The Logs of the Serapis--Allance--Ariel, Under the Command of John Paul Jones, 1779-1780. Various
by Jones, and Franklin had, in May, expressed his astonishment that he continued to remain at L'Orient. To this Landais, on the 29th of May, coolly replied that he had been waiting for orders to retake command of the Alliance! Franklin replied to this, "I charge you not to meddle with the command, or create any disturbance on board her, as you will answer the contrary at your peril."
Arthur Lee, as well as Commodore Gillon, had previously quarreled with Jones, and detested him. Lee, in a written opinion discussing constitutional questions as to the authority of Congress, and that of Mr. Franklin, advised Landais that he might lawfully treat our minister's orders with contempt. As Jones was constantly absent from his ship, spending much time in Paris, where he was the recipient of marked attentions, it was not difficult for Landais to work upon the mutinous spirit of the crew by charging Jones with neglect of their interests regarding prize money due them, to such effect that they addressed a letter to Franklin, signed by one hundred and fifteen of the crew, declaring that they would not raise the anchor, nor depart from L'Orient, until their wages and the utmost farthing of their prize money had been paid them, and until their legal captain, P. Landais, was restored to them. This mutinous document was undoubtedly instigated by Landais; it bore unmistakable evidence of being penned, and was forwarded to Franklin, by Landais himself.
On the morning of the 12th of June Jones, at L'Orient, assembled his crew, before going on shore, and asked them if they could say a word to his disadvantage. They answered that they could not, and, according to Jones' account, showed every appearance of contentment and subordination. Jones then went on shore, and Landais, taking advantage of his absence, seized the command during the afternoon of that day. Jones heard of the transaction from Dale, who informed him that he and some others had just been turned ashore.
Jones immediately despatched by express to Franklin a statement of the occurrence. Upon its receipt Franklin procured an order from Versailles for the arrest and imprisonment of Landais, as a Frenchman and subject to French laws. Lee, under whose legal advice Landais had acted, wrote a long letter to Jones, in which he claimed that it was clear that Landais commanded the Alliance under the full and express order of Congress, and no other authority existed which could dismiss him from the command.
Some attempt was made by the commandant of the port to arrest Landais and prevent the departure of the Alliance. Jones declined to employ means to prevent her departure, interposing, he says, "to prevent bloodshed between the subjects of allied powers." The Alliance was hurried out of port with a mutinous crew—many of them in irons—taking Arthur Lee and a number of civilians as passengers. On the voyage homeward the officers and crew became dissatisfied with Landais' conduct, and compelled him to relinquish the command. Mr. Arthur Lee was particularly incensed against him, and principally upon his testimony, on his trial by court martial, Landais was dismissed from the service on the score that he was insane.
The conduct of Jones in thus abandoning his command has been commented upon at length by his biographers, and variously accounted for, the consensus of opinion being that, had he really wished to recover the command, he could have gone on board the Alliance with his officers as soon as he heard that Landais had taken possession of her, and would have met with no opposition from Landais, or, if he had ventured upon personal violence, Jones, being in the right, would not have been blamable for the consequences. The conduct of Jones during this extraordinary transaction seems inconsistent with his general character as a bold and determined fighter, and does not add to his reputation.
Following the entry in the Alliance's journal, recording the taking possession of her by Landais, the log continues with "An account of occurrences in L'Orient, respecting the Bon Homme Richards Officers & Crew" during the three days they were on shore waiting for orders. On the 16th of June they were ordered to, and removed on board the Ariel frigate, that ship having been loaned by the French to assist in transporting to America clothing and munitions of war, for which room could not be found on the Alliance and of which our army was sorely in need. The Ariel was a small frigate, formerly captured from the English by the squadron under d'Estaing.
The log-book now contains
A Journall Kept on Board the American Continental Ship of War, Ariel, of 26—Nine Pounders, Commanded by the Honble. John Paul Jones Esqr. commencing in the Port of L'Orient June the 16th: 1780.
Although under the date of the 16th, in the account of the occurrences on shore, is written "Commencement of the Ariels Journall," the first entry following the complete heading is on June 18th.
The remarks on the following days are full of interest. The ship could hardly have been more than a hulk, in no way prepared for sea, for until the 8th of October—nearly three months—they show that she was remasted, sparred, altered, repaired, and refitted with sails and new rigging, besides receiving on board quantities of stores, clothing, and munitions of war, destined for America, that the Alliance had been unable to take. The movements of the Alliance under Landais are also recorded prior to her departure. On the 2d of September a grand entertainment was given by Jones, during which he endeavored to represent the battle with the Serapis to a large and distinguished company. An amusing description of another entertainment, about December 10th, appears in Fanning's narrative,[15] who figures in the log entry on the 2d of September as having been kicked by Jones and ordered below.
Although apparently ready for sea early in September, the ship was moved only to the Roads of Groix, where she lay until the 8th of October, apparently detained by contrary winds or foul weather. On that day she got to sea, and on the very night of her departure encountered a heavy gale which increased to a hurricane the following day, in which the ship was nearly lost.
The remarks of the 9th and 10th of October describe the distress of the ship, with some particularity for a formal log entry, but a more detailed account of this great storm is found in a report signed by the officers of the Ariel which Jones procured, possibly to confirm his own report of the gale and its effects, which he gives in his journal for the King.
He sailed from the Roads of Groix with such a quantity of arms and powder as filled the ship even between decks; the wind was fair and weather pleasant, but the next night the Ariel was driven by the violent tempest close to the rocks of Penmarque, a terrible ledge between L'Orient and Brest. The ship could show no sail, but was almost buried under water, (p. xxviii) not having room to run before the wind, and having several feet of water in the hold. Finding the depth of water diminishing fast, Jones in the last extremity cast anchor, but could not bring the ship's head to the wind. Sometimes the lower yard-arms touched the water, and Jones had no remedy left but to cut away the foremast. This had the desired effect, and the ship immediately came head to the wind. The mainmast had got out of the step, and now reeled about like a drunken man. Foreseeing the danger of its either breaking off below the gun-deck or going through the ship's bottom, Jones ordered it to be cut away, but, before this could be done, the chain plates gave way, and the mainmast breaking off by the gun-deck carried with it the mizzenmast, and the mizzenmast carried away the quarter-gallery; two additional cables were spliced and veered out. In that situation the Ariel rode in the open ocean to windward of perhaps the most dangerous ledge of rocks in the world, for two days and two nights, in a tempest that covered the shore with wrecks and dead bodies, and that drove ships ashore from their anchors, even in the port of L'Orient.[16]
This terrible gale was felt nearly all over Europe. In the Gentleman's Magazine for November, 1780, it is stated that "this dreadful hurricane was one of those tremendous tempests of which two or three occur in an age." In England it occurred on the night of Sunday, October 8th, and did immense damage by sea and land. It is a singular coincidence that, while Jones was experiencing this dreadful hurricane on the French coast, his opponent of a twelvemonth before equally felt its effects on the English coast.
In a letter to the Admiralty, dated on board the Alarm, at Plymouth, October 10, 1780, Sir Richard Pearson states as follows:
I arrived here on the evening of the 8th, it blowing very hard at S. E.; the next morning the wind shifted suddenly to W. N. W. and blew a gale all yesterday from that to W. S. W. and S. W. and continued until one or two o'clock this morning; in which I had the misfortune