_Adventures in the Black Sea._
The First Battle.—Folly of the Prince of Nassau.—Inefficiency of the
Gun-boats.—Burning of the Greek Captives.—Humanity of
Jones.—Alienation between the Admiral and the Prince of Nassau.—The
Second Conflict.—-Annoyances of the Admiral.—Hostility of the
English.—Necessary Employment of Foreign Seamen.—Disgrace of
Nassau.—Transference of the Admiral to the Baltic.
It was the plan of Admiral Jones, to anticipate the contemplated attack
of the Capitaine Pasha, and so to weaken him as at least to embarrass
his movements. The plan he proposed was so necessary and apparently so
feasible, that it was accepted by all the officers. During the night, as
the wind did not favor, he warped the ships of his squadron, by means of
their anchors, to the positions he wished them to occupy. The next
morning, which was the 17th of June, 1788, the wind was fresh and fair.
At the earliest dawn the admiral signalled for all his war ships to bear
down upon the Turkish fleet, which was before him in the broad shallow
bay, at the distance of but a few miles. The gun-boats, under the
command of the Prince of Nassau, followed tardily behind the squadron.
Their progress was so slow, though there was no occasion whatever for
the delay, that the admiral had to halt twice, in order to allow the
gun-boats to come up with him.
[Illustration: JONES ENTERING THE BALTIC.]
It was a brilliant spectacle which was presented in the rays of this
June morning’s sun. The majestic bay, into which were poured the waters
of the Dnieper, the Bog, the Liman, and several other minor streams,
spread out in all directions. The whole Russian fleet of ships and
gun-boats, in beautiful battle array, was bearing down under full sail
with a fair wind, upon the unsuspecting and unprepared Turks. The moment
the Capitaine Pasha caught sight of the wondrous spectacle, he was
terror-stricken. The force rushing upon him appeared far more powerful
than it really was. The wind being fresh and fair, the Turkish admiral
saw at once that the whole Russian armament might strike any portion of
his line before other portions could come to its aid. His only resource
was in flight. The same wind which was bringing down the Russian fleet
upon him, would bear him onward in his escape, to take shelter under the
massive guns of the batteries and ramparts of Oczakow.
The signal was given for the flight. As in the twinkling of an eye, a
wonderful scene of tumult and confusion was presented along the whole
Turkish line. The ships, the frigates, the gun-boats were raising their
anchors, cutting their cables, spreading their sails, and pulling their
oars, in the frantic endeavor to escape the impending peril. Admiral
Jones opened fire upon the bewildered foe, from his bow chasers,
wherever a gun could be brought to bear.
The second officer in command of the Turkish fleet seemed to act like
one bereft of reason, in the panic which had apparently seized all
alike. He had charge of one of the finest of the Turkish line-of-battle
ships; a mammoth fabric, with its tiers of death-dealing guns, which
would have been a match for any ship in the British navy. But assailed
by a dozen Russian ships and gun-boats, it would in a few moments have
been sunk beneath the waves, or blown into the air. As the vast sails of
this ship were flung to the breeze, it slowly wheeled around, got under
rapid headway and ran plump upon a sand-bank, beyond all possible hope
of extrication. As she struck, she careened over at an angle of
forty-five degrees. The muzzles of her guns, on the lower side, were
dipped into the water; upon the upper side, they pointed to the clouds.
Thus the ship could neither fight nor run. The crew, as many as could,
crowded into the boats, escaped from the ship, and took refuge in other
vessels of the fleet.
Admiral Jones knew that the ship was his. It was a magnificent prize. It
needed no further attention. He therefore gave chase to the ship of the
Capitaine Pasha. The Prince of Nassau, to the great chagrin of Admiral
Jones, came up with his gun-boats, threw fire-balls into the splendid
prize, and burned it to the water’s edge.
The flag-ship of the Turkish admiral was also an unwieldy mass to
navigate the intricate channels of this shallow bay. It soon struck a
sand-bank, and was helpless. The crew fled. There were now nine of these
large Turkish ships-of-war aground. They were manned by Turkish sailors,
and also by a large number of Greeks, who had been subjugated by the
Turks, and being nominal Christians, were in entire sympathy with their
Christian brethren the Russians. These men were compelled to serve the
Turkish guns, as England often compelled impressed American seamen.
The Prince of Nassau seemed to have lost all control of his gun-boats.
