Читать книгу The Logs of the Serapis--Allance--Ariel, Under the Command of John Paul Jones, 1779-1780 - Various - Страница 4

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The executive committee of the Naval History Society having decided to publish for its initial volume the logs of the three ships commanded by John Paul Jones during the years 1779 and 1780, the owner has consented to edit this publication, with a description of the book itself, together with its history, so far as it can be ascertained, believing that it will add something of interest to the voluminous records and the literature relating to the life and services of the distinguished hero of our Revolutionary navy.

Besides these logs of the Serapis, Alliance, and Ariel, there are, in the Library of the Navy Department, copies of the log of the Ranger, beginning November 26, 1777, and ending May 18, 1778; also of the log of the Bon Homme Richard, beginning at L'Orient May 18, 1779, and ending September 24, 1779.

The original log-books, as shown by notes and a copy of a letter accompanying and attached to them, are stated to have been purchased by Captain Boyd, of Greenock, from a person of the name of Harding, a baker, in New York, in 1824; and to have been presented to Lady Isabella Helen Douglas, daughter of the fifth Earl of Selkirk, by William John, ninth Lord Napier, on March 17, 1830; they are now supposed to rest among the manuscripts of the Selkirk family.

Had the editor known of the existence of this log of the Bon Homme Richard, covering the period of her commissioning and cruise prior to the engagement with the Serapis, he would have deemed it proper to have included it in this publication. The information came to him too late to have it fully transcribed and prepared for the printer. A few excerpts from it are placed in the Appendix.[1]

The log-book now published is one of the few relics known to exist of the engagement between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis, as most of the records and official papers of both ships were lost when the Bon Homme Richard sank, or following the confusion on the Serapis after her capture.

The book is fourteen inches tall, nine and one quarter inches wide, bound in old vellum, stained, warped, worn with age and hard usage on land and sea. The paper is rough, greenish in color, the hand-made linen paper of the period, with a watermark showing it to be of English manufacture.

Upon the exterior of both covers are numerous scribblings: "R. D. June 2d, 1779"—"R. D. June 26, 1779"—"Richard Dales book"—"September the 3d—1780—This book belongs to Mr. Henry Lunt, Lieutenant of the Ship of War, the (Ariel)." Richard Dale's name is also found in several places on the pages of the book.

It was first used to enter the names of the officers and crew of the Bon Homme Richard, giving their rank, rating, and the dates and places of their enlistment.[2] It evidently constituted the muster-roll of that ship when Robert Robinson was the first lieutenant, and, after the dismissal of that officer by sentence of court martial for "negligence of duty," it passed into the keeping of Richard Dale, who succeeded Robinson as first lieutenant, he entering therein, on the pages immediately following the muster-roll: "A List of The Men Names that has Desarted from The Bone Homme Richard, Lorient July, 19th. 1779"[3]

When the Richard sank off Flamborough Head, the muster-roll was saved and taken on board the Serapis, as constituting the official list of those entitled to prize money—then as now the great incentive to naval enlistment and activity.

As may well be imagined, a blank-book suitable for a log was not available at that moment of supreme confusion, so that the muster-roll book of the Richard, with only a few of its pages in use, was seized upon and used to enter the daily transactions on board the Serapis, from the time of her capture until, as a result of the political situation between Holland and England, she was turned over to the French, and, under the command of Captain Cottineau, hoisted the French colors in the Texel Roads.

The book was reversed, and the log of the Serapis begun at the other end, preceded by a brief memorandum—"Some Remarkable Occurrences that happened on the 23d day of September, 1779,"—which briefly records the capture of the Serapis.

No other or more circumstantial account of the fight existed in the book when it came into the possession of its later owners, but a close examination showed that, besides minor mutilations, two leaves, immediately preceding that containing the statement of "Some Remarkable Occurrences," had, at some time, been torn out. In order to incorporate into the book a clearer and more circumstantial account of the fight, a former owner caused to be copied on several blank leaves the narrative found amongst the Peter Force Collection of Manuscripts, "John Paul Jones Papers," Volume VI, number 29.

