, speaking of the
fight says, "Under God, our little party at the water-side performed
wonders; for they soon made themselves masters of both the schooners,
the cutter, the two barges, the boat, and every man in them, and all
that pertained to them. In the action, which lasted several hours, we
have lost but one man; two others wounded,--one of whom is since dead,
the other very slightly wounded. We took of the man-of-war's men
thirty-five; several are wounded, and one since dead; twenty-four are
sent to headquarters. The remainder, being impressed from this and
neighboring towns, are permitted to return to their friends. This
morning Capt. Lindzee warped off with but one-half of his men, with
neither a prize-boat nor tender, except a small skiff the wounded
lieutenant returned in."

The work done by the small armed schooners of which the "Lee" was a
type encouraged Congress to proceed with the work of organizing a
regular navy; and by the end of 1775 that body had authorized the
building of thirteen war-vessels carrying from twenty-four to
thirty-two guns each. But as some naval force was obviously necessary
during the construction of this fleet, five vessels were procured, and
the new navy was organized with the following roster of officers:--

Esek Hopkins _Commander-in-chief._
Dudley Saltonstall _Captain of the "Alfred."_
Abraham Whipple _Captain of the "Columbus."_
Nicholas Biddle _Captain of the "Andrea Doria."_
John B. Hopkins _Captain of the "Cabot."_

A long list of lieutenants was also provided, among whom stands out
boldly the name of John Paul Jones. John Manly, whose dashing work in
the schooner "Lee" we have already noticed, was left in command of his
little craft until the thirty-two-gun ship "Hancock" was completed,
when he was put in charge of her.

It may possibly have occurred to some of my readers to wonder what
flag floated from the mastheads of these ships. There is much
confusion upon this point, and not a little uncertainty. There were
three classes of American armed vessels on the seas. First were the
privateers, that sailed under any flag that might suit their purpose.
Next came the vessels fitted out and commissioned by the individual
colonies; these usually floated the flag of the colony from which they
hailed. Last came the vessels commissioned by Congress, which at the
outset floated many banners of diverse kinds. It fell to the lot of
Lieut. Paul Jones,