PrintNovember 22, 2012
I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight!
At the outbreak of hostilities with the British in 1776, Captain John Paul Jones, in command of the Providence, wrecked the enemy fishing industry in Nova Scotia and captured sixteen prize British vessels. In 1777 and 1778 he captained the Ranger and raided along the English coast, bringing the war home to King George and his subjects. In recognition of his feats, the Continental Navy put him in command of five American and French warships, including his flagship, the Bonhomme Richard. Commodore Jones led his tiny squadron on raids of the Scottish coast, disrupting commerce, capturing numerous merchant ships, and making an aggravating nuisance of himself to the Crown and Royal Navy.
John Paul JonesPainted by Charles Wilson Peale c1781
John Paul Jones later engaged in one of the bloodiest naval engagements of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Flamborough Head, off the northern coast of England. At dawn on September 23, 1779, his four-ship squadron spotted what they believed...(Read Full Article)
