Captain
Saltonstall, who was to command the ship, had not yet arrived from
Boston, and at Hancock's direction, Lieutenant Jones took command, and
ran up the first American flag ever shown from the masthead of a
man-of-war. It was not the Stars and Stripes, which had not yet been
adopted as the flag of the United States, but a flag showing a
rattlesnake coiled at the foot of a pine-tree, with the words, "Don't
tread on me."
Three other small vessels were soon placed in commission, and the
squadron started out on its first cruise on February 17, 1776. Through
the inexperience and incompetency of the officers, the cruise was a
complete failure, and resulted in the dismissal of "Commander-in-Chief"
Ezekial Hopkins, and the retirement of Jones's immediate superior,
Captain Dudley Saltonstall. It was a striking example of how the first
blast of battle winnows the wheat from the chaff, and its best result
was to give Paul Jones a command of his own. Never thereafter was he
forced to serve under an imbecile superior, but was always, to the end
of his career, the ranking officer on his station.
His first command was a small one, the sloop-of-war Providence, with
fourteen guns and 107 men, but in six weeks he had captured sixteen
prizes, of which eight were manned and sent to port, and eight
destroyed at sea; was twice chased by frigates, escaping capture only by
the most brilliant manoeuvring; and made two descents on the coast of
Nova Scotia, releasing some American prisoners, capturing arms and
ammunition, dispersing a force of Tories, and destroying a number of
fishing smacks; and finally reached port again with a crew of
forty-seven, all the rest having been told off to man his prizes.
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