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07-08-2007, 14:35
John Paul Jones
On commemorating the lives and services of the naval commanders distinguished in the history of our country, it is but just to place Paul Jones among the first. He was the first to hoist the American flag in a regular American man of war. He gained the most brilliant victory won upon the ocean during the war of independence; and though out the whole of his splendid career he exhibited a degree of courage and ability, which has been surpassed by none of those who have succeeded him in the brilliant line of our naval heroes.
John Paul Jones was the son of Mr John Paul, a respectable gardener. He was born at Arbigland, in the parish of Kirkbean, and Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, in the month of July 1747, and received the rudiments of his education at the parochial school. The contiguity of his residence to the shore of the Solway Firth, inspired him with an early predilection for a sea-faring life; and while yet a mere child, he hoisted his flag onboard his mimic ship, and issued audible mandates to his imaginary officers and crew, with all the consequence of a legitimate commander Nor was he content with this. As his skills in manoeuvring improved, he ventured to criticise the nautical knowledge of practical sailors; and in the eager and confident tone with which, from the eminence on which he took his station, he thundered forth his orders to the vessels which were entering the port at Carsethorn, might be remarked the ardent and enterprising mind of one who felt that he was born to future command.
At the time of which we speak, the town of Dumfries carried on a very considerable trade in tobacco with America; and as the Nith was not navigable to foreign vessels, the cargoes were unshipped at Carsethorn, near the mouth of that river. There, from his earliest years, Paul had opportunities of conversing with mariners from the discontented colonies; and it is probable that he thus first imbibed that enthusiastic attachment to the United States, and those revolutionary principles, which exerted so decided an influence on his conduct when he grew up to maturity, and eventually led him to renounce his allegiance, and raise his hand against the country which gave him birth.
His partiality for a sailor’s life was so determined, that his friends resolved to indulge it; and accordingly at the age of twelve, he was sent across the Firth to Whitehaven, where he was bound apprentice to Mr younger, a respectable merchant in the American trade. His first voyage was made onboard the Friendship, Captain Benson. His course was steered for the Rappahannoc, and before he had completed his thirteenth year, he had landed on the shore of that country which he was destined to adopt as his own. His home, while the ship was in port, was the house of an elder brother, who, having married a native of Virginia, had previously settled there. Here his early prepossessions in favour of America were confirmed, and from that period, as he afterwards expressed himself to Baron Van der Capellan, that because “the country of his fond election.”
In the meantime, his intelligence and good conduct acquired him the esteem and confidence of his employer, who promised to give him a substantial proof of his favour, by promoting him to the command of a vessel; and we would have kept his word, had not the embarrassed state of his affairs deprived him of the power to do it.
Our adventurer, being at length freed from the trammels of apprenticeship, made several voyages to the coast of Africa; but he soon became disgusted with a traffic which had too long been the disgrace of civilised nations, and confined his services to the command of vessels engaged in a more reputable and legitimate commerce.
In the year 1773, he went to Virginia to arrange the affairs of his brother, who had died there without leaving any family; and about this time, in addition to his original surname, he assumed the patronymic of Jones, his father’s Christian name having been John. This custom, which is of classical authority, has long been prevalent in Wales, and in various other countries, although it is not usual in that part of the island in which he was born.
The visit revived and revetted the attachment which young Paul Jones had conceived for America; and in spite of the native ardour and restless activity of his mind, he resolved to withdraw from the vicissitudes of a sea faring life, to fix his residence in that country, and to devote the remainder of his days to retirement and study. He was not little aware of the turbulent scenes in which he was destined soon to perform a part, nor of the conspicuous figure he to make in them.
The discontents of the colonists had by this time occasioned much commotion, and their murmurs became daily deeper and more frequent, till at last they fairly broke off all connection with the parent country. Towards the conclusion of the year 1775, it was determined by Congress to fit out a naval force to assist in the defence of American independence, and an anxious search was made for friends to the cause who should be at once able and willing to act as officers onboard their vessels. It now appeared that Paul Jones had, in his romantic schemes of tranquil enjoyment, falsely estimated the natural bent of his genius. With deep interest he had watched the progress of those political events, which were to decide the fate of his adopted country; and when an open resistance was made to the dominion of Britain, he could no longer remain an inactive spectator. Having only just completed his twenty-eight year, he was full of bodily vigour and of mental energy, and he conceived that his natural skill would qualify to be a distinguished asserter of the rights of the colonists. He was immediately appointed first lieutenant of the Alfred, one of the only two ships belonging to Congress, and onboard that vessel, before Philadelphia, he hoisted the flag of independent America with his own hands, the first time it was displayed in a national ship. In the course of a very active and successful campaign, having found means to gain the confidence of the Marine Committee by his zeal and intrepidity, he had not served many months before the President sent him a captain’s commission.
In November 1777, he sailed for France, in the Ranger, a new sloop-of-war of eighteen guns, with despatches of the victory of Saratoga. It was intended that, “as a reward for the important services” which he had already rendered to America, he should be appointed to the command of the Indian, a fine frigate, just built for Congress at Amsterdam, and that the Ranger should act under his orders; but the American commissioners at Paris found it their best policy to assign this vessel over to the King of France, and Captain Paul Jones continued with the Ranger. Having convoyed some merchant ships at Quiberon Bay, he there received from the French commander the first salute that was ever given to the flag of Congress. Eager to retaliate upon British for some predatory exploits of her sailors on the American coast, and exasperated by the resolution which the English government had taken, to treat all the supporters of independence as traitors and rebels, Captain Paul Jones soon after this entered the Irish Channel, and approached his native shores, not as a friend, but as a determined enemy. On the night of the 22nd April 1778, he came to anchor in the Solway Firth, almost within sight of the trees, which sheltered the house in which he first drew the breath of life. Early next morning, he rowed for the English coast, at the head of thirty-one volunteers, in two boats, with the intention of destroying the shipping (about two hundred sail,) which lay in the harbour of Whitehaven. In this daring attempt he would probably have succeeded without difficulty, had not the strength of the opposing tide retarded his progress so much, that day began to dawn before he could gain the shore. He despatched the smaller of the two boats to the north of the port to set fire to the vessels, whilst he led the remainder of the party in person to the more hazardous duty of securing the fort, which was situated on a hill to the south. It was a cold morning; and the sentinels, little aware that an enemy was so near, had retired into the guard room for warmth, affording Jones an opportunity to take them by surprise, of which he did not fail to avail himself. Climbing over the shoulders of the tallest of his men, he crept silently through one of the embrasures, and was instantly followed by the rest. Their first care was to make fast the door of the guard room, and their next to spike the cannon, thirty-six in number. Having effected this without bloodshed, they proceeded to join the detachment which had been sent to the north; and finding that a false alarm had deterred them from executing their orders, Jones instantly proceeded to set fire to the vessels within his reach. By this time, however, the inhabitants were roused, and the invaders were obliged to retreat, leaving three ships in flames, of which one alone was destroyed.
