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Revolutionary War Historical Article
The American Revolution Month-by-Month October 1779
By Compatriot Andrew "Andy" Stough
Editor's Note: This article was reprinted by Permission of the Gold Country Chapter No. 7 of the CSSAR and was slightly edited by the Sons of Liberty Chapter of the CSSAR
Picking up where we left off in September; John Paul Jones and his squadron of Serapis, Alliance, Pallas, Countess of Scarborough and Vengeance sailed slowly toward refuge in a temporary haven at Texel in the Netherlands. Progress was slow; Pallas, the Countess and Serapis needed repair from the battle on England's east coast near Flamborough Head on September 23rd. Serapis in particular was slowed by the lack of a mainmast. On the 25th, ships' carpenters were able to set a jury mast allowing Serapis to increase its speed and stay up with the rest of the squadron. Original orders from the French government were to proceed to Texel Island on the coast of Holland if repairs were needed on the voyage but Jones wanted to land at the French port of Dunkirk. Being an allied port Jones could have unloaded his more than 500 prisoners into custody of the portmaster while awaiting exchange for American seamen held by Great Britain. The flagship directed all ships to put in to the French port of Dunkirk. The rest of the squadron ignored Serapis' signals, obeying previous orders and sailing on to Texel. Serapis needed protection from the other ships in its damaged condition so Jones reluctantly followed the rest of the squadron thereby maintaining himself in command. Had Serapis not followed the other ships the madman Landais as senior officer and captain of the only undamaged capital ship would have become the squadron commander.
The majority of the British home fleet searched for the squadron without success until a neutral merchantman sailing from Texel informed British authorities of the squadron’s location. The sea off Texel soon swarmed with British ships of war waiting to pounce on Jones should he leave the safety of Dutch neutrality.
Accounts of the battle were told by British sailors who made it to shore and by those who had watched from the mainland. The first printed account of the battle appeared on October 7th. France and all of Europe saw Jones as a hero; Britain vilified him as a pirate. It was welcome news to the people of America, who up to this time in 1779 had seen only defeat of the Penobscot Expedition, disastrous coastal raids and continued occupation of Georgia by Britain. The Adams-Lee faction was not pleased by a success attributable in any way to Benjamin Franklin. They wanted Serapis and Countess returned to Britain which would have robbed Franklin of any credit attributable to his part in supplying and getting Jones' squadron to sea.
Jones had been more than magnanimous with his English prisoners. Receiving Captain Pearson's sword as acknowledgement of defeat he handed the sword back and invited Pearson to retire to Jones quarters aboard Bonhomme Richard for a glass of wine while Serapis was being secured. At Texel, Jones established Pearson in comfortable quarters and returned the personal items from Pearson's cabin aboard Serapis. Despite these courtesies Pearson remained aloof to the Commodore, castigating him to any who would listen. Once repatriated to England Pearson and Piercy (captain of Countess) were subjected to a naval court of Inquiry. Pearson claiming that he had been attacked by both Richard and Alliance. The court acquitted both men of any wrong doing and commended them for saving the Baltic Merchant fleet; Pearson was knighted for his valiant defense against Richard and Alliance.
Even British seamen prisoners housed ashore fared better than Jones' own seamen who were required by Dutch authorities to remain aboard ship during the cold and dampness occasioned by squalls and generally stormy weather fresh off the North Sea. While there was some grumbling, American seamen realized that the alternative would have been a Dutch or English prison.
Britain applied pressure on the Dutch to turn Serapis and Countess over to British authorities and particularly, to force Alliance and her captain into the open sea where it could be overwhelmed by the Royal Navy. The Prince of Orange was sympathetic to Britain's entreaties but he could not control the legislature and the general populace, which was not only sympathetic to Jones but hailed him as a hero. By this time Jones had dropped the John from his name; signing his name, Paul Jones. Life was bleak for American seamen but not for Jones as he traveled the 75 miles to Amsterdam to obtain supplies and workmen for ship repairs. Once that was concluded, he again enjoyed the good life as he dealt with the French ambassador, Dutch officials and of course the pursuit of the ladies of Holland with as much success as he had in France.
