{"id":10182,"date":"2021-01-31T20:35:19","date_gmt":"2021-01-31T20:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=10182"},"modified":"2021-04-04T21:20:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T21:20:06","slug":"john-paul-jones-admiral-of-the-russian-navy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=10182","title":{"rendered":"John Paul Jones – Admiral of the Russian Navy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

September 23, 1779 – Battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis, off\u00a0Flamborough Head<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s a\u00a0break in the action<\/a>\u00a0from way<\/em><\/strong> too many political posts…<\/p>\n

This past Saturday morning I ran across my paperback copy of\u00a0John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy<\/a>, by\u00a0Evan Thomas<\/a>. (I bought it second-hand four or five years ago.)<\/span><\/span>\u00a0That<\/strong><\/em> reminded me of a post I did back in June 2016,\u00a0On John Paul Jones\u2019 CLOSEST call<\/a>. The “CLOSEST call” part had to do with Jones being accused of raping a 12-year-old girl.<\/p>\n

But the really strange<\/em> part came in finding out that – at the time – Jones was serving in the Russian<\/em> navy. And here we’ve been told all along that he was the\u00a0Father of the American<\/em> <\/strong>Navy<\/a>. So first a word about this better-known aspect of John Paul Jones.<\/p>\n

That is, most people know\u00a0John Paul Jones<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0the<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>American<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>naval hero of the Revolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"That included his signal victory over the British\u00a0man-of-war<\/a>\u00a0HMS\u00a0Serapis<\/a>, in the\u00a0Battle of Flamborough Head<\/a>, seen at right. Jones commanded the Bonhomme Richard<\/a>, \u201coriginally an\u00a0East Indiaman<\/a>.\u201d That is, it was a\u00a0merchant ship<\/a>\u00a0that had been\u00a0jury rigged<\/a>\u00a0into an\u00a0ad hoc<\/a>\u00a0Navy vessel.<\/p>\n

As a result of that hours-long battle, the\u00a0Bonhomme Richard<\/a>\u00a0sank, and Jones had to make the captured\u00a0Serapis<\/a>\u00a0his new flagship. But in the latter part of the battle he is supposed to have said, \u201cI have not yet\u00a0begun<\/strong>\u00a0to fight<\/a><\/em>.\u201d That was said to happen when the commander of the\u00a0Serapis<\/a>\u00a0called out, asking Jones if he was ready to\u00a0 \u201cstrike the colours;\u201d i.e., to surrender.\u00a0Evan Thomas<\/a>\u00a0indicated Jones probably didn\u2019t<\/em> say that.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What Jones apparently\u00a0did<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>say \u2013 late in the battle \u2013 was: \u201cI may sink, but I\u2019ll be damned if I strike!<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/span>\u201d And in his official report, Jones merely said he had answered \u201cin the most determined negative.\u201d Which is\u00a0definitely<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0not as colorful, but we digress\u2026<\/p>\n

Back to why Jones joined the Russian navy.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Revolutionary War<\/a>\u00a0ended in 1783, but as late as 1787 – four years later – Jones was still<\/em> <\/strong>trying to get the\u00a0prize money<\/a>\u00a0due him from the war.\u00a0(He was growing increasingly\u00a0disgruntled<\/a>\u00a0with the American Congress. “Go figure!”)\u00a0<\/em>Accordingly,\u00a0he decided to leave the country and enter the service of the\u00a0Empress\u00a0Catherine II of Russia<\/a>. She commissioned him a\u00a0rear admiral<\/a>, and so\u00a0he was known in the Russian Navy as \u201cKontradmir\u00e1l<\/a>\u00a0Pavel Dzhones.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more on\u00a0why<\/em> <\/strong>he ended up an admiral in the Russian navy, see\u00a0John Paul Jones \u2013 Russiapedia Foreigners in Russia<\/a>. For one thing, in 1785 the U.S. banned\u00a0privateering<\/a>. That was\u00a0the practice of a non-naval ship – and captain – “engag[ing] in maritime warfare” under a a\u00a0letter of marque<\/a>. (By which Jones should have<\/em> collected\u00a0prize money<\/a>.) Further, Congress refused to promote Jones to the rank of admiral.<\/p>\n

At the same time, war was brewing between Russia and Turkey. So<\/em><\/strong>,\u00a0Catherine the Great<\/a>, Empress of Russia (at left), decided to recruit Jones. In doing so she “broke her own rules,” including the usual practice of reducing foreign officers in rank:<\/p>\n