On the same day with this adventure, another memorable occurrence took place, which contributed, for a time, to add greatly to the odium which the first had brought on his name in Britain, but which, in the end, enabled him to prove that he was possessed of the most disinterested and heroic qualities. In cruising off the coast of Galloway, it occurred t him, that, if he could get into his power a man of high rank and influence in the state, he should be able, by retaining him as a hostage, to ensure to the American prisoners of war more lenient treatment than was threatened by the British government. Knowing that the Earl of Selkirk possessed a seat in St. Mary’s Isle, a beautiful peninsula at the mouth of the Dee, and being ill informed with regard to the political connections of that nobleman, he destined him for the subject of his experiment. With that view, he landed on the Isle, about noon, with two officers and a few men; but before they had proceeded far, he learnt that his lordship was from home, and that there were none but ladies at the house. Finding his object frustrated, he now wished to return; but his crew were not so easily satisfied. Their object was plunder; and as they consisted of men in a very imperfect state of discipline, and with whom it would have been dangerous to contend, he allowed them to proceed. He exacted from them, however, a promise that they should be guilty of no violence; that the men should not enter the house, and that the officers, after having made their demands, should accept of what might be put into their hands without scrutiny. These conditions were punctually obeyed. The greater part of the Selkirk plate was carried off in triumph by the crew, and Paul Jones was, for a time, stigmatised as a freebooter; but he nobly vindicated his character, by taking the earliest opportunity of purchasing the whole of it, out of his own private funds, and remitting it safe to its original owner, without accepting the smallest remuneration. National prejudice has misrepresented this transaction; and in order to heighten the popular indignation against our hero, it has been common to state, that this attempt on the persons, and as it was supposed the property, of Lord Selkirk, was aggravated by ingratitude, his father having eaten of that nobleman’s bread. Nothing can be more false. Neither Mr. Paul, nor any of his kindred, ever was in the Earl’s employ, or had ever the most distant connection with his lordship or his family; and in a correspondence which took place between our hero and Lady Selkirk, relative to the restitution of the plate, a most honourable testimony was gratefully paid by the latter to the Captain’s character.
The day succeeding the two events just mentioned, Paul Jones encountered the Drake, a King’s ship of twenty guns, in Carrick Fergus bay, and took her after a very brave resistance, in the course of which the English captain and his first lieutenant were mortally wounded. With this and another large prize, Captain Jones returned to Brest, after an absence of twenty-eight days of very active service, in which, besides taking and destroying many valuable vessels, he had thrown the coasts of Scotland and Ireland into consternation, occasioned the Irish Volunteers to be embodied, and obliged the English government to expand considerable sums in fortifying the harbours.
A teasing period of hopes and disappointments followed. The French ministry, to testify their good will to the Unites Sates, had promised to furnish Paul Jones with a ship, in which, however, he was to display the American flag; but, after various written memorials, no progress seemed to have been made towards the fulfilment of this engagement. At length he determined to apply in person, and having gone to Paris, he soon obtained the command of the Due de Duras of forty guns. The name, however, he changed to Le Bon-Homme Richard, in compliment to the wise saying of Poor Richard, “If you would have your business done, come yourself; if not, send.” In this vessel, badly manned, and not much better furnished, Paul Jones sailed as Commodore of a little squadron, consisting, besides his own ship, of the Alliance of thirty six guns, the Pallas of thirty-two, the Serf of eighteen, the Vengeance of twelve, and two privateers, which requested leave to share the Commodore’s fortunes. After taking several prizes, the Serf, the privateers, and at length the Alliance, deserted the squadron. The Commodore’s good fortune, however, did not desert him. On the 15th September, he was, with his own ship, the Pallas, the Vengeance, and several prizes, at the entrance into the Firth of Forth, where they made every necessary disposition to seize the guard ship, and two cutters, that rode at anchor in the roads, and to lay Leith, and perhaps Edinburgh, under contribution. The wind, which was fair, in the night, opposed them in the morning. However, on the 16th, the little squadron continued all day to work up the Firth. At this time a member of the British Parliament observing them from the coast of Fife, and mistaking them for the King’s ships, sent off a boat to inform the Commodore that he was greatly afraid of Paul Jones, and to beg some powder and shot. Our hero, much amused with the message, sent him a barrel of gunpowder, with a civil answer to quiet his fears, and an apology for not including shot in the present.
Next morning at day break, every thing was in perfect readiness to commence the engagement, and two tacks more would have brought the strangers alongside their enemies, when, at that critical moment, a sudden gale of wind swept down the Firth, raging with such violence, as completely to overpower them, to sink one of the prizes, and drive all the rest of the squadron fairly out to sea. By this failure, the captains of the Pallas and Vengeance were so much disheartened, that they could not be prevailed on to renew the attempting.
Continuing their cruise, after various adventures, the squadron suddenly discovered the homeward bound British Baltic fleet, off Scarborough castle, escorted by the frigate Serapis, and the Countess of Scarborough. After a long engagement, in which Paul Jones displayed the most astonishing skill, intrepidity, and presence of mind, the Countess of Scarborough struck to the Pallas, and the Serapis to the Bon-Homme Richard, which latter ship was reduced to so shattered a state, that next morning, after all hands had left her, she went to the bottom. The Serapis was not in much better condition, the Commodore having, with his own hands, lashed the two ships together, to prevent the enemy from availing himself of his superiority in weight of metal. The following is Paul Jones own account of this famous battle: -
“Soon after this a fleet of forty-one sail appeared off Flamborough Head, bearing N.N.E. This induced me to abandon the single ship which had then anchored in Burlington Bay; I also called back the pilot boat, and hoisted a signal for a general chase. When the fleet discovered us bearing down, all the merchant ships crowded sail towards the shore. The two ships of war that protected the fleet at the same time steered from the land, and made the disposition for battle. In approaching the enemy, I crowded every possible sail, and made the signal for the line of battle, to which the Alliance showed no attention. Earnest as I was for the action, I could not reach the Commodore’s ship until seven in the evening, being then within pistol-shot, when he hailed the Bon-Homme Richard. We answered him by firing a whole broadside.
“The battle being thus begun was continued with unremitting fury. Every method was practised on both sides to gain an advantage, and rake each other; and I must confess that the enemy’s ship, being much more manageable than the Bon-Homme Richard, gained thereby several times an advantageous situation, in spite of my best endeavours to prevent it.