They ran about here and there, independent of all command, and did what
they would. Like Indian warriors, each boat fought, plundered, or
destroyed, on its own account. A cannon-ball had struck the flag-staff
of the deserted admiral’s ship, and broke it off so that the flag hung
down draggling it in the water. The Prince of Nassau, eager of the honor
of capturing the flag of the Turkish admiral, hurried up with one of his
gunboats, seized the defenceless banner, and then insanely threw his
fire-balls into the ship till it was wrapped in flame and disappeared.
The other boats of the flotilla, imitating this example, rushed about
pell-mell without order or plan, offering no coöperation to follow up
the victory, and wantonly amusing themselves in burning the grounded
ships. All of these Turkish vessels had more or less of the Greeks on
board. In vain these poor creatures cried for mercy. They threw
themselves upon their knees; they made the sign of the cross, to
indicate that they too were Christians. The barbarous and fanatic
Russian sailors, ignorant and cruel, threw their fire-balls on board the
ships, and consigned vessels and crew alike to the flames. Above three
thousand of these unhappy men were burned with their ships. Only two of
the stranded vessels were saved from the flames. One was a sloop, very
indifferently armed, and the other a small brig.
Though this was a great victory, it probably gave Admiral Jones more
pain than pleasure. He was appalled by the frightful, needless carnage,
of burning the poor Greeks crying for mercy. Such a mode of carrying on
war was abhorrent to his humane feelings. No results had been
accomplished commensurate with what might have been secured, had there
been order in the fleet. These nine grounded vessels, with their
powerful armaments, would have been of immense advantage, transferred
from the line of the Turks to that of the Russians. It is not strange
that by this time Admiral Jones lost all patience with his very
undesirable coadjutor. Under date of June 20th, he wrote to his Polish
friend, Chamberlain Littlepage, as follows:
“Without explaining to me any of his reasons, the Prince of Nassau
wished to go to the sand-bank which was under the guns at Oczakow, with
all his flotilla. I opposed it, for all the Turkish flotilla was under
the cannon of the place, within cannon-shot of our right wing. He
permitted himself to say many uncivil things. Among others he said that
_he_ was always wanted to protect _my_ squadron with his flotilla.
“As he had often said such things, I told him that it was improper for
him to say this to me, or for me to hear him say it. He boasted that he
had taken the two ships. I told him “I saw nothing wonderful in that;
for they were both aground and captured before he came up.“ He said “he
knew better than I did how to take ships.“ I told him that without
impugning his skill, he was not ignorant that I had proved my ability to
take ships which were not Turks’. He lost all control of himself, and
threatened to write against me to the empress and Prince Potemkin.
“As for that, I told him if he were base enough to do it, I defied his
malice. Before this ridiculous dispute, our combination was unnecessary.
Otherwise I would have put up with still more for the good of the
service. I feel no rancor against him; and though he said, in a bitter
tone, that I would be rejoiced to see him beaten, he little understood
my heart.”
The prince claimed all the honor of this victory. He so boastfully
proclaimed his achievements, that Prince Potemkin was disposed to accept
his account of the adventure, especially as Admiral Jones had too much
self-respect to dispute his statements in a disgraceful squabble for the
honor.
Potemkin, elated by this discomfiture of the Turks, brought up his whole
land force to the walls of Oczakow, intending to attempt to carry the
works by storm. The Turkish gun-boats were riding at anchor, under the
protection of the guns of the fortress. The Prince of Nassau was ordered
to attack the flotilla with his whole force of gun-boats. The admiral
was to assist, as he could, in towing the Russian flotilla to the
position it was to take in the contest. The whole plan of the battle was
arranged by Potemkin, so that Admiral Jones had but little to do but to
obey the orders, which were sent to him, though in some respects he was
left to his own discretion.
At one hour after midnight, the flotilla commenced its advance toward
the Turkish boats; but hesitatingly, with no indication that they were
under the impulse of a guiding and inspiring mind. Some of the most
important of the boats were swept by the current to positions where they
could accomplish nothing. In the vicinity of the fortress there was deep
water. The admiral coöperated with great efficiency in bringing the
boats into position. At six o’clock in the morning, he saw five Turkish
galleys, protected by the guns of Fort Hassan. He plunged upon them,
boarded the first one he came to, seized it as a prize, and with his
boats towed it away. He then attacked the next galley, which was a very
large one, bearing the flag of the Capitaine Pasha. Before the admiral
could arrange his boats, to haul out the prize, a young officer,
inexperienced and agitated, cut the cable by which she rode at anchor,
and a fresh breeze drove her rapidly toward the fort.
