{"id":3879,"date":"2016-06-14T22:16:10","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T22:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=3879"},"modified":"2021-01-30T15:46:53","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T15:46:53","slug":"on-john-paul-jones-closest-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=3879","title":{"rendered":"On John Paul Jones’ CLOSEST call"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

To the British he was “the\u00a0pirate<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>Paul Jones<\/a><\/em>,” but\u00a0<\/em>to us he’s the\u00a0Father of the American Navy<\/a><\/em>…<\/p>\n

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

Speaking<\/em> <\/strong>of “impudent sly\u00a0sluts<\/a>…” \u00a0(See the last post,\u00a0\u201cThere he goes again<\/a>.” \u00a0It\u00a0cited\u00a0Robert Louis Stevenson<\/a> for the\u00a0allusion<\/a><\/em>, from\u00a0<\/em>his book\u00a0Travels with a Donkey in the C\u00e9vennes<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"JohnI recently got another book,\u00a0John Paul Jones: \u00a0Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy<\/a>, by\u00a0Evan Thomas<\/a><\/span><\/span>. \u00a0Near the end it included a slice of American history that I’d never heard before. \u00a0It told of\u00a0John Paul Jones<\/a>\u00a0– seen at left – and what I’ve come to term “his\u00a0closest<\/em><\/strong> call<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

But first a word of explanation.<\/p>\n

I published my last post on May 30, on a proposed\u00a0kayak trip\u00a0into the\u00a0Okefenokee Swamp<\/a>. \u00a0Since then I’ve actually done<\/em> the\u00a0overnight platform-camping trip to the\u00a0\u00a0Canal Run shelter<\/a>. \u00a0(A\u00a0trip that included much planning and preparation, not to mention a full day’s drive down to Valdosta GA, the closest major city to the put-in at\u00a0Foster State Park<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

I also just got back from a weekend trip to North Carolina. \u00a0That was for the June 11 high-school graduation of my “favorite grandson named Austin.” \u00a0(See\u00a0On \u201clatitude, attitude,\u201d and other life changes<\/a>,” in my companion blog. \u00a0That trip also involved a lot of planning and preparation.)<\/em><\/p>\n

But now I’m back\u00a0home and ready to go. \u00a0So, about those “impudent sly sluts…”<\/p>\n

Most people know\u00a0John Paul Jones<\/a>\u00a0as the<\/em> <\/strong>naval hero of the\u00a0Revolutionary War<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"That included his signal victory over the British\u00a0man-of-war<\/a>\u00a0“HMS\u00a0Serapis<\/i><\/a>,” in the Battle of Flamborough Head<\/a>, as seen at right. \u00a0(At the time, Jones commanded the\u00a0Bonhomme Richard<\/a>, which was “originally an East Indiaman<\/a>.” \u00a0That is, it was a\u00a0merchant ship<\/a>\u00a0that had been\u00a0jury rigged<\/a>\u00a0into an\u00a0ad hoc<\/a><\/em>\u00a0Navy vessel.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Not to mention his having said, “I have not yet begun<\/strong> to fight<\/a><\/em>.” \u00a0(When asked by the commander of the\u00a0Serapis<\/a>\u00a0if Jones was ready “strike the colours,” that is, to surrender.) \u00a0<\/em>Incidentally, Evan Thomas<\/a>\u00a0wrote that Jones probably didn’t say that. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On that note, Jones apparently did<\/em> say – later in the battle – “I may sink, but I’ll be damned if I strike!<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/span>” \u00a0And in his official report, Jones merely said that he answered “in the most determined negative.” \u00a0(An answer that is definitely<\/strong> not as colorful.) \u00a0<\/em>But we digress…<\/p>\n

What most people don’t<\/em><\/strong> know is that in 1787, Jones joined the Russian<\/em> <\/strong>Navy.<\/p>\n