As I had to deal with an enemy of greatly superior force, I was under the necessity of closing with him, to prevent the advantage, which he had over me in point of manoeuvre. It was my intention to lay the Bon Homme Richard athwart the enemy’s bow; but as that operation required great dexterity in the management of both side’s sails and helm, and some of our braces being shot away, it did not exactly succeed to my wish. The enemy’s bowsprit, however, came over the Bon-Homme Richard’s poop by the mizzenmast, and I made both ships fast together in that situation, which, by the action of the wind on the enemy’s sails, forced her stern close to the Bon-Homme Richard’s bow, so that the ships lay square alongside of each other, the yards being all entangled, and the cannon of each ship touching the opponents.
“When this position took place, it was eight o’clock, previous to which the Bon-Homme Richard had received sundry eighteen-pound shots below the water, and leaked very much. My battery of twelve- pounders, on which I had placed my chief dependence, being commanded by Lieutenant Dale and Colonel Weibert, and manned principally with American seamen and French volunteers, was entirely silenced and abandoned. As to the six old eighteen-pounders that formed the battery of the lower gun-deck, they did no service whatever, except firing eight shot in all. Two out of three of them burst at the first fire, and killed almost all the men who were stationed to manage them. Before this time, too, Colonial de Chamillard, who commanded a party of twenty soldiers on the poop, had abandoned that station after having lost some of his men. I had now only two pieces of cannon, (nine-pounders,) on the quarterdeck, that were not silenced, and not one of the heavier cannon was fired during the rest of the action. The purser, M. Mease, who commanded the guns on the quarterdeck, being dangerously wounded in the head, I was obliged to fill his place, and with great difficulty rallied a few men, and shifted over one of the lee quarterdeck guns, so that we afterwards played three pieces of nine-pounders upon the enemy. The tops alone seconded the fire of this little battery, and held out bravely during the whole of the action, especially the main top, where Lieutenant Stack commanded. I directed the fire of one of the three cannon against the main mast, with double headed shot, while the other two were exceedingly well served with grape and canister shot, to silence the enemy’s musketry and clear her decks, which was at last effected. The enemy were, as I have understood, on the instant of calling for quarters, when the cowardice or treachery of three of my under officers induced them to call to the enemy. The English Commodore asked me if I demanded quarters, and I having answered him the most determined negative; they renewed the battle with double fury. They were unable to stand the deck; but the fire of their cannon, especially the lower battery, which was entirely formed of ten-pounders, was incessant; both ships was entirely formed of ten-pounders, was incessant; both ships were set on fire in various places, and the scene was dreadful beyond the reach of language. To account for the timidity of my three under officers, I mean the gunner, the carpenter, and the master-at-arms, I must observe, that the two first were slightly wounded and, as the ship had received various shot under water, and one of the pumps being shot away, the carpenter expressed his fears that she would sink, and the other two concluded that she was sinking, which occasioned the gunner to run aft on the poop, without my knowledge, to strike the colours. Fortunately for me, a cannon ball had done that before, by carrying away the ensign-staff; he was therefore reduced to the necessity of sinking, as he supposed, or of calling for quarter, and he preferred the latter.
“All this time the Bon-Homme Richard had sustained the action alone, and the enemy, though much superior in force, would have been very glad to have got clear, as appears by their own acknowledgments, and by their having let go an anchor the instant that I laid them onboard, by which means they would have escaped, had I not made them well fast to the Bon-Homme Richard.
“At last, at half past nine, the Alliance appeared, and I now thought the battle at an end; but, to my utter astonishment, he discharged a broadside full into the stern of the Bon-Homme Richard. We called to him for God’s sake to forbear firing into the Bon-Homme Richard; yet they passed along the offside of the ship, and continued firing. There was no possibility of this mistaking the enemy’s ships for the Bon-Homme Richard; they’re being the most essential difference in their appearance and construction. Besides, it was then full moonlight, and the sides of the Bon-Homme Richard were all black, while the sides of the prize were all yellow. Yet, for the greater security, I showed the signal of our reconnaissance, by patting out three lanterns, one at the head, another at the stern, and the third in the middle, in a horizontal line. Every tongue cried that he was firing into the wrong ship, but nothing availed; he passed round firing into the Bon-Homme Richard’s head, stern, and broadside, and by one of his volleys killed several of my best men, and mortally wounded a good officer on the forecastle only. My situation was really deplorable; the Bon-Homme Richard received various shot under water from the Alliance; the leak gained on the pumps, and the fire increased much onboard both ships. Some officers persuaded me to strike, of whose courage and good sense I entertain a high opinion. My treacherous master-at-arms let loose all my prisoners without my knowledge, and my prospects became gloomy indeed. I would not, however, give up the point. The enemy’s mainmast began to shake, their firing decreased fast, ours rather increased, and the British colours were struck at half an hour past ten.
“This prize proved to be the British ship of war the Serapis, a new ship of forty-four guns, built on the most approved construction, with two complete batteries, one of them eighteen-pounders, and commanded by the brave Commodore Richard Pearson. I had yet two enemies to encounter far more formidable than the British I mean fire and water. The Serapis was attacked only by the first, but the Bon-Homme Richard was assailed by both; there was five feet water in the hold, and though it was moderate from the explosion of so much gunpowder, yet the three pumps that remained could with difficulty only keep the water from gaining. The fire broke out in various parts of the ship of all the water that could be thrown into quench it, and at length broke out as low as the powder magazine, and within a few inches of the powder. In that dilemma I took out the powder upon the deck, ready to be thrown overboard at the last extremity, and it was ten o’clock the next day (the 24th) before the fire was entirely extinguished. With respect to the situation of the Bon-Homme Richard, the rudder was cut entirely off, the stern frame and transoms were almost entirely cut away, and the timbers by the lower deck, especially from the mainmast towards the stern, being greatly decayed with age, were mangled beyond my power of description, and a person must have been an eyewitness to form a just idea of the tremendous scene of carnage, wreck, and ruin, which every where appeared. Humanity cannot but recoil from the prospect of such finished horror, and lament that war should be capable of producing such fatal consequences.
“After the carpenters, as well as Captain Cottineau and other men of senses, had well examined and surveyed the ship, (which was not finished before five in the evening,) I found every person to be convinced that it was impossible to keep the Bon-Homme Richard afloat, so as to reach a port, if the wind should increase, it being then only a very moderate breeze. I had but little time to remove my wounded, which now became unavoidable, and which was effected in the course of the night and next morning. I was determined to keep the Bon-Homme Richard afloat, and, if possible, to bring her into port. For that purpose, the first lieutenant of the Pallas continued onboard with a party of men, to attend the pumps, with boats in waiting, ready to take them onboard in case the water should gain on them too fast. The wind augmented in the night, and the next day the 25th, so that it was impossible to prevent the good old ship from sinking. They did not abandon her till after nine o’clock; the water was then up to the lower deck, and a little after ten we saw, with inexpressible grief, the last glimpse of the Bon-Homme Richard. No lives were lost with the ship, but it was impossible to save the stores of any sort whatever. I lost even the best part of my clothes, books, and papers; and several of my officers lost all their clothes and effects.
