"'Custodian, Section of American History,
United States National Museum.'
"Yours very respectfully,
(Signed.) "Richard Rathbun,
"Assistant Secretary."
This is an opinion with which I must disagree. Stafford, it is claimed, had been a sailor in the American armed ship Kitty, which had been captured by a British cruiser, said cruiser and her prize being subsequently taken by the Richard, whereupon Stafford volunteered for service on the Richard, was warranted a midshipman, and is alleged to have performed several heroic deeds in connection with the flag during the action.[[71]] There is no authority whatever for any of these statements in any existing contemporary account of the battle, yet the occurrence was sufficiently important to be mentioned somewhere, surely, if it had occurred. Stafford's name does not appear in any of the lists of the officers and crew, and the Richard certainly did not capture any British cruiser and her prize. But we have evidence which is more than negative, for Jones explicitly states that when the Richard went down, a flag--presumably that which had been shot from the staff, or had fallen with it, during the action, and had been recovered the next day--was left flying at the peak. In subsequent letters, though, he takes occasion to refer specifically to the fact that he sailed under American colors in the Alliance--he calls them "my very best American colors," a phrase certainly inappropriate for the battle-torn ensign of the Richard--he never makes the slightest reference to their having been used in the famous battle. Again, the Alliance sailed finally under the command of Landais, and no mention of any particular flag appears thereafter. It may be possible, however, though doubtful, that the flag which was given to Stafford was the "best American colors" under which Jones sailed from the Texel, and, if so, it is an interesting relic. The last circumstance that militates against the claim is the size of the flag in question. It is so small that it is highly improbable it was ever used for a battle flag!
APPENDIX IV.
[SONG AND MUSIC.]
"Here comes brave Paul Jones, Oho!
He's a jolly good fellow.
His ship has sunk 'neath the sea,
On a bold English cape, O.
"Here comes brave Paul Jones, Oho!
He's a jolly good fellow.
Born an American true,
And English not a bit, O.
"Here comes brave Paul Jones, Oho!
He's a jolly good fellow.
He does so many brave deeds
For the good of his friends, O."