town; the Jersey line in the vicinity of Pompton; the New England troops on both sides of the Hudson in the vicinity of West Point; while the New York troops were ordered to remain at Albany, whither they had been sent to oppose the inroads of Carleton and Johnson.

Meanwhile the navy had been conducting itself quite creditably, considering its size. We have already spoken about the exploits of Paul Jones, and during the year of 1779 he made his name still more famous. Jones had obtained an old vessel in France, which he renamed the Bonhomme Richard.* She was pierced for 40 guns and manned by about 375 men. Jones formed a little squadron by adding three other vessels, the Alliance, 36 guns, the Pallas, 32 guns, and the Vengeance, 12 guns, Jones acting as commodore of the squadron. Toward the end of July, 1779, Jones set sail from 1'Orient and steered for the western coast of Ireland. He swept the seas in all directions until, on September 19, he had come off the Firth of Forth, after which he directed his course to Flamborough Head, England.† On the 23d he fell in with a fleet of merchant

*See Hale, Franklin in France, vol. i., p. 253 et seq.

Many writers state that Flamborough Head is on the coast of Scotland, but even a casual glance at the map of England will show that it is on the coast of England, just north of the 54th parallel of north latitude. Even Fisher, in his Struggle for American Independence, vol. ii., p. 253, a book published in 1908, makes this mistake. He evidently follows the old accounts.

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men from the Baltic under the convoy of the Serapis, Captain Richard Pearson, and the Countess of Scarborough, Captain Piercy. Captain Pearson had received intelligence that Jones was in the vicinity, and when the headmost of the fleet sighted Jones' squadron, all the vessels crowded on sail to escape, while the Serapis made haste to place herself between Jones and the merchantmen. By four o'clock of the 23d Captain Pearson was able to make out that Jones' fleet consisted of three large ships and a brig. He ordered the Countess of Scarborough to join him as soon as possible, and a little after seven the battle commenced. For a long time the fight was vigorously maintained by both sides, each vessel using every means to gain an advantage. The Serapis was handled much more easily than the Bonhomme Richard, and Captain Pearson was able to obtain advantages in spite of every effort of Jones to prevent it. Not only was the Serapis superior in sailing qualities, but also in armament, carrying 44 guns in two tiers, the lower of which were 18 pounders. Jones determined to lay his ship athwart the hawse of the other, and though he did not entirely succeed in his object, yet as the bowsprit of the Serapis ran between his poop and mizzen-mast, the two vessels were lashed together. They were now so close that the muzzles of the guns of the one touched the sides of the opposite vessel and in this

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position the fight was maintained for two hours from 8:30 to 10:30. Before it commenced, however, the Bonhomme Richard had sprung a leak. Her tier of 12 pounders were rendered useless, while her six 18 pounders were practically of no service, they being fired but eight times altogether.

During the succeeding action Jones used only three 9 pounders, the fire from which was ably seconded by that of his men in the round tops; large quantities of combustibles were also thrown from places of vantage into the hold of the Serapis, so that during the action she was afire nearly a dozen times in different parts. About 9:30 a powder box aboard the Serapis was accidentally set afire, the flames communicating from one powder box to another all the way aft and blowing up all the gunners, sailors and officers abaft the mainmast. In addition, the guns were also rendered useless for the remainder of the action. At times both ships were afire together and the spectacle was dreadful. Meanwhile the Alliance sailed round and round both ships, raking the Serapis fore and aft and killing many of her men on the quarter and main decks. About 10 o'clock she again opened fire, but this time the Serapis and Bonhomme Richard were so close together that

the fire was not only poured into the former but also into the latter, 11 of whose men beside an officer were killed. Perceiving that it was impossible to continue the contest, Captain Pearson struck his flag; not, however, until he had secured to his convoy the opportunity of saving themselves. The loss of both sides in killed and wounded was heavy. The Bonhomme Richard was a complete wreck after the battle and had nearly seven feet of water in her hold. The minute it was ascertained that the pumps could make no headway the wounded were removed and only the first lieutenant of the Pallas with some men were left on board to work at the pumps. On September 25 the water rose up to the lower deck and she finally went down. The Countess of Scarborough, after a two hour fight, had also been compelled to surrender to the Pallas. With these prizes, Jones now made for Holland and on October 3 anchored off the Texel. It is estimated that the prizes taken by the Bonhomme Richard during her cruise were valued at more than £40,000.*

*For a more elaborate and carefully digested account of this renowned battle, see Cooper, Naval History, vol. i., pp. 98-114; Fiske, American Revolution, vol. ii., pp. 120-129; Stedman, American War, vol. ii., pp. 163-166; and lives of Jones by J. S. C. Abbott, Buell, J. P. Frothingham, Hutchins Hapgood, J. O. Kaler, A. S. McKenzie, Henri Marion, M. E. Seawell.

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- Defeated at battle of Camden army rebels to be punished — Injustice of the proceedings British detachment - Patriotism of the women.

As Count d'Estaing had departed with his fleet, Sir Henry Clinton made preparations to begin operations once again in the South. Toward the close of December, 1779, leaving General Knyphausen in command at New York, he embarked for Savannah with about 7,500 troops, a corps of cavalry and large quantities of military stores and provisions.* On the voyage a severe storm arose and the fleet was dispersed; one of the ships foundered, another was captured by the Americans, and, in addition, nearly all the horses perished. On the last day of January, 1780, the fleet arrived at Tybee, Georgia. Clinton had hoped to attack Charleston before the inhabitants were aware of his purpose and had had time to properly defend it, but the necessity for repairing the ships on the coast of Georgia delayed

the expedition sufficiently to afford the Carolinians opportunity to provide against the threatened invasion. General Lincoln and Governor Rutledge used their utmost endeavors to place the city in a state of defence, but the regular troops were few and the militia were poorly equipped; beside which there was a small-pox epidemic in the city, because of which the militia were unwilling to serve. * Funds were also deficient and Congress failed to send suitable reinforcements, so that it was almost impossible to fully provide against the British advance. Nevertheless, everything possible was done; several hundred negroes were set at work, under the direction of French engineers, to extend the fortifications, rendering them more formidable; and had Lincoln received the

*McCrady, South Carolina in the Revolution, p.

430.

Lossing. Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. ii., p. 557.

Ibid, vol. ii., P. 557.