“Having thus endeavoured to give a clear and simple relation of the circumstances and events that have attended the little armament under my command, I shall freely submit my conduct therein to the censure of my superiors and the impartial public. I beg leave, however, to observe, that the force that was put under my command was far from being well composed, and as the great majority of the actors in it have appeared ben on the pursuit of interest only, I am exceedingly sorry that they and I have been at all concerned.”
Such is the despatch, which Commodore Jones transmitted from the Texel to Dr. Franklin, and afterwards to congress.
The Commodore now took the command of the Serapis, erected jury-masts, and with some difficulty conveyed of his prizes to the Texel. Paul Jones, who never suffered the interests of his fellow citizens to be lost sight of, exerted all his influence with the French court to have it arranged that his prisoners should be exchanged against American prisoners in England, and be completely succeeded. Dr. Franklin, the minister of the United States at Paris, soon cheered his heart, by writing to him that “he had then completed the glorious work he had so nobly begun, by giving liberty to all the Americans who then languished for it in England.” On this occasion, too, the King of France directed his ambassador at the Hague to communicate to Commodore Paul Jones the high personal esteem he bore for his character, especially for his disinterestedness and humanity.
The Captain of the Alliance being ordered to Paris, to answer for his insubordination, Jones took the command of that vessel; but he now found himself environed with dangers. The Dutch were summoned to deliver him up to the vengeance of the English government, as a pirate and a rebel; and they were most reluctantly constrained to order him out to sea, where an English squadron was watching to pounce upon him as their certain prey. The acceptance of a commission from the King of France would have saved him from this dilemma, and the ambassador from his Most Christian Majesty repeatedly urged him to adopt that alternative but he thought his honour engaged to decline it. He would not, at whatever risk, abandon the flag of his beloved America. He, however, contrived to make his escape, passing the Straits of Dover, and the Isle of Wight, before the very beards of the English fleets.
Towards the close of 1780, our hero sailed for America in the Ariel with important despatches and having encountered in his passage the Triumph, an English vessel of twenty guns, he forced her to strike.
A little before this time, the King of France had testified his approbation of Paul Jone’s services, by presenting him with a superb gold sword; and a letter from M. de Sartaine now reached the President of the United States, requesting liberty “to decorate that brave officer with the cross of the order of military merit.” The demand was laid before Congress, and a law having been passed on the 27th February, acceding to it, he was formally invested by the Chevalier de la Luzerne, at a public fete given to the members of that legislative body. In April following, on the report of a committee, Congress passed a vote of thanks to the Chevalier Paul Jones “for the zeal, prudence, and intrepidity with which he had sustained the honour of the American flag; for his bold and successful enterprises to redeem from captivity those citizens of America who had fallen under the power of the enemy; and in general, for the good conduct and eminent services by which he had added lustre to his character, and to the arms of America.”
During the remainder of the war with England, he had no opportunity to signalise himself. After it was over, Congress, as an expression of gratitude, caused a gold medal to be struck, with appropriate legends and devices, to perpetuate the memory of his valour and services. The annexed engraving, executed in the ruled manner from a duplicate of the medal, by Mr. Asa Spencer, the inventor of the machine for medal ruling, gives an accurate resemblance of it.
In 1787, the United States having charged the Chevalier with a mission to the court of Denmark, he set sail for that country in the month of November, and passing through Paris in his way was strongly solicited to assume the command of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. Soon after his arrival at Copenhagen, a courier, sent express by the Empress Catharine, conveyed to him an urgent invitation to St. Petersburgh. Although he saw many reasons for declining to engage in the service of that potentate, he was flattered by the offer, and felt himself bound at least to thank her Majesty in person. He, therefore, set out instantly for her Court, by the way of Sweden; but at Greshelham found the passage of the Gulf of Bothnia blocked up by ice. After several unsuccessful attempts to proceed to Finland by the islands, he conceived that it might be practicable to affect his object by doubling the ice to the southward. The enterprise was formidable, and altogether new; but our hero was not easily daunted. Without making known his intentions to his companions, he set sail from Greshelham one morning very early, in an open boat about thirty feet long, followed by a little one to haul over the ice. Towards evening, having got nearly opposite to Stockholm, our adventurer, producing his pistols, ordered the astonished boatmen to pursue the route, which he had secretly devised. Resistance was vain, and he was obeyed. All night the wind was favourable, and they hoped to reach the coast of Finland in the morning; but they found themselves opposed by an impenetrable barrier of ice. Neither was it possible from the state of the weather to return. The only resource was to make for the Gulf of Finland. When night came on, they steered by the aid of a pocket compass, lighted by the lamp of the Chevalier’s carriage; and, at the end of four days, after having lost the smaller of their two boats, they terminated a perilous and fatiguing voyage at Revel, in Livonia.
The Chevalier was graciously received at the Court of St. Petersburgh; and longer opposing the wishes of the Empress, attached himself to her service, under this single condition, “That he should never be condemned unheard.”
He proceeded, without delay, with the rank of Rear Admiral, to take the command of the fleet stationed at the Liman, or mouth of the Dneiper, and oppose the Turkish fleet under the Captain Pacha. On the 26th May 1788, he hoisted his flag onboard the Wolodimer. His squadron was supported by a flotilla under the Prince of Nassau, and land forces under Prince Potemkin. Our limits forbid us to follow Admiral Jones through this campaign. It afforded him many opportunities of displaying his characteristic intrepidity and professional skill; but mean jealousy and malignant cabals deprived him of much well trained glory. He was, however, invested with the order of St. Anne, as an acknowledgement of his fidelity; and, on his arrival at St. Petersburgh, he was told that he was destined for a more important service. Disgusted, however, by the intrigues of selfish men, he left Russia in August 1789, and never returned.
The remainder of his days he spent partly in Holland, and partly in France. He collected a number of important documents relative to the public transactions in which he had actively concerned; and as if he had foreseen that he was not to be long live, he devoted much of his leisure to the arrangement of his affairs, and to the preparations of papers, which should exhibit his character and services in their true light to his friends and to posterity.
He died at Paris of dropsy in the chest, in July 1792, having barely completed his forty-fifth year. His funeral was attended by a deputation o the National Assembly, and M. Marron pronounced an oration over his tomb.
Among the Admiral’s papers were found memoirs of his life, written with his own hand; a most interesting literacy production; from these papers the above sketch was drawn up.
