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Authors: Scott Martelle
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later, the
Bonhomme Richard
fell quiet. A rumor ran through the British command that the Americans had âasked for quarterâ and âstruck,â that is, surrendered. Pearson yelled to Jones for confirmation but received no reply. Pearson ordered his crew to board the other ship, but once the sailors were on deck and exposed, Jonesâs men, carrying sharp pikes, emerged from hiding spots and swung away, killing several and forcing the rest to scamper back to the
Serapis.
Amid the renewed fighting, Jonesâs men kept firing small cannonballs at the
Serapisâs
main mast, which began to creak and crack. A short time later, his ship ablaze and his cannons useless, Pearsonâbelieving incorrectly that the
Alliance
was also trying to sink his shipâsurrendered.
Jones had won the battle, but he lost his ship and a greater portion of his men as well. Efforts to save the
Bonhomme Richard
failed, and she sank into the North Sea. Jones reported 150 of his 322 men dead or wounded; Pearson, who had about 325 men, lost 49, with another 68 wounded. More would die over the next few weeks from their wounds or infections. And while Pearson lost the naval battle and two ships (the
Pallas
had taken the
Countess of Scarborough),
the convoy he was assigned to protect escaped unscathed.
Jones and his small fleet arrived at a port on the small Dutch island of Texel on October 3, 1779, four days after the battle. The British quicklylearned of his presence and blockaded the harbor; they pressed the Dutch, who were neutral in the war, to return their ships and captured crewmen and order Jones to sail from Texel and, presumably, into their waiting blockade. The French intervened, arguing that Jonesâs squadron consisted of French ships, and suggested that turning them over to the British would insult the French king, a not-so-veiled threat of retaliation. As the diplomats wrangled, Jonesâs crew worked to get the ships seaworthy; Jones himself traveled to Amsterdam, where he was feted as a hero. Landais went on to Paris, where Benjamin Franklin had already received reports from Jones and crew members of both the
Bonhomme Richard
and the
Alliance
of his treachery at sea, and Landais was eventually bounced from the navy.
Jones, though, was hailed as a hero, and as word spread of the unlikely victory of the outgunned
Bonhomme Richard
against the
Serapis,
Jonesâs reputation grew.
6
Of War and Heroes
I T TOOK A MBASSADOR P ORTER nearly a week to respond to the letter from his boss, Secretary Sherman, but on July 13 he wrote back that he would welcome meeting with Woodford and his fellow ambassadors to England and Germany. He also reported that he had âalready been taking measures to acquaint myself as to the views of influential persons in France, statesmen, financiers, etc., in reference to the Cuban question, and can soon ascertain pretty clearly the drift of opinion.â 1
French leaders were sympathetic to Spain for several reasons, including neighborlinessâwith a shared border, it made sense to pick disputes judiciouslyâand a recognition that with its own colonial possessions France had little moral authority to tell another country how it should deal with uprisings. More significant was that French investors held some $400 million in Spanish bonds and railroad investments, a significant portion of Spainâs $2 billion national debt. Without the trade revenue from colonial plantations, the financiers feared those bonds could become worthless.
âI think it will be found that these considerations would not induce [France] to take any hostile steps towards us as a nation in case we should be obliged to resort to vigorous action in reference to the deplorable condition of things in Cuba,â Porter advised Sherman. Many of the financiers, he said, recognized that if the rebellion in Cuba continued its course, the bonds would lose their value anyway. There also was a counteranalysis
Bonhomme Richard
fell quiet. A rumor ran through the British command that the Americans had âasked for quarterâ and âstruck,â that is, surrendered. Pearson yelled to Jones for confirmation but received no reply. Pearson ordered his crew to board the other ship, but once the sailors were on deck and exposed, Jonesâs men, carrying sharp pikes, emerged from hiding spots and swung away, killing several and forcing the rest to scamper back to the
Serapis.
Amid the renewed fighting, Jonesâs men kept firing small cannonballs at the
Serapisâs
main mast, which began to creak and crack. A short time later, his ship ablaze and his cannons useless, Pearsonâbelieving incorrectly that the
Alliance
was also trying to sink his shipâsurrendered.
Jones had won the battle, but he lost his ship and a greater portion of his men as well. Efforts to save the
Bonhomme Richard
failed, and she sank into the North Sea. Jones reported 150 of his 322 men dead or wounded; Pearson, who had about 325 men, lost 49, with another 68 wounded. More would die over the next few weeks from their wounds or infections. And while Pearson lost the naval battle and two ships (the
Pallas
had taken the
Countess of Scarborough),
the convoy he was assigned to protect escaped unscathed.
Jones and his small fleet arrived at a port on the small Dutch island of Texel on October 3, 1779, four days after the battle. The British quicklylearned of his presence and blockaded the harbor; they pressed the Dutch, who were neutral in the war, to return their ships and captured crewmen and order Jones to sail from Texel and, presumably, into their waiting blockade. The French intervened, arguing that Jonesâs squadron consisted of French ships, and suggested that turning them over to the British would insult the French king, a not-so-veiled threat of retaliation. As the diplomats wrangled, Jonesâs crew worked to get the ships seaworthy; Jones himself traveled to Amsterdam, where he was feted as a hero. Landais went on to Paris, where Benjamin Franklin had already received reports from Jones and crew members of both the
Bonhomme Richard
and the
Alliance
of his treachery at sea, and Landais was eventually bounced from the navy.
Jones, though, was hailed as a hero, and as word spread of the unlikely victory of the outgunned
Bonhomme Richard
against the
Serapis,
Jonesâs reputation grew.
6
Of War and Heroes
I T TOOK A MBASSADOR P ORTER nearly a week to respond to the letter from his boss, Secretary Sherman, but on July 13 he wrote back that he would welcome meeting with Woodford and his fellow ambassadors to England and Germany. He also reported that he had âalready been taking measures to acquaint myself as to the views of influential persons in France, statesmen, financiers, etc., in reference to the Cuban question, and can soon ascertain pretty clearly the drift of opinion.â 1
French leaders were sympathetic to Spain for several reasons, including neighborlinessâwith a shared border, it made sense to pick disputes judiciouslyâand a recognition that with its own colonial possessions France had little moral authority to tell another country how it should deal with uprisings. More significant was that French investors held some $400 million in Spanish bonds and railroad investments, a significant portion of Spainâs $2 billion national debt. Without the trade revenue from colonial plantations, the financiers feared those bonds could become worthless.
âI think it will be found that these considerations would not induce [France] to take any hostile steps towards us as a nation in case we should be obliged to resort to vigorous action in reference to the deplorable condition of things in Cuba,â Porter advised Sherman. Many of the financiers, he said, recognized that if the rebellion in Cuba continued its course, the bonds would lose their value anyway. There also was a counteranalysis
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