John Paul Jones is often considered one of the Fathers of the United States Navy. He was a privateer who joined the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. However, since he worked with mercenaries, pirates, and other soldiers of fortune under his command, he found himself betrayed by his own crew on more than one occasion.
The life of John Paul Jones is an inspiring tale of the importance of perseverance. Surrounded on all sides by people he could not trust, he still pulled victory from the jaws of defeat time and time again. A driven individual, he was the one true believer in the cause he fought for among soldiers of fortune who only cared for coin and glory. For that reason, he is remembered fondly and honored today as a man who always gave life his all when it seemed no one else would.
This was the case during the Battle of Flamborough Head when the Alliance, one of the ships in Jones’s squadron when he was in command of the USS Bonhomme Richard, opened fire on him in an attempt to steal all the glory of sinking the British ships. Nevertheless, Jones continued to find success, defeat his enemies, and live to tell the tale in spite of such treachery, time and time again.
One can only wonder how impactful Jones would have been if he had a loyal crew at his side. This poem recounts the tale of his pyrrhic victory at Flamborough Head when despite the odds against him, the daring captain managed not only to take the day after his ship was critically damaged, but also capture and commandeer the enemy’s vessel.
Outnumbered at sea
Off the coast of hostile land
Far from home, they be
One young mercenary band
John Paul Jones, his name
A rascal with luck's good grace
To him, war, a game
In battle, he found his place
Hear the drums of war
Ships stare one another down
Here at Flamborough
Where young men have come to drown
All that's right goes wrong
Cannons ring across the sea
Gunfire sings a song
A song full of suffering
A battle now yet rages
Pain and fury fill men's hearts
A battle for all the ages
A final test of one's art
Traitors hunt for glory
Firing on both friend and foe
To tell their own story
They risk everyone they know
His ship now broken through
Fire and water closing in
One thing there is yet left to do
If free men are still to win
Their ships now bound up tight
Jones gives the order to board
Charging now, close in to fight
The gunfire, brave men ignored
Surrender, they say?
He's not yet begun to fight
They would all rue this day
Those who challenged Jones's might
Gun and blade are fiercely drawn
Free men face death with courage
Friends and brothers soon are gone
Those who survive are savage
Pushing past all to the brink
Every effort made to destroy
None can bear to hear or think
Yet fate would favor these brave boy
A stroke of luck then came
A stray grenade that met its mark
Soon to light up a great flame
And end the fight with a fierce spark
That day, did Jones find victory
And they said that he brought freedom
To all the Atlantic's highborn seas
And sorely did they need him
A pirate some say
The Terror of the English
He did win this day
His foes surely to anguish
Hero or villain
Surely not a man of ill
Though he was wanton
Always seeking too much thrill
A hero we know
Untethered as he had been
He found his way home
As a true American
And this was the tale
Of he known as John Paul Jones
Always to prevail
He had a will made of stone
To learn more about John Paul Jones, click here to read the story of his infamous White Raven Raid.
All posts by The Pensive Warrior are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Pensive Warrior 
One thought on “He Has Not Yet Begun to Fight”