On commemorating the lives and services of the naval commanders distinguished in the history of our country, it is but just to place Paul Jones among the first. He was the first to hoist the American flag in a regular American man of war. He gained the most brilliant victory won upon the ocean during the war of independence; and though out the whole of his splendid career he exhibited a degree of courage and ability, which has been surpassed by none of those who have succeeded him in the brilliant line of our naval heroes.
John Paul Jones was the son of Mr John Paul, a respectable gardener. He was born at Arbigland, in the parish of Kirkbean, and Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, in the month of July 1747, and received the rudiments of his education at the parochial school. The contiguity of his residence to the shore of the Solway Firth, inspired him with an early predilection for a sea-faring life; and while yet a mere child, he hoisted his flag onboard his mimic ship, and issued audible mandates to his imaginary officers and crew, with all the consequence of a legitimate commander Nor was he content with this. As his skills in manoeuvring improved, he ventured to criticise the nautical knowledge of practical sailors; and in the eager and confident tone with which, from the eminence on which he took his station, he thundered forth his orders to the vessels which were entering the port at Carsethorn, might be remarked the ardent and enterprising mind of one who felt that he was born to future command.
At the time of which we speak, the town of Dumfries carried on a very considerable trade in tobacco with America; and as the Nith was not navigable to foreign vessels, the cargoes were unshipped at Carsethorn, near the mouth of that river. There, from his earliest years, Paul had opportunities of conversing with mariners from the discontented colonies; and it is probable that he thus first imbibed that enthusiastic attachment to the United States, and those revolutionary principles, which exerted so decided an influence on his conduct when he grew up to maturity, and eventually led him to renounce his allegiance, and raise his hand against the country which gave him birth.
His partiality for a sailor’s life was so determined, that his friends resolved to indulge it; and accordingly at the age of twelve, he was sent across the Firth to Whitehaven, where he was bound apprentice to Mr younger, a respectable merchant in the American trade. His first voyage was made onboard the Friendship, Captain Benson. His course was steered for the Rappahannoc, and before he had completed his thirteenth year, he had landed on the shore of that country which he was destined to adopt as his own. His home, while the ship was in port, was the house of an elder brother, who, having married a native of Virginia, had previously settled there. Here his early prepossessions in favour of America were confirmed, and from that period, as he afterwards expressed himself to Baron Van der Capellan, that because “the country of his fond election.”
In the meantime, his intelligence and good conduct acquired him the esteem and confidence of his employer, who promised to give him a substantial proof of his favour, by promoting him to the command of a vessel; and we would have kept his word, had not the embarrassed state of his affairs deprived him of the power to do it.
Our adventurer, being at length freed from the trammels of apprenticeship, made several voyages to the coast of Africa; but he soon became disgusted with a traffic which had too long been the disgrace of civilised nations, and confined his services to the command of vessels engaged in a more reputable and legitimate commerce.
In the year 1773, he went to Virginia to arrange the affairs of his brother, who had died there without leaving any family; and about this time, in addition to his original surname, he assumed the patronymic of Jones, his father’s Christian name having been John. This custom, which is of classical authority, has long been prevalent in Wales, and in various other countries, although it is not usual in that part of the island in which he was born.
The visit revived and revetted the attachment which young Paul Jones had conceived for America; and in spite of the native ardour and restless activity of his mind, he resolved to withdraw from the vicissitudes of a sea faring life, to fix his residence in that country, and to devote the remainder of his days to retirement and study. He was not little aware of the turbulent scenes in which he was destined soon to perform a part, nor of the conspicuous figure he to make in them.
The discontents of the colonists had by this time occasioned much commotion, and their murmurs became daily deeper and more frequent, till at last they fairly broke off all connection with the parent country. Towards the conclusion of the year 1775, it was determined by Congress to fit out a naval force to assist in the defence of American independence, and an anxious search was made for friends to the cause who should be at once able and willing to act as officers onboard their vessels. It now appeared that Paul Jones had, in his romantic schemes of tranquil enjoyment, falsely estimated the natural bent of his genius. With deep interest he had watched the progress of those political events, which were to decide the fate of his adopted country; and when an open resistance was made to the dominion of Britain, he could no longer remain an inactive spectator. Having only just completed his twenty-eight year, he was full of bodily vigour and of mental energy, and he conceived that his natural skill would qualify to be a distinguished asserter of the rights of the colonists. He was immediately appointed first lieutenant of the Alfred, one of the only two ships belonging to Congress, and onboard that vessel, before Philadelphia, he hoisted the flag of independent America with his own hands, the first time it was displayed in a national ship. In the course of a very active and successful campaign, having found means to gain the confidence of the Marine Committee by his zeal and intrepidity, he had not served many months before the President sent him a captain’s commission.
In November 1777, he sailed for France, in the Ranger, a new sloop-of-war of eighteen guns, with despatches of the victory of Saratoga. It was intended that, “as a reward for the important services” which he had already rendered to America, he should be appointed to the command of the Indian, a fine frigate, just built for Congress at Amsterdam, and that the Ranger should act under his orders; but the American commissioners at Paris found it their best policy to assign this vessel over to the King of France, and Captain Paul Jones continued with the Ranger. Having convoyed some merchant ships at Quiberon Bay, he there received from the French commander the first salute that was ever given to the flag of Congress. Eager to retaliate upon British for some predatory exploits of her sailors on the American coast, and exasperated by the resolution which the English government had taken, to treat all the supporters of independence as traitors and rebels, Captain Paul Jones soon after this entered the Irish Channel, and approached his native shores, not as a friend, but as a determined enemy. On the night of the 22nd April 1778, he came to anchor in the Solway Firth, almost within sight of the trees, which sheltered the house in which he first drew the breath of life. Early next morning, he rowed for the English coast, at the head of thirty-one volunteers, in two boats, with the intention of destroying the shipping (about two hundred sail,) which lay in the harbour of Whitehaven. In this daring attempt he would probably have succeeded without difficulty, had not the strength of the opposing tide retarded his progress so much, that day began to dawn before he could gain the shore. He despatched the smaller of the two boats to the north of the port to set fire to the vessels, whilst he led the remainder of the party in person to the more hazardous duty of securing the fort, which was situated on a hill to the south. It was a cold morning; and the sentinels, little aware that an enemy was so near, had retired into the guard room for warmth, affording Jones an opportunity to take them by surprise, of which he did not fail to avail himself. Climbing over the shoulders of the tallest of his men, he crept silently through one of the embrasures, and was instantly followed by the rest. Their first care was to make fast the door of the guard room, and their next to spike the cannon, thirty-six in number. Having effected this without bloodshed, they proceeded to join the detachment which had been sent to the north; and finding that a false alarm had deterred them from executing their orders, Jones instantly proceeded to set fire to the vessels within his reach. By this time, however, the inhabitants were roused, and the invaders were obliged to retreat, leaving three ships in flames, of which one alone was destroyed.