The authorship and penmanship of this document have been ascribed by various biographers of Jones to Richard Dale.[4]

The present owner's attention was specially called to it by seeing a small photographic reproduction, published in a book by Professor Marion entitled, "John Paul Jones' Last Cruise and Final Resting Place," Washington, 1906. The author describes this valuable and historical document as a "manuscript written on two pages of rough, greenish paper, evidently torn out of a log book," and attributes it to Richard Dale, the first lieutenant of the Bon Homme Richard. The compiler of the "John Paul Jones Manuscripts" in the Library of Congress attributes it possibly to Jones' secretary.[5] The author of the "Memoirs of Rear-Admiral Paul Jones," published in Edinburgh and London, 1830, Volume I, page 192, states "that the fact of Landais' firing into the Bon Homme Richard is also confirmed by the log-book, which was preserved when the ship sunk, and by a very interesting and seaman-like narrative of the engagement, drawn up by Mr. Dale." He adds in a footnote in reference to the log-book: "This battered volume, after many adventures by land and water, is now (1830) in the possession of Mr. Richard Napier, Advocate."

As this author bases his book upon documents then in the possession of Mrs. Jeanette Taylor, the sister of Paul Jones, which she came into possession of when he died in Paris, the "battered volume" referred to must have been amongst Jones' papers, and is undoubtedly the same log-book now under review. As will be shown later, it was surely in the possession of Richard Dale as late as 1782, and at some time after the war he probably restored it to Jones, who certainly had a good claim to it, as the muster-roll of the Bon Homme Richard, contained in it, was necessary in the prosecution of his prize-money claims in France.

However this may be, the present owner procured a photograph of the narrative of the engagement, of the exact dimensions of the sheets upon which it was written, and on comparison of these sheets with the leaves of the log-book it was found that in dimensions, in the color and quality of the paper, even in the indenture of the torn edges, there could be no possible doubt that the document was torn from this log-book, and found its way into the Peter Force Collection, and thence to the possession of the Congressional Library. The facsimile is now where the original was, and the narrative is included in this publication of the Serapis' log.[6] Still there was doubt as to its authorship. A comparison of the handwriting with that of Richard Dale, to whom it was attributed, showed conclusively that he was not the writer. Amongst the various scribblings upon the covers of the log-book is found:

September the 3d, 1780. This book belongs to Mr. Henry Lunt, Lieutenant of the Ship of War, the (Ariel)

a memorandum undoubtedly written by Lunt himself, who was, on the date named, the second lieutenant of the Ariel, commanded by Jones, Dale being her first lieutenant.[7]

Comparisons of letters of Henry Lunt, also in the Peter Force Collection, with the narrative establish beyond any doubt that it is the penmanship of Lieutenant Henry Lunt. Mr. Gaillard Hunt, chief of the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress, in a letter to the editor, in reply to his suggestion that Lunt may have been the writer, states as follows:

That the two pages of the Serapis log are in the hand of Lieutenant Henry Lunt. They have been compared with a letter of Lunt to Jones, October 7, 1779, and there can be no question of the identity of the hand.

A few words as to Lieutenant Henry Lunt. As is well known, he was not on board the Bon Homme Richard during the engagement, having been sent, with fifteen of the crew, to take possession of a brigantine which had been chased inshore, and, although recalled by signal, he did not return until after the action. His conduct in this respect has been properly criticized. He states himself:

Having, on the 23d of September, 1779, been ordered in a pilot boat with a party of men after a brig, but some time after I set out from alongside, a signal was made for me to return back to the Bon homme Richard, she being then in chase of two British ships-of-war, the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, and before I could get on board the Bon homme Richard she commenced the engagement with the Serapis. It being night, I thought it not prudent to go alongside in time of action. …

This is signed, "On board the Serapis, at the Texel, 25th of October, 1779. Henry Lunt."

Jones indorses this as follows:

This certificate of Lieut. Lunt, who was a mere spectator, is of great weight and importance, it being only in the power of this gentleman to give a true account of the respective positions and manœuvres of the ships engaged.

