Commodore Paul Jones 6

Commodore Paul Jones 6

His own ships were also heavily laden with these military stores, the

Alfred in particular being so overweighted that it was almost

impossible to fight her main-deck guns, so near were they to the

waterline, except in the most favorable circumstances of wind and

weather.

 

Taking Governor Brown, who was afterward exchanged for General Lord

Stirling, and one or two other officials of importance as hostages on

board his fleet, Hopkins set sail for home on the 17th of March. He

had done his work expeditiously and well, but through want of

precaution which had been suggested by Jones, he had failed in part

when his success might have been complete. Still, he was bringing

supplies of great value, and his handsome achievement was an

auspicious beginning of naval operations. The squadron pursued its way

toward the United Colonies without any adventures or happenings worthy

of chronicle until the 4th of April, when off the east end of Long

Island they captured the schooner Hawk, carrying six small guns. On

the 5th of April the bomb vessel Bolton, eight guns, forty-eight men,

filled with stores of arms and powder, was captured without loss.

 

On the 6th, shortly after midnight, the night being dark, the wind

gentle, the sea smooth, and the ships very much scattered, swashing

along close-hauled on the starboard tack between Block Island and the

Rhode Island coast, they made out a large ship, under easy sail,

coming down the wind toward the squadron. It was the British sloop of

war Glasgow, twenty guns and one hundred and fifty men, commanded by

Captain Tyringham Howe. She was accompanied by a small tender,

subsequently captured. The nearest ships of the American squadron

luffed up to have a closer look at the stranger, the men being sent to

quarters in preparation for any emergency. By half after two in the

morning the brig Cabot had come within a short distance of her. The

stranger now hauled her wind, and Captain John Burroughs Hopkins, the

son of the commodore, immediately hailed her. Upon ascertaining who

and what she was he promptly poured in a broadside from his small

guns, which was at once returned by the formidable battery of the

Glasgow. The unequal conflict was kept up with great spirit for a few

moments, but the Cabot alone was no match for the heavy English

corvette, and after a loss of four killed and several wounded,

including the captain severely, the Cabot, greatly damaged in hull and

rigging, fell away, and her place was taken by the Alfred, still an

unequal match for the English vessel, but more nearly approaching her

size and capacity.

 

The Andrea Doria now got within range and joined in the battle. For

some three hours in the night the ships sailed side by side, hotly

engaged. After a time the Columbus, Captain Whipple, which had been

farthest to leeward, succeeded in crossing the stern of the Glasgow,

and raked her as she was passing. The aim of the Americans was poor,

and instead of smashing her stern in and doing the damage which might

have been anticipated, the shot flew high and, beyond cutting the

Englishman up aloft, did no appreciable damage. The Providence, which

was very badly handled, managed to get in long range on the lee

quarter of the Glasgow and opened an occasional and ineffective fire

upon her. But the bulk of the fighting on the part of the Americans

was done by the Alfred.

 

Captain Howe maneuvered and fought his vessel with the greatest skill.

During the course of the action a lucky shot from the Glasgow carried

away the wheel ropes of the Alfred, and before the relieving tackles

could be manned and the damage repaired the American frigate broached

to and was severely raked several times before she could be got under

command. At daybreak Captain Howe, who had fought a most gallant fight

against overwhelming odds, perceived the hopelessness of continuing

the combat, and, having easily obtained a commanding lead on the

pursuing Americans, put his helm up and ran away before the wind for

Newport.

 

Hopkins followed him for a short distance, keeping up a fire from his

bow-chasers, but his deep-laden merchant vessels were no match in

speed for the swift-sailing English sloop of war, and, as with every

moment his little squadron with its precious cargo was drawing nearer

the English ships stationed at Newport, some of which had already

heard the firing and were preparing to get under way, Hopkins hauled

his wind, tacked and beat up for New London, where he arrived on the

8th of April with his entire squadron and the prizes they had taken,

with the exception of the Hawk, recaptured.

 

The loss on the Glasgow was one man killed and three wounded; on the

American squadron, ten killed and fourteen wounded, the loss being

confined mainly to the Alfred and the Cabot, the Columbus having but

one man wounded. During this action Paul Jones was stationed in

command of the main battery of the Alfred. He had nothing whatever to

do with the maneuvers of the ships, and was in no way responsible for

the escape of the Glasgow and the failure of the American force to

capture her.