On the same day with this adventure, another memorable occurrence took place, which contributed, for a time, to add greatly to the odium which the first had brought on his name in Britain, but which, in the end, enabled him to prove that he was possessed of the most disinterested and heroic qualities. In cruising off the coast of Galloway, it occurred t him, that, if he could get into his power a man of high rank and influence in the state, he should be able, by retaining him as a hostage, to ensure to the American prisoners of war more lenient treatment than was threatened by the British government. Knowing that the Earl of Selkirk possessed a seat in St. Mary’s Isle, a beautiful peninsula at the mouth of the Dee, and being ill informed with regard to the political connections of that nobleman, he destined him for the subject of his experiment. With that view, he landed on the Isle, about noon, with two officers and a few men; but before they had proceeded far, he learnt that his lordship was from home, and that there were none but ladies at the house. Finding his object frustrated, he now wished to return; but his crew were not so easily satisfied. Their object was plunder; and as they consisted of men in a very imperfect state of discipline, and with whom it would have been dangerous to contend, he allowed them to proceed. He exacted from them, however, a promise that they should be guilty of no violence; that the men should not enter the house, and that the officers, after having made their demands, should accept of what might be put into their hands without scrutiny. These conditions were punctually obeyed. The greater part of the Selkirk plate was carried off in triumph by the crew, and Paul Jones was, for a time, stigmatised as a freebooter; but he nobly vindicated his character, by taking the earliest opportunity of purchasing the whole of it, out of his own private funds, and remitting it safe to its original owner, without accepting the smallest remuneration. National prejudice has misrepresented this transaction; and in order to heighten the popular indignation against our hero, it has been common to state, that this attempt on the persons, and as it was supposed the property, of Lord Selkirk, was aggravated by ingratitude, his father having eaten of that nobleman’s bread. Nothing can be more false. Neither Mr. Paul, nor any of his kindred, ever was in the Earl’s employ, or had ever the most distant connection with his lordship or his family; and in a correspondence which took place between our hero and Lady Selkirk, relative to the restitution of the plate, a most honourable testimony was gratefully paid by the latter to the Captain’s character.
The day succeeding the two events just mentioned, Paul Jones encountered the Drake, a King’s ship of twenty guns, in Carrick Fergus bay, and took her after a very brave resistance, in the course of which the English captain and his first lieutenant were mortally wounded. With this and another large prize, Captain Jones returned to Brest, after an absence of twenty-eight days of very active service, in which, besides taking and destroying many valuable vessels, he had thrown the coasts of Scotland and Ireland into consternation, occasioned the Irish Volunteers to be embodied, and obliged the English government to expand considerable sums in fortifying the harbours.
A teasing period of hopes and disappointments followed. The French ministry, to testify their good will to the Unites Sates, had promised to furnish Paul Jones with a ship, in which, however, he was to display the American flag; but, after various written memorials, no progress seemed to have been made towards the fulfilment of this engagement. At length he determined to apply in person, and having gone to Paris, he soon obtained the command of the Due de Duras of forty guns. The name, however, he changed to Le Bon-Homme Richard, in compliment to the wise saying of Poor Richard, “If you would have your business done, come yourself; if not, send.” In this vessel, badly manned, and not much better furnished, Paul Jones sailed as Commodore of a little squadron, consisting, besides his own ship, of the Alliance of thirty six guns, the Pallas of thirty-two, the Serf of eighteen, the Vengeance of twelve, and two privateers, which requested leave to share the Commodore’s fortunes. After taking several prizes, the Serf, the privateers, and at length the Alliance, deserted the squadron. The Commodore’s good fortune, however, did not desert him. On the 15th September, he was, with his own ship, the Pallas, the Vengeance, and several prizes, at the entrance into the Firth of Forth, where they made every necessary disposition to seize the guard ship, and two cutters, that rode at anchor in the roads, and to lay Leith, and perhaps Edinburgh, under contribution. The wind, which was fair, in the night, opposed them in the morning. However, on the 16th, the little squadron continued all day to work up the Firth. At this time a member of the British Parliament observing them from the coast of Fife, and mistaking them for the King’s ships, sent off a boat to inform the Commodore that he was greatly afraid of Paul Jones, and to beg some powder and shot. Our hero, much amused with the message, sent him a barrel of gunpowder, with a civil answer to quiet his fears, and an apology for not including shot in the present.
Next morning at day break, every thing was in perfect readiness to commence the engagement, and two tacks more would have brought the strangers alongside their enemies, when, at that critical moment, a sudden gale of wind swept down the Firth, raging with such violence, as completely to overpower them, to sink one of the prizes, and drive all the rest of the squadron fairly out to sea. By this failure, the captains of the Pallas and Vengeance were so much disheartened, that they could not be prevailed on to renew the attempting.
Continuing their cruise, after various adventures, the squadron suddenly discovered the homeward bound British Baltic fleet, off Scarborough castle, escorted by the frigate Serapis, and the Countess of Scarborough. After a long engagement, in which Paul Jones displayed the most astonishing skill, intrepidity, and presence of mind, the Countess of Scarborough struck to the Pallas, and the Serapis to the Bon-Homme Richard, which latter ship was reduced to so shattered a state, that next morning, after all hands had left her, she went to the bottom. The Serapis was not in much better condition, the Commodore having, with his own hands, lashed the two ships together, to prevent the enemy from availing himself of his superiority in weight of metal. The following is Paul Jones own account of this famous battle: -
“Soon after this a fleet of forty-one sail appeared off Flamborough Head, bearing N.N.E. This induced me to abandon the single ship which had then anchored in Burlington Bay; I also called back the pilot boat, and hoisted a signal for a general chase. When the fleet discovered us bearing down, all the merchant ships crowded sail towards the shore. The two ships of war that protected the fleet at the same time steered from the land, and made the disposition for battle. In approaching the enemy, I crowded every possible sail, and made the signal for the line of battle, to which the Alliance showed no attention. Earnest as I was for the action, I could not reach the Commodore’s ship until seven in the evening, being then within pistol-shot, when he hailed the Bon-Homme Richard. We answered him by firing a whole broadside.
“The battle being thus begun was continued with unremitting fury. Every method was practised on both sides to gain an advantage, and rake each other; and I must confess that the enemy’s ship, being much more manageable than the Bon-Homme Richard, gained thereby several times an advantageous situation, in spite of my best endeavours to prevent it.
