Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/164

 JONES

JONES

the guuners were obliged to run their rammers through the ports of the enemy's ship. One hun- dred men from the Richard ruslied over the side of the Serapis, and were met with a terrible re- sistance and forced back. It was too dark to see the ensigns, and Captain Pearson, of the -Serapis, shouted, " Have you struck your flag? " "No," replied Jones; "I have not yet begun to fight," and he ordered his men back to their guns, which he served with his own hands. The Ricli- ard was now in a sinking condition, her rudder was useless, and one of her officers rushed below and released 300 prisoners confined in the hold. Captain Pearson, of the Serapis, gave the order to board, but his men were driven back. A hand-grenade thrown from the yard-arm of the Richard fired a train of carti-idges which had been dropped by the powder-monkeys on the Seixipis, and a terrible explosion followed. The main mast, already cut by the shot from the RicJiaxh uentb\ the boaid ledMii^ tlH> 'xxij))? awjeck 'J heuupon CaptdUi Pcaiboii, with lus

BATTLf OF THE B0« MO/WAOt BrCHAHP.AND. SCRAPIS.

own hand, struck his flag. As the fight neared its (!lose the Alliance made her appearance and fired volley after volley into the Richard, after which she withdrew from the scene of action. After the captain and lieutenant of the Sei'apis were transferred to the Richard the firing was continued by the men between decks, who were uninformed of the surrender. Finding that it was impossible to carry the Richard to port, the crew with the prisoners and wounded were transferred to the Serapis and Jones took his disabled prize to the port of Texel, Holland. The Richard sank shortly after being aban- doned. Jones was the idol of the hour. In France and America the enthusiasm was bound- less, and the British government offered a price of £10,000 for him, dead or alive. Fearing the displeasure of England, the Dutch government insisted upon his leaving Texel immediately with the frigate Alliance. The British fleet was anchored in the Downs, and on Decem- ber 26, Jones set sail through the North Sea by way of the Straits of Dover, past the Isle of Wight, and in full view of the fleet, to the port of Corunna, Spain, whei-e he repaired his ship. He had sailed over a route of 1500 miles without a single interruption, although he passed

a number of British line-of-battle ships. He en- tered the harbor of L"Orient, France, Feb. 13, 1780, and went to Paris, where he was paid every honor. King Louis XVI. conferred on him the Grand Cross of the Order of Military' Merit, and pre- sented him with a gold-handled sword. Upon his return to L'Orient he found that his right to command was questioned by Captain Landais, Avho was supported by Commissioner Lee, and on going on board the Alliance that Captain Lan- dais had already assumed command, and had Lee on board as a passenger to America. Jones at once proceeded to Versailles. When the Alliance reached Philadelphia, Landais was arrested, but was pronounced insane. Jones left L'Orient for America in command of the Ariel, Dec. 18, 1780. He encountered the British frigate Tri- timph, Captain Binder, and after an engagement of ten minutes the Triumph struck her colors. Jones accepted this unconditional surrender and while the crew of the Ariel were attending their w^ounded the Triumph suddenly sj^read all sail and escaped. Jones arrived in Philadelphia, Feb. 18, 1781, and was given charge of the con- struction of the frigate America, 74 guns, the largest ship in the world, then building at Ports- mouth, N.H. He hoped to command this ship, but by act of congress, the America was trans- ferred to the king of France as indemnity for the loss of the Magnifique, stranded in Boston liarbor. He was promised the command of the Indian, but before he could take charge she was captured by a British frigate. Mr. Augustus C. Buell in his "Paul Jones" (1900) gives this epi- sode in his life, apparently not recorded in ear- lier publications: " Pursuant to the resolution of congress, Nov. 1, 1783, Commodore Jones re- ceived his commission and plenipotentiary creden- tials, Nov. 5, and on the 10th sailed from Phila- delphia in the ship Washington for France. After a remarkably fortunate jiassage of twenty daj's, the Wasliington was headed off in the Chan- nel by an easterly gale and put into Plymouth, England. Anxious to arrive at the scene of his- mission, and being, moreover, the bearer of impoi'- tant official despatches to Dr. Franklin and also to Mr. Adams, then our minister at The Hague, Jones determined not to await thereturnof fair weather for the packet to sail, but set out at once by post- chaise from Plymouth to London on December 1. Some of his fellow-passengers cautioned him against venturing on the soil of England so soon after his public and official denunciation as a ' pi- rate and State criminal,' but he ridiculed these apprehensions, saying that, whatever might be its other faults, the British government did not violate flags of truce nor wage war after signing treaties. Before reaching London he learned from a newspapor picked up at a town en route