The Logs of the Serapis--Allance--Ariel, Under the Command of John Paul Jones, 1779-1780. Various
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several blank leaves the narrative found amongst the Peter Force Collection of Manuscripts, "John Paul Jones Papers," Volume VI, number 29.
The authorship and penmanship of this document have been ascribed by various biographers of Jones to Richard Dale.[4]
The present owner's attention was specially called to it by seeing a small photographic reproduction, published in a book by Professor Marion entitled, "John Paul Jones' Last Cruise and Final Resting Place," Washington, 1906. The author describes this valuable and historical document as a "manuscript written on two pages of rough, greenish paper, evidently torn out of a log book," and attributes it to Richard Dale, the first lieutenant of the Bon Homme Richard. The compiler of the "John Paul Jones Manuscripts" in the Library of Congress attributes it possibly to Jones' secretary.[5] The author of the "Memoirs of Rear-Admiral Paul Jones," published in Edinburgh and London, 1830, Volume I, page 192, states "that the fact of Landais' firing into the Bon Homme Richard is also confirmed by the log-book, which was preserved when the ship sunk, and by a very interesting and seaman-like narrative of the engagement, drawn up by Mr. Dale." He adds in a footnote in reference to the log-book: "This battered volume, after many adventures by land and water, is now (1830) in the possession of Mr. Richard Napier, Advocate."
As this author bases his book upon documents then in the possession of Mrs. Jeanette Taylor, the sister of Paul Jones, which she came into possession of when he died in Paris, the "battered volume" referred to must have been amongst Jones' papers, and is undoubtedly the same log-book now under review. As will be shown later, it was surely in the possession of Richard Dale as late as 1782, and at some time after the war he probably restored it to Jones, who certainly had a good claim to it, as the muster-roll of the Bon Homme Richard, contained in it, was necessary in the prosecution of his prize-money claims in France.
However this may be, the present owner procured a photograph of the narrative of the engagement, of the exact dimensions of the sheets upon which it was written, and on comparison of these sheets with the leaves of the log-book it was found that in dimensions, in the color and quality of the paper, even in the indenture of the torn edges, there could be no possible doubt that the document was torn from this log-book, and found its way into the Peter Force Collection, and thence to the possession of the Congressional Library. The facsimile is now where the original was, and the narrative is included in this publication of the Serapis' log.[6] Still there was doubt as to its authorship. A comparison of the handwriting with that of Richard Dale, to whom it was attributed, showed conclusively that he was not the writer. Amongst the various scribblings upon the covers of the log-book is found:
September the 3d, 1780. This book belongs to Mr. Henry Lunt, Lieutenant of the Ship of War, the (Ariel)
a memorandum undoubtedly written by Lunt himself, who was, on the date named, the second lieutenant of the Ariel, commanded by Jones, Dale being her first lieutenant.[7]
Comparisons of letters of Henry Lunt, also in the Peter Force Collection, with the narrative establish beyond any doubt that it is the penmanship of Lieutenant Henry Lunt. Mr. Gaillard Hunt, chief of the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress, in a letter to the editor, in reply to his suggestion that Lunt may have been the writer, states as follows:
That the two pages of the Serapis log are in the hand of Lieutenant Henry Lunt. They have been compared with a letter of Lunt to Jones, October 7, 1779, and there can be no question of the identity of the hand.
A few words as to Lieutenant Henry Lunt. As is well known, he was not on board the Bon Homme Richard during the engagement, having been sent, with fifteen of the crew, to take possession of a brigantine which had been chased inshore, and, although recalled by signal, he did not return until after the action. His conduct in this respect has been properly criticized. He states himself:
Having, on the 23d of September, 1779, been ordered in a pilot boat with a party of men after a brig, but some time after I set out from alongside, a signal was made for me to return back to the Bon homme Richard, she being then in chase of two British ships-of-war, the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, and before I could get on board the Bon homme Richard she commenced the engagement with the Serapis. It being night, I thought it not prudent to go alongside in time of action. …
This is signed, "On board the Serapis, at the Texel, 25th of October, 1779. Henry Lunt."
Jones indorses this as follows:
This certificate of Lieut. Lunt, who was a mere spectator, is of great weight and importance, it being only in the power of this gentleman to give a true account of the respective positions and manœuvres of the ships engaged.
J. P. Jones.[8]
The question naturally arises, Who dictated the narrative of the fight which Lunt wrote in the Serapis' log? It is an authentic and truthful narration of the principal occurrences, and corresponds with Jones' own accounts of the battle. It is written in the first person, and must have been written by some one who was on board the Bon Homme Richard, and copied by Lunt into the Serapis' log at some time subsequent to the engagement, in order to have a circumstantial account recorded in the log. Lunt's statement that the log-book belonged to him on September 3, 1780, when second lieutenant of the Ariel, nearly a year after the fight, would lead us to suppose that, as he was surrounded by the officers who were on the Bon Homme Richard, he simply copied a description dictated by one of them, probably by Jones himself, as the latter's well-known proclivity for self-adulation would naturally show itself in a desire to have his personal efforts spread upon the official record. It is further worthy of note that almost the only tributes to the officers of the Bon Homme Richard, or recognition of their services, are to be found in Jones' charges and proofs against Landais, where his object was to give force to their testimony.[9] His apparent unwillingness to commend others, or award to each of his officers a just meed of praise, has been noted by some of his biographers as his great fault.
It is a matter of interest to a collector to be able to identify the author or writer of this narrative of the engagement, and to place it, after a long separation, where it originally was written.
The first regular entry in the Serapis' log is on the 26th of September, when, dismasted, crowded with prisoners, and encumbered with wounded, her people, assisted by men from the other ships of the squadron, were employed in erecting jury masts and repairing the damages sustained in the action. The wind was for several days light, from the southwest, and the sea fairly smooth, the speed recorded being from two to four knots. Jones decided to make the port of Dunkirk, but his colleagues overruled him, and upon making the land, owing to bad weather and contrary winds, the squadron, after being tossed to and fro by contrary winds for seven days, anchored in the Texel Roads on the 3d of October. That the ship should have been safely taken to a harbor under such circumstances is not the least of Jones' exploits as a seaman; while the failure of the English cruisers to intercept and recapture her brought much obloquy upon the British admiralty.
Safely anchored in the Texel, Sir Joseph Yorke, the British ambassador at The Hague, who persistently referred to Jones as "that pirate, Paul Jones: a rebel subject and criminal of State," immediately demanded the surrender of the prizes and the release of the prisoners.[10] The demand was refused by the High Commissioners, and after much correspondence Jones obtained permission, under certain restrictions, to land his prisoners and wounded, and to mount guard over them on an island in the Texel. Jones may fairly be said to have added to his fame by being mainly instrumental in bringing about an open rupture between England and Holland by the stand taken by him during this trying period.
As will be seen by the entries in the log, the crew, with assistance from the other ships, were for many days busily employed in cleaning up her decks and in repairing and refitting the ship. She was in a dreadful condition of filth and disorder. Jones desired to refit her, and again to cruise in English waters, as she was a fine, stanch ship, recently built, and would have been a valuable substitute for the lost Richard. Jones states that she was the best ship he ever saw of her kind.
Complications between the Dutch and