J. P. Jones.[8]

The question naturally arises, Who dictated the narrative of the fight which Lunt wrote in the Serapis' log? It is an authentic and truthful narration of the principal occurrences, and corresponds with Jones' own accounts of the battle. It is written in the first person, and must have been written by some one who was on board the Bon Homme Richard, and copied by Lunt into the Serapis' log at some time subsequent to the engagement, in order to have a circumstantial account recorded in the log. Lunt's statement that the log-book belonged to him on September 3, 1780, when second lieutenant of the Ariel, nearly a year after the fight, would lead us to suppose that, as he was surrounded by the officers who were on the Bon Homme Richard, he simply copied a description dictated by one of them, probably by Jones himself, as the latter's well-known proclivity for self-adulation would naturally show itself in a desire to have his personal efforts spread upon the official record. It is further worthy of note that almost the only tributes to the officers of the Bon Homme Richard, or recognition of their services, are to be found in Jones' charges and proofs against Landais, where his object was to give force to their testimony.[9] His apparent unwillingness to commend others, or award to each of his officers a just meed of praise, has been noted by some of his biographers as his great fault.

It is a matter of interest to a collector to be able to identify the author or writer of this narrative of the engagement, and to place it, after a long separation, where it originally was written.

The first regular entry in the Serapis' log is on the 26th of September, when, dismasted, crowded with prisoners, and encumbered with wounded, her people, assisted by men from the other ships of the squadron, were employed in erecting jury masts and repairing the damages sustained in the action. The wind was for several days light, from the southwest, and the sea fairly smooth, the speed recorded being from two to four knots. Jones decided to make the port of Dunkirk, but his colleagues overruled him, and upon making the land, owing to bad weather and contrary winds, the squadron, after being tossed to and fro by contrary winds for seven days, anchored in the Texel Roads on the 3d of October. That the ship should have been safely taken to a harbor under such circumstances is not the least of Jones' exploits as a seaman; while the failure of the English cruisers to intercept and recapture her brought much obloquy upon the British admiralty.

Safely anchored in the Texel, Sir Joseph Yorke, the British ambassador at The Hague, who persistently referred to Jones as "that pirate, Paul Jones: a rebel subject and criminal of State," immediately demanded the surrender of the prizes and the release of the prisoners.[10] The demand was refused by the High Commissioners, and after much correspondence Jones obtained permission, under certain restrictions, to land his prisoners and wounded, and to mount guard over them on an island in the Texel. Jones may fairly be said to have added to his fame by being mainly instrumental in bringing about an open rupture between England and Holland by the stand taken by him during this trying period.

As will be seen by the entries in the log, the crew, with assistance from the other ships, were for many days busily employed in cleaning up her decks and in repairing and refitting the ship. She was in a dreadful condition of filth and disorder. Jones desired to refit her, and again to cruise in English waters, as she was a fine, stanch ship, recently built, and would have been a valuable substitute for the lost Richard. Jones states that she was the best ship he ever saw of her kind.

Complications between the Dutch and English governments, however, became acute. Jones was ordered to sail from the Texel, then blockaded by an English fleet, and the Dutch Admiral was ordered to use forcible measures, if found necessary, to compel him to do so. With Dr. Franklin's approval it was decided to turn over to the French the prizes, and all the ships except the Alliance, which, having been built in America, was accepted as a properly commissioned Continental ship-of-war. In pursuance of this decision Jones turned over to Captain Cottineau the command of the Serapis, who hoisted the French flag over her on November 21, 1779. Landais was deposed from the command of the Alliance, to which ship Jones transferred his flag, having first stripped the Serapis of everything movable and useful and sent the same on board the Alliance.[11]

The log-book now continues with "A Journall Kept on Board the American Continental Frigate of War, Alliance, of 36 guns, under the Command of the Honble. John Paul Jones, Commencing in the Road of Texel in Holland."