While crews were required to stay aboard their ship captains were not. Captain Landais was ordered to Paris to investigate his actions during the battle. He was interrogated and witnesses were called to testify. Landais was then dismissed from command by Doctor Franklin (as he was known in France). This would not be the end of the matter as Arthur Lee caught up to him in Lorient and pledged assistance to Landais in regaining his command.
Meanwhile in America, George Washington was not only faced with the normal problems of managing an army but had to face the decline in value and buying power of the Continental dollar with which Congress expected him to maintain the army. By the end of the summer of 1799 hyperinflation stalked the land. By this time the Continental dollar had depreciated to the point that it had almost no value. Congress had issued $200 million in Continental paper money with little or nothing to back it up. The amount alone was so staggering that it was difficult for the common man to even imagine so much money. On September 3rd, to remedy the situation and to return it to the realm of believability Congress ordered the stoppage of printing money. Not only was the national debt of staggering proportions but currency issued by the individual states was generally as inflated as the Continental dollar. To offset the need to create more currency, Congress now asked, it could not require, the states to take on more of the burden of supporting the war with hard goods rather than money.
Meanwhile, things were shaping up for a confrontation in America. London, disappointed with the progress, or lack thereof, in the North ordered British Commander-in-Chief General Sir Henry Clinton to take a more offensive stand in the South. On October 11th, Clinton ordered the evacuation of Newport, Rhode Island, in order to consolidate his forces and hold New York City while embarking with a force of his own to strengthen British forces in the South and to take overall command of that operation.
Admiral D' Estaing was persuaded to leave his activities in the West Indies to join American General Benjamin Lincoln for an attack on Savannah. As at Sandy Hook, most of the French ships were too large and drew too much draft to allow them to cross the bar at the mouth of the Savannah River; ruling out any major naval support at Savannah. Prior to attacking Savannah, Lincoln gave General Prevost an ultimatum to surrender, then did the gentlemanly thing, allowing Prevost’s request for twenty four hours delay to make a decision. It was just enough time to allow Prevost to receive reinforcements of 800 men who slipped by Lincoln by traveling by boat and through swamps to join Prevost. The delay allowed the completion of entrenchments and other defenses, such as bringing available cannon from 23 to over 100. Lincoln and D ’Estaing made a disastrous assault on October 9th. When that failed Lincoln then laid siege to Savannah rather than make a second assault. A British officer on the scene later said "had Lincoln pursued his initial attack [which must have preceded to Oct 9 assault] that the city would have fallen." The delay may also have cost the life of the Polish volunteer and hero of the Revolution, Count Kasimir Pulaski who was wounded by canister shot on October 9th leading a cavalry charge. Pulaski died on October 11th. He was later buried in a cemetery in Savannah where he rests in honored glory. After an unsuccessful 34 day siege Lincoln withdrew his forces on October 20th, retiring to Charleston, South Carolina. Admiral Count D'Estaing who had also been wounded in the battle departed for the West Indies prior to the arrival in the area of Admiral Byron's West Indies fleet.
The Sullivan Expedition completed it's campaign to punish the Iroquois; returning to it's origin at Easton, Pennsylvania, where it was disbanded on October 15th. The Brodhead expedition was equally successful and ended its expedient at about the same time. Considerable controversy has arisen as to the wisdom and morality of the campaigns. However the expeditions are looked at today, these actions were approved and ordered by the Continental Congress and resulted in both breaking the Indians militarily and destroying their cultural base. Even though Indian attacks would continue through out the war, the tribes were never again capable of a massive, coordinated attack. Congress must have been satisfied with the results, as the leaders of both the Sullivan and Brodhead expeditions were given a citation for their efforts by both Congress and the Commander-in-Chief.
On October 17th, General Washington began movement of his troops into winter camp at Morristown, New Jersey, where they would encounter an even harsher winter and greater suffering than had been experienced at Valley Forge.
On October 28th Lincoln abandoned the siege of Savannah and marched his troops back to Charleston. Losses in the overall period of September 3rd to October 28 were 800 Americans and 140 British.
Political Events-September1779
References: Arthur Meier Schlesinger's"The Almanac of American History"; Christopher Ward's "The War of the Revolution"; Don Higginbotham's "War of American Independence"; Encyclopedia Britannica "The Revolutionary War Years"; Samuel Elliott Morison's "John Paul Jones".
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