Commodore Paul Jones 11

Commodore Paul Jones 11

"Philadelphia, _May 9, 1777_.

 

"Sir: Congress have thought proper to authorize the Secret Committee

to employ you on a voyage in the Amphitrite, from Portsmouth to

Carolina and France, where it is expected you will be provided with a

fine frigate; and as your present commission is for the command of a

particular ship, we now send you a new one, whereby you are appointed

a captain in our navy, and of course may command any ship in the

service to which you are particularly ordered. You are to obey the

orders of the Secret Committee, and we are, sir, etc."

 

 

The Amphitrite, which was to carry out Jones and the other officers

and seamen to man the proposed frigate, was an armed merchantman. The

French commander of the Amphitrite, however, made great difficulty

with regard to surrendering his command to Jones, and even to

receiving him and his men on board the ship, and through his

persistent and vehement objections this promising arrangement likewise

fell through. Jones continued his importunities for a command,

however, his desire being then, as always, for active service.

Finally, by the following resolutions passed by Congress on the 14th

of June, he was appointed to the sloop of war Ranger, then nearing

completion at Portsmouth, New Hampshire:

 

 

"_Resolved_, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen

stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars,

white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.

 

"_Resolved_, That Captain Paul Jones be appointed to command the ship

Ranger.

 

"_Resolved_, That William Whipple, Esquire, member of Congress and of

the Marine Committee, John Langdon, Esquire, Continental agent, and

the said John Paul Jones be authorized to appoint lieutenants and

other commissioned and warrant officers necessary for the said ship;

and that blank commissions and warrants be sent them, to be filled up

with the names of the persons they appoint, returns whereof to be made

to the navy board in the Eastern Department."

 

 

At last, having received something tangible, he hastened to Portsmouth

as soon as his orders were delivered to him, and assumed the command.

It is claimed, perhaps with justice, that his hand was the first to

hoist the new flag of the Republic, the Stars and Stripes, to the

masthead of a war ship, as it had been the first to hoist the first

flag of any sort at the masthead of the Alfred, not quite two years

before. The date of this striking event is not known.

 

It is interesting to note the conjunction of Jones with the flag in

this resolution; an association justified by his past, and to be

further justified by his future, conduct, and by the curious

relationship in which he was brought to the colors of the United

States by his opportune action upon various occasions. The name of no

other man is so associated with our flag as is his.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER VI.

THE FIRST CRUISE OF THE RANGER--SALUTE TO THE AMERICAN FLAG.

 

 

In spite of the most assiduous effort on the part of Jones, he was

unable to get the Ranger ready for sea before October, and the

following extract from another letter to the Marine Committee shows

the difficulties under which he labored, and the inadequate equipment

and outfit with which he finally sailed.

 

 

"With all my industry I could not get the single suit of sails

completed until the 20th current. Since that time the winds and

weather have laid me under the necessity of continuing in port. At

this time it blows a very heavy gale from the northeast. The ship with

difficulty rides it out, with yards and topmasts struck, and whole

cables ahead. When it clears up I expect the wind from the northwest,

and shall not fail to embrace it, although I have not a spare sail nor

materials to make one. Some of those I have are made of hissings.[5] I

never before had so disagreeable service to perform as that which I

have now accomplished, and of which another will claim the credit as

well as the profit. However, in doing my utmost, I am sensible that I

have done no more than my duty."

 

 

The instructions under which Jones sailed for Europe are outlined in

the following orders from the Marine Committee:

 

 

"As soon as these instructions get to hand you are to make immediate

application to the proper persons to get your vessel victualed and

fitted for sea with all expedition. When this is done you are to

proceed on a voyage to some convenient port in France; on your arrival

there, apply to the agent, if any, in or near said port, for such

supplies as you may stand in need of. You are at the same time to give

immediate notice, by letter, to the Honourable Benjamin Franklin,

Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee, Esquires, or any of them at Paris, of

your arrival, requesting their instructions as to your further

destination, which instructions you are to obey as far as it shall be

in your power.

 

"You are to take particular notice that while on the coast of France,

or in a French port, you are, as much as you conveniently can, to keep

your guns covered and concealed, and to make as little warlike

appearance as possible."

 

 

In the original plan the ship was heavily over-armed, being pierced

for twenty-six guns. Considering her size and slight construction,

Jones exercised his usual good judgment by refusing to take more than

eighteen guns, the ordinary complement for a ship of her class. These

were 6-pounders manufactured in the United States and ill

proportioned, being several calibres short in the length of the

barrel, according to a statement of the captain--a most serious

defect. To all these disabilities was added an inefficient and

insubordinate first lieutenant named Simpson, who probably had been

appointed to this responsible position on account of the considerable

family influence which was back of him. He was related to the Hancocks

among others. The crew was a fair one, but was spoiled eventually by

the example of Simpson and other officers. On the first of November,

1777, the imperfectly provided Ranger took her departure from

Portsmouth bound for Europe. Her captain laments the fact that she had

but thirty gallons of rum aboard for the men to drink, a serious

defect in those grog-serving days. Before sailing, Jones made large

advances from his private funds to the men, the Government being

already in his debt to the amount of fifteen hundred pounds, for

previous advances to the men of the Alfred and the Providence. None of

these advances were repaid until years after. These facts are

evidence, by the way, that he had finally realized considerable sums

of money from his brother's estate, for he had no other financial

resource save his West Indian investments, which were worth nothing to

him at this time.

 

Wickes, Johnston, and Cunningham, in the Reprisal, Lexington,

Surprise, and Revenge, insignificant vessels of inferior force, had by

their brilliant and successful cruising in the English Channel

demonstrated the possibility of operations against British commerce in

that supposedly safe quarter of the ocean. Paul Jones was now to

undertake, upon a larger scale, similar operations with much more

astounding results.

 

On the way over, two prizes, both brigantines, laden with wine and

fruit, were captured. Nearing the other side, the Ranger fell in with

ten sail of merchantmen from the Mediterranean, under convoy of the

line of battle ship Invincible, 74. Jones made strenuous efforts to

cut out one of the convoy, but they clung so closely to the line of

battle ship that he found it impossible to bring about his design,

though he remained in sight of the convoy during one whole day. Had

the Ranger been swifter or handier, he might have effected something,

but she was very crank and slow as well.

 

On the 2d of December the sloop of war dropped anchor in the harbor of

Nantes. Jones sent his letters and instructions to the commissioners,

and had the pleasure of confirming to them the news of the surrender

of Burgoyne and his army, which was probably the most important factor

in bringing about the subsequent alliance between America and France.

While awaiting a reply to his letters he busied himself in repairing

the defects and weaknesses of his ship so far as his limited means

permitted. Her trim was altered, ballast restowed, and a large

quantity of lead taken on board; the lower masts were shortened

several feet, and every other change which his skill and experience

dictated was made on the ship. The results greatly conduced to her

efficiency. It may be stated here that Jones was a thorough and

accomplished seaman, and no man was capable of getting more out of a

ship than he. From a slow, crank, unwieldy vessel he developed the

sloop of war into a handy, amenable ship, and very much increased her

speed.

 

In January, 1778, in obedience to instructions from the commissioners,

he visited them in Paris and explained to them in detail his proposed

plan of action. Alone among the naval commanders of his day does he

appear to have appreciated that commerce destroying can be best

carried on and the enemy most injured by concentrated attacks by

mobile and efficient force upon large bodies of shipping in harbors

and home ports, rather than by sporadic cruising in more or less

frequented seas. He had come across with the hope of taking command of

the fine frigate Indien, then building in Holland, and then, with the

Ranger and such other ships as might be procured, carrying out his

ideas by a series of bold descents upon the English coasts. But while

the ministers of the King of France were hesitating, or perhaps better

perfecting their plans preparatory to announcing an alliance offensive

and defensive with this country, it was deemed of the utmost

importance that no occasion should be given the British which would

enable them unduly to hasten the course of events. The suspicion of

the British Government was aroused with respect to the Indien,

however, and it was thought best, under the circumstances, to pretend

that she was being made for the Government of France, with which

England was then nominally at peace. In any event, work upon her had

been so delayed that she was very far from completion, and would not have been available for months.