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A Filey Story
JOHN PAUL JONES (1747 - 1792) - A BRIEF HISTORY.An American naval officer,
held as a hero of the American Revolution (1775 -1783) Early days He was born on 6th July 1747 at Arbigland in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, with the surname Paul, the son of a Scottish gardener. At the age of 12 he entered the British merchant navy and went to sea for the first time as a cabin boy on the Friendship. He sailed aboard merchantmen and slavers, became third mate in 1764 on the slave ship King George, first mate in 1766 on the slave ship Two Friends. In 1768 when navigating a ship home from the West Indies, after the captain and first mate had died of yellow fever, he had a sailor, Mungo Maxwell, flogged, who later died. John Paul was arrested for homicide and whilst on bail managed to prove that Maxwell had died of yellow fever and not from his wounds. Controversy still dogged him for in 1773, whilst captain of the merchant vessel Betsy he chose not to pay the crew when in the West Indies and when attacked in anger by one of the crew he killed him with a broadsword. He elected not to stay in prison and wait for an admiralty court to be held, but fled to America, leaving his money behind in Tobago. From that point the British considered him a pirate. Arrives in America. In 1774 he arrived in Fredericksburg in Virginia, assumed the name John Jones, and befriended many influential Virginian revolutionaries. In 1775 he applied for and was granted a naval appointment in the newly created American navy and at that time assumed the full name of John Paul Jones. He was the first ever to be commissioned as a lieutenant and was given command of The Alfred and was soon in action as part of a fleet that seized a load of English munitions. After other further successes against the English he was given command of the Providence and after coming up with ideas of modernising the navy he gained the rank of captain. He quickly had successes capturing eight and destroying another eight English ships in a seven-week spell. France. In 1777 he was assigned to The Ranger and set sail to France to pick up a new heavy frigate being built in Holland. As the new frigate was not available, he started on a campaign with The Ranger of capturing, burning, and sinking English ships around British coast; and of taking prisoners so that they could be exchanged for American prisoners taken by the English. In February 1779 he was given the command of the Bonhomme Richard, which he staffed with a crew of 380, some of which were Americans but the majority were a mixture of English, Scottish, Irish and Portuguese sailors. He continued his harassment of the English fleet with the Bonhomme Richard until the battle of Flamborough Head on September 1779. After his victory John Paul Jones could not prevent the badly damaged Bonhomme Richard from sinking. He then sailed the captured Seraphis to Holland. Whilst there, in December 1979, he was given command of the Alliance and sailed it to France, where he was the toast of French society. In October 1780 he was given command of the loaned French ship Ariel, which soon afterwards was badly damaged in a storm. After a lengthy delay for the repair, he set sail for America. Returns to America. In 1780 he received commendations from Congress He unsuccessfully sought payment for all the years of his service. In June 1781 he was given the command of the half-built ship America, but in September 1782 was told that when completed the ship would instead be given to France. In December 1782 received permission from Congress to join the planned French invasion of Jamaica, which was later cancelled. Taken ill, he returned to Philadelphia in 1783. He unsuccessfully petitioned Congress for an advance rank and for back wages. In November 1783 he returned to France as the official "prize agent" in attempt to recover unpaid money from the prizes won in battle. Spent years in France where he was only partially successful in getting recompense for himself and his former crews. In 1787 returned to the United States but was still unable to obtain a higher rank; received an offer of a senior rank in the Russian navy, which in March 1788 he accepted. Russia. In April 1788 he arrived in Russia and found much opposition to himself by the military leaders who plotted against him. When the promised commissions failed to materialise he resigned. Returns to France and Death. He returned to Paris in 1790, now in poor health. He refused a commission offered by George Washington. At the age of 45 he died in Paris on 18th July 1792. After a search over many years for his grave it was eventually traced, in 1905, to the St Louis Cemetery in Paris. Tests were taken of the remains to prove that they were indeed those of John Paul Jones. The remains were returned to America in July 1905, and in 1913 interred at the US Naval Academy Chapel, in Annapolis, Maryland. click here to see "John Paul Jones and the Battle off Flamborough Head." click here to see "The Battle off Flamborough head - Extract from the Journal of John Paul Jones". click here to see photos of The John Paul Jones Cottage and Museum." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