As I had to deal with an enemy of greatly superior force, I was under the necessity of closing with him, to prevent the advantage, which he had over me in point of manoeuvre. It was my intention to lay the Bon Homme Richard athwart the enemy’s bow; but as that operation required great dexterity in the management of both side’s sails and helm, and some of our braces being shot away, it did not exactly succeed to my wish. The enemy’s bowsprit, however, came over the Bon-Homme Richard’s poop by the mizzenmast, and I made both ships fast together in that situation, which, by the action of the wind on the enemy’s sails, forced her stern close to the Bon-Homme Richard’s bow, so that the ships lay square alongside of each other, the yards being all entangled, and the cannon of each ship touching the opponents.
“When this position took place, it was eight o’clock, previous to which the Bon-Homme Richard had received sundry eighteen-pound shots below the water, and leaked very much. My battery of twelve- pounders, on which I had placed my chief dependence, being commanded by Lieutenant Dale and Colonel Weibert, and manned principally with American seamen and French volunteers, was entirely silenced and abandoned. As to the six old eighteen-pounders that formed the battery of the lower gun-deck, they did no service whatever, except firing eight shot in all. Two out of three of them burst at the first fire, and killed almost all the men who were stationed to manage them. Before this time, too, Colonial de Chamillard, who commanded a party of twenty soldiers on the poop, had abandoned that station after having lost some of his men. I had now only two pieces of cannon, (nine-pounders,) on the quarterdeck, that were not silenced, and not one of the heavier cannon was fired during the rest of the action. The purser, M. Mease, who commanded the guns on the quarterdeck, being dangerously wounded in the head, I was obliged to fill his place, and with great difficulty rallied a few men, and shifted over one of the lee quarterdeck guns, so that we afterwards played three pieces of nine-pounders upon the enemy. The tops alone seconded the fire of this little battery, and held out bravely during the whole of the action, especially the main top, where Lieutenant Stack commanded. I directed the fire of one of the three cannon against the main mast, with double headed shot, while the other two were exceedingly well served with grape and canister shot, to silence the enemy’s musketry and clear her decks, which was at last effected. The enemy were, as I have understood, on the instant of calling for quarters, when the cowardice or treachery of three of my under officers induced them to call to the enemy. The English Commodore asked me if I demanded quarters, and I having answered him the most determined negative; they renewed the battle with double fury. They were unable to stand the deck; but the fire of their cannon, especially the lower battery, which was entirely formed of ten-pounders, was incessant; both ships was entirely formed of ten-pounders, was incessant; both ships were set on fire in various places, and the scene was dreadful beyond the reach of language. To account for the timidity of my three under officers, I mean the gunner, the carpenter, and the master-at-arms, I must observe, that the two first were slightly wounded and, as the ship had received various shot under water, and one of the pumps being shot away, the carpenter expressed his fears that she would sink, and the other two concluded that she was sinking, which occasioned the gunner to run aft on the poop, without my knowledge, to strike the colours. Fortunately for me, a cannon ball had done that before, by carrying away the ensign-staff; he was therefore reduced to the necessity of sinking, as he supposed, or of calling for quarter, and he preferred the latter.
“All this time the Bon-Homme Richard had sustained the action alone, and the enemy, though much superior in force, would have been very glad to have got clear, as appears by their own acknowledgments, and by their having let go an anchor the instant that I laid them onboard, by which means they would have escaped, had I not made them well fast to the Bon-Homme Richard.
“At last, at half past nine, the Alliance appeared, and I now thought the battle at an end; but, to my utter astonishment, he discharged a broadside full into the stern of the Bon-Homme Richard. We called to him for God’s sake to forbear firing into the Bon-Homme Richard; yet they passed along the offside of the ship, and continued firing. There was no possibility of this mistaking the enemy’s ships for the Bon-Homme Richard; they’re being the most essential difference in their appearance and construction. Besides, it was then full moonlight, and the sides of the Bon-Homme Richard were all black, while the sides of the prize were all yellow. Yet, for the greater security, I showed the signal of our reconnaissance, by patting out three lanterns, one at the head, another at the stern, and the third in the middle, in a horizontal line. Every tongue cried that he was firing into the wrong ship, but nothing availed; he passed round firing into the Bon-Homme Richard’s head, stern, and broadside, and by one of his volleys killed several of my best men, and mortally wounded a good officer on the forecastle only. My situation was really deplorable; the Bon-Homme Richard received various shot under water from the Alliance; the leak gained on the pumps, and the fire increased much onboard both ships. Some officers persuaded me to strike, of whose courage and good sense I entertain a high opinion. My treacherous master-at-arms let loose all my prisoners without my knowledge, and my prospects became gloomy indeed. I would not, however, give up the point. The enemy’s mainmast began to shake, their firing decreased fast, ours rather increased, and the British colours were struck at half an hour past ten.
“This prize proved to be the British ship of war the Serapis, a new ship of forty-four guns, built on the most approved construction, with two complete batteries, one of them eighteen-pounders, and commanded by the brave Commodore Richard Pearson. I had yet two enemies to encounter far more formidable than the British I mean fire and water. The Serapis was attacked only by the first, but the Bon-Homme Richard was assailed by both; there was five feet water in the hold, and though it was moderate from the explosion of so much gunpowder, yet the three pumps that remained could with difficulty only keep the water from gaining. The fire broke out in various parts of the ship of all the water that could be thrown into quench it, and at length broke out as low as the powder magazine, and within a few inches of the powder. In that dilemma I took out the powder upon the deck, ready to be thrown overboard at the last extremity, and it was ten o’clock the next day (the 24th) before the fire was entirely extinguished. With respect to the situation of the Bon-Homme Richard, the rudder was cut entirely off, the stern frame and transoms were almost entirely cut away, and the timbers by the lower deck, especially from the mainmast towards the stern, being greatly decayed with age, were mangled beyond my power of description, and a person must have been an eyewitness to form a just idea of the tremendous scene of carnage, wreck, and ruin, which every where appeared. Humanity cannot but recoil from the prospect of such finished horror, and lament that war should be capable of producing such fatal consequences.
“After the carpenters, as well as Captain Cottineau and other men of senses, had well examined and surveyed the ship, (which was not finished before five in the evening,) I found every person to be convinced that it was impossible to keep the Bon-Homme Richard afloat, so as to reach a port, if the wind should increase, it being then only a very moderate breeze. I had but little time to remove my wounded, which now became unavoidable, and which was effected in the course of the night and next morning. I was determined to keep the Bon-Homme Richard afloat, and, if possible, to bring her into port. For that purpose, the first lieutenant of the Pallas continued onboard with a party of men, to attend the pumps, with boats in waiting, ready to take them onboard in case the water should gain on them too fast. The wind augmented in the night, and the next day the 25th, so that it was impossible to prevent the good old ship from sinking. They did not abandon her till after nine o’clock; the water was then up to the lower deck, and a little after ten we saw, with inexpressible grief, the last glimpse of the Bon-Homme Richard. No lives were lost with the ship, but it was impossible to save the stores of any sort whatever. I lost even the best part of my clothes, books, and papers; and several of my officers lost all their clothes and effects.