The Russian ambassador received an urgent order to recruit Jones to the Russian Navy. \u2018This man,\u201d she said \u201cwill enter Constantinople…\u201d However, Jones\u2019 extraordinary reputation and ability forced Catherine II to break her own rules, instead promoting him to the rank of Rear-Admiral and giving him command of the flagship\u00a0Vladimir<\/strong>.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jones did<\/em><\/strong> have some initial success. However, “being a foreigner, he was constantly surrounded by suspicion, jealousy, and intrigues in which he refused to participate.” As such he found himself quickly out of favor with his commanding officer, Grigory Potemkin<\/a>. Potemkin – said to be Catherine the Great’s lover – lobbied for Jones’ “removal behind the scenes.”<\/p>\n

Which included what turned out to be a false accusation of rape and\/or child molesting.<\/p>\n

Read the full story in the first\u00a0CLOSEST call<\/a>,\u00a0which clocked in at 2,122 words. (With extensive notes, as on Catherine’s “open relationships,” with Potempkin and others.) But here are the highlights:<\/p>\n

[I]n the Russian navy Jones was\u00a0also<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0surrounded by people of far lesser ability and courage. And<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0who were extremely jealous of\u00a0his<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>ability and courage.\u00a0(Which happens a lot…)\u00a0<\/em>Those Russian enemies included Prince\u00a0Charles of Nassau-Siegen<\/a>… He \u00a0in turn \u201cturned the Russian commander Prince\u00a0Grigory Pot\u00ebmkin<\/a>\u00a0against Jones…\u201d To\u00a0cut to the chase<\/a>, \u201cIn April 1789 Jones was arrested and accused of raping a [10]-year-old girl named Katerina Goltzwart.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Such an accusation of \u201cchild rape\u201d was bad enough under American law. But under\u00a0Russian<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0law, anyone convicted of such rape was \u201cto have his head cut off or be sent to the galleys for the rest of his days.\u201d (For all the gory details of the sordid accusation see the June 2016 post.)<\/p>\n

But then the truth started to come out…<\/p>\n

The 10-year-old girl – who was actually 12 – said the incident occurred while she was “selling butter.” It turned out that\u00a0\u201cselling butter\u201d was a\u00a0euphemism<\/a>\u00a0for what she was\u00a0actually<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0selling. And\u00a0that she\u2019d been \u201c’selling butter\u2019 for quite a while.\u201d Further, one of her best “butter buying” customers included the very same manservant who\u2019d given such damaging testimony against Jones. And finally, the girl\u2019s mother eventually admitted that she\u2019d been \u201cgiven money by a \u2018man with decorations\u2019 in return for telling a damaging story about Jones.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, it was a\u00a0setup<\/a>, a \u201csituation in which someone is deliberately put in a bad position or made to look guilty.\u201d But the damage had been done. Jones was increasingly ostracized by “polite” Russian society. Beyond that, there were problems with a number of British naval officers who the Empress Catherine had also<\/em> <\/strong>recruited. Those officers\u00a0\u201crefused to serve under the Pirate Jones.\u201d So in the end, in the \u201clate summer of 1789, Jones left Russia, still resplendent in his beribboned white uniform, but shunned and disgraced.\u201d<\/p>\n

From which we can glean at least two key\u00a0object lessons<\/a>. One is that many of our hardest-fighting heroes \u2013 like John Paul Jones \u2013 also have a \u201cpenchant<\/a>\u00a0for the ladies.\u201d (Which can ofttimes be their undoing in civilian life.) Yet another is that \u2013 as a nation \u2013 we tend to tear down the very heroes we build up. (Which was one reason Jones left the American<\/em><\/strong> navy.)<\/p>\n

In the case of John Paul Jones, that meant he died in Paris, in obscurity. He was also buried in obscurity, and it took more than a century to find out where<\/em><\/strong>. Not\u00a0until July 1905 \u2013 more than 100 years after he died – was his body finally returned to the United States.<\/p>\n

That is, three years after leaving Russia\u00a0(in 1792), Jones died in Paris. He was buried at the Saint Louis Cemetery, which belonged to the French royal family. But four years later, the French Revolutionary<\/a>\u00a0government sold<\/em><\/strong> the property and the cemetery was forgotten.<\/p>\n