Commencing on the 22d of November, the log states the daily occurrences until June 12, 1780. According to Jones' account the ship was in a deplorable condition, which he attributed to the incapacity of Landais, whom he had supplanted, and with whom he was on bad terms, having charged him with being responsible, in part, for the collision with the Richard on her first cruise; with cowardice during the action with the Serapis; with intentionally firing upon the Richard; with disobedience of orders, disrespect, and insolence. Jones states that the Alliance had not a good cable or sail; the officers and men were intemperate and idle; filth, insubordination, and epidemic diseases prevailed among the crew; she was badly supplied with arms; and her powder was of bad quality. Some of these deficiences Jones supplied from the Serapis.

The remaining officers and crew of the Richard were transferred to the Alliance, except the French volunteers; and the French volunteers and marines on the Alliance were sent to the Serapis, as it had been arranged that no French subject was to remain on the Alliance. Until the 27th of December the ship's company and mechanics from shore were busily employed in making necessary repairs, refitting the rigging, making new yards, and altering the old ones. Every effort was apparently made to get the ship ready for sea. Gales of wind and rotten cables placed her often in peril. Her bottom being foul, the ship was careened and the bottom scrubbed.

The English kept a squadron cruising off the port, but Jones determined to get to sea as soon as the weather would permit. He thought he had recovered the trim of the ship which had been lost under Landais. He states that the ship was well manned, and would not be given away; that the Holland squadron had been drawn up ready for battle for more than a month to drive him out if he should attempt to remain after the wind became fair, while the English fleet was almost constantly in sight of the harbor.

He was requested by the Dutch Admiral to declare whether the Alliance was a French or an American vessel, and if French to display the French flag, and to omit no occasion of departing. To this Jones replied, declining to display French colors, and saying that he would get to sea whenever a pilot would take the ship out of the harbor.

On the 27th of December, the wind serving, he set sail from the Texel, fell foul of a Dutch merchant ship, lost the best bower-anchor and cable, and had other mishaps, owing to the ignorance or drunkenness of the old pilot.

The Alliance passed along the Flemish banks, got to windward of the enemy's fleet in the North Sea, and passed through the Strait of Dover in full view of the enemy's fleet in the Downs. He then ran the Alliance past the Isle of Wight, in view of the enemy's fleet at Spithead, got safe through the Channel, and cruised about the Bay of Biscay and Cape Finisterre, overhauling many neutral ships and making a few unimportant prizes. On the 17th of January he came to anchor in the harbor of Corunna, Spain. Here he remained until the 28th of January. He received and entertained visitors; again careened the ship and scrubbed her bottom; made changes in her spars; obtained a new anchor; and gave his men liberty. The men were complaining that their wages and prize money had not been paid, and were in a mutinous condition. On the 19th of January they all refused doing duty, but Jones succeeded in satisfying them, and they returned to duty the following day.[12]

On the 28th of January, after entertaining the governor, the Alliance again put to sea, and cruised in the neighboring waters, overhauling several ships, capturing a few unimportant prizes. She met the American letter-of-marque ship Livingston, and in company with her anchored within the Isle of Groix on the 11th of February, and on the 19th moved up to the harbor of L'Orient, and moored the Alliance to the King's Moorings.

Jones' first object now appears to have been to repair and refit the ship and make extensive alterations, the extent and cost of which were the subject of remonstrance on the part of Benjamin Franklin, who positively forbids his sheathing the ship's bottom with copper, buying new canvas and cordage, thus adding to the extraordinary expenses already incurred in Holland, especially as Jones seemed to impute the damages the Alliance had sustained more to Landais' negligence than to accidents of the cruise; Franklin concludes his admonitions with an appeal to Jones—"For God's sake be sparing unless you mean to make me a bankrupt, or have your drafts dishonoured for want of money in my hands to pay them."[13]

Notwithstanding this appeal for economy, from the 19th of February to the 12th of June the Alliance remained at anchor at L'Orient, and the repairs, renewals, and refitting were prosecuted with energy by the crew of the ship, assisted by carpenters and mechanics from shore. The log relates the work done day by day with some precision. The essential repairs were completed in April, and Jones states that, when finished, judges allowed that everything about the frigate was perfect, and that he knew not what was the amount of disbursements. In his journal for the King he says: "She was thought one of the completest frigates in France."

