Jones had planned to destroy a British coastal ci ty as retaliation fo r English raids against tow ns on the Co nnecticut coast. On the night of 22 April, Jones and his crew raided Whitehave n, the third largest port city in England. They successfully spiked the guns of the fort protecting Whitehaven harbor and set fire to colliers anchored nearby. T he damage inflicted was minimal, but the alarm that the raid created was significant. No t since 1667 had an enemy successfull y raided a British seaport, and, in the weeks and months following this raid, the citizenry demanded and received a redeployment of British naval resources to protect them. On the day following the raid on W hitehaven, Jones led a parry as hore on St. M ary's Island in Kirkcudbrigh t Bay. This raid was intended to seize an "important" prisoner who might force a change in the British policy co nce rning Ameri can naval prisoners. T he British government was willing to exchange captured American army officers and soldiers, but insisted on treating American naval prisoners as pirates who had no rights as belligerents. T hus, many Ame rican seamen languished in British jails. The British could pursue such a policy because American priva teers captured few British prisoners and kept even fewer. Co ncerned about the fate of these American naval prisoners, ] ones hoped that by taking an English nobleman captive, he would fo rce the British ministry to authorize "a general and fa ir Eschange of Prisoners, as well in Europe as inAmerica. " 11 Jones' s miscalculation was in supposing that Lord Selkirk, his intended ta rget, was a great lord whose capture wo uld force the British to alter their policy. Selkirk was, in fac t, an unimportant Scottish peer. M oreover, he was away from home when the raiding parry arrived so Jones-at the insistence of his crew-did nothing mo re than authorize his men to loot the Selkirk household silver, which they did. Jones refused to accompany his men on their plundering expedi tion and later purchased the silver from his men and returned it to the Selkirks. These raids ro used the countryside and caused the Admiralty to send warships in pursuit of Ranger. Jones, unawa re that he was being ch ased , decided to attack the 20gun British shi p Drake, th ough "both officers & men discovr'd great unwillingness to make the attempt. " 12 It was an even match. Ranger had more and heavier armament but
12
Drake had more men, which led Jones to fi ght an action designed to disable Drake with cannon fire while preventing the British warship from closing with Ranger and boarding it. In a battle that las ted just over an hour and was "warm close and obstinate," Ranger fo rced Drake to surrender. It was also a testament of Jones's ability as a captai n. In the battle, Jones lost only three killed and five wo unded, while th e British suffered forty-two cas ualties. 13 Morison contends that Jones was able to "take the lee gauge so that Ranger's angle of heel wo uld elevate her guns and enable grape and chainshot to tear through sails, spars, and rigging; while Drake, her guns depressed, could only hit Ranger's hull near the waterline with her ligh t six-pound cannon balls." 14 Because of this advantage, Ranger suffered little damage and few casualties. Jones, understanding the publiciry value of bringing a British warship into a French port after having executed his daring land raid, decided to take Drake, whose ri gging was in tatters, with him to France. For almos t twen ty-fo ur hours, therefore, he remained off Whitehaven, England, jury rigging the damaged Drake. Jo nes then sailed fo r France via the northern tip of Ireland, which was an inspired choice because British pursuers had taken up positions south and east of Whitehaven on the more direct route to the continent. W ith him , Jones too k 200 prisoners, including the surviving members of Drake's crew. T hese prisoners were later exchanged for Americans held in England, so one ofJones' s goals was at leas t partially met. 1s T he end of Ranger's remarkable voyage was marked by co ntroversy. Jones put his first lieutenant, T homas Simpson, in charge of the captured Drake, which was under tow by Ranger. On 4 M ay, as the two vessels were approaching the French coast, Jones saw a ship in the distance that he believed might be a potential prize. Casting off the towline, he called to Simpson to fo llow him as he took Ranger to inves tigate. Simpson either deliberately disobeyed orders Qones's version) or misunderstood the orders (S impson's contention) and co ntinued on a course for Brest. W h en Jones overtook Drake two days later, he relieved Simpson of his command and had him arrested. T he situatio n was compli ca ted by the fac t that Simpso n was the brother-in-law of the builder of Ranger, John Langdon , and knew and was liked by most of the
crew, the maj ority of whom cam e from the area aro und Portsmouth, New H ampshi re, where the vessel had been built. Recall also that Jones had been expected to com mand Ranger only until it first arrived in France, when he would leave the ship to take command of L 1ndien. At that point, Ranger was to pass to Sim pson. Finally, the crew and Simpson wan ted Ranger to act more like a privateer and were not in terested in the dangerous, less lucrative, though strategically more valuable, mission that Jones execu ted. All of th ese fac tors, com b ined withJones's tendency to act in "a ve1y high handed and pres umptious" manner led many of the crew and offi cers to support Simpso n against Jones . 16 In the end, Jones dropped his demand that Simpson becourtmarri aled , and Simpson and Ranger return ed to America while Jones remained in France and began to assemble the fl otilla that he took into English waters in 1779. Reaction to the raid in England is interesting. In some publications, Jones was characterized as a bloodthirsty pirate interested only in murder and mayhem . T h ese newspaper accoun ts described Jones, who was approximately 5'6", had ligh t brown hair, fair skin, and hazel eyes, as big, dark and swarthy-just how a buccaneer is supposed to appear. Despite the attempt to demonize Jones, many among the English lower classes came to see him as a Robin Hood figure, who rook from the upper classes but was considerate of the English workingman. T his impression was solidified when, on his return voyage to France, Jones set ashore fishermen h e had earlier captured to ga in knowledge of the local waters and reportedly gave them mo ney to replace their ships. While the Simpso n affair dimmed the luster of the voyage among the American co mmissioners in France, in America Jones was lionized . It was thought that he had repaid the British in kind for their attacks on American coastal towns. John Banister, an American delegate to Co ngress from Virginia, wrote that Jo nes's raid gave the Bri tish "a small specimen of that Conflagrati on & distress, we have so often experienced ." Anoth er delegate, James Lovell , appreciated the strategic value of th e attac k w riting that it wo uld "make England keep her ships at home." Even Abigail Adams was smitten, w riting her husband John: "] oh n Paul] ones is at present the subj ect of co nve rsation and admiration. I wish to
SEA HISTORY 100, SPRING 2002