“Having thus endeavoured to give a clear and simple relation of the circumstances and events that have attended the little armament under my command, I shall freely submit my conduct therein to the censure of my superiors and the impartial public. I beg leave, however, to observe, that the force that was put under my command was far from being well composed, and as the great majority of the actors in it have appeared ben on the pursuit of interest only, I am exceedingly sorry that they and I have been at all concerned.”
Such is the despatch, which Commodore Jones transmitted from the Texel to Dr. Franklin, and afterwards to congress.
The Commodore now took the command of the Serapis, erected jury-masts, and with some difficulty conveyed of his prizes to the Texel. Paul Jones, who never suffered the interests of his fellow citizens to be lost sight of, exerted all his influence with the French court to have it arranged that his prisoners should be exchanged against American prisoners in England, and be completely succeeded. Dr. Franklin, the minister of the United States at Paris, soon cheered his heart, by writing to him that “he had then completed the glorious work he had so nobly begun, by giving liberty to all the Americans who then languished for it in England.” On this occasion, too, the King of France directed his ambassador at the Hague to communicate to Commodore Paul Jones the high personal esteem he bore for his character, especially for his disinterestedness and humanity.
The Captain of the Alliance being ordered to Paris, to answer for his insubordination, Jones took the command of that vessel; but he now found himself environed with dangers. The Dutch were summoned to deliver him up to the vengeance of the English government, as a pirate and a rebel; and they were most reluctantly constrained to order him out to sea, where an English squadron was watching to pounce upon him as their certain prey. The acceptance of a commission from the King of France would have saved him from this dilemma, and the ambassador from his Most Christian Majesty repeatedly urged him to adopt that alternative but he thought his honour engaged to decline it. He would not, at whatever risk, abandon the flag of his beloved America. He, however, contrived to make his escape, passing the Straits of Dover, and the Isle of Wight, before the very beards of the English fleets.
Towards the close of 1780, our hero sailed for America in the Ariel with important despatches and having encountered in his passage the Triumph, an English vessel of twenty guns, he forced her to strike.
A little before this time, the King of France had testified his approbation of Paul Jone’s services, by presenting him with a superb gold sword; and a letter from M. de Sartaine now reached the President of the United States, requesting liberty “to decorate that brave officer with the cross of the order of military merit.” The demand was laid before Congress, and a law having been passed on the 27th February, acceding to it, he was formally invested by the Chevalier de la Luzerne, at a public fete given to the members of that legislative body. In April following, on the report of a committee, Congress passed a vote of thanks to the Chevalier Paul Jones “for the zeal, prudence, and intrepidity with which he had sustained the honour of the American flag; for his bold and successful enterprises to redeem from captivity those citizens of America who had fallen under the power of the enemy; and in general, for the good conduct and eminent services by which he had added lustre to his character, and to the arms of America.”
During the remainder of the war with England, he had no opportunity to signalise himself. After it was over, Congress, as an expression of gratitude, caused a gold medal to be struck, with appropriate legends and devices, to perpetuate the memory of his valour and services. The annexed engraving, executed in the ruled manner from a duplicate of the medal, by Mr. Asa Spencer, the inventor of the machine for medal ruling, gives an accurate resemblance of it.
In 1787, the United States having charged the Chevalier with a mission to the court of Denmark, he set sail for that country in the month of November, and passing through Paris in his way was strongly solicited to assume the command of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. Soon after his arrival at Copenhagen, a courier, sent express by the Empress Catharine, conveyed to him an urgent invitation to St. Petersburgh. Although he saw many reasons for declining to engage in the service of that potentate, he was flattered by the offer, and felt himself bound at least to thank her Majesty in person. He, therefore, set out instantly for her Court, by the way of Sweden; but at Greshelham found the passage of the Gulf of Bothnia blocked up by ice. After several unsuccessful attempts to proceed to Finland by the islands, he conceived that it might be practicable to affect his object by doubling the ice to the southward. The enterprise was formidable, and altogether new; but our hero was not easily daunted. Without making known his intentions to his companions, he set sail from Greshelham one morning very early, in an open boat about thirty feet long, followed by a little one to haul over the ice. Towards evening, having got nearly opposite to Stockholm, our adventurer, producing his pistols, ordered the astonished boatmen to pursue the route, which he had secretly devised. Resistance was vain, and he was obeyed. All night the wind was favourable, and they hoped to reach the coast of Finland in the morning; but they found themselves opposed by an impenetrable barrier of ice. Neither was it possible from the state of the weather to return. The only resource was to make for the Gulf of Finland. When night came on, they steered by the aid of a pocket compass, lighted by the lamp of the Chevalier’s carriage; and, at the end of four days, after having lost the smaller of their two boats, they terminated a perilous and fatiguing voyage at Revel, in Livonia.
The Chevalier was graciously received at the Court of St. Petersburgh; and longer opposing the wishes of the Empress, attached himself to her service, under this single condition, “That he should never be condemned unheard.”
He proceeded, without delay, with the rank of Rear Admiral, to take the command of the fleet stationed at the Liman, or mouth of the Dneiper, and oppose the Turkish fleet under the Captain Pacha. On the 26th May 1788, he hoisted his flag onboard the Wolodimer. His squadron was supported by a flotilla under the Prince of Nassau, and land forces under Prince Potemkin. Our limits forbid us to follow Admiral Jones through this campaign. It afforded him many opportunities of displaying his characteristic intrepidity and professional skill; but mean jealousy and malignant cabals deprived him of much well trained glory. He was, however, invested with the order of St. Anne, as an acknowledgement of his fidelity; and, on his arrival at St. Petersburgh, he was told that he was destined for a more important service. Disgusted, however, by the intrigues of selfish men, he left Russia in August 1789, and never returned.
The remainder of his days he spent partly in Holland, and partly in France. He collected a number of important documents relative to the public transactions in which he had actively concerned; and as if he had foreseen that he was not to be long live, he devoted much of his leisure to the arrangement of his affairs, and to the preparations of papers, which should exhibit his character and services in their true light to his friends and to posterity.
He died at Paris of dropsy in the chest, in July 1792, having barely completed his forty-fifth year. His funeral was attended by a deputation o the National Assembly, and M. Marron pronounced an oration over his tomb.
Among the Admiral’s papers were found memoirs of his life, written with his own hand; a most interesting literacy production; from these papers the above sketch was drawn up.