The Bonhomme Richard had gone into the fight with a great American ensign, four times as long as it was broad, floating in the breeze. It was shot away during the conflict and lay floating over the stern for a time, but it was rescued. And when it was seen that the old ship was past saving, the battle-torn flag was hoisted to its old place, and with that fluttering in the brisk air the famous old ship sank out of sight.
John Paul Jones.
From an engraving by Chapman in the collection of Mr. W. C. Crane.
When John Paul Jones arrived at Texel on October 3d a British squadron was close behind him. Sending in to the Dutch admiral, he asked permission to anchor in the harbor. The Dutch were not then at war with the English, and their admiral, influenced by the attitude of the Dutch court, which was not friendly to the Americans, refused the permission, but later he grudgingly granted it, and the Americans arrived in after a narrow escape.
The conduct of Captain Pearson of the Serapis on arrival in Texel must be noted because it helps to portray that of his conqueror. When the plate, linen, etc., that had been taken from the Serapis were offered to him by John Paul Jones, he refused to accept it from Jones, but said he would take it if offered by Captain Cottineau of the Pallas. “Paul Jones magnanimously overlooked this vulgar subterfuge, and returned it through Cottineau.” In view of this undisputed fact, is it really a slur on Captain Pearson to suppose that he said what he is charged with saying when he surrendered his sword? The British, through their ambassador, demanded that the Serapis and her consort be returned and that the Americans be delivered up as pirates. The Holland court did not yield that far, though they compelled John Paul Jones to go to sea in the face of a blockading squadron, and because the request of the British was refused, war was declared against Holland. And so the victory of the Bonhomme Richard was far-reaching in its effects.
To offset the manifest advantages which accrued to the Americans through this fight, and especially to counteract the fear and depression which it occasioned throughout England and Scotland, the British ministry adroitly chose to treat Pearson as well as if he had obtained a victory. He was made a knight, and some London merchants were induced to give him silver plate worth £100. Piercy was promoted, and got silver worth £50. When John Paul Jones heard of Pearson’s luck he said:
“He has deserved it; and if I should have the good fortune to fall in with him again, I will make him a lord.”
The flight of John Paul Jones from Texel in the Alliance was characteristic of the man, for instead of taking the long route around the north of the British Islands he boldly headed for the narrow Straits of Dover, leaving port in a howling gale. He passed so close to Dover that he counted the warships in the Downs, and he counted those at Spithead also. He sailed from Texel on December 27, 1779, and he reached Corruna on January 16th. It is worth noting that throughout this extraordinary passage he kept the American flag flying.
