The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1897-10-14
cmmenced to fight yet"
Then the cannonading was redoubl

ed and the we'll directed guns OF
beard the Scraps told dreadful.
upon the Richard.
Jones saw that his only hope wa
to fight at close quarters. So he raj
the Richard alongside the Scraps
As the latter ship swung round hel
lib boom caught in the mizzen rig
ging of the Richard. Jones sprant
from the quarter deck and with hi
own hand swung graphing irons int
the rigging of the enemy, and made
the ships fast As he did this worl
he was prominent target for ever,
sharpshooter aboard the English yes
sci. and the bullets whirred and whiz
zeo about his ears. But he never
| tiinched from his task.
Then for few moments the battle
consisted mostly of boarding and re
pelling boarders and was terrific
Back and forth from ship to ship the
combatants madly surged, fighting
like demons with the pike, pistol and
cutlass. Jones was everywhere, now
directing the gunners, now instruct
ing the men in the tops, and the next
moment leading a charge on to the
deck of the Scraps and engaging in
hand to hand fight.
In the closest embrace, lying broad
side to broadside with their guns al
most touching each other, they fired
terrible volleys with disastrous effect
The balls from the Scraps crashed
through the rotten timbers in the
sides of the Richard and swept over
her lower decks doing fearful execu
ton. Added to the bullets were the
Splinters which were almost as dead
ly as the leaden balls.
From the main mast to the stern
post the Richards timbers were shot
away,a few blackened posts alone pre-
venting the upper deck from falling.
She had been pierced below the water
line by several eighteen pound balls
and through these great holes the
water rushed. Yet the pumps were
untouched and the warning voice of
the carpenter unheeded.
Under these circumstances it was
soon impossible to stay oD the lower
deck and it was entirely deserted. As
the men rushed above they thought
there was surely not the slightest
hope CT victory Every gun aboard
the Richard was silenced save two
nine Founders on the quarter deck.
However, as they joined their com
rades on the upper deck they found
that the day was not yet lost. The
upper deck of the Scraps was almost
as deserted as the lover deck of the
Richard. The Richards main deck
was so high that at such close quar-
ters the broadsldes from the Scraps
entered below it and did not injure
anyone above. The Americans were
crowded Or the forecastle and in the
tops, ana were fighting from those
positions with small arms and hand
grenades. From the quarter deck
Jones and few brave fellows worked
the two nine Founders and swept the
upper deck of the Serapis with grape
and canister.
The combined fire of the Americans
had made the deck too hot place for
the British and they retreated below.
About this time fire broke out
aboard the Richard and ragged fierce
". The carpenter rushed on deck
and cried that the ship was sinking.
A gunner became very much fright
ened at this and cried out at the top
of his voice:
"Quarter! For Gods sake, quarterw
He cotinued his cries in spite of
Jones' command to keep silent Then
the angry commodore hurled dis
charged pistol at him. It struck the
gunner in the head, fracturing his
skull, and sent him headlong down
the hatchway. The mischief had
been partly done, however. Captain
Pearson had heard the appeals and
called out:
DO you call for quarter?'
'Never~ responded the unconquer-
ed Jones.
Then I'll give nonew replied
Pearson.
There were nearly two hundred
prisoners in the hold of the Richard.
They had hea1 i the cry that the ship
was sinking, and the smoke of the
fire was sitting them. They pitiful-
ly begged to be liberated An Amer
lean officer rushed below and freed
them and they now came sWarming
up on the lower deck. There they
were met by the terrible fire of the
Scraps, which was still playing ha
vock in that part OF the ship, and
driven back.
These liberated prisoners threaten
ed the Richard with a new danger
But Jones made use of them. He
saw their fright and ordered them if
they valued their lives to go to work
at the pumps. This they did with a
will. Later, when the flames were
sweeping down on the magazine, part
of them were put at throwing the
powder into the sea to prevent the
vessel from being blown mp.
AT this work and at the pumps the
prisoners were kept busy until the
close of the action. From being a
source of great danger they became
of invaluable assistance, for Jones
could not spare man from the fight
Jones no sooner overcame one dan
ger than another appeared. He now
made the maddening discovery thai
the Alliance hal come up ana that
Captain Landais was firing into the
Richard At first the Americ IDS believ
ed she had fallen into the hands o
the English. But it was not so. Ian
dais still commanded the Alliance anc
was guilty of the blacklist treason
He saw that both the Richard anC
Scraps were iii bad way. So ht
deliberately fired into the Richard t.
help the Scraps win the fight Ther
he intended making ali easy prize o
the disabled English vessel and there
by gaining all the honors of the grea
victory. But the villain was not brav,
enough to carry out his plan in th'
face OF the protests of his French
crew, and after having fired /,
number of broadsides into the Ricnart
he sa,led awav