Then, beginning in 1899,\u00a0General\u00a0Horace Porter<\/a>\u00a0– then U.S. Ambassador to France – started searching for Jones’ body. (Having only “faulty copies of Jones’s burial record” to go on.) On April 7, 1905, Jones’ body was found and unearthed. In due course it was returned to the U.S. and – on January 26, 1913 – “the Captain’s remains were finally re-interred in a magnificent bronze and marble\u00a0sarcophagus<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0Naval Academy Chapel<\/a>\u00a0in Annapolis.”<\/p>\n

Apparently just another case of We Build-Up and Then Tear-Down Our Heroes<\/a>…<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To Britons<\/a>\u00a0\u201cthe\u00a0pirate<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>Paul Jones<\/a><\/em>,\u201d but\u00a0<\/em>to us he\u2019s”\u00a0Father of the American Navy<\/a><\/em>\u2026”<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/strong><\/p>\n

The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0John Paul Jones Painting Serapis Bonhomme Richard Anton O.\u00a0Fisher\u00a0– Image Results<\/a>. Captioned:\u00a0“‘USS Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis’ by Anton Otto Fischer.” Some text on the battle was gleaned from\u00a0Battle of Flamborough Head in the American Revolution<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Re:\u00a0Letter of marque<\/a>. A “government license in the\u00a0Age of Sail<\/a>\u00a0that authorized a private person, known as a\u00a0privateer<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0corsair<\/a>, to attack and capture vessels of a nation at war with the issuer.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “War was brewing between Russia and Turkey.” There were actually 12 such wars, extending over 355 years, according to\u00a0History of the Russo-Turkish wars – Wikipedia<\/a>. The first one began in 1568, and the last one ended in 1923. “It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in\u00a0European history<\/a>,” and generally the wars “ended disastrously for the stagnating\u00a0Ottoman Empire<\/a>; conversely they showcased the ascendancy of Russia as a European power.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “Catherine the Great<\/a>, Empress of Russia (at left).” The image, courtesy of Wikipedia, is captioned: “Marble statue of Catherine II in the guise of\u00a0Minerva<\/a>\u00a0(1789\u20131790), by\u00a0Fedot Shubin<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “extensive notes, as on Catherine’s “open relationships.” The image is courtesy of\u00a0Catherine The Great Lovers\u00a0– Image Results<\/a>, and more specifically,\u00a0Catherine The Great Movie Russian\u00a0– Image Results<\/a>. I clicked on the “view page” that accompanied the “Russian” image, trying to get some detail on which “Catherine” move it portrayed. Instead I got two messages, one about “hot sexy girls” and a second on how to obtain a Russian bride. It was tough to track down, but apparently the image is from a “movie poster” for some\u00a0Russian<\/strong> TV series. Beyond that I don’t really care. All I wanted was a good image to accompany the text, and the titles in Russian seemed to best fit the bill.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: Jones’ problems in both the American and Russian navies. It didn\u2019t help that \u2013 like many fighting men \u2013 Jones was\u00a0inapt<\/a>\u00a0at \u201cImperial politics.\u201d That is,\u00a0political intrigue<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re:\u00a0Grigory Potemkin<\/a>. See\u00a0Biography, Villages, & Facts | Britannica<\/a>, which noted that he “remained friendly” with Catherine, “and his influence was unshaken despite Catherine\u2019s taking subsequent lovers.” See also\u00a0Who Was Grigory Potemkin, Catherine the Great’s Lover<\/a>? Some tidbits therefrom: “After she overthrew her husband to take the throne, Catherine never married again – but she found something of a soulmate in Potemkin, who helped her rule for decades.” Then too, “In 1776, they developed an arrangement for an open relationship,” after which “they took other lovers, but retained a strong partnership – both politically and emotionally.”<\/em><\/p>\n

That’s why I like blogging so much. It’s so<\/strong> educational…<\/em><\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0John Paul Jones \u2013 Wikipedia<\/a>, which included t<\/em>he caption: \u00a0\u201cPaul Jones the Pirate,\u2019 British caricature.\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Note that a\u00a0caricature<\/a>\u00a0is a \u201c<\/em>rendered<\/a>\u00a0image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way\u2026 \u00a0<\/em>In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others\u2026 \u00a0<\/em>Caricatures can be insulting or complimentary and can serve a political purpose\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September 23, 1779 – Battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis, off\u00a0Flamborough Head… * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * Here’s a\u00a0break in the action\u00a0from way too many political posts… This past Saturday morning I ran across my paperback copy of\u00a0John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy, by\u00a0Evan Thomas. (I bought it second-hand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10182"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10182"}],"version-history":[{"count":79,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10655,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10182\/revisions\/10655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}