On the twenty-third of September he fell in with a fleet of merchantmen convoyed by two English frigates, and at once attacked them. The battle began at seven in the evening and was continned for three hours with great fury. Jones lashed his flagship, the "Bon Homme Richard," to the English

JOHN PAUL JONES.

frigate "Serapis," and the two vessels fought muzzle to muzzle until the Serapis surrendered. The other English vessel was also captured. The battle was one of the most desperate in the annals of naval warfare, and Jones' flagship was so badly injured that it sunk in a few hours after the fighting

was over.

Jones was absent from home for about three years, during which time his exploits were numerous and of the most astonishing character. He was denounced as a pirate by the English, who became so alarmed by his achievements that many people did not feel safe even in London. Some of the timid

ones looked out on the Thames, half-expecting to see the terrible fellow lay their city under tribute. At one time he landed on the coast of Scotland, and, appearing at the residence of the Earl of Selkirk, captured a large amount of silver plate and booty. But he treated the Earl's household with great courtesy, and the plate that was seized at the time is now in the possession of the members of the Selkirk family.

Paul Jones returned to Philadelphia February 18, 1781, and received a hearty welcome. gress gave him an appropriate medal and a vote of thanks.

Con

In October Sir Henry Clinton, in obedience to orders from home, evacuated Newport and concentrated his forces at New York, which place he believed was in danger of an attack by the Americans and French. Until the close of the season Washington cherished the hope that the French fleet would return and assist him in an effort to regain New York, and had called out militia for this purpose. When he learned that D'Estaing had sailed to the West Indies after the failure of the attack upon Savannah he dismissed the militia to their homes and went into winter quarters in New Jersey, with his headquarters at Morristown.

While these events had been transpiring upon the Atlantic seaboard the United States

had been steadily pushing their way westward beyond the mountains. In 1769, before the commencement of the Revolution, the beautiful region now known as Kentucky had been visited and explored by Daniel Boone, a famous Indian hunter. He was charmed with the beauty of the country and the excellence of the climate, and resolved to make it his home. The reports of Boone and his companions aroused a great interest in the new country among the inhabitants of the older settlements in Virginia and North Carolina, more especially as it was in this region that the lands given to the Virginia troops for their services in the French war were located. Surveyors were soon after sent out to lay off these lands, and in 1773 a party under Captain Bullit reached the falls of the Ohio and built a fortified camp there for the purpose of surveying the region.

The Celebrated Daniel Boone.

This was the commencement of the city of Louisville, but the actual settlement of the place was not begun until 1778. In 1774 Harrodsburg was founded by James Harrod, one of Boone's companions; and in 1775 Daniel Boone built a fort on the site of the present town of Boonesborough. The savages made repeated attacks upon his party, but failed to drive them away. The fort was finished by the middle of April, and soon after Boone was joined by his wife and daughters, the first white women in Kentucky.

The region of Kentucky was claimed by Virginia, but the settlers submitted to the authority of that province with impatience. They sent a delegate to the Continental Congress in October, 1775, and claimed representation in that body as an independent colony under the name of Transylvania; but the delegate of the fourteenth colony

DANIEL BOONE.

extermination. The principal agent of the mother country in this barbarous warfare was Hamilton, the British commander at

Detroit. In order to put

a stop to his intrigues and deprive the Indians of his aid, Congress resolved to despatch a force to attack Detroit. While this plan was in contemplation the State of Virginia in 1778, sent Colonel George Rogers Clarke with a force of two hundred men to conquer the territory northwest of the Ohio, which Virginia claimed as a part of her possessions. Clarke was a backwoodsman, but one of nature's heroes. He assembled his men at Pittsburg, and descended the Ohio to the falls in flat-boats. There he established a settlement of thirteen families, the germ of the present city of Louisville. Being joined by some Kentuckians he continued his descent of the river to a short distance below the mouth of the Tennessee.

Landing and concealing his boats, he struck across the country and surprised and captured the town of Kaskaskia, within the limits of the present State of Indiana. A detachment was sent to Kahokia, and received its submission. ceived its submission. The people of these towns were of French origin, and were greatly averse to the English rule under

The alliance between the United States and France made them very willing to acknowledge the authority of the Union, to which they readily swore allegiance. The fort at Vincennes was in a weak condition and was held by a small garrison, and readily submitted to Clarke.

Hamilton no sooner heard of the successes of Clarke than he set out from Detroit on the seventh of October, 1778, with a force of three hundred and fifty warriors, and on the seventeenth of December reoccupied Vincennes. He now prepared to drive the Americans out of the Illinois country, and spent the winter in trying to arouse the savages against them. He offered a significant reward for every American scalp brought in to him, but offered nothing for prisoners. At the same time he proposed to invade Virginia in the spring with with an overwhelming force of Indians.

"To Their Armpits in Water." Clarke and his party were in very great danger. They were entirely cut off from Virginia, and without hope of reinforements. In this emergency, Clarke, who had learned that Hamilton had greatly weakened the garrison at Vincennes, resolved to stake the fate of the west on a single issue, and attempt the capture of that post. On the seventh of February, 1779, he left Kaskaskia with one hundred and thirty men, and marched across the country towards Vincennes. On the eighteenth they were within nine miles of Vincennes.

The Wabash had overflowed the country along its banks, and in order to reach the object of their march, Clarke and his men were obliged to cross the submerged lands, up to their armpits in water. They were five days in crossing these "drowned lands,"

have perished. On the twenty-third Vincennes was reached, and the town was at once carried. Clarke then laid siege to the fort, assisted in this task by the inhabitants of the town, and in twenty-four hours compelled Hamilton and his men to surrender themselves prisoners of war.

A British Scheme Frustrated. Clarke was unable to advance against Detroit because of the insufficiency of his force. His successes, however, were among the most important of the war. They not only put an end to the British scheme of a general Indian war along the western frontier of the United States, but established the authority of the Union over the country east of the Mississippi, and prevented Great Britain from asserting a claim to that region at the conclusion of peace, a few years later. Returning. to the Ohio, Clarke built a blockhouse at the falls. The conquered territory was claimed by Virginia, and was erected by the legislature of that State into the county of Illinois. By order of Governor Jefferson of Virginia, Clarke established a fort on the Mississippi, about five miles below the mouth of the Ohio, which he named Fort Jefferson, and entered into friendly relations with the Spaniards at St. Louis.

The Tennessee region, which formed a part of the province of North Carolina, had been settled previous to the outbreak of hostilities. Fort Loudon, about thirty miles southwest of Knoxville, was built in 1756, and in 1770 the Cumberland Valley was settled, and Nashville was founded. By the commencement of the revolution the Tennessee country was quickly settled, and the population was increasing at an encouraging rate. In 1776 the Cherokees, incited by the British, waged a formidable war upon the settlers, but were defeated.