Meantime, it was Mr. Franklin's intention to send the Alliance back to America with large supplies of arms and clothing. Mr. Arthur Lee, one of our commissioners, also desired to return in her. Landais was annoying Franklin with importunities to such an extent that the latter wrote Jones that he was determined to have nothing further to do with him.

On the 4th of March Franklin wrote the President of Congress that Jones would carry the Alliance home, and that Landais had not applied to be replaced in her, but on the 17th of March he asked Franklin to be replaced in command of the Alliance. To this request Franklin replied that he considered him so imprudent, so litigious and quarrelsome a man, that if he had twenty ships-of-war in his disposition, he would not give him command of one of them. Franklin, on the 18th of March, states that he knew of nothing to prevent Jones from proceeding immediately to such part of North America as he could reach in safety.

The prize-money question was in abeyance; Franklin in his letters to Jones referred to it, and stated that the ships-of-war he had taken were to be valued, the King intending to purchase them, but that the muster-roll of the Bon Homme Richard was wanting in order to regulate the proportions to each ship. At the same time Franklin authorized Jones to draw on him for 24,000 livres in advance to the people of the Bon Homme Richard, and stated that M. LeRay de Chaumont had authorized his correspondent in L'Orient to advance 100,000 livres for the Americans of the Alliance and Bon Homme Richard, on account.

This prize-money question, as shown by the voluminous correspondence of the time, was a troublesome matter, the cause of dissension, controversy, and insubordination amounting to mutiny in the ship's company.

The subject is fully treated in the various biographies of Jones, and it is unnecessary to do more than allude to it here. It was, however, the cause which induced Jones to go frequently to Paris, ostensibly to hasten proceedings for the adjustment of the claims for prize money. In his absence on shore at L'Orient Captain Landais, acting under the advice of Arthur Lee and Commodore Gillon, of the South Carolina navy, took possession of the Alliance on the 12th of June. The log entry on that day is the last of the Alliance's journal. It forms a terse but accurate account of this extraordinary transaction. A more detailed account, by a participant in this event, will be found in the Appendix.[14]

It appears from the correspondence of Mr. Franklin that Landais had been furnished with money to enable him to return to America for trial upon the charges preferred 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 to part my two Bowers and Sheet Cable, and was reduced to my spare anchor, which I had providentially got two cables on, which brought me up at eleven o'clock last night, when I found myself under the necessity of cutting away all my masts for the preservation of his Majesty's ship and the lives of my people. I am now in the same distressing situation as I was last night.[17]

The storm continuing until the morning of the 10th, notwithstanding the heavy sea Jones succeeded on that and the following day in getting up jury, fore, and mizzen masts, and on the 11th, at noon, cut the cable, got under way, and anchored the Ariel on the 13th of October in the harbor of L'Orient.

The journal of the Ariel ends on the 14th of October. She remained at L'Orient until the 18th of December, when she again sailed, and arrived safely in the United States, having encountered an enemy's ship, supposed by Jones to be named the Triumph, which, after a short resistance, struck her colors, and a few minutes afterward (according to Jones) her captain had the baseness to fill his sails and run away. This voyage in the Ariel was the last service at sea performed by John Paul Jones under the American flag. He arrived in Philadelphia on February 18, 1781, having been absent from the United States three years, three months, and eighteen days.

Following the last entry of the Ariel's log, several leaves have been torn out. The book was reversed again, and immediately following "A List of The Men Names that has Desarted from The Bone Homme Richard, Lorient July, 19th. 1779" we find, in the identical handwriting of the logs of the Serapis, Alliance, and Ariel, "A List of Officers, & Men, belonging to the American Continental Ship of War, Ariel, Commanded, by the Honble, John Paul Jones." A comparison of this list with the muster-roll of the Bon Homme Richard shows that most of the officers and many of the crew of the former still followed the fortunes of Jones.

Upon several pages are also inscribed the following receipts:[18]