[17] A French fleet of twelve ships, under Count d'Estaing, soon arrived near New York. It might perhaps have captured the British fleet in the harbor; but without making the attempt D'Estaing went on to Newport to attempt the capture of a British force which had held that place since December, 1776. Washington sent Greene and Lafayette with troops to assist him, the New England militia turned out by thousands, and all seemed ready for the attack, when a British fleet appeared and D'Estaing went out to meet it. A storm scattered the vessels of the two squadrons, and D'Estaing went to Boston for repairs, and then to the West Indies.
[18] Six of the thirty never got to sea, but were captured or destroyed when the British took New York and Philadelphia. Our navy, therefore, may be considered at the outset to have consisted of 24 vessels, mounting 422 guns. Great Britain at that time had 112 war vessels, carrying 3714 guns, and 78 of these vessels were stationed on or near our coast.
[19] John Barry was a native of Ireland. He came to America at thirteen, and at twenty-five was captain of a ship. At the opening of the war he offered his services to Congress, and in February, 1776, was given command of the Lexington. After his victory Barry was transferred to the 28-gun frigate Effingham, and in 1777 (while blockaded in the Delaware), with 27 men in four boats captured and destroyed a 10-gun schooner and four transports. For this he was thanked by Washington. When the British captured Philadelphia, Barry took the Effingham up the river to save her; but she was burned by the British. At different times Barry commanded several other ships, and in 1782, in the Alliance, fought the last action of the war. In 1794 he was senior captain of the navy, with the title of commodore. He died in 1803.
[20] When these ships returned to France with the prizes, the British government protested so vigorously that the Reprisal and the Lexington were seized and held till security was given that they would leave France. The prizes were ordered out of port, were taken into the offing, and then quietly sold to French merchants. The Reprisal on her way home was lost at sea. The Lexington was captured and her men thrown into prison. They escaped by digging a hole under the wall, and were on board a vessel in London bound for France, when they were discovered and sent back to prison. A year later one of them, Richard Dale, escaped by walking past the guards in daylight, dressed in a British uniform. He never would tell how he got the uniform.
[21] John Paul, Jr., was born in Scotland in 1747. He began a seafaring life when twelve years old and followed it till 1773, when he fell heir to a plantation in Virginia on condition that he should take the name of Jones. Thereafter he was known as John Paul Jones. In 1775 Jones offered his services to Congress, assisted in founding our navy, and in December, 1775, was commissioned lieutenant. He died in Paris in 1792, but the whereabouts of his grave was long unknown. In 1905, however, the United States ambassador to France (Horace Porter) discovered the body of Jones, which was brought with due honors to the United States and deposited at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Porter's account of how the body was found may be read in the Century Magazine for October, 1905. Jones is the hero of Cooper's novel called The Pilot.
[22] The wording on the medal may be translated as follows: "The American Congress to John Paul Jones, fleet commander—for the capture or defeat of the enemy's ships off the coast of Scotland, Sept. 23, 1779."
CHAPTER XV
THE WAR IN THE WEST AND IN THE SOUTH
THE WEST.—After Great Britain obtained from France the country between the mountains and the Mississippi, the British king, as we have seen (p. 143), forbade settlement west of the mountains. But the westward movement of population was not to be stopped by a proclamation. The hardy frontiersmen gave it no heed, and, passing over the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, they hunted, trapped, and made settlements in the forbidden land.
[Illustration: THE WEST DURING THE REVOLUTION.]