Jones immediately, upon his arrival at L’Orient, made preparations for his departure, with the two armed ships, the Alliance and the Ariel, which were to convoy several American vessels, with cargoes amounting to four hundred thousand dollars in value. Having heard that his authority had been called in question, he, on the morning of the 13th of June, mustered the crew of the Alliance on the quarter-deck, and caused his commission from Congress to be read to them, together with the order from Dr. Franklin for him to take command of the Alliance, and a subsequent order to take her to Philadelphia. When he asked if any of the crew had any complaint to make against him, not one stepped forward. All seemed to be satisfied.
Soon after, he went ashore to confer with the French authorities in reference to the armament of the Ariel. Landais was on the watch. As soon as Commodore Jones stepped ashore, Captain Landais sent an order to one of his confederates, by the name of Degges, who had been first lieutenant of the Alliance, to take command of the ship until he should receive further orders. Degges mustered the crew; read the order to them, and also the very decided opinion of Commissioner Lee, that Landais was the legal commander of the Alliance. The sailors were bewildered. They were in danger of losing all their prize-money, and their wages for several months of arduous and perilous labor. Landais had made them golden promises. The majority decided for Landais. At that opportune moment, he came over the side of the ship and took the command.
Lieutenant Dale and the other officers of the Richard, who had come from the Serapis on board the Alliance, and who remained faithful to Commodore Jones, were thrust into boats and sent ashore. It is hardly just to call this a mutiny, on the part of the sailors, for they were reasonably in doubt as to who was the commander they were legally bound to obey.
Commodore Jones, hearing the cheers of the crew of the Alliance, hastened on board. He found Landais parading up and down the deck, flourishing his commission in his hand, and haranguing the crew in broken English. Jones was also unceremoniously sent ashore with his officers. He hastened to Versailles, to inform the governmental authorities there of what had transpired. On the 17th of June, Dr. Franklin wrote to Commodore Jones. He had probably not then been fully informed of the very serious character of the events which had taken place. In this letter he said:
“Having been informed by several gentlemen of and from L’Orient, that it is there generally understood the mutiny on board your ship has been advised or promoted by the Honorable Arthur Lee, whom I had ordered you to receive as a passenger, I hereby withdraw that order so far as to leave the execution to your direction. If from the circumstances which have come to your knowledge it should appear to you that the peace and good government of the ship, during the voyage, may be endangered by his presence, you may decline taking that gentleman; which I apprehend need not obstruct his return to America, as there are several ships going under your convoy, and no doubt many of their passengers may be prevailed to change places. But if you judge these suspicions groundless you will comply with the order aforesaid.”
Honorable Arthur Lee was a disappointed and angry man. He had quarrelled with his associates, and was returning to America in very ill humor. The Alliance was crowded with freight of the utmost importance to the struggling colonies. Mr. Lee insisted upon large accommodation for himself and family, for room for his carriage, and for a vast amount of baggage. This would have demanded space which was needed for transportation of the soldiers’ clothing. Commodore Jones, with his soul absorbed in devotion to the public interests, and who scarcely allowed chest-room for himself, objected to the surrender of so much space to the commissioner and his family. This grievously offended Mr. Lee, and added to his discontent. Commodore Jones gives the following account of the difficulty:
“I am convinced that Mr. Lee has acted in this manner merely because I would not become the enemy of the venerable, the wise, the good Franklin, whose heart as well as head does, and will always do, honor to human nature. I know the great and good, in this kingdom, better perhaps than any other American who has appeared in Europe since the treaty of alliance. And if my testimony could add anything to Franklin’s reputation, I could witness the universal veneration and esteem with which his name inspires all ranks, not only at Versailles and all over this kingdom, but also in Spain and Holland. And I can add from the testimony of the first characters of other nations that, with them, envy itself is dumb when the name of Franklin is but mentioned.”
Upon the day of the mutiny which put Landais in possession of the Alliance, Paul Jones dined with the French admiral. He was keenly sensible of the disgrace to our nation should two commissioned officers, in a foreign port, each perhaps leading two hundred men, have a bloody battle on the deck of one of our war-ships. Such an untoward event would have disgraced our country, and the holy cause in which we were engaged, in the eyes of all Europe. And it would but add to our reproach that, in this deplorable conflict, the commissioners, sent to Paris to win France to our cause, were divided, Mr. Lee being on the one side and Dr. Franklin on the other.
The Alliance was in a French port, and consequently under French law. When the commissioners were in antagonistic opinion whether Jones or Landais was the legal commander of the ship, the sailors might well be excused for being also honestly divided in their views. Commodore Jones, a humane man, a lover of peace and justice, could not bear the thought of strewing the deck of the ship with the bloody corpses of these ignorant men. He preferred to submit the question to the arbitration of the laws, rather than to brutal violence.
Jones despatched an express to the court, at Versailles, and immediately followed it. Upon his arrival he found, that through the intervention of Dr. Franklin, orders had already been issued for the detention of the Alliance, and the arrest of Landais. Journeying was comparatively slow in those days. After the absence of a week Commodore Jones returned. He found that, during the night preceding his arrival, Landais had warped the ship from the inner to the outer harbor, which was called Port Louis. There was still a narrow entrance through which the ship must pass before it could be out at sea. A battery commanded that passage. A boat was sent on board, with an officer, to arrest Landais in the king’s name, and to announce that the Alliance would be sunk should she attempt to leave the port. Captain Landais, standing beneath the Stars and Stripes, and surrounded by his men, refused to surrender himself.