The SAR MAGAZINE is the official quarterly publication of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution published quarterly.
Issue link: http://sar.epubxp.com/i/132097
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l The Long Journey of John Paul Jones By David McCormick A fter 113 years, John Paul Jones was finally home on American soil. The American Revolutionary War naval hero sailed into Chesapeake Bay with his squadron in July 1905. And it was the efforts of a Kentuckian from Metcalfe County that played a hand in this hero's return. With the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 the Revolutionary War came to an end; the United States, a nascent republic, lacked the financial wherewithal to support a navy, leaving Jones without a command. Jones, of slight build and standing only 5 feet 5 inches, longed for the excitement of battle on the high seas. He did not stay idle for long. Becoming involved in the conflict between Turkey and Russia, Jones allied himself with the latter and accepted a naval command from Catherine the Great. This soldier of fortune was ready to do battle again. Jones, like many others in the Revolution, was a European transplant. Born John Paul in Scotland in 1747, he took to the sea at age 12 and later made his way to America. When he attached "Jones" as his surname has been open to speculation. In one version, he assumes the name as an alias to avoid criminal prosecution; another recounts a young John Paul being accepted as a member of a wealthy family named Jones in Fredericksburg, Va. When war broke out between the American Colonies and Great Britain, the young merchant seaman seized upon the opportunity to gain a commission as senior first lieutenant in America's fledging navy. Placed in command, in rapid succession, of three armed ships—the Alfred, the Ranger and the Providence (the exact order of his commands has never been firmly established)—he raised a storm on the British merchant fleet, capturing several handsome prizes. But the maritime event that forever framed him in the narrative of American history was the September 1779 battle between his converted warship, the Bonhomme Richard, an East India merchantman that had been refitted by the French, and the British man-o-war, the Serapis. On the morning of the battle, Jones spied a merchant fleet of more than 40 ships off Flamborough Head; two British warships, one the Serapis, escorted them. Although outsized and outgunned, the Bonhomme Richard bore down on the Serapis. The American ship came alongside the British frigate "so tight," as Capt. Richard Pearson of the Serapis later detailed in his report of the incident, that "we became so close fore and aft, that the muzzles of our guns touched each other's sides." For the next two hours, holding nothing back, Jones tossed all matter of combustibles, igniting several fires throughout every part of the Serapis. A huge explosion gripped the British ship, possibly initiated by a hand grenade, destroying most of her powder and cartridge and leaving her cannon useless. The Bonhomme Richard also suffered severe damage, which Jones used to his advantage, feigning defeat and drawing the English navy men onto the deck of the American vessel. Once the British tars were aboard, the American sailors sprang from under cover armed with pikes and muskets and drove the British back to their ship. The Serapis was in its death throes, and after suffering a number of direct broadsides from the Bonhomme, struck her colors. The fierce sea battle was over. The upstart young American captain had outmaneuvered the Royal Navy vessel. But the damage to the Bonhomme was beyond repair, leaving Jones with the only alternative of transferring his entire crew to the heavily damaged British capture. A day later, the Bonhomme found her final resting place at the bottom of the sea. Accolades followed the young captain: He was honored by Louis XVI of France, and the newly formed American Congress awarded Jones a gold medal and command of a new warship. But these honors aside, to the British, he was nothing more than a pirate—his captured prizes suspect. Jones served as vice admiral in Russia's navy, a title he had hope for in America but never achieved. SAR MAGAZINE