This was after the\u00a0War<\/a>, and after futile attempts to collect prize money for the ships he’d captured. \u00a0(And also in response to his general\u00a0disgruntlement<\/a>\u00a0with the American Congress.)<\/em>\u00a0 That is, he entered the service of the\u00a0Empress Catherine II of Russia<\/a>, who commissioned him a\u00a0rear admiral<\/a>. \u00a0Thus he was known in the Russian Navy as “Kontradmir\u00e1l<\/a>\u00a0Pavel Dzhones.”<\/p>\n

That’s when the trouble started. \u00a0Much as he had been in the American Navy, in the Russian navy Jones was also<\/em> surrounded by people of far lesser ability and courage. \u00a0And<\/em><\/strong> who were extremely jealous of his<\/em> ability and courage. \u00a0(Which happens a lot in history.)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Those Russian enemies included Prince Charles of Nassau-Siegen<\/a>. \u00a0(Seen at left.)<\/em> \u00a0He \u00a0in turn “turned the Russian commander Prince Grigory Pot\u00ebmkin<\/a> against Jones.” \u00a0(And it didn’t help that – like many fighting men – Jones was\u00a0inapt<\/a>\u00a0at “Imperial politics.” \u00a0That is, political intrigue<\/a><\/em>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

To\u00a0cut to the chase<\/a>, “In April 1789 Jones was arrested and accused of raping a [10]-year-old girl named Katerina Goltzwart.”<\/p>\n

Or as\u00a0Evan Thomas<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0put it, “In early April, St. Petersburg society was shocked, which is to say delighted, by a police report detailing a sordid episode:”<\/p>\n

A ten-year-old German girl claimed that she had been raped by Jones. \u00a0As the little girl described the incident, she had been selling butter in the Admiralty District when she was summoned to an apartment to see a man wearing a white uniform with gold braid and a red ribbon. \u00a0The man punched her in the jaw, bloodying her mouth. \u00a0He locked the door, threw off his uniform, and while holding the girl with one hand, threw a mattress on the floor. \u00a0He pinned her down and penetrated her. \u00a0Unable to call for help with a handkerchief across her mouth, the girl fainted, woke up, and ran crying into the street.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Moreover, the police had witnesses. \u00a0One witness was Jones’ manservant, who described “peering through the keyhole to Jones’ bedroom,” and who later found blood on the floor. \u00a0A midwife gave her expert opinion that the girl had been raped, while a doctor testified that her “child bearing parts were swollen,” and that her lip was cut and her jaw bruised.<\/p>\n

Which is why I call this episode “John Paul Jones\u2019 closest<\/em><\/strong> call.”<\/p>\n

\"\"That is, such an accusation of “child rape” would have been bad enough under American law. \u00a0But under Russian<\/em><\/strong> law, anyone convicted of such rape was “to have his head cut off or be sent to the galleys for the rest of his days.”<\/p>\n

Jones himself was not afraid of death, and indeed it was his courage under fire that made him such a great commander. \u00a0But had he been convicted as charged, he would have gone down in history as a mere child molester, to be punished as he deserved.<\/p>\n

He tried to hire a Russian lawyer, “only to have the lawyer quit his case.” \u00a0(The Russian government had ordered the lawyer “not to ‘meddle.'”) \u00a0 <\/em>One of his few friends\u00a0–\u00a0the French\u00a0Count de Segur<\/a>\u00a0– visited, only to find\u00a0him in a suicidal state, his service pistols on a table in front of him. \u00a0As Jones said, “I would have faced death a thousand times … but today I desire it.”<\/p>\n

But slowly, the truth came out. \u00a0(With a little help from de Segur<\/a>, “Jones’ last friend in the capital.”)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

For one thing, it turned out the girl was 12, not\u00a010. \u00a0(A minor point, to be sure.<\/em>) \u00a0It also turned out both that she’d been “‘selling butter’ for quite a while,” and that “selling butter” was a\u00a0euphemism<\/a>\u00a0for what she had been\u00a0actually<\/em> selling.<\/p>\n

Then too her customers included that same manservant who’d given damning evidence against Jones. \u00a0And finally, the girl’s mother admitted that she’d been “given money by a ‘man with decorations’ in return for telling a damaging story about Jones.” \u00a0(In other words, it was a\u00a0setup<\/a>, a “situation in which someone is deliberately put in a bad position or made to look guilty.”) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

