“On the second night we lost the small boat, which was sunk. But the men saved themselves in the large one, which with difficulty escaped the same fate. At the end of four days, we landed at Revel in Livonia, which was regarded as a kind of miracle. Having satisfied the boatmen for their services and their loss, I gave them a good pilot, with the provisions necessary for their homeward voyage when the weather should become more favorable.”
The admiral arrived at St. Petersburg on the evening of 23d of April, O. S. On the 25th, he had his first audience with the empress. On the 7th of May, he set out for the seat of war. The long and dreary journey across the whole breadth of Russia to the banks of the Euxine, occupied twelve days. He reached the mouth of the Dnieper on the 19th. The Prince Marshal Potemkin was there, and received him very kindly. He requested the admiral immediately to assume command of the naval force stationed near the mouth of the river. He remained at Cherson but one evening and night, but that short time showed him that he would have very serious obstacles to encounter.
The Russian rear-admiral, Mordwinoff, did not affect to disguise his displeasure at his arrival. He gave the new admiral a very sullen reception, delayed communicating to him the details of the force under his command, and manifested no disposition to place him in possession of the silk flag, which belonged to his rank as rear-admiral. The River Bog empties into the Dnieper near the point where that majestic stream pours its flood into the Black Sea. Here the waters expand into a bay, affording good anchorage ground, called the Roads of Shiroque. The Russian fleet of ships and gun-boats was assembled at this place. Early in the morning after the admiral’s arrival at Cherson, he accompanied General Mordwinoff down the river to the naval rendezvous. They reached the flag-ship Wolodimir about mid-day.
One of the most prominent officers in the squadron was a Greek by the name of Alexiano. He was a fearless, coarse, unmannerly fellow, who had been, it was said, a pirate in the Archipelago, and by his piracies, plundering the commerce of all nations, had greatly enriched himself. This man had assembled all the commanders of the ships, and had endeavored to unite them in a cabal against the new admiral. In this he had not been fully successful. Still he had created antagonisms to the authority of Admiral Jones which caused him great embarrassment. Alexiano had obtained the grade of captain, with the title of brigadier.
The Turkish fleet and flotilla were a few miles below the roads of Shiroque, nearly opposite Oczakow, which was held by a strong garrison of the Turks, and was besieged on the land side by the Russians, the Turkish fleet holding the harbor. Admiral Jones, very wisely avoiding all angry contention with his opponents, proposed to one of the Russian officers who was friendly to him, that they should descend the bay together, and carefully reconnoitre the strength and position oi the Turkish forces. While he was absent, Prince Potemkin, who was second in authority to the empress only, exerted all his influence to restore harmony. In this he was partially successful. The admiral, upon his return, found all the officers apparently contented; and on the 26th of May, 1788, he hoisted his flag on the Wolodimir.
The Prince of Nassau Siegen, one of the German principalities, was a very singular man. He was rattle-brained, excessively vain, and quite destitute of either ability in counsel or skill in execution. Admiral Jones had been slightly acquainted with him in Paris, and was very sorry to meet him as an associate on a military expedition. This man had a most exalted idea of his own importance, and joined the expedition of the Russian empress, with the impression that the success of the campaign depended mainly upon him. One of his first instructive remarks to Admiral Jones was:
“If we gain any advantage over the Turks, it is essential to exaggerate it to the utmost.”
To this statement, which was made with a very patronizing air, the admiral simply replied:
“I have never adopted that method of making myself of consequence.”
The rank of the prince, his possessions, and his boastful braggadocio spirit had strangely deceived the empress. The fleet consisted of two pretty distinct portions; a squadron of powerful war vessels and a large flotilla of gun-boats. The necessity of coõperative action in military expeditions is such, that Napoleon I. once remarked: