Commodore Paul Jones 12

Commodore Paul Jones 12

Thus was Jones deprived of the enjoyment of this command, to his great

personal regret, to the disarrangement of his plans, and to the

detriment of the cause he was so gallantly to support. There was no

other ship nor were any smaller vessels then available for him, and he

was therefore of necessity continued in the command of the Ranger.

 

This in itself was annoying, and produced a sequence of events of a

most unfortunate character. Lieutenant Simpson had been promised the

command of the Ranger when Jones took over the Indien, and the failure

to keep this promise entailed by the circumstances mentioned,

embittered Simpson to such a degree that his efficiency--never of the

first order--was greatly impaired, and so long as he remained under

the command of Jones he was a smoldering brand of discontent and

disobedience.

 

On the 10th of January Jones, who had rejoined his ship, wrote at

great length to Silas Deane, one of the commissioners, suggesting a

plan whereby, in case the proposed alliance between France and the

rebellious colonies were consummated, a magnificent blow might be

struck against England, and the cause of the Revolution thereby

greatly furthered. He urged that Admiral D'Estaing should be

dispatched with a great fleet to pen up and capture Lord Howe, then

operating in the Delaware with an inferior fleet. There is no doubt

that this conception was essentially sound, and if he himself could

have been intrusted with the carrying out of the plan the results

would have been most happy; but, in order to effect anything, in peace

or war, prompt action is as necessary as careful planning and wise

decision.

 

When the French did finally adopt the plan they found that their

dilatory proceedings, their failure to take immediate advantage of

past preparation, and their substitution of Toulon for Brest as a

naval point of departure, doomed the enterprise to failure. Lord Howe,

hearing of the attempt, and realizing his precarious and indefensive

position in the Delaware, made haste to return to his old anchorage in

New York. When D'Estaing, urged by Washington, arrived off the harbor,

he was deterred from attacking Lord Howe's inferior force by the

representations of the pilots, who stated that there was not enough

water on the bar for the greater ships of the line. While, therefore,

Jones' suggestion came to nothing, it is interesting and instructive

to contemplate this project of his fertile brain. Another enterprise

proposed by him involved an expedition to take the island of St.

Helena, and with it as a base of attack attempt the capture of the

numerous Indiamen which either stopped at Jamestown or passed near the

island. This too was unheeded.

 

While these matters were under consideration, the Ranger sailed from

Nantes to Quiberon Bay early in February, 1778, having under convoy

several American trading ships which were desirous of joining a great

fleet of merchant vessels assembling at that point. These vessels were

to be convoyed past Cape Finisterre on their way across the Atlantic

by a heavy French squadron of five line of battle ships and several

frigates and sloops under the command of La Motte Piquet.

 

On the 13th of February the Ranger hove to off the bay. The wind was

blowing furiously, as it frequently does on the rocky confines of that

bold shore, off which a few years before the great Lord Hawke had

signally defeated Conflans; but, instead of running to an anchorage

immediately, Jones sent a boat ashore, and through the American

resident agent communicated to the French commander his intention of

entering the bay the next day and saluting him; asking, as was

customary, that the salute be returned. The French admiral courteously

replied that he would return four guns less than the number he

received, his instructions being to that effect, and in accordance

with the custom of his navy when an interchange of sea courtesies took

place between the fleets of France and those of a republic. This was

not satisfactory to the doughty American, and he addressed the

following letter to the American agent for the French commander:

 

 

"_February 14, 1778_.

 

"Dear Sir: I am extremely sorry to give you fresh trouble, but I think

the admiral's answer of yesterday requires an explanation. The haughty

English return gun for gun to foreign officers of equal rank, and two

less only to captains by flag officers. It is true, my command at

present is not important, yet, as the senior American officer at

present in Europe, it is my duty to claim an equal return of respect

to the flag of the United States that would be shown to any other flag

whatever.

 

"I therefore take the liberty of inclosing an appointment, perhaps as

respectable as any which the French admiral can produce; besides

which, I have others in my possession.

 

"If, however, he persists in refusing to return an equal salute, I

will accept of two guns less, as I have not the rank of admiral.

 

"It is my opinion that he would return four less to a privateer or a

merchant ship; therefore, as I have been honoured oftener than once

with a chief command of ships of war, I can not in honour accept of

the same terms of respect.

 

"You will singularly oblige me by waiting upon the admiral; and I

ardently hope you will succeed in the application, else I shall be

under a necessity of departing without coming into the bay.

 

"I have the honour to be, etc.

 

"To William Carmichael, Esq.

 

 

"N. B.--Though thirteen guns is your greatest salute in America, yet

if the French admiral should prefer a greater number he has his choice

_on conditions_."

 

 

A great stickler for his rights and for all the prerogatives of his

station was John Paul Jones. In this instance he was maintaining the

dignity of the United States by insisting upon a proper recognition of

his command.

 

However, having learned afterward that the contention of the French

admiral was correct, Jones determined to accept the indicated return,

realizing with his usual keenness that the gist of the matter lay in

receiving any salute rather than in the number of guns which it

comprised; so the Ranger got under way late in the evening of the

14th, and beat in toward the harbor. It was almost dark when she drew

abreast the great French flagship. Backing his main-topsail, the

6-pounders on the main deck of the Ranger barked out their salute of

thirteen guns, which was promptly returned by the French commander

with nine heavy guns from the battle ship.

 

It was the first time the Stars and Stripes had been saluted on the

high seas. It was, in fact, the first official recognition of the

existence of this new power by the authorized military representatives

of any civilized nation. A Dutch governor of St. Eustatius, a year

before, had saluted an American ensign--not the Stars and Stripes, of

course--on one of our cruisers, but the act had been disavowed and the

governor promptly recalled for his presumption.

 

As this little transaction between Paul Jones and La Motte Piquet had

occurred so late at night, the American sent word to the Frenchman

that he proposed to sail through his line in broad daylight on the

morrow, with the brig Independence, a privateer temporarily attached

to his command, and salute him in the open light of day. With great

good humor and complaisance, La Motte Piquet again expressed his

intention of responding. Accordingly, the next morning, Jones repaired

on board the Independence, which had been lying to during the night

outside of signal distance, and, having made everything as smart and

as shipshape as possible on the little vessel, with the newest and

brightest of American ensigns flying from every masthead, the little

brig sailed past the towering walls of the great ships of the line,

saluting and receiving their reply. There were no doubts in any one's

mind as to the reality of the salute to the flag after that!

 

It must have been a proud moment for the man who had hoisted the

pine-tree flag for the first time on the Alfred; for the man who had

been the first officer of the American navy to receive promotion; for

the man who had first flung the Stars and Stripes to the breeze from

the masthead of a ship; for the man who, in his little vessel,

trifling and inconsiderable as she was, was yet about to maintain the

honor of that flag with unexampled heroism in the home waters and in

the presence of the proudest, most splendid, and most efficient navy

of the world. That 15th of February, that bright, cold, clear winter

morning, is one of the memorable anniversaries in the history of our

nation.

 

Writing to the Marine Committee on the 22d of February, 1778, he says:

 

 

"I am happy in having it in my power to congratulate you on my having

seen the American flag for the first time recognized in the fullest

and completest manner by the flag of France. I was off their bay the

13th instant, and sent my boat in the next day, to know if the admiral

would return my salute. He answered that he would return to me, as the

senior American Continental officer in Europe, the same salute which

he was authorized by his court to return to an admiral of Holland, or

any other republic, which was four guns less than the salute given. I

hesitated at this, for I demanded gun for gun. Therefore I anchored in

the entrance of the bay, at a distance from the French fleet; but,

after a very particular inquiry on the 14th, finding that he had

really told the truth, I was induced to accept of his offer, the more

so as it was, in fact, an acknowledgment of American independence. The

wind being contrary and blowing hard, it was after sunset before the

Ranger got near enough to salute La Motte Piquet with thirteen guns,

which he returned with nine. However, to put the matter beyond a

doubt, I did not suffer the Independence to salute till next morning,

when I sent the admiral word that I would sail through his fleet in

the brig, and would salute him in open day. He was exceedingly

pleased, and he returned the compliment also with nine guns."

 

 

The much-talked-of treaty of alliance between France and the United

States had been secretly signed six days before, but neither of the

participants of this interchange of sea courtesies was then aware of

this fact. Having discharged his duties by placing the merchant ships

he had convoyed under La Motte Piquet's command, Jones left Quiberon

Bay and went to Brest, where there was assembled a great French fleet

under the famous Comte D'Orvilliers. Jones had the pleasure of again

receiving, by the courtesy of that gallant officer, a reply to the