing the plate
and returning it uninjured, which he did, and received a formal
acknowledgment from the earl upon the subject. In August, 1779, Jones
first sailed in the Bon Homme Richard, with six other vessels, forming
a squadron under his command.
In September, 1779, he fell in with the Serapis, off Flamborough-head,
on the northeast coast of England, where that celebrated action took
place, in view of hundreds of inhabitants of the neighboring coast,
which has imparted so much renown to the name of Jones. The Serapis
was a new ship, of forty-four guns and a picked crew. It was a clear,
moonlight night, about seven o’olock, when the enemy first hailed
Jones, who answered with a whole broadside. The action, which lasted
several hours, raged with incessant fury, until the enemy’s bowsprit
coming over the poop of the Bon Homme Richard, by the mizzenmast,
Jones, with his own hand, seized the ropes from the enemy’s bowsprit,
and made them fast to his own ship. The Serapis swung round, so that
the ships lay square alongside of each other, the stern of the enemy
close to the bow of the Bon Homme Richard. In this desperate situation
the conflict lasted for some hours, each fighting with a vigor that
seemed to threaten mutual extermination. At length, about half past ten
o’clock, the enemy struck his colors and surrendered. Both ships were
much injured in the contest; the Bon Homme Richard sunk the day after
the battle. Her crew was transferred to the Serapis, and sailed for the
Texel.
On his arrival in France, Jones was received with the most flattering
attention by the most distinguished persons in Paris. Louis the
Sixteenth presented him with the cross of military merit, and a
magnificent gold mounted sword, bearing this inscription: “Maris
Ludovicus 16 Remunerator Strenuo Vindici.” He returned to America in
the ship Ariel of twenty guns, after an absence of nearly three years.
Congress immediately adopted the following resolutions:--
“_Resolved_,--That the Congress entertain a high sense of the
distinguished bravery and military conduct of John Paul Jones, Esq.,
captain in the navy of the United States, and particularly in his
victory over the British frigate Serapis, on the coast of England,
which was attended with circumstances so brilliant as to excite general
applause and admiration.
“_Resolved_,--That _a gold medal_ (_see_ Plate VIII.) be struck
and presented to the Chevalier Paul Jones, in commemoration of the
valor and brilliant services of that officer; and that the Hon. Mr.
Jefferson, minister plenipotentiary of the United States at the court
of Versailles, have the same executed in France with proper devices.”
Late in the year of 1787 he returned to Europe in order to settle some
disputes relative to certain prizes which had been sent into Denmark;
which, after much trouble, he accomplished to the satisfaction of his
government. After a year of ill health, he died at Paris, on the 18th
of July, 1792, aged forty-five years. President Washington designated
him for the important mission to treat with the Dey of Algiers on the
ransom of American captives. His credentials reached Paris the day
after his death.