TWELVE
NAVAL CAPTAINS

Being a Record of Certain Americans who
made themselves Immortal

BY

MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL

AUTHOR OF

"THE SPRIGHTLY ROMANCE OF MARSAC," "THE HISTORY
OF THE LADY BETTY STAIR," "CHILDREN OF
DESTINY," "THROCKMORTON,"
"LITTLE JARVIS," ETC.

WITH PORTRAITS

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1906

Copyright, 1897,
By Charles Scribner's Sons.

CONTENTS

LIST OF PORTRAITS

PAUL JONES.

American history presents no more picturesque figure than Paul Jones, and the mere recital of his life and its incidents is a thrilling romance. A gardener's boy, he shipped before the mast at twelve years of age, and afterward rose to be the ranking officer in the American navy. His exploits by land and sea in various parts of the world; his intimacy with some of the greatest men of the age, and his friendships with reigning sovereigns of Europe; his character, of deep sentiment, united with extraordinary genius and extreme daring,—place him among those historical personages who are always of enchanting interest to succeeding ages. Paul Jones himself foresaw and gloried in this posthumous fame, for, with all his great qualities, he had the natural vanity which so often accompanies the self-made man. He lacked the perfect self-poise of Washington, who, having done immortal things, blushed to have them spoken of, and did not deign to appeal to posterity. Paul Jones was continually appealing to