 

The action did not reflect credit on the American arms. The Glasgow,

being a regular cruiser and of much heavier armament than any of the

American ships, was more than a match for any of them singly, though

taken together, if the personnel of the American squadron had been

equal to, or if it even approximated, that of the British ship, the

latter would have been captured without difficulty. The gun practice

of the Americans was very poor, which is not surprising. With the

exception of a very few of the officers, none of the Americans had

ever been in action, and they knew little about the fine art of

hitting a mark, especially at night. They had had no exercise in

target practice and but little in concerted fleet evolution. There

seems to have been no lack of courage except in the case of the

captain of the Providence, who was court-martialed for incapacity and

cowardice, and dismissed from the service. Hopkins' judgment in

withdrawing from the pursuit for the reasons stated can not be

questioned, neither can he be justly charged with the radical

deficiency of the squadron, though he was made to suffer for it.

 

While the Glasgow escaped, she did not get off scot free. She was

badly cut up in the hull, had ten shot through her mainmast, fifty-two

through her mizzen staysail, one hundred and ten through her mainsail,

and eighty-eight through her foresail. Her royal yards were carried

away, many of her spars badly wounded, and her rigging cut to pieces.

This catalogue tells the story. The Americans in their excitement and

inexperience had fired high, and their shot had gone over their mark.

The British defense had been a most gallant one, and the first attack

between the ships of the two navies had been a decided triumph for the

English.

 

Paul Jones' conduct in the main battery of the Alfred had been

entirely satisfactory to his superior officers. He, with the other

officers of that ship, was commended, and subsequent events showed

that he still held the confidence of the commodore.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER III.

THE CRUISE OF THE PROVIDENCE.

 

 

The British fleet having left Newport in the interim, on the 24th of

April, 1776, the American squadron got under way from New London for

Providence, Rhode Island. The ships were in bad condition; sickness

had broken out among their crews, and no less than two hundred and two

men out of a total of perhaps eight hundred and fifty--at best an

insufficient complement--were left ill at New London. Their places

were in a measure supplied by one hundred and seventy soldiers, lent

to the squadron by General Washington, who had happened to pass

through New London, _en route_ to New York, on the day after Hopkins'

arrival. There was a pleasant interview between the two commanders,

and it was then that Jones caught his first glimpse of the great

leader.

 

The voyage to New London was made without incident, except that the

unfortunate Alfred grounded off Fisher's Island, and had to lighten

ship before she could be floated. This delayed her passage so that she

did not arrive at Newport until the 28th of April. The health of the

squadron was not appreciably bettered by the change, for over one

hundred additional men fell ill. Many of the seamen had been enlisted

for the cruise only, and they now received their discharge, so that

the crews of the already undermanned ships were so depleted from these

causes that it would be impossible for them to put to sea. Washington,

who was hard pressed for men, and had troubles of his own, demanded

the immediate return to New York of the soldiers he had lent to the

fleet. The captain of the Providence being under orders for a

court-martial for his conduct, on the 10th of May Hopkins appointed

John Paul Jones to the command of the Providence.

 

The appointment is an evidence of the esteem in which Jones was held

by his commanding officer, and is a testimony to the confidence which

was felt in his ability and skill; for he alone, out of all the

officers in the squadron, was chosen for important sea service at this

time. Having no blank commissions by him, Hopkins made out the new

commission on the back of Jones' original commission as first

lieutenant. It is a matter of interest to note that he was the first

officer promoted to command rank from a lieutenancy in the American

navy. His first orders directed him to take Washington's borrowed men

to New York. After spending a brief time in hurriedly overhauling the

brig and preparing her for the voyage, Jones set sail for New York,

which he reached on the 18th of May, after thirty-six hours. Having

returned the men, Jones remained at New York in accordance with his

orders until he could enlist a crew, which he presently succeeded in

doing. Thereafter, under supplemental orders, he ran over to New

London, took on board such of the men left there who were sufficiently

recovered to be able to resume their duties, and came back and

reported with them to the commander-in-chief at Providence. He had

performed his duties, routine though they were, expeditiously and

properly.

 

He now received instructions thoroughly to overhaul and fit the

Providence for active cruising. She was hove down, had her bottom

scraped, and was entirely refitted and provisioned under Jones's

skillful and practical direction. Her crew was exercised constantly at

small arms and great guns, and every effort made to put her in

first-class condition. In spite of the limited means at hand, she

became a model little war vessel. On June 10th a sloop of war

belonging to the enemy appeared off the bay, and in obedience to a

signal from the commodore Jones made sail to engage. Before he caught

sight of the vessel she sought safety in flight. On the 13th of June

the Providence was ordered to Newburyport, Massachusetts, to convoy a

number of merchant vessels loaded with coal for Philadelphia. Before