But enough damage had been done. \u00a0Jones didn’t have to go through the ordeal of a trial – as illustrated at left – but he was ostracized by Russian society. \u00a0That included the Empress Catherine, who was “finished with him.” \u00a0(Notwithstanding the intensity and originality of “her own<\/strong> sexual appetites.”<\/em>)<\/p>\n

And aside from all that, Catherine had hired a number of former British officers, all of whom “refused to serve under the Pirate Jones.” \u00a0So in the end, in the “late summer of 1789, Jones left Russia, still resplendent in his beribboned white uniform, but shunned and disgraced.”<\/p>\n

From which we can glean at least two key\u00a0object lessons<\/a>. \u00a0One is that many of our hardest-fighting heroes – like John Paul Jones – also have a “penchant<\/a>\u00a0for the ladies.” \u00a0(Which can ofttimes be their undoing in civilian life.) \u00a0<\/em>Yet another is that – as a nation – we tend to tear down the very heroes that we build up. \u00a0(See e.g.\u00a0Why Do We Build-Up & Then Tear-Down Our Heroes<\/a><\/em>?)<\/p>\n

In the case of John Paul Jones, it took more than a century after he died – not\u00a0until July 1905 – that his body was finally returned to his adopted homeland – the one that he’d fought so hard for – and given a decent burial. \u00a0(In Annapolis, site of the Naval Academy.)<\/em><\/p>\n

And then only because “Teddy Roosevelt needed a hero…”<\/p>\n

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

The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0John Paul Jones – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

The caption for the upper image: \u00a0“Paul Jones the Pirate,’ British caricature.” \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

(Note that a caricature<\/a>\u00a0is a “<\/em>rendered<\/a> image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way… \u00a0<\/em>In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others… \u00a0<\/em>Caricatures can be insulting or complimentary and can serve a political purpose…”)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"The Wikipedia article also included the image at left, with the caption: \u00a0“John Paul Jones and John Barry, honored on U.S. Postage, Navy Issue of 1937.” \u00a0Note that Barry is one of at least three men – including Jones – in the running<\/a>\u00a0for the title of “Father of the American Navy.” \u00a0See for example <\/em>Commodore John Barry, Father of the American Navy<\/a><\/em>, and also Joshua Humphreys, “Father of the American Navy<\/a><\/em>.”<\/p>\n

Re: “Impudent, sly sluts.” \u00a0See also\u00a0Donkey travel \u2013 and sluts<\/a>, in my companion blog.<\/em><\/p>\n

See also\u00a0Definition of slut by The Free Dictionary<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0Although the term – today – has come to mean almost exclusively either<\/strong> a prostitute or a woman “considered<\/span> to be sexually<\/span> promiscuous,” that wasn’t always the case. \u00a0For example, in\u00a0Travels with a Donkey in the C\u00e9vennes<\/a><\/span><\/em>, Stevenson applied the term to two young girls who were simply being mischievous and\/or “pains<\/a>.” \u00a0For another take, see\u00a0Slut-shaming – Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>, on the form of\u00a0behavior modification<\/a>\u00a0in which a<\/em>\u00a0social stigma<\/a>\u00a0is “applied to people, especially women and girls, who are perceived to violate traditional expectations for sexual behaviors.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re\u00a0Evan Thomas<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0See also\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>. \u00a0The quoted portions from Thomas’ Jones: Sailor, Hero<\/a>\u00a0(etc.) are from the 2004 Simon and Schuster paperback version,\u00a0at pages 297-99.)<\/em><\/p>\n

The oil portrait of Jones is also courtesy of the\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0article on Jones. \u00a0<\/em>The caption: \u00a0“A 1781 painting of John Paul Jones by Charles Willson Peale<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “general\u00a0disgruntlement<\/a>\u00a0with the American Congress.” \u00a0Go figure<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: Jones’ political enemies in the Russian Navy. \u00a0See\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

