The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1898-08-18

that region. For THIS purpose the
Alfred, "a guns; Hampden. IA guns;
and the Providence, II guns; were
put under the orders of Captain Paul
Jones; but not having men enough 10
man all three of the vessels, that off
Ger selected the first two named for
the purpose. This fleet sailed from
Providence, X. l.
HIS DELIGHTFUL DILEMMA.
While clearing the port the Hamp,
den got on ledge of rocks, and had
to be left behind. The crew of the
Hampden was transferred TO the Pro
vidence, and in the month of Novem-
Der Captain Jones got to sea, both of
his vessels rather short handed A
few days out the Alfred made one or
two small captures, and soon after she
fell in with and captured, after short
combat, the armed British ship Mellish
loaded with supplies for the army that
was then assembling in Canada for
the expedition under General Bur
goyne. On board this vessel, in add;-
ton TO many other articles of impor-
tance, were ten thousand uniforms in
charge Of a company of soldiers. The
MellIsh was considered, at the time.
the most valuable English ship that
had fallen into the hands of the
Americans. OF such Importance did
Captain Jones consider this capture
that he announced his intention to
keep his prize in sight, and to sink
her IN preference to letting her fall
into The hands of the enemy again.
The Providence had parted compa-
ny IN the night. and having taken a
letter of marque from Liverpool the
Alfred was making the best of her
way to Boston, with view of getting
the Mellish safely in before proceed
ing on the expedition to Nova Scotia.
When on the edge of the Georges
Banks she made the Milford, 80 gun
frigate, which had chased Captain
Jones the previous cruise while in
command of the Providence Here
was delightful dilemma. A vessel
of more than twice the size of his
own ship. heavily armed and manned
and fast sailor, while Jones, in the
Alfred, poor, cranky ship at best,
with most of his crew away in prizes,
had all he could attend to in his eff
forts to save his valuable prize, the
store ship Mell1sh. The enemy was
to windward, but there was not time
for him to close before dark. The
Alfred and the letter of marque haul
ed up between the frigate and the
other prizes IN order to cover them,
and directions were given to the lat
ter to stand on the same tack all
night regardless of signals. This
man9uvre was for the purpose of de-
ceiving the frigste as to the real in
tentions of the Alfred and her convoy
At midnight the Alfred and letter
of marque tackled, the latter showing
toplight until morning. This arti-
flee succeeded, the Milford appearing
in chase of the Alfred when the day
dawned, while the Mellish and her
consorts had all disappeared to the
southwark.
The Milford had run to leeward in
the course of the night and was now
on the Alfred's lee quarter. The AL
liCu Noo ooLhpcllcu W CdIl OIL Sdll,
but she fortunately escaped, though
the letter OF marque fell into the enc
my's hands. After eIuding her enc
my and covering her prizes, all but
the one just mentioned, the Alfred
now made for Boston, where she found
the rest of the vessels and where she
landed her prisoners. Another officer
took charge of the ship and Captain
Jones, who had been fattered with
the promise of commanding a fine
ship, and having still larger force
put under his orders, found himself
placed so low (the eighteenth captain)
on the new list of the navy regula-
tions SO as to oblige him to look round
for the command of single ship, and
that, too, of force inferior to the one
he had just Commanded.
And so ended Captain Paul Jones
first expedition in the service of the
United States.