Remarkes on Thursday Sept the 23: 1779
This 24 Hourses Begins with a Litte Breze of wind and Raniey weather the wind Vearible Att 4 P. M toek the Littel Sloop pulot in tow att healef peast to sent Shooneur pilot Boat to go a Bord of the prise Bridg to sink hir But seeing hir make Sail for the Land hald the Boat to Come Beack att ½ Peast 5 the Boat got a Long Sid and we took hir in tow a Stairn of the other att 6PM Spirean Littes Bor W N W Distance 6 Leagues att ½ peast 11 P M Saw two Sailes att 1 A. M Cald all hands att 2 A M all to Quearters att ½ peast 2 hoistd 3 Littes 1 fowd 1 amid Shipes & 1 afte att ¾ peast 2 hoistd 2 more Leites att the mirzon peak Laid the m & mison top Sailes to the mast the Sailes Shod a Litte att 4 wore Ship att 5 A M hisde a Chuckerd flag att the mezin peak att ½ peast 5 found them to Be the Elliance and pealaice two of our Cone Sortes or twoo of our flete
Remarks on Friday 24th.. September 1779
The First part of this twenty four Hours clear and Pleasant Weather with Moderate Breeses of Wind—— At 3 P.M. sent the small Schooner with Mr. Lunt and A Number of Marines in her to Board a Schooner Brigg to the Windward of us at ½ past Do. the Alliance hove out a Signal and bore away we immediately fir'd a gun for the Schooner to give over Chase and kept away—— at 4 sett Steering Sails fore and aft (in Chase of two Ships) At 6 P.M. Hoisted a Blue flag Blue Pendant & a Blue & Yellow Flag At ½ past Do. came up with the largest Ship and engaged her; the Alliance engag'd the small Ship which soon struck. Att 8 A.M. the Alliance came under our stern and Rak'd us fore & aft. She then shot just ahead of us and did the like again, we were all this time closely engag'd with our Antagonist lying so near each other that our Yard Arms was within her's; at 10 P.M. She Struck her Colours and prov'd to be the Searuppus of 44 Guns soon after She Struck her Main Mast fell over her side. The People employed in putting fire out that had catch'd in several parts of the Ship & in Pomping for we were very near sinking; The Ship that the Alliance Took prov'd to be the Scarborough of 20 Guns
Editor's Note: The foregoing are copies of the entries or Remarks in "A Log Book for the Ship Bon Homme Richard, the Honorible John Paul Jones Commander begun at L'Orient Saturday, 8th of May 1779," of which a typewritten copy is in the Navy Department Library, and the original is supposed to be now in the possession of the Selkirk family at St. Mary's Isle.
Facsimiles of the three Remarks of the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of September are also in the Navy Department Library. The entries of the 22nd and 23rd are in the same handwriting, and of similar orthography, as are the preceding Remarks in that log. The handwriting of the Remarks on Friday the 24th is that of Lieut. Henry Lunt, who also wrote the Remarks on the same day in the Serapis' log book.
There are no entries in the column of Knots, F., Courses, Wind, for which the pages are ruled, for those days.
If this log was the regular Ship's Journal, it is remarkable that it should have been kept by a man whose handwriting and orthography were so bad as to be decipherable with difficulty. That the record of the transactions on the eventful 24th day of September on the Richard and Serapis and the following days should have been delegated to Lieutenant Lunt and Midshipman Groube seems to have been thought desirable by some one in authority.
APPENDIX B.
Copy of a Letter from Captain James Nicholson to Captain John Barry, Commanding U. S. Frigate Alliance.