Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 6 (of 8) / The United States of North America, Part I

by Unknown

As a consequence of her capture, Johnston and his crew were made prisoners. At one time the English had nearly one thousand American seamen imprisoned in Forton, near Portsmouth. But the successes of Jones and other cruisers, after the French alliance enabled the Americans to keep their prisoners, compelled the English administration to assent to an exchange; and in the winter of 1779-80, most of the Americans were released by such exchanges.[1244]

It is impossible, within the space at our command, to give any detail of the successes of the various armed vessels, whether fitted out by individuals, by States, or by the Congress on the shores of the United States. A good authority[1245] says that, in 1776, 342 sail of English vessels were captured by the Americans. Of these, forty-four were recaptured, eighteen released, and the rest carried into port. The same authority tells us that in the year 1777 the commerce of England suffered a loss of 467 sail, though the government kept seventy cruisers on the American coast alone. Such successes were not of course without their compensations. In March the English captured the brig "Cabot", of sixteen guns, one of the first American cruisers. When Gen. Howe took Philadelphia the Americans were obliged to destroy the "Andrea Doria", the "Wasp", and the "Hornet." The "Raleigh", one of the Continental frigates, got to sea from New Hampshire. She engaged the "Druid", an English vessel in convoy of the Windward Island fleet, and disabled her, so that she returned to England.

When 1778 began, of the new frigates ordered in 1775, the "Congress" and "Montgomery" had been burned in the Hudson that they might not be taken; the "Delaware" had been captured in the bay whose name she bore, and the "Hancock" taken off Halifax. At about the same time the "Randolph" blew up, as has been told. In 1778 the "Washington" and "Effingham" were burned in the Delaware by the enemy, and the "Virginia" was captured by a squadron of theirs on her first voyage. To supply the places of the unfortunate ships which were lost so soon after they were built, the government had commissioned the "Alliance", the "Confederacy", the "Deane", afterwards called "The Hague", and the "Queen of France." Of these, the three first carried thirty-two guns each, and the last twenty-eight. The "Alliance" and "The Hague" were the only two, of all the seventeen, which remained in the service when the war was over. While the American naval force, so far as it was under Continental orders, was thus insignificant for any action against an English fleet of more than seventy vessels, the arrival of D'Estaing with a large French fleet off the capes of the Delaware, in July, did much to hold that force in check and to compel it to act on the defensive. Before describing the movements of D'Estaing's fleet, we must return to the eastern side of the Atlantic, and continue the history of naval warfare on the coast of England.

Such captures as those made by Wickes and Conyngham, under the very eye of the English nation, naturally attracted more attention among those who led the public opinion of England than did any captures made by the navy of America on her own coast, and there were bolder movements yet to claim their attention than any we have chronicled.

John Paul Jones was a native of Scotland, but at an early age he removed to America, and he had been engaged there in commerce many years before the breaking out of the war. As the reader has seen, he crossed the Atlantic in hopes of obtaining a better vessel than Congress could give to him on this side of the water. But he found on his arrival that no such vessel was to be had at once. He therefore refitted the "Ranger", the vessel in which he had crossed the ocean, and in the month of April, 1778, he made a bold descent on the coast of Scotland and England. In this expedition he took the English ship "Drake", of a force quite equal to his own, and he brought her with him as a prize into the harbor of Brest. In this voyage he made a landing on the Scotch coast, and his men carried off the family plate from the mansion of the Earl of Selkirk. Jones himself had been in the service of this nobleman, and he made it a point of honor to buy back the plate from his men and send it to the Countess of Selkirk.