As a rear admiral<\/a>[, Jones] … took part in the naval campaign in the Dnieper-Bug Liman<\/a>\u00a0… against the Turks<\/a>, in concert with the Dnieper Flotilla<\/a>\u00a0commanded by Prince Charles of Nassau-Siegen<\/a>. \u00a0Jones (and Nassau-Siegen) repulsed the Ottoman<\/a> forces … but the jealous intrigues of Nassau-Siegen (and perhaps Jones’s own inaptitude for Imperial politics) turned the Russian commander Prince Grigory Pot\u00ebmkin<\/a> against Jones\u00a0and he was recalled to St. Petersburg<\/a> for the pretended purpose of being transferred to a command in the North Sea<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Re: political intrigue. \u00a0See also\u00a0Byzantinism – Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The galley-slave image is courtesy of\u00a0Ben-Hur (1959) – IMDb<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0See also\u00a0Galley slave – Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: Jones’ defense against the rape charge. As Wikipedia noted:<\/em><\/p>\n

… the Count de Segur<\/a>, the French representative at the Russian court (and also Jones’ last friend in the capital), conducted his own personal investigation into the matter and was able to convince Pot\u00ebmkin that the girl had not been raped and that Jones had been accused by Prince de Nassau-Siegen<\/a> for his own purposes;\u00a0 Jones, however, admitted to prosecutors that he had “often frolicked” with the girl “for a small cash payment,” only denying that he had deprived her of her virginity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Note that\u00a0St. Petersburg [was] the capital of Russia between 1712\u00a0and 1918<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0virtualtourist.com<\/a>, “United States Naval Academy: \u00a0reviews, photos.”<\/em><\/p>\n

In\u00a0John Paul Jones<\/a>,\u00a0Evan Thomas<\/a>\u00a0described the return of Jones’ body from France at pages 3 and 4 of his Introduction. \u00a0“Jones had died, alone and forgotten, in Paris in 1792.” \u00a0His body had lain “in a graveyard so obscure that it had been paved over.” \u00a0It had taken months for the American ambassador to find the burial site, “beneath a laundry on the outskirts of the city.” \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

On page 3,\u00a0Thomas<\/a>\u00a0described the honor guard, in Paris, of 500 American sailors, all picked for their height – over six feet – and “manly good looks.” \u00a0In response to the American honor guard marching down the Champs Elysees – wrote Thomas – “‘Quels beaux garcons!’ \u00a0whispered the French ladies in the vast, cheering crowd.” \u00a0(The French translates roughly to “Who are those fine-looking studs?”) \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

As to “Teddy Roosevelt need[ing] a hero,” Jones wrote that Roosevelt wanted to make the United States a great naval power, and so wanted to “celebrate Jones’ legacy with appropriate pomp.” \u00a0He therefore decreed that every “officer in our navy should know by heart the deeds of John Paul Jones,” and that all Naval Academy cadets must memorize jones’ “pronouncements on the correct training and proper manners of an officer and a gentleman.” \u00a0Then there was the tomb itself:<\/em><\/p>\n

Jones was laid to his final rest in a marble sarcophagus modeled after Napoleon’s own crypt. \u00a0“He gave our Navy,” reads the inscription on the tomb, “its earliest traditions of heroism and victory…” \u00a0How Jones would have loved it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And finally, as to Jones having\u00a0a \u201cpenchant<\/a>\u00a0for the ladies:\u201d \u00a0At page 298 Thomas wrote of Jones’ response – in part – to the charge of rape, “I love women, I confess, and the pleasures that one only obtains from that sex; but to get such things by force is horrible to me.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To the British he was “the\u00a0pirate\u00a0Paul Jones,” but\u00a0to us he’s the\u00a0Father of the American Navy… * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * Speaking of “impudent sly\u00a0sluts…” \u00a0(See the last post,\u00a0\u201cThere he goes again.” \u00a0It\u00a0cited\u00a0Robert Louis Stevenson for the\u00a0allusion, from\u00a0his book\u00a0Travels with a Donkey in the C\u00e9vennes\u00a0) I recently got another book,\u00a0John Paul Jones: \u00a0Sailor, Hero, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3879"}],"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=3879"}],"version-history":[{"count":83,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10181,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3879\/revisions\/10181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}