French frigate Pallas, and the 12-gun corvette
Vengeance. At first glance, the British were
badly outnumbered, but Jones exercised very
little control over his compatriots, who, as
events proved, came and went as they pleased
throughout the engagement. Thus, the Bon-
homme Richard,with a crew of 322 men, was
about to tackle the brand-new, coppered-bot-
tomed warship Serapis; Jones possessed a
crew of equal size and a ship with half the ar-
mament. Only a daring sailor would have con-
templated such an unequal contest, let alone
fight it.
It was nightfall off Flamborough Head be-
fore adverse winds allowed the contestants to
close within firing range. The two vessels
commenced trading broadsides around six
o’clock, and Jones suffered a minor disaster
when one of his 18-pounders exploded below
deck, killing several men and rendering the
below-deck guns unusable. With his superior
firepower, Pearson directed his cannonade
into the American hull, which was slowly
being shot to pieces. However, inasmuch as
Jones was forced to evacuate most of his
crew topside, they suffered relatively few ca-
sualties. Seriously outgunned, Jones tried to
salvage the fight by boarding, and he maneu-
vered to entangle both ships. At length, the
Serapisbecame ensnared in Jones’s rigging,
and the two vessels pivoted around each
other, firing furiously. Pearson responded by
dropping his anchor, hoping that the tide
would wrench his frigate free. His gunners,
meanwhile, kept firing into Bonhomme
Richard’s hull. Jones, his ship badly battered
and beginning to sink, personally lashed the
two contestants together with rope and or-
dered his last few cannons to be charged with
grapeshot. This new fusillade swept English
sailors from the topdeck, and a handful of
Americans began inching across the yard
arms, dropping grenades.
At this critical juncture, the frigate Alliance
made a tardy appearance under Captain
Landais, who fired a broadside into both ves-
sels. Three times he circled Bonhomme
Richardand Serapis,indiscriminately blasting
away in the darkness. Many Americans, fearful
of having their ship sink beneath them, started
calling out for quarter. Pearson then hailed his
opposite, asking, “Do you ask for quarter?” But
Jones, his blood up, shot back, “I have not yet
begun to fight!” He then ordered the lower
hatch opened, and 100 British prisoners came
topside to man the Richard’s pumps. Suddenly,
a basket of grenades dropped down an open
hatch of the Serapis, which ignited powder
charges along the length of this ship, killing
several men. A lucky American cannonball
also toppled the British mainmast overboard,
and Pearson, for the safety of his crew, ordered
the Union Jack struck. At 10:30 P.M. a boarding
party under Lt. Richard Dale went aboard and
secured the prize. Then Jones, consistent with
the naval customs of the day, invited Pearson
into his cabin for a glass of wine. The following
day, Bonhomme Richardsank, and Jones com-
mandeered the Serapisand his prisoners to
Holland, where they were eventually ex-
changed.
The slugfest between Bonhomme Richard
and HMS Serapiswas one of the most obsti-
nate and costly ship encounters of the eigh-
teenth century. However, in grappling with
this impetuous enemy, Pearson allowed the
ships of the Baltic convoy—and all their im-
portant cargo—to escape intact. Defeat cer-
tainly reflected no shame upon the captain,
who willingly engaged superior enemy forces
in the finest tradition of the Royal Navy. A
court-martial subsequently cleared him for
the loss of his ship and even lauded him for
mounting such stout resistance. He was then
knighted by King George III, and he received
several awards from the convoy’s insurers.
“Let me fight him again,” Jones later jested,
“and I’ll make him a lord.”
Pearson resumed his naval career in April
1780 when he took command of a new
frigate, HMS Arethusa.He retired to Green-
wich hospital in 1790 and, 10 years later, rose
to become lieutenant governor of that facil-
ity. He died serving in that capacity in Janu-
ary 1806, a stout naval adversary of the Amer-
ican Revolution.PEARSON, RICHARD