The Turks were now pouring a destructive fire upon their own vessel. The
admiral despatched a boat to the Wolodimir to fetch another anchor and
cable. Leaving the galley to be manned with his own sailors, till the
boat should return, he pressed forward to other conquests. He writes in
his journal:
“Before the return of Lieutenant Fox, I had the mortification to see
fire break out in the galley of the Capitaine Pasha. I at first believed
that the slaves chained on board had found means to escape. But
afterwards I had positive proof that Brigadier Alexiano, being in a boat
at the time with the Prince of Nassau, on the outside of the flotilla,
and being aware of the intention of the rear-admiral, swore that it
should not succeed, and sent a Greek canoe to set fire to the galley.
The three other Turkish galleys were at once run down and burned by
fire-balls. There were also a two-masted ship, and a large bomb-vessel
burnt near Fort Hassan. This includes all that was taken or destroyed by
water, save fifty-two prisoners taken by the rear-admiral, in the two
galleys. The wretched beings who were chained in the galley of the
Capitaine Pasha, perished there in the flames.
“The prince marshal having made an important diversion on the land side,
it is to be regretted that advantage was not taken of this movement to
seize the remainder of the enemy’s flotilla; but our flotilla never came
up within reach of grape-shot.”
Admiral Jones took the precaution to have the accuracy of this statement
confirmed, by five of the leading captains of the Russian ships. The
Turkish fleet, being thus again humbled, retreated that very night, both
squadron and flotilla, to a strong position at the mouths of the Danube.
The admiral remained at his station, to watch the enemy and to be
prepared for any emergence. He gives the following account of the
proceedings of his two singular coadjutors, the German prince, and the
Greek brigadier.
“The moment the ships began to withdraw from Oczakow, the Prince of
Nassau and Brigadier Alexiano hurried straight to the headquarters of
Prince Potemkin to relate the things which both pretended they had
performed. In a few moments after the flotilla began to retire, the rain
fell in torrents, of which Nassau and Alexiano received their own share
before reaching headquarters.
“Two days afterwards, Alexiano returned on board the Wolodimir, having
caught a malignant fever, of which he died on the 8th of July. The
Prince of Nassau, who had made use of him in cabaling against me—God
knows wherefore—neither visited him in his sickness nor assisted at his
funeral. At first it was given out, that the service must sustain the
loss of every Greek in it, on account of his death; but I soon
experienced the reverse. Not one asked to be dismissed; they remained
under my command with the Russians, and were more contented than before.
On the day preceding the death of Alexiano he had received intelligence
of having been promoted two grades; and that her majesty had bestowed on
him a fine estate and peasants, in White Russia.
“At the same time, the Prince of Nassau had received a very valuable
estate, with three or four thousand peasants, also in White Russia, and
the military Order of St. George, of the second class. Her majesty
likewise gave him liberty to hoist the flag of vice-admiral at the
taking of Oczakow, to which event it was apparently believed he would
greatly contribute.
“I received the Order of St. Anne, an honor with which I am highly
flattered, and with which I could have been perfectly satisfied, had
others been recompensed only in the same proportion, and according to
the merit of their services.[G] All the officers of the flotilla
received a step of promotion, and the gratuity of a year’s pay. The
greater part of them also obtained the Order of St. George of the last
class. Only two of these officers had been bred to the sea; none of the
others had been engaged in navigation. The officers of the squadron
under my command were almost wholly marine officers. They had done their
duty well, when opposed to the enemy; but they obtained no promotion, no
mark of distinction, no pecuniary gratification. My mortification was
excessive; but my officers at this time gave me a very gratifying proof
of their attachment. On promising that I would demand justice for them
from the Prince Potemkin, at the close of the campaign, they stifled
their vexation, and made no complaint.”
-----
Footnote G:
Upon the reception of the Order of St. Anne by the empress, Count
Segur wrote from St. Petersburg a very complimentary letter to the
admiral, under date of the 14th of July, 1788. In this letter he says:
“The empress being absent I forwarded a copy of the greatest part of
your letter to General Mouronoff, who had it read to that princess.
She is highly satisfied with it, and in two lines from her hand, has
been pleased to charge me with assurances to you, of the great respect
in which she holds your services. General Mouronoff begs me to say
that he will endeavor to merit the obliging things you say of him.”
