Stories of Later American History Part 9

This daring scheme succeeded so well that Cornwallis surrendered his entire army of eight thousand men on October 19, 1781. This important event, which practically ended the war, we shall speak of again.

The surrender at Yorktown ended the fighting, although the treaty of peace was not signed until 1783. By that treaty the Americans won their independence from England. The country which they could now call their own extended from Canada to Florida, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River.

After the treaty of peace was signed, and the army disbanded, General Greene went home. In 1785 he moved with his family to a plantation which the State of Georgia had given him. Here he lived in quiet and happiness, but only a short time, for he died of sunstroke at the age of forty-four.

His comrade Anthony Wayne, voiced the feeling of his countrymen when he said: "I have seen a great and good man die."

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

1. Tell what you can about General Greene's early life.

2. What was the condition of his army when he took command in the South?

How did he prove his strength at that time?

3. What kind of man was Daniel Morgan, and what do you think of him?

4. Tell all you can about Marion, the "Swamp Fox," and his ways of making trouble for the British.

5. When did the Revolution begin? When did it end? What did the Americans win by the treaty? What was the extent of our country at that time?

CHAPTER VI

JOHN PAUL JONES

While the Revolution was being fought out on the land, important battles were taking place also at sea. Until this war began, the Americans had had no need of a navy because the mother country had protected them. But when unfriendly feeling arose, Congress ordered war vessels to be built. These were very useful in capturing British vessels, many of which were loaded with arms and ammunition intended for British soldiers. Powder, as you will remember, was sorely needed by Was.h.i.+ngton's army.

[Ill.u.s.tration: John Paul Jones.]

Among the men who commanded the American war vessels were some noted sea-captains, the most famous of whom was John Paul Jones.

He was of Scottish birth. His father, John Paul, was a gardener, who lived on the southwestern coast of Scotland. The cottage in which our hero spent his early boyhood days stood near the beautiful bay called Solway Firth, which made a safe harbor for s.h.i.+ps in time of storm.

Here little John Paul heard many sailors tell thrilling stories of adventure at sea and in far-away lands. Here, also, to the inlets along the sh.o.r.e, the active lad and his playmates took their tiny boats and made believe they were sailors, John Paul always acting as captain. Sometimes when he was tired and all alone, he would sit by the hour watching the big waves rolling in, and dreaming perhaps of the day when he would become a great sea-captain.

When he was only twelve, he wished to begin his life as a real sailor. So his father apprenticed him to a merchant at Whitehaven who owned a vessel and traded in goods brought from other lands. Soon afterward John Paul went on a voyage to Virginia, where the vessel was to be loaded with tobacco. While there he visited an older brother, who owned a plantation at Fredericksburg.

For six years John Paul remained with the Whitehaven merchant, and during this time he learned much about good seamans.h.i.+p. After the merchant failed in business, John Paul still continued to follow a seafaring life, and in a short time became a captain. But when his brother in Virginia died, John Paul went to Fredericksburg to manage the plantation his brother had left.

It was now his intention to spend the rest of his life here, but, like Patrick Henry, he failed as a farmer. In fact, it would seem that he was born to be a sailor.

In the meantime he had come to be a loyal American, and when the Revolution broke out he determined to offer his services to Congress. When he did so, he changed his name to John Paul Jones. Just why, we do not know.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Battle Between the Ranger and the Drake.]

Congress accepted his services by appointing him first lieutenant. He proved himself so able that in the second year of the war he was put in command of two vessels, with which he captured sixteen prizes in six weeks.

In the following year he was appointed captain of the Ranger and sent to France with letters to Benjamin Franklin, who was then American commissioner at the French court, trying to secure aid for the American cause.

At that time English vessels were annoying American coasts by burning and destroying property. Jones got permission from Franklin to attack British coasts in the same way, and he was allowed to sail from France in his vessel with that purpose in view.

His plan was to sail along the western coast of England and set fire to the large s.h.i.+pping-yards at Whitehaven, with which harbor, you remember, he had become familiar in boyhood. He meant to burn all the three hundred vessels lying at anchor there. Although he succeeded in setting fire to only one large s.h.i.+p, he alarmed the people all along the coast. The warning was carried from town to town: "Beware of Paul Jones, the pirate!"

An English war vessel, the Drake, was sent out to capture the Ranger. As the Drake carried two more guns and a crew better drilled for fighting, it was thought she would make short work of the American s.h.i.+p in a fight. But it was just the other way, for after a battle of a single hour the English vessel surrendered, having lost many men. The American loss was only two men killed and six wounded.

After this brilliant victory the young captain put back to France. There he found great rejoicing among the people, whose good-will was more with America than with England. And as war had already broken out between France and England, the French King was quite willing to furnish Jones with a considerable naval force.

A DESPERATE SEA DUEL

Accordingly, in August, 1779, Captain Jones put to sea once more, this time with a fleet of four vessels. He named his flag-s.h.i.+p Bon Homme Richard (bo-nom'-r[=e]-shar'), after the Richard of _Poor Richard's Almanac_, which you will remember Benjamin Franklin had written.

In this s.h.i.+p, which was old, he set out to cruise along the western coast of Ireland, in order to capture English merchant vessels. After reaching the southern point of Ireland, he cruised northward around Scotland and down its eastern coast. Then he sailed up and down the eastern coast of England, looking for merchant vessels.

At noon on the 23d of September Jones sighted a fleet of forty-two merchantmen, guarded by two English s.h.i.+ps of war, all sailing from the north. He at once decided to make an attack. This took place early in the evening, the action being mainly between the Richard and the English man-of-war Serapis, which was a large s.h.i.+p, new and swift, and very much better than the Richard.

During the first hour the American vessel got the worst of the fight and "was leaking like a basket." The English captain, feeling sure of victory, called out: "Has your s.h.i.+p struck?" Our hero, Paul Jones, shouted back: "I have not yet begun to fight!"

As the British vessel came alongside his own for a more deadly struggle, Jones with his own hands lashed the two together. Soon both were badly leaking, but the fighting went on as fiercely as ever. Presently both caught fire.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Fight Between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis.]

Then Jones turned his cannon upon the mainmast of the Serapis, and when it threatened to fall the English captain surrendered. So after all it was the English s.h.i.+p and not the American that "struck" the flag. But the Richard could not have held out much longer, for even before the surrender she had begun to sink.

When the English captain gave up his sword to John Paul Jones, he said: "It is very hard to surrender to a man who has fought with a halter around his neck." You see, Captain Jones would have been hanged as a pirate, if taken. Jones replied: "Sir, you have fought like a hero. I hope your King will reward you."

This was a desperate sea duel, and it lasted from half past seven in the evening until ten o'clock. It was important also in its results, for it won much needed respect for our flag and gave a wonderful uplift to the American cause. The victor, John Paul Jones, who was loaded with honors, from that day took rank with the great sea-captains of the world.

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

1. Tell all you can about the early life of John Paul Jones.

2. Why did the English call him a pirate when he was sailing along the British coasts in order to destroy property?

3. What was the outcome of the desperate sea duel between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis?

4. What do you admire about John Paul Jones?

5. Do not fail to locate every event upon the map.

CHAPTER VII