The news of his exploit was of no little importance for the American name in France. It seemed to open an opportunity for giving to Jones the command of the "Indian", a fine vessel then upon the stocks, and through the summer he was amused by this hope and by various enterprises which were proposed for so energetic a leader. Of his disappointments and of his renewed expectation full record has been left in his letter-books. One of the plans was that of a descent on the English coast, to be made by a French force under the command of La Fayette. Jones was to be the naval leader of this expedition. But as the alliance of France with America was now determined on, the French government enlarged their plans. D'Estaing was sent to the American coast, and La Fayette and Jones were told that their services would not be needed. In the midst of these disappointments, Jones had given up the command of the "Ranger", which he would have thought better than nothing. It is at this moment that he says he adopted "Poor Richard's" motto, which, as our reader knows, he had tried before in America,—"If you want a thing done, do it yourself",—and went to Paris himself to urge his claims for employment. The result of his visit was that an old Indiaman was bought for him, which he transformed into a two-decked frigate, and to this ship, in compliment to Franklin, his fast friend, he gave the name of "Bonhomme Richard", that being the French translation of "Poor Richard." She was armed and equipped in haste, which, as it proved, was almost ruinous. The "Alliance", under Landais, the "Pallas", hired for the expedition, and two smaller vessels, joined the squadron. These two vessels were privateers, and the cost of the whole expedition seems to have been borne, in part at least, by private adventurers. The seamen were persons of all nationalities. But Jones and his own officers on the "Richard" were Americans serving under the American commission. With this heterogeneous squadron Jones sailed, and the several vessels made a good many rather insignificant prizes. They passed around the north of Scotland, and came down on the east side of the island into the Northern Ocean. On the 23d of September he discovered the Baltic squadron of merchantmen in the convoy of the frigate "Serapis", and the "Countess of Scarborough." Jones's squadron at this time consisted of the "Richard", the "Alliance", and the "Pallas." The English squadron was commanded by Richard Pearson.

Pearson signalled to his convoy to take care of themselves, and at once engaged the American squadron, unless we say that they engaged him. The "Pallas" took the "Countess of Scarborough" in an action of which we have not any such account as could be wished for. The fight between the "Richard" and the "Serapis" was long and close, and proved indeed to be one of the most remarkable naval duels in history. The two vessels were of about the same force in respect to the number of guns. But on the first discharge of the lower-deck guns of the "Richard", two of them burst, so inferior was their metal, and the men at the other guns on that deck refused to fight their batteries, probably not unwisely. They repaired to the upper deck, and through the rest of this remarkable action the lower-deck guns of the "Serapis" were served against the main deck of the "Richard" without receiving any reply. Jones fastened the ships together, it is said, with his own hand, as soon as they first touched each other. Through the action their sides were so close that not only at the moment when one party attempted to board the other, but for most of the battle, it was easy to pass from ship to ship. They had been for some time engaged when the firing of the "Richard" slacked, and Pearson called to know if she had struck. It was then that Jones made the ominous reply which has become almost proverbial: "I have not begun to fight." When he did begin to fight he showed all the remarkable qualities which certainly made him a great naval commander. He was willing to serve guns with his own hands, but he kept an eye on everything which was passing on both ships. He succeeded in so placing one or two of his guns that he nearly raked the enemy's deck fore and aft, and it was almost impossible for any man to stand against his fire. This terrible action raged through several hours of the night. The anxieties attending it for the Americans were the more acute, because Landais, in the "Alliance", rendered no direct assistance, but hovered around, firing occasional shots, which the American seamen always declared were aimed at their vessel and not at their enemies. The crisis came at last, when some sailors on the main-yard of the "Richard" succeeded in dropping hand-grenades through the open hatchways of the "Serapis" upon the men at work there. One of these grenades fired some loose powder, which was followed by the explosion of a powder-chest, which demoralized all the crew in that part of the vessel. Pearson was obliged to surrender. But so close and so confused had been the action that it is said that his first officer, when he heard the cry "She has struck!" believed that it was their antagonist that had surrendered, so confident was he still of victory.

Jones carried the prizes, the "Serapis" and the "Scarborough", into the Texel, in Holland. The "Richard" was so damaged that she sank the day after the battle.

It may readily be imagined that this exploit, by which two English men-of-war were carried away in triumph under the very eyes of the people of Scarborough, excited immense attention in all Europe. Jones was the hero of the hour. He was literally crowned with laurel at the theatre, and the French government made him the most flattering proposals with a view to his taking command in their service. Jones himself and all his officers were mad with rage at the conduct of Landais. Nothing but the enthusiasm of the alliance between the two nations had made him the commander of an American frigate. Franklin and Jones would have been glad to try him by court-martial, but this proved impossible. He was sent home in the "Alliance", and on the way became evidently insane. All necessities of a court-martial were thus avoided.[1246]