-----
Three days after this important naval battle, Prince Potemkin came from
the headquarters of the army, to visit Admiral Jones on board the
flag-ship Wolodimir. The prince was accompanied by quite a brilliant
retinue of the highest dignitaries of his military court. They all
remained to dine with the admiral in his spacious cabin. The prince was
very anxious to promote harmonious action between the admiral and the
Prince of Nassau. By his powerful influence he succeeded in inducing the
Prince of Nassau to make an apology to the admiral, in the presence of
all around the table. The apology was cordially accepted; and the
admiral, knowing the versatile and frivolous character of the prince,
hoped that it was sincere.
As Potemkin took his leave, he requested Admiral Jones to do all in his
power toward raising the cannon, anchors, and other effects, belonging
to the Turkish ships which had been burned. The next day, Admiral Jones,
in a spirit of conciliation, made a visit to the Prince of Nassau. He
had previously detailed one of the transport ships, which was empty and
unemployed, to the work of raising some of the sunken guns. As soon as
he stepped on board the gun-boat of the prince, he was disrespectfully
assailed, when he expected to have been received with open arms.
“That transport,” exclaimed the Prince of Nassau, angrily, “which you
have ventured to employ on your own services, belonged to my flotilla,
and you had no right to take it under your command.”
The admiral mildly replied, “Prince Potemkin charged me to engage at
once in that important business, as a servant of the empress. As all the
vessels of war, and all the transports alike belong to her imperial
majesty, and as the transport in question was empty and unemployed, I
cannot see that you have any reasonable cause of complaint against me.”
But Nassau fumed and raged. The admiral, ashamed of such puerile
quarrelling, sadly took leave of him, begging him to reflect that he had
no cause for displeasure. Thus affairs went on, day after day. There
were heart-burnings and bickerings, and the admiral found such
influences operating against him, that his hands were effectually tied.
At the close of the American war, there were many British officers
thrown out of employment, who eagerly entered into the service of the
Empress of Russia.
This vast northern empire, with then no access to the ocean but through
the Baltic Sea, was not a maritime power. The empress had very few naval
officers of any experience. By seizing Constantinople, undoubtedly the
finest port in the world, the empress expected that the sails of her
ships would whiten all the seas. Eagerly, therefore, she accepted the
services of able military men from whatever nation. There were no better
naval officers than England could afford. These men with one accord, as
we have mentioned, combined, with the most astonishing and persistent
malignity, to crush Admiral Jones. The Englishman, W. Tooke, to whom we
have before referred, with his bitter British prejudices expresses the
sentiments of them one and all. In his Life of Catherine II. he writes:
“This known scarcity of commanders could not fail to attract the
attention of foreign adventurers, who had acquired any experience and
reputation in maritime affairs. Of this number was the English pirate
and renegado, Paul Jones, who had rendered himself so notorious in the
American war by the mischiefs he did to the trade of his country, and
whose desperate courage, which only served to render his atrociousness
conspicuous, would in a good cause have entitled him to honor.
“This man could not but experience the common fate incident to his
character; and finding he did not meet the consideration which he
expected in America, he made a tender of his services to the court of
St. Petersburg, where he was gladly received, and immediately appointed
to a high command in the grand fleet which was under equipment at
Cronstadt.
“The British officers, full of those national and professional ideas of
honor which they had imbibed in their own country and service,
considered this appointment as the highest affront that could be offered
to them, and a submission to it, an act of such degradation that no time
or circumstance could wipe away the dishonor. They accordingly went in a
body, to the amount of near thirty, without a single dissentient lagging
behind, or hesitating on account of inconvenience or personal distress,
to lay down their commissions; declaring at the same time that it was
impossible for them to serve under, or to act in any manner or capacity
whatever, with a pirate or renegado.”
In the same spirit as the above, the English historians have, from that
day to this, written of this noble man.
On the 18th of September, the admiral received a secret order to attack
the advance guard of the squadron which was anchored near Beresane. The
attack was to be made with five frigates, mounted as batteries,
supported by a few other vessels of the squadron, as reserves. The
arrangements which were made for arming the frigates for the enterprise
were not such as he could approve. For instance, twenty-four pound-shot
were to be used in guns of thirty-six pounds calibre. To make these
balls fill the bore, they were dipped in pitch to enlarge their
circumference. This was exceedingly dangerous. If the smallest particle
of combustible matter adhered to the gun, it would set fire to the next
cartridge. A single such accident would paralyze the energies of the
bravest man.
The admiral presented to Potemkin a plan of attack. The Prince Potemkin
approved the plan. The Prince of Nassau objected to it. There were
delays, and fault-findings; the admiral being ready to move, either upon
his own plan or upon any other whenever the command should be given him.
