John Paul was born on July 6th 1747 in Kirkbean, Scotland. His original name was John Paul to which he added Jones for reasons that will later be discussed. He is considered one of the well-known naval commanders in the American Revolutionary War. His father was John Paul Sr. and his occupation was that of a gardener at Arbigland and his mother was Jean McDuff. At the age of 12 he became an apprentice to a Scottish merchant John Young aboard the vessel Friendship under Captain Benson sailing out of Whitehaven in the northern English County of Cumberland. He sailed aboard several merchant and slave ships for several years. John Paul sailed the “middle passage” between Africa and the Caribbean plantations for three years before having enough of it. His time in human trafficking repulsed him causing him to return to shipping cargo duties.
In Kingston John Paul met the captain of a brig the John. The captain was Samuel McAdam and he offered Paul free passage home. During this voyage the captain and the first mate died of yellow fever. Paul was the only person on board who knew how to navigate. Paul safely navigated this vessel to a safe port. The vessel’s Scottish owners rewarded him by giving him command of the ship and its crew, which consisted of six (6) men, and by giving him 10% of the cargo. He led two voyages into the West Indies before running into trouble.
Paul was accused of being unnecessarily cruel for the punishments that he gave. This occurred on his second voyage in 1770 when he had one of his crew flogged. The flogged man was Mungo Maxwell a carpenter’s mate who refused to take orders from Paul. The sailor died a few weeks later from what appeared to be yellow fever. This still however damaged his reputation and he was imprisoned in Kirkcudbright Tolbooth but was later released on bail. The dead sailor was an adventurer from a very influential Scottish family.
In 1772 he purchased a vessel in the West Indies named Betsy. The following year in 1773 sailing between Europe and the West Indies as Captain of Betsy Captain Paul was on his way to prosperity. Paul murdered a mutinous sailor with a sword on the island of Tobago in what he claims was self-defense. Their disagreement was over wages as Paul decided to reinvest his money in a new cargo to take back to London rather than pay advance wages to his men on the island. He, believing that he would not receive a fair trial, fled to America and added the last name of Jones to conceal his identity. He went to Fredericksburg to sort out the affairs of his now dead brother who had no immediate family besides him.
In 1775 the American Revolutionary War broke out and Jones who remembered Britain’s cruel treatment of the Scots supported the colonists and joined the Continental Navy. The American Revolutionary War happened in the 18th Century between 1775 to 1783. This war was fought between Great Britain and its thirteen (13) North American colonies. It started off as a civil war but with France joining the war on the side of the colonists it was transformed from a civil matter into an international one. The war ended with America gaining its independence. The Continental Navy was formed that same year and was the navy of the United States geared at intercepting shipments of British materials. It was formed by the Continental Congress after receiving intelligence that a British naval fleet was on its way. The Continental Congress also known as the Philadelphia Congress was a collection of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that formed a governing body for the United States during the American Revolutionary War. Esek Hopkins became the first commander in Chief of the Continental Navy. Their main goal was to deter and interrupt British maritime commercial operations. This would later become the United States Navy.
Being assigned to the Alfred, the flagship of the little fleet commanded by Commodore Esek Hopkins, Jones distinguished himself in action in the Bahamas and against Glasgow, a British ship. In 1776 he commanded the Providence and between August to October he traveled over the Atlantic from Bermuda to Nova Scotia, twice outwitting British frigates. He manned and sent in eight (8) prizes and sank and burnt eight (8) more. Commanding the Alfred again in that same year he reached unmolested with several prizes in tow to port.
Appointed by Congress to the newly built Ranger he set course for France in June 1777. He navigated through the St. George’s Channel and the Irish Sea where he took many prizes arriving at Brest, France on May 1778. There he was hailed as a hero by the French. The Ranger became the first vessel to be recognized by a foreign power as the French Admiral La Motte Piquet saluted Jones’ vessel.
The year is now 1779 and it is during this time that John Paul Jones would engage on a journey that would cement his name as a Legendary Naval Commander in the American Revolutionary War History. In the early part of 1779 Jones received Duc de Duras, an ancient East Indiaman from the French King. Jones repaired and refitted the vessel. He also renamed it Bon Homme Richard as a compliment of his admiration of Benjamin Franklyn. Having four other ships and two French privateers, he sailed on August 14th 1779 to raid English shipping. The date is September 23rd 1779 and Jones’ squadron has intercepted The Baltic Merchant Fleet under the convoy of the British ships the HMS Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough in the North Sea off Famborough Head, England.
Bon Homme Richard sustained heavy damage from the first exchange of both vessel’s broadside blasts losing many of her gunners and firepower. Bon Homme Richard rained down gunfire on Serapis clearing the weatherdecks from Jones’ crew. After three and a half hours of battle between the two vessels Jones rammed Bon Homme Richard into HMS Serapis tying them together. The Captain of Serapis Richard Pearson shouted out to Jones asking if he had surrendered. Jones replied “I have not yet begun to fight!” A naval officer from Jones’ crew threw a grenade onto Serapis inflicting great damage forcing the British to surrender. Jones and his crew boarded the Serapis. Bon Homme Richard sank the following day from the damage that she sustained. Joes sailed both the HMS Serapis and the captured Countess of Scarborough to the Netherlands. This victory over the Superior British naval ship turned him into an international hero.
Jones was rewarded with a Gold-hilted sword and was made a Chevalier of France by King Louis XVI who was the last king of France. He also received a Congressional Gold Medal in 1787 and accepted an appointment to the Russian Navy as a Rear Admiral in the service of Empress Catherine.
In 1790 he returned to Paris where his health suddenly deteriorated. On July 18th 1792 he was found dead in his apartment at the age of forty-five (45). Jones was buried in a French cemetery where after some time his plot was sold and forgotten. More than one hundred (100) years would pass until the United States could recover his remains with the help of French officials.
Col. John H. Sherburne made efforts to return Jones' remains to the United States in 1845. He contacted the Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft requesting for Jones’ body to be brought home aboard a ship of the Mediterrean Squadron. After six (6) years when arrangements were made for the return the plans fell through when some of Jones' Scottish relatives objected to the mission. Even though this presented itself as an obstacle there was still the other problem of Jones being in an unmarked grave with no one knew exactly where. A systematic search from American Ambassador Horace Porter began in 1899 with his burial place and Jones' body being discovered in April 1905.
After his grave was found and exhumed French officials were amazed at how well preserved his body was. Autopsies performed revealed his cause of death was kidney failure. Later studies speculated that his kidney condition may have been exacerbated by a heart arrhythmia. Four Cruisers were sent by President Theodore to bring his remains back to the U.S. and these shipswere escorted up the Chesapeake Bay by seven (7) battleships. On January 26th 1913 his remains were laid to rest in the crypt of chapel of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. A Marine honour guard stands duty whenever the crypt is open to the public to this day.
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