and manned by Frenchmen.
The expense of fitting out the expedition was the king's. The flag and
the commissions of the officers were American. The object of the French
government was to secure the services of the marauding Jones against the
coasts and shipping of England. This could better be done under the
United States flag than under that of France; for the rules of civilized
warfare had up to that time prevented the British from ravaging the
coasts of France as they had those of rebel America, and France was
therefore not morally justified in harassing the English shipping and
coasts directly; as, on the principle of retaliation, it was fair for
America to do.

This peculiar character of the expedition brought with it many drawbacks
and difficulties for the unfortunate Jones. He had a motley array of
ships,--those which were left over after the French officers had been
satisfied. The flagship, the Bonhomme Richard, was a worn-out old East
Indiaman, which Jones refitted and armed with six eighteen-pounders,
twenty-eight twelve-pounders, and eight nine-pounders--a battery of
forty-two guns. The crew of 375, of many nationalities, contained, when
the fleet sailed, only about fifty Americans; but fortunately, a few
days later, Jones was compelled to put back to port, where he was
unexpectedly able, owing to a recent exchange of prisoners, to get rid
of some of his aliens, and to secure 114 American officers and sailors,
who proved to be the backbone of the Richard's crew. The Alliance, the
only American ship, was a good frigate rating as a large thirty-two or
medium thirty-six, but captained by a mad Frenchman in the American
service, Landais, who refused to obey Jones, and in the important fight
with the Serapis turned his guns against his commander. The Pallas,
thirty-two guns, the Vengeance, twelve guns, and the little Cerf were
all officered and manned by Frenchmen.

The greatest hindrance, however, to the efficiency of the squadron was
the famous _concordat_, or agreement between the captains, which Jones
was compelled to sign just before sailing. The terms, indeed, which
related largely to the distribution of prize money, left Jones in the
position of commander in chief, but the fact that there was any
agreement whatever between Jones and his subordinates weakened his
authority. Of this, as of so many other injustices, Jones complained
most bitterly all through his subsequent life. He signed it, however,
because