On the 13th of October, the admiral received an order which wounded him
very deeply. It was as follows:
“As it is seen that the Turkish admiral has a greater number of
vessels than yourself, and he may resolve to attempt something before
quitting his grand fleet, I must request your excellency to hold
yourself in readiness to receive him courageously, and drive him back.
I require this to be done without loss of time; if not, you will be
made answerable for every neglect. I have already ordered the flotilla
to approach.
”PRINCE POTEMKIN.”
To these unkind words the admiral replied in his journal:
“It will be hard to believe that Prince Potemkin addressed such words to
Paul Jones.”
To the prince he wrote;
“I leave to your highness, as you have a noble heart and a magnanimous
soul to judge how an officer who fears nothing, and had nothing
wherewith to reproach himself, must have been affected by your order, of
the 13th. I was directed “to keep myself in readiness to receive the
enemy _courageously, and that without loss of time, for if not, etc._“
“I was in despair having been all heart and soul for the good of the
service; and having done all that a man of honor could to inspire a
confidence which I believed I had deserved at your hands, allow me, my
prince, to ask you how it happens that I have been so unhappy as to have
lost your regard. My enemies themselves cannot refuse me their respect.
General Count de Mamonow assured me of your confidence in me, giving me
the most flattering hope of your friendship, and her imperial majesty
told me the most obliging things to the same effect. At all events, your
highness has so good a heart that you will excuse the hastiness of
expression which escaped me in my letter on the 14th.
“I am anxious to continue in the service. It is unnecessary to recite
either the promises or the offers which have been made to me. I am
disposed to do all that can be asked of a man of honor, in my situation.
And if you find in me an acquisition to the imperial marine, it belongs
to yourself to fix me in Russia. But as I come neither as an adventurer,
nor a charlatan to repair a broken fortune, I hope in future to
experience no humiliation, and soon to find myself in a situation which
was promised to me when I was invited to enter into the marine of the
empress. Perhaps I love honors too much. But as to fortune, though my
own is not very great, I never bent the knee to that idol. I well know
that riches do not insure happiness. I am sure of one thing, if I had
the happiness of once enjoying your confidence, it would be for life,
for I am not of a character that can change.”
Prince Potemkin had gradually come to the conclusion that it was best to
remove both Admiral Jones from the command of the squadron and the
Prince of Nassua, and to place both squadron and flotilla under the
command of the Russian admiral, Mordwinoff. On the 9th of October, the
Prince of Nassau was deprived of his command, and left the shores of the
Euxine for Warsaw in Poland. Nine days after, on the 18th of October,
Admiral Jones received the following order from Prince Potemkin.
“According to the special desire of her imperial majesty, your service
is fixed in the northern seas. And as this squadron and the flotilla are
placed by me under the orders of Admiral Count Mordwinoff your
excellency may in consequence proceed on the voyage directed.”
This was unquestionably a severe blow to Admiral Jones. He had hoped to
accomplish great results in the campaign of the Euxine. And now he was
ordered to the shores of the Baltic, more than a thousand miles distant,
to serve her majesty in some manner as yet undefined. Russia was at that
time at war with Sweden. But in those high latitudes and ice-bound
waters, there was but little opportunity in midwinter for naval warfare.
On the 20th, the admiral replied to the unexpected order he had
received, in the following note to Potemkin:
“I am much flattered that her majesty yet deigns to interest herself
about me. But what I shall forever regret is the loss of your regard. I
will not say that it is difficult to find more skilful sea officers than
myself. I know well that it is a very possible thing. But I feel
emboldened to say that you will never find a man more susceptible of a
faithful attachment, or more zealous in the discharge of his duty. I
forgive my enemies who are near you, for the painful blow aimed at me.
But if there is a just God, it will be difficult for him to do as much.”
This intimation that Potemkin had been led to this action by the
persuasions of others, annoyed the imperial prince, who considered
himself rather the master than the servant even of her majesty. When, a
few days after, the admiral called at headquarters, to take leave of the
prince, Potemkin said to him, with much vehemence, at the same time
rising from his chair and stamping with his foot:
“Do not believe that any one leads me, not even the empress.” The
prince, however, presented the following letter to the admiral, to be
presented to the empress in testimonial of his services.
“MADAM—In sending to the high throne of your imperial majesty
Rear-Admiral M. Paul Jones, I take with submission the liberty of
certifying the eagerness and zeal which he has ever shown for the
service of your imperial majesty, and to render himself worthy of the
high favor of your imperial majesty.
“From the most faithful subject of your imperial majesty,
“PRINCE POTEMKIN.”
“Oct. 31, 1788.”